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The lack of an English dub keeps this score lower than it should be. Then English voice acting for SIGN was quite good, and it's definitely a negative to not have this alternative set of voices. I only put this note here because of what I have read on a lot of forums as of late, but "player nostalgia" is not a good excuse for not properly localizing the audio for an audience. This lack of English will also hinder the game's ability to attract new players. In particular, not having Slayer's English voice is a sin (no pun intended). However, the new graphics effects are quite good and add some great polish to the visual experience. The new fight mechanics, such as the ability to overdrive with a burst and the blitz attacks, make for more interesting and complex fight situations. Tutorials and formerly Challenges, now called Combos, have seen some improvement in detail as well. Overall, there are both pros and cons to this newest Guilty Gear installment.

Let me just say first that I'm a huge fan of From Software's games. This game has a lot of positive things, the frame rate is incredible, graphics and lighting are a definite improvement, the game seems to perform very well in most aspects. This leads me to my major problem with this new release. The feel. This updated release of DS just feels clunky. In particular, character movement. One of the most important things to me when I play a game is how it feels, how responsive are the controls, how smooth is the movement. Unfortunately, the feel of this game is currently not good, not up to par. There is a strange dead zone in the movement when walking forward, and side to side movement is not smooth at all. It feels jerky at best. Moving from Bloodborne to this was pretty much intolerable. I am holding out hope that From will do something to at least make consistent character movement a reality in this remastered DSII, because as it stands currently, it feels like I'm trying to control a character who doesn't want to be controlled, which basically ruins the game's immersion. I look forward to updating this rating back to where it should be in the near future.

You will scream at your television, you will curse the game designers, you will sigh in frustration every time you're killed through a wall corner collision box. But if you are a true fan of From Software, you will come back begging for more. The game is beautiful, the environments and atmosphere are amazing. And most importantly, the game is incredibly difficult, leaving you the opportunity to stand up and shout in victory every time you take down a boss. No mercy for man-beasts.