Guilty Gear Strive: How to challenge extreme final boss Nagoriyuki in Arcade

Guilty Gear Strive might feature a slim number of offline game modes, but there’s a reason to keep replaying Arcade outside of sheer fun.

The Arcade mode adjusts difficulty on the fly depending if you drop rounds during matches, with every run ending in an encounter with vampire samurai Nagoriyuki.

After beating Arcade, you might be wondering who the ‘powerful boss at the end’ is as noted in the gold trophy Messiah Will Not Come. Here’s what you need to know about getting to the real, true final boss for Guilty Gear Strive.

• Read more: Guilty Gear Strive review: A new fighting game king

How to challenge extreme Nagoriyuki and unlock the Messiah Will Not Come trophy

There's a secret Stage 9 to beat (Picture: Bandai Namco) 

To reach the final boss, you first have to reach Nagoriyuki on extreme difficulty. This is no easy task in itself, requiring you to not lose one round throughout the seven stages beforehand.

If successful, when you challenge Nagoriyuki in Stage 8 you’ll be fighting the samurai alone — without a partner character like on other difficulties. He’s also especially aggressive and powerful compared to before. Watch out when he switches to blood mode as his overdrive attacks can clean you out in one sweep.

However, this isn’t the final boss. You’ll have to beat Stage 8 Nagoriyuki without losing a round to unlock a secret Stage 9 Nagoriyuki.

This time around he has unlimited blood gauge, so he’ll have his most powerful attacks at his disposal at all times. You do have unlimited tries at beating him though at least, it just might take some perseverance.

By beating Stage 9 Nagoriyuki, you’ll unlock the gold trophy Messiah Will Not Come, along with a new dialogue scene between your character and the vampire boss. 

Guilty Gear Strive is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC.