Guilty Gear Xrd was developed using Unreal Engine 3, with cel-shaded graphics in place of the series traditional hand drawn sprites.

The game has been praised for its cel-shaded graphics and approachable gameplay, but criticized for its non-interactive story mode and smaller roster of characters.

A sequel follow-up,[c] titled Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator, was released on consoles in May 2016 in Japan and June 2016 elsewhere as the 6th main installment.

Later in Revelator/REV2, the storyline now focuses on Elphelt Valentine and Jack-O's arc since the final chapter of Sign's story mode on console version.

Sol Badguy, Ky Kiske, Millia Rage, May, Chipp Zanuff, Potemkin, Venom, Axl Low, I-No, Faust, Slayer, and Zato-1 return from previous installments, while one new character, Bedman, has been added.

[20] The sequel, Revelator, made balance changes[21] and added Johnny, who was non-playable in -SIGN-'s story mode, and a new female character named Jack-O' Valentine.

[4][6] Along with returning Jam Kuradoberi as a playable character,[22] Revelator also gives Sign's newcomer Elphelt a darker look for story purposes.

[26] Baiken, on the other hand, returned as playable in an updated version of Revelator, titled Rev 2, followed by a new character who is a chief officer of Chipp Zanuff, Answer.

[28] The deciding factors that led to the initial roster involved the gameplay variety each character added, their role in the story,[29] popularity and balance.

[29] The use of extensive 3D cutaways, which game artist Junya Christopher Motomura said gave "a more dramatic perspective",[31] were added to characters' special moves to showcase their work.

[35] The announcement was well-received, and allowed Arc System Works to develop Dragon Ball FighterZ and other third-party-based fighting games, including its sequel Guilty Gear Strive in the same style while upgrading it to Unreal Engine 4.

[27] In order to ensure stylistic continuity, they used methods uncommon in 3D rendering to keep the artist's intentions and give the impression that it was hand-drawn.

The artists deliberately cut frames to keep the feel of standard animation (similar to the sprites used for previous Guilty Gear games), and encountered issues with Unreal Engine's handling of the Cartesian X, Y, and Z axes, which could not allow modification of a single axis.

[49] An updated sequel to Sign called Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator was announced for the third quarter of 2015 for release on arcades,[6] starting at a test location in June.

[69] Geoffrey Thew of Hardcore Gamer elected it the third best game of 2014, commenting that "The characters are as vibrant and wonderful as we've come to expect from the company, and the new graphics are beyond gorgeous ... but it's the fighting mechanics that really steal the show.

[62] Cavalli commented Guilty Gear Xrd Sign's "biggest flaw, however, is that it offers players a vibrant world in which they have relatively little to do.

"[64] James Kozanitis of Hardcore Gamer called the story mode the game's Achilles heel,[63] while Ben Moore of GameTrailers bemoaned, "It's so full of cliches and caricatures that it's difficult to sit through.

"[63] The matchmaking lobbies were highly criticized;[2] Cavalli wrote it "feels like a relic from 2005" for it: "It's a total crapshoot, and the game's weak, pre-set communication options don't make things any easier.

"[64] Mike Williams of USGamer said it "feels like a step backwards" and asserted that "it's a shame, because with a better online system, Guilty Gear Xrd could've been the best of the best.

Had [Guilty Gear Xrd Sign] been released 10 years ago, its shortfalls could have been ignored in the face of tight gameplay mechanics and lovely graphics, but in 2014 the game just seems antiquated.

"[64] However, in overall critics were favorable on their conclusions; it has been described as "the installment fans have been waiting for" by Kozanitis,[63] and "a triumphant, long-awaited return for this venerable fighting game franchise" by Husky.

[81] On April 14, 2014, Arc System Works released an extended play containing the arcade opening and ending themes, "Heavy Day" and "Lily", both in regular and karaoke versions.