Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R Review

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R (1)

It was just a little over a month ago that Tech-Gaming’s number one reviewing tag team reunited to critique the Xbox LIVE and PSN release of Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core Plus. In that review, I said “Accent Core Plus has enough offline modes to justify the price of admission without ever setting foot online.” At the time, it was intended to be a light-hearted assessment of the game’s single player offerings. I didn’t think it would be a scenario that PS Vita owners would actually have to face when the game hit the platform. Maybe it would be best if I start with the good news.

The original Accent Core Plus was a beast as far as content is concerned and Plus R is no different. In addition to Plus R‘s under-the-hood tweaks, almost everything from ACP returns for a second (at the very least) tour of duty. The roster is, quite literally, Jam-packed with twenty-five off-the-wall fighters. This time, two characters that were unlockable in vanilla ACP, Kliff and Justice, are available from the get-go. Being the portable game that it is, Plus R delivers a healthy line-up of offline modes for on-the-go gaming. Arcade, Medal Of Millionaire, Story, Survival, Team Battle, Versus, and more provide a decent amount of replayability, which is a good thing since a genre main-stay is M.I.A.

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R (2)

The online multiplayer mode has been completely stripped out of the Vita version. If you don’t have a buddy with a copy of the game sitting right next to you, the only opponents you’ll be facing have artificial brains. While GGXX:ACP‘s net-code was not without its faults, the lack of online multiplayer of any sort is bound to be an unforgivable omission to most. With every traditional fighting game on the Vita offering up online play, it’s hard not to view Plus R as anything other than the bottom of the totem pole.

Performance-wise, Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core Plus R does a respectable job on the Vita. Though, if I may be so blunt, a 2-D game with a 4:3 gameplay aspect ratio better run well on the Vita. Fights are as chaotic as ever, with no apparent sign of slow-down. Character sprites benefit from the smaller screen, resulting in a cleaner overall look. There was one thing I did, however, come across. During the Arcade mode boss fight against I-No, I noticed a split-second skip in the character animation of Dizzy while I was backing away from a special move. It was like a single frame of her retreating animation was skipped. I tried to recreate the issue, but did not encounter it again. While this was most-likely a graphical anomaly, and a small one, at that, I felt it was worth mentioning since I did notice it.

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R (4)

Save for maybe a pizza grease-stained arcade cabinet, fighting games are best played on home consoles. Through the magic of the Internet, players from all over the globe can beat the tar out of each other for bragging rights. It’s how the vast majority of the fighting game community operates now. Portables haven’t been big platforms for the genre because most of the games released were offline-only, and those that did have online play weren’t anything to write home about. That changed with the current generation of portables. Both, the PS Vita and the Nintendo 3DS, had fighting games with online multiplayer at launch. Great ones, as a matter of fact. Furthermore, the Vita has games that support Cross-Play; online fights against PlayStation 3 players. The walls that stood between console players and portable players for years have been torn down. The standard for fighting games on portables has been redefined to include online modes, making titles like Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core Plus R that lack the feature, low-priority releases.

It’s not that Plus R is a bad game, it just ranks below everything that’s already out there on the Vita. Arc System Works cut the most important corner possible, and in doing so, they plowed the R.M.S. Guilty Gear straight into an iceberg. Making Plus R an even harder sell at $14.99 is the fact that the Vita version of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift EXTEND, a superior game in practically every way, will be joining PlayStation Plus’ Instant Game Collection later this month. Unless you’re a hardcore fan jonesing to play Guilty Gear on the crapper at work, your money’s better spent on the PSN/XBLA version of Accent Core Plus, especially if it gets updated with the Plus R enhancements.

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R (3)

It was just a little over a month ago that Tech-Gaming's number one reviewing tag team reunited to critique the Xbox LIVE and PSN release of Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core Plus. In that review, I said "Accent Core Plus has enough offline modes to justify the price of admission without ever setting foot online." At the time, it was intended to be a light-hearted assessment of the game's single player offerings. I didn't think it would be a scenario that PS Vita owners would actually have to face when the game hit the platform. Maybe it would be best…

Review Overview

Gameplay - 75%
Story - 70%
Aesthetics - 65%
Content - 75%
Accessibility - 65%

70%

OK

Summary : In a genre that's already heavily saturated on the Vita, Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core Plus R fails to differentiate itself in a positive manner. The lack of online play, in conjunction with the $14.99 price-point and 4:3 visuals, dooms this release to obscurity.

User Rating: 2.32 ( 4 votes)

About Eric Blue

Often referred to by his nickname "Blue", the upbeat Eric 'BlueSwim' joined Tech-Gaming as its fighting game, pro-wrestling, and Sailor Moon expert in 2011. Although his heart belongs to the classics of yesteryear, this jack-of-all-trades gamer doesn't shy away from playing the modern-day greats as well.

26 comments

  1. Shame about the online play. Seems lazy that they couldn’t get it going.

  2. Good review “Fighting Game Expert” Moon.

    What fighters are you most looking forward to? BTW- You guys didn’t cover Darkstarkers Resurrection?

    • Thank you! ^_^

      Q #1: The two I’m looking forward to hearing more about are BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma and DOA5: Ultimate. BB hasn’t been announced for any other platform besides the PS3, so I’m hoping that changes to include the 360 and/or Vita.

      As for DOA5:U, I’m curious to see if Team NINJA goes the extra mile and includes all of the DLC. To me, it won’t be the “ultimate” DOA5 if they don’t. Also, I’d like to see them offer the Ultimate content as DLC for the Vita version since they announced DOA5:U a matter of weeks after it launched. Bad form, in my opinion.

      Q #2: It was the one-two punch of not getting a code and none of us picking it up (to my knowledge). I already have the PSP DarkStalkers game, so I didn’t feel the urge to pick up Resurrection.

  3. Man, I didn’t even know this game out. Who publishing this? Aksys?!?

  4. Maybe at $9.99, but $14.99 is too much for on online play.

    PS+ free is even better.

  5. “R.M.S. Guilty Gear straight into an iceberg.”

    And I expect a game with no online MP to sink like the Titanic.

  6. Good review, Blue.

    Man, the site is looking better and better every day. I like the author bio and the user score thingy.

  7. I don’t play online, unless I want an ass-kicking to remind me of how bad I suck at fighting games.

  8. Eric is your last name really “Blue”?

  9. Thats one crazy ass title.

  10. Why not a two person review this time out? Those are always my favorites.

  11. Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign-, a brand-new GG, has been announced. The gameplay is 2-D, but the character models are polygonal. Game runs on the Unreal Engine. Daisuke Ishiwatari is directing, as well as composing. Confirmed characters so far are Sol, Ky, Millia, and Eddie. Here is the, pardon my French, BAD-FUCKING-ASS trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKGPhKu3jNg

  12. FYI- BlazBlue for Vita is free for PS+ subscribers. A much better fighter than GGXA+R IMO.