Guilty Gear is breaking 20-year curse with next DLC fighter, and fans have mixed feelings

For the first time in Guilty Gear’s more than 20-year history, players will finally be able to play as the man who essentially kickstarted the series’ main story by creating Gears—That Man. However, fans are a bit mixed about his 2023 implementation in Guilty Gear Strive since he is yet another distance demon.

As shown in the reveal, Asuka R. Kreutz will join the GGST roster on May 25 as the final DLC character for Season Pass Two and as part of the franchise’s 25th anniversary.

This continues Guilty Gear Strive’s trend of making previously unplayable fighters available to use for the first time in the series.

Whether you refer to him by his new, in-game title of Asuka R# or something like the Gear Maker, That Man is here and he is certainly not playing any games. Asuka, after somewhat redeeming himself at the end of GGST’s story, is now using Tome of Origin and stepping into the ring as a magical powerhouse.

He has 26 different spells that can be used during combat, giving off big Hero energy from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Arc System Works described Asuka as “highly technical” and proficient in using spells for all situations.

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While fans are pumped to see such an important character become playable—and are obsessed with his drip—there is some concern about how strong he will be.

Just like with most of the Guity Gear cast, when someone becomes playable they are brought to a similar level of power to keep the game balanced, rather than just giving previous boss characters more to work with than other fighters.

Asuka will suffer a similar fate, though his complexity is where ArcSys will likely make him stand out.

There is also a chunk of the player base who aren’t thrilled with the idea of another character spamming projectiles that can be used in mixups or provide constant pressure—read, them not wanting another Happy Chaos situation.

But we will have to wait and see just how oppressive Asuka is when he launches before the petitions for further nerfs start coming in.

Prepare for him to be a little weirdo with lots of gimmicks, and he might even promote his moon-hosted radio show mid-match. There are also plenty of signs that point to this being a doppelganger of sorts, based on his description and a slight “glitch” in the trailer.

ArcSys is working on a Season Pass Three too, so even more Guilty Gear Strive DLC is on the way and will likely be revealed this summer, potentially at Evo in August.