Game:

Guilty Gear -STRIVE- (2021)

Duration: 35:05

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Season one of Strive ends with a surprising returning character! Testament was once raised as the adopted child of Kliff, Sol's mentor, before eventually being experimented on and turned into a Gear. While once under the control of others to orchestrate Justice's return, Testament returned to their senses and became the caretaker for Dizzy, Sol's daughter (and Ky's wife!) before eventually disappearing from the series...until now!

In past games, Testament was more of a trap-based fighter. They would create a variety of traps, ranging from invisible webs in the air, or summoning demonic trees. Their crow familiar could hound foes independently of Testament, and on top of that Testament had another familiar they could launch from their scythe to lock foes down. Adding to that, Testament had great normal attacks with ridiculous range and utility, including moves that granted full invincibility and could be quite deceptive (their standing Dust, despite being an overhead move, looks like a low-attack for one). When the dust settled, Testament was considered the best fighter in XX Accent Core +R, and to this day fans dread fighting them...but Strive Testament is a different beast entirely.

Pretty much completely redesigned (both physically and in gameplay), Testament is still a "tricky" character....despite the game labeling them as "balanced." Their attacks often have great range but can be very slow, and they require a lot of set up to do their crazier abilities. Grave Reaper is a hugely important move to their arsenal; the projectile leaves a succubus behind that allows Testament to either teleport to it, or send their crow familiar towards it. The crow can inflict Stain State on opponents, which adds an extra hit to any of Testament's normal moves once. So you tap them, Stain State "pops" and you get either increased pressure from your attacks while the opponent blocks, or a free combo extender. Adding to that, Testament's Arbiter Sign can hit either high or low, but it requires opponents to be in the right range to even hit. Their flashy cinematic super, Nostrovia, has both succubi attack independently of Testament and ALSO applies Stain State, though Calamity One is my super of choice for having good range, damage and being invincible at the start. They're a tricky character for sure, so let's see how this goes!

Set 1: 12 Dimensional Flux Observatory
Testament (me) vs. Millia (Prowler_LP)

This has to be one of the weirdest Millia players I've ever seen; they were VERY passive and ran away so often they kept getting Negative Penalties...they still beat me good though. She's speedy enough to get past my slower moves and once she's close it's hard to get her off of me. (Proud of myself for doing a Purple Roman Cancel to avoid eating a super though!)

Set 2: Ajatar Hunting Ground
Testament (Soul) vs. Testament (me)

I have to say, I'm a fan of ALL of Testament's colors for the most part. They look fabulous in about anything really. Good thing to note here is that Nostrovia does NOT make you invincible at start up and can be intercepted. Gotta get better at comboing into Arbiter Sign though.

Set 3: Lars Canyon
Goldlewis (Noseman) vs. Testament (me)

Went over to the Park for some non-ranked matches and got matched with a Goldlewis that seems...pretty good. Goldlewis is a weird character; if he gets a hit in, he can keep that going and do CRAZY amounts of damage whether you block or not, but he can struggle to get in against certain characters. I feel like Testament might be a bad matchup for him...you know, if said Testament knows what they're doing (I do not). Cool to see the RC drifting Behemoth Typhoons in-person though!

Set 4: White House Reborn
Baiken (Zayne) vs. Testament (me)

Hey, the new stage! For once! Little surprised this wasn't in base-game seeing how so much of the story mode featured it. We see Daryl and President Vernon in the background so...deconfirmed as possible DLC?! Who knows. Oh yeah, and here we see a Baiken absolutely destroying me. After fighting a slow guy like Goldlewis, Baiken is ZOOMING in comparison.

Set 5: Council of Three
Zato-1 (Zatoes) vs. Testament (me)

Always neat to fight Zato. He's SUCH a weird match-up to re-learn with everyone. Anti-airing him is hard, but he's also decently squishy so any hits I land add up fast.

Set 6: Lap of the Kami
Faust (Crow) vs. Testament (me)

The OTHER new stage! Faust is also a fun fight most of the time. He's the only other character with a teleport, though Testament's is a lot faster. Once I started using that more (alongside aerial Greave Reaper) things started turning around for me.

Overall, Testament's neat but doesn't QUITE gel with me. They're a bit slow and require proper spacing which is a bit tough. They're ranked 4/5 stars for ease-of-use but I don't quite see it. And as far as being "balanced" goes they seem too weird to fit that. They're a zoner at any rate. Can't wait for season two! Bring Bridget home, ArcSys c'mon!

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