Reviewing the game again because I just can't escape it. For as much as I try playing something else, regardless of how many other fighting games I try, I always come back. Truly, Strive is just my home at this point 😭

I like where the game is at right now. In my original review I complained a little bit about balance, and while yeah I don't think it's in an ideal state, it's much better now that we don't have a character whose entire gameplan is not letting you interact while staying full screen away from you as the undisputed top tier. That isn't to say Sol isn't an issue right now. Yeah, Sol is very dominant at this point in the game, Asuka is also extremely strong, pretty much having a win condition that if he gets to, it's GG unless awful luck. But still, I'd rather fight S3 Sol over S2 HC, and overall there's a lot less annoying or frustrating stuff in the game now IMO.

Wild Assault and Deflect Shield were incredible additions, Elphelt and A.B.A were two characters whose inclusions are so cool so awesome I love both of them, and damn Slayer looks cool asf fr fr. Season 3 brought a lot that I like to the game, and definetly improved the experience for me a lot.

In summary, Strive right now is in a state I really love, yes, there's possible improvements such as making Bridget the undisputed best character in the game especially when it comes to some balance issues, but the game is fucking fun.

One detail that I might add is, I've reached a point in the game where I just have a load of knowledge over my character, enough to get creative mid-match and fuck around with new combo routes that I just created out of nowhere or even setups I never labbed before and just figured might work, and I love it. Reaching such a point with a character, in my case Bridget, feels super rewarding. Maybe that's what is making me enjoy the game more now compared to before, maybe if I had all this knowledge during S2, I'd have enjoyed the game just as much.

Anyways, Bridget is awesome and cute and silly and she's very pretty
Trans rights btw 🏳️‍⚧️

so like i personally never cared for johnny as a character cause his personality and all is just not something that appeals to me, at all, so that's already just not a positive for me, nor a negative, i just do not care about the character of johnny

and then you make an obnoxious long ass range character with the most annoying ammount of shield stun i have ever seen and who's incredibly frustrating to deal with on neutral and whose only "fun" part of playing against is when youre pressuring him or when he's cornered, and even then if he has 50 meter you have to either guess or do reversal safe shit which not every character has, so a lot of characters have to just guess or they eat up decent damage

this is truly the newest annoying character to play against

made me wanna give world another chance (insane)

anyway, awesome game man, just finished what i think is the base game content(?) i mean at least it got me to the credits lol

its hard to properly describe, it's supposed to be kind of intense, with tough enemies, large HP pools, attacks that fuck you up and all, but ironically enough it almost feels relaxing, probably a mix of how fun it is going up against bosses and just the chill atmosphere of exploring around very pretty places collecting resources and stuff

excited to go do more multiplayer quests and start the hub rank grind

i havent even finished it yet. but i absolutely must. say. something about it.

this game. this fucking game. this is one of the best games i have ever played. this easily, some of the most fun ive had with a game. its incredible, its fun, its engaging, it has so much variety, so much player expression, the combat is fucking awesome, fast paced, makes you FEEL powerful when it should and at the same time kicks your ass super fucking hard at moments where you definetly need to realize youve been using the same stupid build 90% of the time and should probably try different shit

over the course of two weeks, every single day i got to experience a new, fun, different play style with this game, some new weapon, maybe a new leg type, a faster mech, something more close range, long range, an absolute tank with massive, constant firepower, maybe something more modest that only takes very few hits, but if it gets close it melts the enemy HP, maybe something more balanced, a mech that hovers above everything and snipes shit out, a fucking spider ass mech with a gatling gun missile launcher bazooka and sniper all at the same time

and best of all, there are, definetly, more efficient builds, but none of them are the most efficient for everything. each mission, each fight, will need a different build if you want to do your absolute best in it. the game rewards creativity so much, and in such a noticeable way. the theory crafting of what should be most effective against a boss or to finish a mission quickly, exploring around the mission to find secrets, studying and memorizing the opponents you face during each mission to come up with the best possible solution, building your mech and testing it out, heck even just how much you can customize the mech, and then trying it out and seeing as the you fold a boss that absolutely obliterated you in half, or you, once again, are kicked in the balls and have to do the entire process again

its all
so
satisfying

makes me want to play this again and again and again. makes me not feel pissed off or annoyed or frustrated at seeing a D, C, B or A Rank, but instead feel motivated to keep trying, to memorize enemy locations, to try out new stuff ive never used before, see if it's more effective

its such an engaging gameplay loop that hooked me so goddamn much man

and the best part of it all is
i get to experience my awesome mech piloting girl fantasies

level scaling, specifically in xc1, is the worst mechanic in this entire series

like holy fucking shit i love not being able to beat something 5/6 levels above me because someone thought itd be a good idea to debuff ur agl so much u cant hit enemies with red hp gauges lol

also combat in this game is incredibly boring and repetitive ong