Every fighting game needs to use Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R's new feature that allows players to control characters inside of replays
This could be a real game-changer
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R saw a big revival last year when the game got updated to use GGPO rollback netcode on PC, and the title is even better now with the implementation of a fairly monumental feature.
Team French CaliBurst has released a new beta build for Plus R that adds in a number of awesome options to Training mode and replays with the most head-turning being the ability to take control of characters during a replay at any time.
This new addition could change the way fighting game players lab specific setups and learn proper punishes and is something that every developer needs to take a look at because it's just that impactful to progressing overall.
By simply opening the pause menu in a replay for additional functions, players can choose to take control of either fighter at the exact moment that the match is at and continue to play until it is paused again.
Pausing it from the control feature brings players back to the exact frame that they started at, so they can jump right back in and try something different ad nauseum until they feel they've figured out the situation as much as they want.
What was the optimal punish here? Could I have escaped this setup? How do I block this mixup?
All of those answers and anything else your imagination can come up with are always just a few button presses away without the need to load up training mode and setup the specific situation yourself.
Click image to see replay control feature in action
Tekken 7 introduced something of a similar feature where the game tells you punishes and opportunities missed in a replay, but actually getting to control not just your character but your opponent as well is next-level tech that would benefit any and every fighting game out there.
On top of that, the developers also made replays a lot better in general with the ability to show inputs and take the playback frame by frame to get to the exact moment you'd want to test further.
The game didn't even have replays before getting the rollback update.
Training mode was also greatly improved in the beta update as well which now allows players to record multiple slots, rotate / randomize their playback, and do much more in general.
Longtime fighting game fans turned into developers continue to have a knack for adding in features they've wanted in the genre for years and continue to innovate beyond where many of the biggest creators in the space are now.
Team French CaliBurst is showing the way to a hopefully exciting future where directly controlling replays could be the norm by showing the possibilities this move opens up.
Features like this are great to keep players engaged, learning and improving, and after trying it for myself, it feels like there's no going back to simply just pausing and rewinding replays.
If they weren't doing so already, other fighting game developers need to keep a close eye on what Arc System Works and Team French CaliBurst are doing because this is the type of additions that can push the genre forward.
To access these new features, players must open the Properties tab for Accent Core on Steam and opt into the GGPO beta branch.
Full patch notes for the beta update can be found here.
