If you are new to fighting games or want to dabble with a fighting game this is a good game and I would recommend it if you are strictly wanting to fight people online. The execution barrier is really low so its easy to pick up most of the cast.

However, I am still going to give this game a thumbs down due to me having constantly mixed feelings. I constantly go back and forth to really liking and really hating this game. I have to use a fan made patch several months after release to connect in a REASONABLE amount of time. I know if 2 minutes have passed and I havent found a match, it probably means I must go to the main menu to “reconnect again”. This horse has been beaten into a pulp, decomposed, and fossilized at this point but the matchmaking/online lobby system is SO. DAMN. BAD!

The ranked system in this game is very poor. I am not sure if they were not aware of this many people continuing to play the game, but it seems so top heavy. Celestial is a joke, and most players can brute force their way there or dodge matchups. This may sound like a conceited or stuck up opinion but getting quality, high level matches in the game is honestly 1 out of 5 games in this toppest tier of ranked. Like, I want to play against players of my skill and rofl stomping most players is boring. In Street Fighter I could actually see differences in tiers. It isnt perfect, but you can at least see somewhere where you belong until you really get up there. I feel in Strive Celestial will be low Gold to Warlord in SFV terms. The skill range is so broad and yes I am serious. They add ranked rewards but they are just “Oh you grinded a ton of games and got the most wins, here you can get a glowing name”. Thats cool and all, but its more of an indication of how much time you spent on the game (similar to levels). I must admit this does increase the amount I play. It makes it easy to play ranked considering there are virtually 0 consequences to losing (or really trying). I would also like to see my win loss, Yeah it stings and is ♥♥♥♥♥♥ to know you have won 10 games and lost 900. But it would be handy to know I lose the most to X or I do best against Y.

I could go into a plethora of things I don't like about the game's mechanics but I will keep it simple.

-RCs end up primarily being “oops” buttons (covering for when you whiff a button or throw), combo extensions, or just a mixup similar to sweep V-Trigger in SFV. People thought BRCs would expand the games skill ceiling but there are few practical applications on risking a BRC compared to saving it for a combo or something else. YRC is very subpar choice
-Combo’s are very limited besides Sol (I say sol since he can actually convert into damage in most scenarios where other characters get 2 or 3 button combos sol at least gets like 4), but even then if you are doing dust loops you are doing it wrong, you definitely need toend things with HVV so it revolves around that. You can learn highly effective and simple combos very fast and optimization is relatively easy.
-The wall is an interesting idea, but just the way it is feels ♥♥♥♥♥♥ for everyone involved.
-6P being a low commitment, high reward button. I think it's fine as an anti air, but the fact it catches nearly half of the casts buttons. It's just goofy that throwing out 6P while pressured or if someone is running up to you is a solid option.
- Jump back being so good. Yes, we can go on about you gaining screen space, chasing with an air throw etc etc I get it but still. Jumping around is very good even with the penalties in the game (landing recovery).

It feels quite bad to lose in this game. It is not uncommon to die from 2 openings in this game. This isn’t a balance whine, this is a blatant choice Team Red wanted to do with this game which I do not like (maybe you do and that's perfectly fine!). Getting hit in the corner against May, Ram, Nago, Sol, Goldlewis, I mean honestly 80% of the cast is going to take away 60% of your HP at minimum with May and Ram being privileged with burst safe combos. They don’t even have to change anything, they just play normally and it ends up being very burst safe.

Single player is irrelevant like 99% of fighting games. This one is especially weak (Survival, Arcade. Thats it)

Story mode is story mode. You like it or you don’t, it is just a movie.

I am still going to play this game regardless of the things I said. I do find fun in it and competing in it is fun as well. But I would be absolutely lying if I said I didn't have very serious issues with it that I don't see many other people bringing up. I had high hopes of a fighting game that I could really commit time to and learn. I like being masterful in a game (if that’s even a phrase?) and I feel it's very easy to unlock a character's potential in this game very fast. I feel as if I can play my character to 90% efficiency all the time with very little room to improve. However, in a game like +R I have several hours in it and feel like I can't play my character to even 40% of their potential.

I hope time treats this game well with DLC, system changes, updates to lobby and connections (HA), because I would love to see it improve. But as it is now it is a very OKAY fighting game with god tier netcode that allows it to be binged played very well, but as a VIDEO GAME to a consumer for 60 dollars this game leaves a lot to be desired for someone who is not a fighting game fan. I will change my recommendation if they add some healthy, fresh system changes to change the games (already) stagnant gameplay (IN MY OPINION*, this is a review by the way. Not a fact. You are more than welcome to enjoy the game :) ).