I think you'll like it. I knew Jedah would like it. A good way to describe what Guilty Gear is nowadays, is to take a game with an SNK-flavor (a ton of borrowed moves from SNK/Capcom fold, like a doujin game), and throw in a bit of Vampire Savior, to the mix. In a way, it's a lot like a marriage of SNK and Vampire Savior, but has weapons in it. Now, outside some background imagery, you wont get that much Samurai Shodown in it. The main reason why is that weapons and the way they interact, act like any other hit in the game. You don't get the feel of weapons clashing, in the way that Samurai Shodown does. Play any 2D Samurai Shodown again, and you'll see what I mean. That alone changes gameplay more than what it looks like on typewritten paper.
But skipping past that point. The game has grown (by XX) into a bit more of a mix, bringing in characters that broaden the game source material. For those who loved Capcom's Jo Jo's Bizzarre adventures, there's a character on the roster, just for you. Bridget, a poor boy raised as a girl due to issues of family royalty, comes packed with a very special yo-yo. Jo Jo players will instantly match the yo-yo as being a 'Stand' and it behaves precisely as such. It can be used to zone (the best and possibly most annoying "to opponent" use), attack, or be used in supers. Those familiar with Jo Jo's famous dark-skinned evil girl and her screen mines may note one use of such an item.
You have all the combos you want, air/ground, etc. But Guilty Gears from XX and up have rebalanced the system so that in order to do good damage with aerial raves, you need to make them GOOD. So those wanting to play the game with a Samurai Shodown style strategy (lower attacks, but find weaknesses to exploit good strong moves) can compete quite well with those wanting to go the combo route. Also added is Burst (which is usually a one time (get out of evil combo free) card). Use it, and you stop your opponent in their tracks. Take note, that the additions of that system already (for previous fans) see that combo kings (or queens, in this case) like Jam have a little more trouble now, doing what they used to. I like the new system, but I can see where some might not, particularly for certain characters that they only play one way. Dust moves, in Guilty Gear, are generally like Lifters in those Marvel vs. games. Slowed down, these days, so it takes more effort to use them in competition. Me, I don't worry about dusting, as it's a bit high-risk for my playstyle; and with the toning down of aerial rave damage, I've commited to a less combo crazy formula, to one that works between solid-hit and combo mechanics. Still can't quite shake the combo habit with Jam, though(which is my downfall).
Oh, and one other thing, most characters can air dash and even combo while they are doing the air dash. It looks kind of funny, at first, because they travel perfectly horizontal while doing combos, that way. It may remind you of some of those funky Jet Li chinese movies, and their brand of special effects. The Big and powerful Potemkin being the one dashless guy(not even ground dashes).
But don't worry. The gameplay since Guilty Gear X, has not made even as much of a significant change as certain KOFs from one year to the next. There's not much new use of a powerbar, no big new evasion schemes, or wire-attacks and hit properties that didn't exist before. It's basically Guilty Gear X, with the typical new moves and characters and a Burst bar. But with the new characters of XX, I'd say, you only need 1 version of XX to be satisfied. The soundtrack is the main thing that changes in XX-Reload(which is the version Xbox gets), so the music wont be the same. It's quite good, but some people have old favorites(like me) and may miss them a little. I buy the soundtracks, so that's not an issue for me. I'm a nut, so I'll get Reload as well, plus that Live option is calling me to pick it up.
