Granblue Fantasy: Relink Review | PlayStation 5

Granblue Fantasy: Relink has been in the works for eight years, and the anticipation for this particular release went high after the release of Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising. Published by XSEED Games, this action role-playing game features cooperative gameplay and is set in a brand new Granblue Fantasy storyline developed by Cygames and PlatinumGames. The Granblue Fantasy series isn't exactly renowned for its intricate plots and surprising turns of events, but its real-time combat mechanism, without question, makes up for it. It's fast, precise, and ever-changing.

A relatively good-natured story with distinct good and evil, Relink aims to transport you to a fantastical universe where experiencing adventure is of the utmost importance. Surrounded by stunning user interface designs that capture the spirit of venturing into unexplored territory. There were many low points and extended stretches of silence throughout Relink's eight-year development, but the game is finally here and better than anyone could have hoped.

 

Granblue Fantasy and its universe form the backbone of Relink's narrative. The game opens with a brief conversation or flashback that introduces the players to the chosen individuals, their relationships, and their eccentricities. From the beginning of this universe, Lyria's journal provides a wealth of knowledge on the individuals and their old and new stories. You take on the role of a Skyfarer band captain and have the option to be male or female.

As you guide your crew from one island to another, you must solve riddles and uncover secrets in your quest to reunite with your father and reach the renowned Island of the Astrals, Estalucia, at the very end of the sky realm, the location where all your dreams come true. Be that as it may, your friend Lyria is, in fact, needed by a particularly wicked church in their pursuit of Estalucia. They take her without a doubt, and now it's on you to rescue her. You can take control of Gran or Djeeta as your Skyfarers crew sets out to find a magic island that grants you everything you want. As you go, you will face evildoers fighting for dominion over this site of great power.

As a whole, Granblue Fantasy: Relink is not that different from other action RPGs. And you won't even have to think about the possibility that your strikes might provoke an opposition reaction. The combat system is gorgeous and swift, flexible, and entertaining. Every persona possesses a unique elemental quality. You can combine parties in town but not in the field. Your best bet may be to plot your course, research your enemies' weak spots, and then return to town to restock your party to take advantage of those vulnerabilities. Only then should you return to the battle. In battle, you can utilize items by pressing the corresponding keys on the directional pad.

To employ different skills, press the proper symbol key while holding the R1 button. There is a cooldown timer for the skills as well. In the meantime, you can deal with normal hits using the square button, more powerful attacks by pressing the triangle button, and leap around with the X button. On top of that, you can guard, dodge, and roll. You could compare it to Final Fantasy XVI, for example, but it's much better. In other words, it's pretty much like any other role-playing game—you control various party members, deal damage to their status conditions, exploit their vulnerabilities, employ a wide variety of buffing and debuffing techniques, and so on.

 

Each character of your party has a distinctive fighting approach and a collection of skills that can be leveled up through a large skill tree. Combat is held from the first-person perspective, and you can have up to three party members handled by artificial intelligence. One of Relink's main selling points is, without question, the playability of its lineup. When it comes to battle, our protagonist, the Captain, is highly engaging and provides a wide range of alternatives for gameplay. Although the Captain is the most popular choice thanks to his short sword and many attacking and defensive abilities, other possibilities include ranged fighters wielding guns, magic users casting spells, and numerous daring warriors using gigantic cartoon weapons.

Once the main story of Relink concludes, the real fun begins: putting each one through its paces, picking favorites, and shaping them into formidable characters. Unlike most Japanese role-playing games, Granblue Fantasy: Relink has a simple plot. Because of this, Relink is free to concentrate on what it does best. Specifically, its visual appeal, gameplay, and social aspects. Granblue Fantasy: Relink manages the impossible: it's casual enough for casual gamers to enjoy yet deep enough for players of all stripes to delve in and lose themselves in the gameplay.

You can start with Gran and Djeeta, two easy-to-understand characters, and then work up to more complex ones. This way, you can discover the game's play style that suits you best. Additionally, you get to pick which characters you want to level up as the tale unfolds. Obtaining crewmate cards allows you to unlock individuals in any sequence you like when you achieve certain narrative points.

