Asuka R# in Guilty Gear Strive is the long-awaited debut of That Man

At long last, That Man will be a playable character in Guilty Gear: Strive. Since the story was first expanded upon in Guilty Gear X the franchise hinged its story on “That Man”, a mysterious figure that protagonist Sol Badguy seeks to exact his revenge upon. Flash forward 25 years after the series debut, and Asuka R# is joining the cast of Guilty Gear: Strive to bring the shadowy figure to the forefront.

First thing’s first, here’s the character debut trailer:

That Man’s true name is Asuka R. Kreutz and he played a major role in the story of Strive, but the trailer hints that something is afoot with this playable incarnation judging by his altered name and color palette. The true Asuka’s backstory is seeped in the nitty gritty of the esoteric magical elements of Guilty Gear’s lore, so just check out the Fandom Wiki’s entry on his background for all that info.

On the gameplay end of things pretty much every cut in the video shows a different magical ability being deployed. The accompanying Starter Guide video provides the details on his unique Mana meter and ability to shuffle decks of “spells” around to a level of complexity that makes Nine The Phantom blush. Take a look:

I wonder how popular this character will turn out to be given his demanding resource management on top of Strive’s frenetic gameplay. Hopefully we do at least get see some players produce results with his book of tricks, though I would dread being on the commentary microphone for those moments. Thank your local Dustloop Wiki editor today, they’re going to be very busy.

Releasing on May 25, Asuka R# is the final character on the Season 2 pass and easily the most complex character in the game. It’s no wonder the patch that would introduce him was delayed to get more polish in to make all of his wizardry work.

Guilty Gear Strive is available now on PC via Steam, PlayStation 4/5 and Xbox Series consoles.