Time to take a break from deep-sea diving and running a sushi restaurant and to play a franchise that for the longest time has been mainly developed for mobile. That’s right, I’m talking about Granblue Fantasy. The game has been out for some time now on the PC, but like with Dave the Diver, I missed the initial release and am once again playing catch-up.
Developed by Cygames, Granblue Fantasy Relink successfully transforms the long-running Granblue Fantasy franchise into a fast-paced action RPG that combines spectacular combat, memorable characters, and stunning visuals. If you are like me and are experiencing the Granblue universe for the first time or are already familiar with the series, there’s a lot here to enjoy.
I love a good RPG, and when I saw the trailer and gameplay for Granblue, I knew it would be one that I’d take to with ease. Colourful locations and charming characters, and let’s not forget that it has a cell-shaded art style that I’m a sucker for. Let’s just get it out there at the start: while the game isn’t perfect, it does offer an incredibly satisfying gameplay loop that kept me coming back long after the main story had ended, which is surprisingly short for an RPG.
From exhilarating boss fights to rewarding character progression, Granblue Fantasy Relink is one of the strongest anime-inspired action RPGs released in recent years.
A Story That Welcomes Newcomers
The Granblue series has been around for years, but this was going to be the first time I ventured into the game’s universe. I did have initial concerns about whether I needed any prior knowledge of the original mobile game, but luckily, Granblue Fantasy Relink does a fantastic job of introducing us to the world without bombarding newcomers with too much information.
The story follows the captain (who can either be a female or male) and their crew as they journey across the Sky Realm. You eventually become entangled in a conflict involving powerful primal beasts, mysterious organisations, and ancient secrets. If you are a longtime fan of the series, you will pick up on returning characters and references, but don’t worry; even a newcomer like me felt that I could still enjoy Granblue Fantasy Relink just as much without having played a Granblue Fantasy game before.
I wouldn’t say that the narrative is groundbreaking in Granblue Fantasy Relink, but I found some entertaining moments sprinkled throughout, and the pacing was generally strong. One thing I did notice was that there wasn’t any unnecessary filler. It was filled with light-hearted interactions as well as serious moments that helped make the characters feel like a close-knit group and not one that had just been thrown together for the sake of it.
Character episodes provide a good amount of backstory and flesh them out to the point where it encourages the player to want to learn about each of the party members. Like with all RPGs, there is a good amount of side quests and character development options that add to the main narrative.
Combat Is the Real Star
Without a shadow of a doubt, the combat is where Granblue Fantasy Relink truly shines. It has a similar feel to Genshin, where each of the playable characters has their unique weapons, abilities, and playstyles. Each of the characters introduces mechanics that encourage you to think of your party’s combinations, and you feel like there needs to be a sense of preparation with certain missions to make sure you’re going into it fully prepared.
Like most RPGs, the characters offer a wide range of playstyles, some excel at close-range aggression, others focus on ranged attacks, while several specialise in support or technical gameplay. Like in Genshin, this makes you want to experiment with new characters to see which ones work well together and match your gameplay style. When you do find your favourites, the amount of fun you have in combat is fantastic.
The Combat feels incredibly responsive. Dodging enemy attacks, executing perfectly timed combos, chaining skills together, and activating powerful Skybound Arts never gets old, both visually and physically. The controls on PC are smooth whether you are using a controller or keyboard and mouse, although I always seem to opt for a controller when playing RPGs on my PC as it offers the most comfortable experience for me.
When I did the tutorial and learned about Link Attacks and SkyBound Art chains, I knew these would be my favourite form of attacks.
The Link Attack system and cooperative Skybound Art chains create exciting moments during larger encounters where you get to deal large amounts of damage while watching the entire party unleash devastating ultimate attacks simultaneously is something that I can’t get enough of, is satisfying to perform, and makes boss fights feel like cinematic masterpieces.
I also like the enemy designs in Granblue Fantasy Relink. Each boss features multiple phases, flashy attacks, and mechanics that require you to stay engaged rather than simply mashing attack buttons. When you do overcome a boss, it often comes from learning attack patterns and making good use of defensive mechanics.
Fantastic Character Progression
When playing RPGs, there is a huge amount of content revolving around the progression of characters’ stats, and Granblue Fantasy Relink handles this extremely well. You’ll work towards each character’s mastery tree, which allows you to unlock new passive bonuses, increase statistics, and improve combat performance over time.
When you pair this with Sigils, it provides another layer of customisation by granting additional effects such as increased damage, faster cooldowns, improved survivability, or critical hit bonuses. As you progress through the game and start to come across the more difficult content, you come across better equipment and stronger Sigils, which give a sense of continuous rewarding progression.
Where some RPGs bury players beneath overly complicated systems, Granblue Fantasy Relink brings in the rains and manages to offer meaningful customisation without confusing the hell out of you. Most upgrades are intuitive, allowing players to focus on enjoying combat instead of constantly navigating menus and having to overly worry.
Endgame Keeps You Coming Back
Like I briefly mentioned earlier, the main story can be completed in roughly 20 hours depending on your playstyle, but that doesn’t mean the fun ends when the main story does. The post-game introduces harder quests, tougher boss encounters, better weapon upgrades, and higher-level challenges designed for players looking to optimise their builds.
Once you reach this stage in the game, Granblue Fantasy Relink becomes even more addictive. This gameplay loop of taking on difficult missions to improve gear is rewarding and allows you to max out your characters with better equipment and Sigils. The RPG element of spending dozens of additional hours maxing your favourite characters comes into effect once you reach this point in Granblue Fantasy Relink.