The combat system of Granblue Fantasy: Relink is based on connecting combos and deploying spectacular team strikes to knock down enormous opponents. As an added bonus, the boss fights are fantastic. Nonetheless, a great deal of expertise and planning is required for this. The monsters are all enormous, and they're good at giving you plenty of warning before they attack. You'll need to employ all your skills, including your limit breaks, to crush them to dust. After the story mode ends, the game takes on a monster hunter feel; as you defeat more bosses, you unlock better rewards and glimpses into the story.

 

Many bosses have phases that render them nearly immune to damage and change their attack patterns, forcing you to adjust to a rapidly evolving combat with drastically different tactics from when you began. You'll start to understand the principles and phases of Granblue Fantasy: Relink’s boss encounters when you think about how they seem highly influenced by comparable confrontations in MMO games.

Combat sequences in Granblue Fantasy: Relink are more fluid than any other similar games in this game; it's not hard to pull together a long series of moves. In addition to its many other uses, guarding and dodging can also cancel animations, which is great news for button-mashing fans. This indicates that animation locking, which frequently results in players being vulnerable to assaults in Monster Hunter, is not something that happens very frequently in this version of the game. In addition, if you guard too many assaults at once, you'll be vulnerable to the next one that breaks. Airship fights have been added to Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and they are even more exciting and interesting to participate in than before.

The reason is that you cannot only manipulate the guns to shoot at other airships but also to board opposing ships and destroy their power sources, causing the airships to crash into the earth. You can upgrade your weapons by spending fortitude shards you will find in town or at other safe locations. Additionally, you can add sigils to your weapons, which will boost various aspects of your weaponry, like your critical hit rate, defensive power, and health. Changing sigils between party members and tinkering with these menu mechanisms might keep you occupied for quite a while.

Each playable character in Granblue Fantasy: Relink has their own unique ability. This means that in contrast to Relink, future updates can bring in completely new characters with gameplay that is completely different from the ones already in the game. This will give players more reasons to return to the game. Plus, there's a mastery tree where you can get super useful skills and features like dodging and faultless defending. Granblue Fantasy: Relink offers a mastery tree that is unique and intuitive for each playable character. Players will need to embark on several quests to gather the required resources. You and up to three others can take on missions together by registering for them at the town's quest counter.

 

As an added bonus, you can embark on any task regardless of whether you have unlocked it. Here, you'll find dialogue options for the questions asked by your party members in town and throughout the tale. Besides the lack of romantic possibilities, they're all going somewhere. Furthermore, they do not influence any secret affinity system. You have complete control over the dialogue options you select. In the grand scheme of things, they are irrelevant. Plus, in Granblue Fantasy: Relink, joining a party isn't something that happens naturally. It's a little disappointing that you're essentially just given a crewmate card and then asked to select a crewmate from a selection.

The makers of Granblue Fantasy: Relink stated that the main story will take around twenty to twenty-five hours to complete. Many gamers have verified that the main story takes around ten to fifteen hours to complete. Although the plot won't take more than ten to fifteen hours at most, there are more than sixty hours of postgame content involving battles, upgrades, and more fun stuff like that, in addition to additional story elements. You may tailor the game's assistance and power levels to your skill level with three distinct difficulty settings and full English voice acting. Each and every one of the voice actors did an excellent job.

However, my main complaint about the game is the lack of a world map exploring mechanics. You are only provided with a point-and-click map in the game. It would have been great to go back and see all of the different islands, as well as to visit a variety of zones and locations, and most importantly, to simply discover an extensive map of the world. In addition, there is not only no world map but also no mini-map or any other type of map. The game's only directive is to run in the direction indicated by the arrows at the top of the screen.

 

While there's room for improvement in a few places, Granblue Fantasy: Relink is still quite impressive. It has been much anticipated, and Cygames has delivered something that truly captures the essence of an engaging adventure. Even though its primary narrative isn't very long, it still delivers a stripped-down story without any unnecessary filler, which is remarkable. Whether you're playing solo or with pals online, Relink is a fantastic journey. But for a complete experience, it’s best played with friends. It's exciting and fills your urgent hunger quickly. If you're looking for a unique battle experience, you should join other postgame players. And if you're a fan of Monster Hunter or have enjoyed playing Final Fantasy XVI, I can't recommend Granblue Fantasy: Relink highly enough for you.
 

Azfar Rayan (@AzfarRayan)
Senior Editor, NoobFeed