#the fact that crossover WORKS if you tweak the timelines slightly

[lattehearted]

I think the duality of weird crossover ships I've written in my decade plus of rp-ing is like. D.rizella T.remaine and P.itch B.lack, sure but also like. H.odel from F.iddler and J.ack K.elly from N.ewsies

[gear-project]

I think we all know how out of hand, toxic, and taken too seriously vs debates can be. Still though, what metrics do YOU take into account when saying X character/franchise could beat Y character/franchise? Given these fights are fiction is it boring to overanalyze when all it comes to hand waving?

Since Guilty Gear characters are typically superpowered or even "overpowered", my metrics typically center mainly in the realm of Guilty Gear's own Universe, that is to say, it's "based on the real world, albeit slightly tweaked".

GG itself in terms of timeline/events is literally an alternate reality compared to this one to begin with, but is still based in a lot of ways on this world, so in that sense it is very much grounded in real world applicability, even if the end result has unrealistic characters.

Still, the "lore" of GG, is give-or-take an expansion on what already exists as lore in this world as well... fairy tales, urban legends, mythology, ghost stories, hidden history, that sort of thing is still viable to an extent.

When talking about "other worlds", you first have to know the rules by which these other worlds even operate.  For example, BlazBlue's world is set in multiple timelines of possible events, so it's "easy" for other events to intervene in BlazBlue's world.  This makes BlazBlue a realm that is "easy" to crossover with other realms.

Mortal Kombat is similar to BlazBlue in that respect, because of the nature of Outworld.

With Guilty Gear, the opposite is more true, because of the way Timelines cannot be intervened upon without damaging the current timeline.  So by that logic, it's much harder for other universes to intervene on a world like Guilty Gear's.

In that sense, Guilty Gear is more akin to the Fate/Stay Night series, in that while there might be different timelines and events, none of those can intervene with one another... but that doesn't mean such events don't occur, just that they almost never do (like with Melty Blood or Garden of Sinners).

You could also say that Guilty Gear is a "fixed timeline" as a result, meaning that certain key events will always happen in a certain order... or happen in a certain specific period or setting.... much like the Samurai Shodown series.  In Samurai Shodown, everything is laid out in a specific period or event, certain things occur and certain historical individuals are involved.

That's pretty much how events take place.

Now, while you could say that Samurai Shodown is connected with other games like Last Blade and King of Fighters/Fatal Fury, it's more accurate to say that those games are connected to SamSho, and not the other way around.

A more accurate way to phrase this: some games are one-way references, while other games are self-referential, meaning they reference nothing except the content they are known for, unless a crossover is made possible.

Some games are crossover friendly, like Tekken 7, while others are not, like The Witcher Series.

Even if a character from the Witcher appears in Soul Calibur VI, that does not mean a Soul Calibur character will appear in the Witcher (in fact the latter is even less likely to happen due to author ownership rights).

And while that makes crossover fans sad, that is just a sad truth that needs to be accepted.

Some creative works are in a "state" where the author does NOT want them tampered with, and treated as an isolated work.

In a sense, Guilty Gear has been this for much of its tenure... and with good reason, since much of the work is very much referential to Music content as its source of inspiration.

Rather than say Guilty Gear is "crossover friendly" in terms of other games/characters, it is "crossover friendly" in terms of Music and Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Thrash, etc...

So in summary, Peanut Butter and Jelly don't always make a good sandwich, and Chocolate doesn't always go with Peanut Butter, but in some cases it still can.  I recommend some Milk to reduce the thick aftertaste (i.e. broaden your taste as much as you can for other possibilities if not all are viable).

Also, Power Levels are NOT a static concept, as character development is a real thing, just as fighting in an organic transforming/evolving fighting style is a real thing.  Some of the most creative character writing/design will reflect this.

And by that respect, fighting games are NOT a perfect platform to portray battles based in reality.

What IS "real" is the creative effort put in to each and every work, which should be respected for their own individual merits, not just in crossovers, but as their own individual works, written, programmed, or otherwise.