Guilty Gear is praised for many things, particularly its unique storytelling and the incredible cast of fighters that bring the game’s exhilarating combat to life. However, what often flies under the radar are the stages in which the battles occur.
There are twelve stages in Guilty Gear Strive, all of which offer great environmental storytelling for the character it represents. While none of them provide anything different aside from aesthetics, each of the twelve arenas offers its own atmosphere that can impact the battle. The large majority of stages in Strive are incredible, but a few in the rotation pale drastically in comparison to the others.
12 Lars Canyon
While not necessarily a terrible stage, Lars Canyon is a bit plain compared to every other arena in Guilty Gear Strive. This large desert map has surprising pops of color sprinkled throughout with its blue crystals and flowing river raging through a ravine in the background. The towering skeletons with enormous swords pierced through their chests is also an undeniably awesome scene that helps the stage out a lot.
Still, the overall structure of Lars Canyon fails to surpass the others in the game, even despite its incredible environmental storytelling. However, as said before, that doesn’t make it a terrible stage by any stretch of the imagination. The competition is just fierce as Strive has some genuinely fantastic stages, especially when including the newly added DLC ones.
11 Seventh Heaven District
The Seventh Heaven District arena should be at the top of the list due to its engaging environmental storytelling but ultimately suffers the same fate as Lars Canyon. In this stage, you are battling above the clouds on an enormous metal structure with massive statues zipping by in the background.
While this premise would typically be enough to carry a stage far into the standings, the color palette can often be bland and drab-looking. However, we must give credit where credit is due and praise the spectacular lighting from the sun that peers through the clouds every once in a while, making for stunning scenery.
10 12-Dimensional Flux Observatory
What makes the 12-Dimensional Flux Observatory stage feel unique is the isolated, secretive, and dangerous atmosphere expertly presented in its background. This arena has squads of soldiers guarding several areas and has a towering mecha-scorpion patrolling through the harsh snowy fields. This frozen forest has fascinating things to spot if you pay attention, which helps sell its top-secret military base angle well.
This stage has excellent attention to detail and gives off a vibe unlike any other location in the game. You feel like you shouldn’t be here, that you snuck into a secret military base and decided to throw down with someone that caught you infiltrating, making it a unique feeling for a fighting game stage.
9 “A Happy Family”
We feel the quotation marks in the stage’s name, “A Happy Family,” help sell just how weird and haunting this arena is. This stage is one of the most bizarre in the game. It features boxed houses in the background that have silhouettes of, presumably, “happy families” soaring through the sky on the outside window with only glimpses of the furnishings of the inside.
While the vibe of this stage is undoubtedly creepy, and the eerie atmosphere helps drive that feeling home, it remains one of our favorite maps because of that exact reason. Furthermore, the oversized birdhouses found via wall breaks are also eyebrow-raising and equally haunting as the default area. There’s no denying this map is bizarre, but that’s why we adore it.
8 Original Times Square
Crowds of pedestrians going about their daily lives, exciting things to find throughout the environment, and tall statues erected in the square make Original Times Square feel like a lived-in place and one of the best stages in Guilty Gear Strive. The atmosphere alone in this arena pulls you in from the jump, making for a solid experience each time you visit this stage.
Not only is the default section of Original Times Square great, but the other parts of the stage offer even better glimpses of the city and the civilians living within it. There’s the Polar Star Coffee shop, which shows people getting together for a Cup of Joe, and a large bridge that showcases the enormous scale of the city. There’s no real downside to this stage. It checks every box without hesitation.
7 Council of Three
Albeit much less lively and far more creepy than Original Times Square, the Council of Three stage delivers on its atmosphere with very little, which is an achievement of its own. There are three tomb-like structures erected in the background, all of which contain shadowy figures of the Council; each is also color-coded, giving it an even more eerie look in addition to everything else.
For the most part, this stage is bare with not much going on. However, the Council of Three is environmental storytelling at its best, and the other areas of the arena are just as fascinating. You will find a town sinking into an ocean of blood and more tomb-like structures with entities emerging from them. No question, the Council of Three is one of the most visually intriguing arenas.
