The following page is an overview of A.B.A's gameplay in the Guilty Gear series. She is a playable character in Guilty Gear Isuka, several iterations of Guilty Gear XX, and Guilty Gear -Strive-.
Overview[]
Guilty Gear XX[]
A.B.A. is initially a very slow character (she has no run, only a dash) with high defense and decent damage ability. Standard attacks have poor range and combo-ability, but this can be offset by the use of her follow-up sequence of Deletion → Ruin → Condemnation, which has good range and damage, and her projectile Avoidance, which has very little recovery time and can lead into the aforementioned sequence if the projectile hits at its farthest. Both of these can be Force Roman Canceled to recover faster, at which point it is a great idea to use her transformation command throw Bonding.
The benchmark of A.B.A.'s gameplay is Sacrifice Mode (諸刃モード, Moroha Mōdo?), also called Double-Edged Mode[1] or Moroha Mode,[2] a stance which she must enter by using either successfully hitting the opponent with Bonding or by using one of her blood transfusion packets via Injecting.[3] (EX A.B.A is permanently in this state.) During this state, A.B.A's speed and attack power increase, but A.B.A herself takes damage in return each time she hits an opponent.[1]
The mode also improves her Normal Attacks while altering her moveset options: she gains access to Blunder, Engorgement, Eradication, Judgment (SA and FB versions), the Evidence: Destruction (Arrival) follow-up, and a power-up move in Altercation that further improves this state into "Goku Moroha Mode". Self-damage is set to 50% in Moroha Mode and 85% in Goku Moroha Mode, but this scales to A.B.A defense modifier and guts, so it is never fixed.[3]
Coupled with a constantly depleting unique meter,[3] it lasts for a total of 80 seconds, but each attack that connects shreds a small chunk off the timer. At any point, A.B.A can use Bonding (on hit only) or Displacement (ie. 'Injecting' in Normal) to switch back to her default stance, regaining some of the life lost due to Sacrifice Mode. She doesn't regain any life if she automatically returns to Normal Mode due to its time limit.[1]
Despite the double-edged nature, it is recommended that the player should transform immediately either via Bonding in a combo or simply using a blood pack. Due to health drain, one must learn to maintain long combos, or a strong smart offense, or both, to take advante of the short-lasting Sacrifice Mode. It is possible to land two "Bonding" finisher combos in a row to switch safely between modes.
Guilty Gear -Strive-[]
Details[]
Trivia[]
- When in Sacrifice Mode in Guilty Gear Isuka, A.B.A appears to be laughing maniacally, but starting in Guilty Gear XX Slash, she appears to be exhausted.
- One of her Arcade Mode cutscenes in Strive has Testament call love a double-edged sword, specifically using the word "moroha" in Japanese and likely alluding to A.B.A's prior mechanic.
References[]