Bandai Namco announced that Guilty Gear -STRIVE- would be starting its open beta on February 19th. And if you purchased the digital version of the game, you get access to it two days later on February 17th.

The open beta will run through February 21st and during the test, players will have access to 13 characters. However, Anji Moto and the 15th character will not be playable. Available modes include Versus, Tutorial, Training, and Network and you will also be able to play the single-player portion against the AI or play online matches against others.

In terms of good and bad news save data will not be carried over to the full game, though a PlayStation Plus subscription is not required in order to participate.

Most recently newcomer Giovanni and veteran fighter Anji Mito were revealed in the latest fighter trailer. Leo Whitefang and Nagoriyuki were also previously announced for the title. Two other trailers revealed Ramlethal Valentine as well as Millia Rage and Zato=1. So far we know that the previously announced characters are the protagonist Sol Badguy and Ky Kiske, Axl Low and May, and Chipp Zanuff and Potemkin.

During the stage event dedicated to Guilty Gear at Tokyo Game Show 2019, Daisuke Ishiwatari, the General Director, and Akira Katano explained how they particularly detailed the characters' facial animations and how it's basically "3D Sakuga." You can really see that with the tons of different expressions the characters emote during their attacks and supers. At that same event, they also mentioned that the stage change mechanic has actual gameplay mechanics embedded into it.

Ishiwatari stated how the new Guilty Gear game isn’t an "evolution of the series, nor a return to its roots," but instead a "complete rebuild of the franchise." Instead of adding or removing elements compared to the previous games, he described the development as completely breaking it down, picking up everything that made the series charming and unique, and rebuilding it with those components.

YouTuber WoolieVersus has done what many fans would (half-jokingly) consider a nigh impossible task: he has already begun to compile a full timeline of the often confusing story of Guilty Gear. In the first of a series of videos, WoolieVersus covers the start of the timeline until Guilty Gear: The Missing Link, the first game of the series