Between matches of Guilty Gear Strive and playing dodgeball in Strive's online lobbies, players might notice a sign that says "fishing." They may even see players casting reels on the balcony of the ranked tower lobby or the pier in the unranked park lobbies. What's a fishing mini-game doing in a fighting game?
Fishing is how players unlock new optional content. Every time a player fishes, they have a chance of unlocking new music, artwork, or cosmetic items for their avatar. If they catch an item they already have, it's converted into a "rare fish," and getting 10 rare fish guarantees a new item next cast. No matter what kind of player someone is, there's something they'd want to fish for.
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But fishing isn't free. Each cast costs 200 world dollars, Guilty Gear Strive's in-game currency. Thankfully, earning world dollars is pretty easy.
Unfortunately, unlike previous titles in the Guilty Gear Xrd series, there's no reward for watching the cinematic story mode. It's still worth seeing, but it won't fill a player's in-game wallet. World dollars are earned by actually playing the game.
The most obvious way to earn world dollars is playing online. After each match, win or lose, a player earns XP for their character, boosting their character rank. There's no way to lose XP, and you earn it in both ranked and unranked matches, so players don't have to worry about their standing. Character rank is mostly for bragging rights, it doesn't actually change anything about the character, but each level up does give a player world dollars. Players only receive world dollars when they return to the main menu.
The main issues with this method is that it's somewhat slow and frustrating for new players. Thankfully there are faster routes to earn money in the single player modes.
The fastest method is to play through the trials in the "Dojo" menu. These serve as extra tutorials, teaching players individual mechanics and strategies. Completing a trial nets a player 200 world dollars.
The trials are split into 5 parts, each ranked by difficulty. The 1 star section has 16 trials and will give 3200 world dollars. The 2 and 3 star sections have 18 trials and will give 3600 world dollars each. The 4 star section has 37 trials, and will give 7400 world dollars. Finally, the 5 star section has 32 trials, and will give 6400 world dollars. All together, a player can earn 20600 world dollars this way.
The second fastest method is arcade mode. Each time a player clears a character's arcade mode run for the first time, they earn 2000 world dollars. It does not matter how well or poorly they did. Repeat arcade runs with the same character will not yield any rewards.
There are 15 characters so far, so it's currently only possible to earn 30000 world here, but that number will rise as DLC characters arrive.
One could argue that Arc System Works should have made these unlocks available from the start. But the fishing system gives players a quick sense of reward for playing, even if they aren't doing well, and it encourages them to try more of Guilty Gear Strive's unique cast.
Guilty Gear Strive is now available for PC, PS4, and PS5.
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