Multiplayer Done Right
I did expect to see online multiplayer in Granblue Fantasy: Granblue Fantasy Relink, but it is another fantastic feature that elevates the game. You can team up with others to complete quests together, making difficult encounters more enjoyable, and when you play with others, it makes fighting feel more epic than just playing alongside AI characters.
The Cooperative play runs smoothly, and I didn’t experience any issues while playing online. I noticed that there wasn’t cross play with Granblue Fantasy Relink, which was quite sad as it meant you could only play with other PC players, but luckily, I was able to find matches with ease. Don’t get me wrong, playing solo alongside the AI companions is fun and works surprisingly well, but it is so much better playing with others.
Something about coordinating with human teammates makes the harder encounters more manageable. The flexibility of switching between solo and multiplayer ensures that everyone can enjoy the game regardless of how they want to play. I found myself doing a bit of but mainly doing multiplayer in the later hours of the game.
Gorgeous Visual Presentation
What can I say, Visually Granblue Fantasy: Granblue Fantasy Relink is stunning. I love cell-shaded games, and I feel like Cygames has done an excellent job translating the franchise’s iconic anime art style into fully realised 3D environments. The Characters are beautifully animated, environments are vibrant, and spell effects fill the screen with dazzling colour during intense battles, which makes every boss battle feel like a cinematic experience.
Even with all the dazzling colours, the combat remains readable, and that also rings true during chaotic multiplayer encounters featuring multiple ultimate attacks. I didn’t feel myself losing track of what was happening, and performance on my PC was equally as impressive.
Granblue Fantasy Relink feels well optimised and maintains stable frame rates throughout; load times didn’t take forever to load, and the controls are responsive and allow combat to run with ease. It was refreshing getting to play a PC release that has very few technical issues and is well polished.
Outstanding Music and Voice Acting
What ties well with good visuals, you guessed it, it’s a good soundtrack, and Granblue Fantasy Relink has one that deserves some recognition. The battle themes are energetic, orchestral pieces that create a strong sense of adventure, and emotional scenes benefit from excellent musical accompaniment. This soundtrack consistently enhances each moment and makes the game world come to life even more.
You know that I chose to play Granblue Fantasy Relink with Japanese voice acting and English subtitles because at this point, I don’t like to play any anime-inspired RPG any other way. The performances are strong and give each character plenty of personality. I don’t know what it is, but the Japanese voice actors just know how to perform these types of roles better than their English counterparts (no offence to English voice actors).
When you put all this together, it creates excellent sound design during combat, world exploration and story moments that help make Granblue Fantasy Relink feel impactful.
A Few Minor Weaknesses
I enjoyed my first Granblue Fantasy game, but there were a few minor weaknesses I noticed. Some of the side missions can get repetitive, mainly the ones where you must go out and farm certain materials for upgrades. If it wasn’t for the combat, I would have got bored with this quite quickly. Where modern RPGs have relatively long main stories, RGranblue Fantasy Relink does keep it on the short side, which is odd for an RPG, but it wasn’t a deal-breaker due to the post-endgame content.
Then we must struggle with the camera, when in hectic encounters in small arenas, the camera would feel off and would make it hard to target and move around, even more so if there is multiple large enemies. Finally, we have the cross-play issues with the multiplayer, but none of these issues significantly diminished my overall enjoyment.
Final Verdict
Overall, Granblue Fantasy Relink is a fantastic action RPG that delivers exhilarating combat, beautiful presentation, and plenty of reasons to keep playing after the credits have rolled. It’s a game I’d happily recommend to fans of the genre and one that has earned a place among good action RPGs on PC. I wouldn’t be lying by saying Granblue Fantasy Relink exceeded my expectations and delivers some of the most enjoyable action combat since I first started playing Genshin Impact.
When you pair this with beautiful visuals, memorable characters and a rewarding progression system, it makes for a solid RPG experience. I feel like Granblue Fantasy: Granblue Fantasy Relink respects players’ time and offers enough content to satisfy both casual players interested in Granblue Fantasy’s universe and dedicated fans looking to master every character.
It performed brilliant on my PC, and although the narrative is relatively brief and some grinding is inevitable in the post-game, these are minor complaints in a game that capture my enjoyment for a good RPG. Whether you’re already a Granblue Fantasy fan or simply looking for an exciting anime action RPG with outstanding combat, Granblue Fantasy Relink has you covered, and I would happily recommend it to anyone in the market for a new RPG.
This review was based off a Xbox playthrough.
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The game was provided to us for the express purpose of reviewing.
Granblue Fantasy Relink – Review Summary
What is Granblue Fantasy: Relink?
Granblue Fantasy: Relink is a fast-paced action RPG from Cygames combining spectacular combat, memorable characters and colourful visuals.
What is the combat like?
Responsive hack-and-slash combat features unique characters, combos, dodging, Link Attacks and powerful Skybound Arts.
Does it have an endgame?
Yes. Harder quests, bosses, better equipment and character progression provide plenty to do after the roughly 20-hour story.
Does Granblue Fantasy: Relink have multiplayer?
Yes. Cooperative multiplayer works well, although there is no cross-play.
Does Granblue Fantasy: Relink have any problems?
Repetitive side missions, a short main story and occasional camera issues are the main weaknesses.
Is Granblue Fantasy: Relink worth playing?
Yes. It delivers excellent combat, beautiful visuals and rewarding progression, earning an 8/10.
