Game:

Guilty Gear -STRIVE- (2021)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 24:17

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It’s taken some time but I’ve finally gone through every character in Strive as of now, right ahead of Jack-O’s launch…except for one. Last and unfortunately in the eyes of many players, least…we have Faust.

Once a respected doctor said to be able to cure any ailment, the death of a young patient under his care drove him mad, creating the serial killer Dr. Baldhead. Reveling in bloodshed and a twisted desire to “help” his “patients,” eventually the doctor would regain some semblance of humanity and alongside that, learned that there was more to the young patient’s death than he first realized. Wanting to learn the truth behind what happened that day, he roamed the Earth, treating those that he met without asking anything in return, his face forever covered and going by a new name…Faust.

In gameplay, Faust has primarily been a wildcard, built around wacky, at times random attacks that force both players to adapt on the fly. Faust is a tall, imposing character, but he’s often much lower to the ground and can contort himself in a variety of ways to get at opponents with his gigantic scalpel. Faust seems to know some type of teleportation-based magic, able to transport himself (and occasionally others) short distances, as well as pull out random objects from out of nowhere. His signature special move is “What could this be?” He reaches into his suit/scrubs and pulls out any number of items. A horn to summon a marching band, bombs, meteors…even afros! Some items can benefit him, others can potentially hurt him or be used by opponents, but a good Faust player turns those lemons into lemonade. He doesn't hit hard, he's slow and his defense isn't the best, but with RNG on your side, you can turn the tide with some effort! Sadly, this incarnation was reworked to the point that many feel he's a shell of his former self.

Set 1: Original Times Square
I-No (CasuallyRich) vs. Faust (me)

I-No’s constant pressure is pretty tough for Faust to get away from. Compared to past games, Faust stands up straight by default now, which just makes him a bigger target and all the harder to get out of the corner. I was still getting a feel for Faust here, and made some mistakes, like not steering Faust away from people if Mix Mix Mix is blocked. Really the biggest issue here is if I-No gets close, there’s very few options I have to get her off of me. Close Slash seems to work but you have to time it well in-between the constant attempts to Stroke Faust’s Big Tree.

Set 2: Original Times Square
Giovanna (KentBot) vs. Faust (me)

Same stage again, but the opponent is VERY different. I get the feeling KentBot here doesn’t understand the Faust match up at all, despite being level 80. Not that many Fausts out there though, to be fair. While Faust does have good ranged moves to keep Gio away, the biggest problem is that KentBot just kinda let Faust constantly toss stuff that chipped away at him over time. I actually swept him this entire set but felt there was no need to put the final fight up. Got a ton of EXP for beating him though, and a nice little confidence boost!

Set 3: Lars Canyon
Faust (me) vs. Zato-1 (AGreatLegacy)

I rarely see Zatos so I HAD to fight this one. Both Zato-1 and Faust are ranked the hardest to use in-game, so it was a battle of the weirdos! I definitely learned a thing about Zato from this player. Doing his sword super to get Eddie behind me is pretty sneaky! I think AGreatLegacy had a good idea of what they were doing, and this ended up being a knock-down drag out set that went down to the wire. I noticed after the end of the first round of the last match of the set he seemed to taunt…well, you know I couldn’t take that lying down. Oh and you might notice at about 19:49 or so on the video, you see the clover Faust rushes to for his cinematic Overdrive appear but I get knocked out of it…BUT I didn’t use up any meter so I was free to do my super AGAIN a bit later. Didn’t quite intend to combo into it but it worked!

Set 4: Ajatar Hunting Ground
Millia (SICNATIX) vs. Faust (me)

I was actually getting close to a ranking update here to get booted to floor 8…so thank you SICNATIX for creaming me and keeping me where I belong. I mean that honestly too. I didn’t WANT to rank up using FAUST of all characters, so I was relieved my update went away after this set. I don’t have much to say other than….I have no idea how to USE or FIGHT against Millia. I know she goes for knockdowns a lot but outside of that I feel like Faust is kind of outclassed. He has range but her speed is so great she can close the distance before he can even swing! Neat to see my INVINCIBLE super also couldn’t get me out of her Tandem Top trap. Slow to start and I guess like barely any invincibility.

Hoping Faust gets some love in balance updates; he's just missing a little extra something to make him come together. In particular, his items feel pretty weak in this game, so start there!

Excited for Jack-O’, so stay tuned for more!

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