Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first hour of Guilty Gear XX Slash can feel like stepping into a room where everyone else already knows the language. It is a direct-control, side-view fighter built on the Guilty Gear XX framework, and its appeal is not instant simplicity. You pick a character, start trading attacks, and quickly realize that the game wants more from you than basic reactions. That challenge is exactly why it can be so compelling.

Slash earns its name as an update rather than a reinvention. The substantial draw is in the balance adjustments and the Force Roman Cancel system, a new kind of cancel that gives committed players more room to rethink their offense and recover momentum. That is the sort of addition that starts small, then changes how you evaluate familiar situations. If you already spent time with #Reload, you have a concrete reason to return rather than treating this as a minor roster refresh.

A.B.A and Order Sol are meaningful additions because fighting-game rosters live or die on the reasons they give you to keep experimenting. Two new choices will not transform the entire game for everyone, but they add fresh matchups and another route into its deep competitive loop. Frustration can set in if you want a fighter that gives up its answers immediately; Slash is more satisfying when you accept that improvement comes through repetition, timing, and learning what the revised system lets you do.

Graphics

The game keeps Guilty Gear’s anime and manga flavor in a side-view fighting format. Battles put the focus on the characters and their confrontations, while the fixed fighting-game viewpoint keeps the action centered on spacing and exchanges instead of camera tricks.

Story

Slash is a continuation of Guilty Gear XX, following #Reload, so it carries the feel of a series entry meant for people who already have some investment in this corner of the franchise. Its headline changes are mechanical and roster-focused, which puts the dramatic emphasis on returning to the Guilty Gear world rather than starting from a clean slate.

The two additions also connect Slash to the broader series history. A.B.A had previously appeared in Guilty Gear Isuka, while Order Sol arrives here as a new character. That makes the roster feel less like a random expansion and more like another step in an ongoing fighting-game lineage.

If continuity matters to you, Slash makes the most sense as part of that progression: Guilty Gear XX, #Reload, then this carefully adjusted follow-up. The story value is in that sense of return and accumulation, not in pretending this update has discarded what came before.

Overall Experience

Guilty Gear XX Slash is a strong recommendation for the player who enjoys a fighter becoming richer as they learn it. Its revisions, added characters, and Force Roman Cancel system give the game a clear competitive purpose. You are not here for a broad reset; you are here because details matter, and because the right adjustment can make an old matchup feel new again.

That narrow focus is also the dividing line. If you want to pick up a fighting game for a few relaxed rounds without much appetite for system study, Slash may feel demanding before it feels welcoming. But if the thought of revisiting your habits, testing a new character, and uncovering fresh options in familiar combat sounds fun, the payoff is absolutely worth the effort.

For a later stop in the same branch of the series, Guilty Gear XX Λ Core is a useful follow-up. Slash stands on its own as a particularly focused snapshot of Guilty Gear XX’s evolution: not a casual detour, but a revision built for gamers who enjoy finding depth in the fine print.

Retro Replay Score

8/10