6 L’oro Di Illyria
L’oro Di Illyria is one of Guilty Gear Strive’s most striking stages in the entire game, featuring a lovely coastal town with salient buildings in the distance, civilians absorbing the sights and sounds, and a beautiful river with boats occasionally passing through. Overall, L’oro Di Illyria is the most peaceful feeling stage in the game and has a welcoming and warm vibe to it.
There’s nothing much else to add about L’oro Di Illyria. It’s breathtaking every single time you play a match on it and will never get old. Even its side areas are a breath of fresh air and help create what the townsfolk’s day-to-day lives might be like, which is always a lovely touch to maps like this. This stage is quite literally one of the best in the game. Period.
5 White House Reborn
With the starting area of the newly implemented White House Reborn stage being somewhat underwhelming, the other locations accessed by wall breaks are genuinely a sight to behold. And, in typical Guilty Gear fashion, the White House isn’t where you’d expect it. This time, it’s floating high above the clouds.
While the arena’s default location isn’t great, the real beauty of White House Reborn comes from setpieces in the other areas and the premise of it all. You get to see the president give a passionate speech to a packed audience, waiters delivering trays of food and beverages to the dining room, and even stumble into a packed East Room. While not the best map in Strive, it certainly is one of them.
4 Ajatar Hunting Ground
Who knew that ruins found deep within a dense forest could look so striking? Ajatar Hunting Ground stands tall as one of Guilty Gear Strive’s best stages, thanks to its phenomenal lighting, gorgeous backdrop, calm atmosphere, and rich environmental storytelling. Furthermore, this stage avoids the bland color palette some previous maps had and offers splashes of green, red, and blue that help everything pop better and stand out.
The destructive nature of Ajatar Hunting Ground naturally seems cold and dingy, but the lighting makes it seem hopeful and vibrant. If that wasn’t enough to sell you, then maybe the other sections of the arena will, with one having illuminated flowers by a riverbed deep in the forest that has light piercing through the leaves. Every inch of this stage is a visual treat to take in.
3 Jellyfish Skyarium
The Jellyfish Skyarium is the home of the Jellyfish Pirates and showcases enormous metal oceanic animals flying in the background. Additionally, you can even spot members of the Jellyfish Pirates going about their daily lives in the back, bringing the map to life and giving more context to what the group’s home base is actually like.
What makes the Jellyfish Skyarium great is that it captures May’s bubbly nature, the playable representative fighter of the Jellyfish Pirates, and applies it throughout the stage. Smashing players through the walls reveals more and more of the Skyarium, with each new area revealing incredible environments and scenery. This stage is always a joy to play on, no matter how many Totsugekis May launches at you.
2 Castle of the Silver Feet
The prettiest and most detailed stage in Guilty Gear Strive is the Castle of the Silver Feet, which has you at the entrance to an enormous castle fitted with oversized deer statues, a garden, and beautiful architecture. This arena is filled to the brim with color, life and has some of the best use of lighting. Everything just pops in this stage, highlighting how genuinely gorgeous it is.
Furthermore, breaking through the walls will show off more bits and pieces of the castle, and it is genuinely awe-striking. Fighting in front of this stunning castle is always a treat, making it one of Guilty Gear Strive’s best, most memorable stages. There’s never a dull moment when experiencing the exhilarating combat here.
1 Lap of the Kami
Castle of the Silver Feet was prone to be the best map in Guilty Gear Strive until the end of time. That is, however, until Lap of the Kami showed up as a DLC Stage to dethrone it. This stage is breathtaking from the moment you get dropped in and only gets better with each wall break. From spirit cyan foxes to beautiful Pagoda Towers and Torri Gates, Lap of the Kami showcases the stunning art in Strive to unreal levels.
And, if you thought the lighting present in Castle of the Silver Feet was good, then be prepared to be blown away by Lap of the Kami’s use of lighting. Especially in its later areas. The way the light pierces through the reddish-orange trees or shines through the opening of a Torri Gate is superb and brings a sense of awe and calm to the stage that really elevates it above the rest. Lap of the Kami is drop-dead stunning in every facet, and nothing else comes close.
NEXT: Guilty Gear Strive: How To Learn And Execute Long Combos
