It’s been over seven years since Granblue Fantasy: Relink was announced. In that time, the game has changed developers from PlatinumGames to Cygames, and for a while only bits and pieces of the JRPG adaptation of Japan’s popular mobile game were teased throughout the year. But, following a couple of preview events, things finally came together, and after multiple delays, we are finally on the eve of the game’s worldwide launch. Has the wait been worth it, or was Relink destined to flop, another victim of development hell the likes of which few games ever make it out from unscathed? The answer may surprise you.
A Whole New Sky
In Granblue Fantasy, you play as the captain of the crew of the Grandcypher, an airship which can take you anywhere you manage to sail in the skies. The captain can be either man or woman, and named whatever you wish, though the defaults are Gran and Djeeta, respectively, and you can switch their models later on if desired. While the story follows the Captain and a mysterious girl named Lyria, with all of the history they have together, it doesn’t matter if you’re familiar with the franchise at all because the story does a decent job of getting newbies up to speed in a short amount of time through various cutscenes. It also helps that this story takes place in a whole new Sky Kingdom, so while there are references to the lore that has come before, a lot of this is going to be new to veterans of the series, too. Relink is also a game that doesn’t overstay its welcome: with an estimated playtime of around 20 hours to get through the main campaign, this is one that doesn’t require you to sink a ton of time into in order to feel like you’ve accomplished something. You can probably double that playtime with the plethora of side quests and other missions that you can take on, so there is a good amount of other things to do for the completionists out there (online co-op is also an option but was unavailable during our review period).
Fate Chapters is a unique feature of Relink. For every character that is unlocked, bits of lore are dropped by reaching certain milestones such as progressing the story to a certain point, leveling up the character enough, or other conditions. These are mostly told through static cutscenes, with text overlaid as a full voice narration plays, usually involving multiple voice actors. By simply making it to the end of a chapter, that character’s stats get slightly upgraded. Certain Fate Chapters also contain quests, which reward something of greater value such as another sigil slot. But beyond the unlockable goodies, which are a welcome reward to reading lore, some of the game’s best writing surprisingly takes place here. Most of the characters you encounter on this epic adventure have backstories full of heroism, cowardice, tragedy, spite, jealousy, and many other emotions that will probably surprise you when you first read them. Cygames took no shortcuts fleshing out every single character this way, though considering the main Granblue Fantasy game has been running for nearly ten years, there is a lot of material to draw upon.
Good Looks, Fast Action
On the PS5, Relink looks great and plays smoothly. There are two graphics modes to choose from, as usual: Performance, which scales the graphics back a bit to prioritize frame rate, and quality, which targets a higher fidelity with a lower frame rate target. While this isn’t the most graphically intense RPG out there, the cel-shaded look fits nicely and the action remains consistent no matter how many enemies are on-screen. Load times are quick, with most areas ready in just a few seconds. There are not really any DualSense-specific features to utilize here, but then again as a JRPG there aren’t a whole lot of opportunities for such a thing anyway.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink is an action RPG, where the action takes place in real-time. You can create a custom party of up to four characters, with the other three members whom you’re not controlling available as quite capable support. Their support really is crucial, as I learned the hard way when I accidentally undertook Djeeta’s first Fate Chapter solo, which is really my only gripe with Relink: at certain points, you may not have a full party, but the game doesn’t do much to alert you to this fact. For those who aren’t really here for the action, there is an assist option with two levels. One level will perform skills and other actions when it makes sense, while the Full Assist option has the game perform all actions for you, which is about as low-effort as I think could be possible in an action RPG.
Genre Staples Are Plentiful
Usual JRPG systems are here, such as buying and selling treasure, weapons, and equipment, along with a blacksmith who will happily level up your equipment for a price. As is common in many RPGs these days, equipment can only be leveled up so much before they must be uncapped, which will increase their overall rating while simultaneously increasing their level cap. This ensure a more even leveling system, whereby you’re not overly powerful early on in the game, and even on the Normal difficulty some of the missions present a good challenge where using well-timed skills in between regular attacks is key.
All characters have large, branching skills which can be unlocked across multiple categories by spending skill points. It’s easy to forget to upgrade these skills, which can hamper progress at certain points, though the game does remind you in the loading screens from time to time. Certain skills can be assigned to a face button, which are triggered by holding down the R1 button, and have cooldown timers. There are more skills for each character than there are face buttons, so part of the fun is in finding the right combination of skills to work in tandem with other party members’ abilities.
Combat is fun in Granblue Fantasy: Relink, if a little hampered by the auto-lock system. Pressing L2 will lock onto an enemy, but if you wish to target one behind you, you’re usually better off tapping the trigger again instead of trying to flick the right analog stick as the reticle simply moves to whichever enemy is closest to the already-targeted enemy instead of the immediate threat. This isn’t a deal breaker, and any attack you use usually has an area of effect which will hit nearby enemies, but it is a little clunky. Outside of that, though, fighting feels smooth, and moves are easily interrupted by pressing the dodge button, with bonuses for perfectly dodging or blocking incoming attacks.
A Satisfying Adventure
Special link time attacks can also occur, where characters team up and deal more damage together. Skill arts are what Relink calls combos, and as you keep bashing baddies, the level of your combo increases, which can help to deal more damage, sure, but it can also increase the effect of certain abilities, such as the Captain’s attack boost that they can buff themselves and their teammates with. If all party members are able to sync up, they can launch an ultimate Full Burst combo, which is the game’s hardest-hitting move. Overall, combat is fun, fast-paced, easy to understand, and satisfying to pull off.
I will admit, after spending some time with Granblue Fantasy: Relink across two different preview events, I wasn’t convinced Cygames had done much more than produce a by-the-numbers JRPG adaptation of their popular mobile and browser-centric franchise. But I suppose that’s the difference between being dropped into the middle of a game and starting from scratch. There are a lot of fully fleshed-out characters and systems to get used to and master, over a hundred different weapons to level up and upgrade, plenty of quests to undertake, and as much lore as most fans might be willing to sift through. Yet the main campaign doesn’t overstay its welcome. Relink also has a beautiful, if slightly technically underwhelming, look to the world. In short, Granblue Fantasy: Relink is a great JRPG, and even if you’ve never played Granblue Fantasy before, if you enjoy action JRPGs at all, you owe it to yourself to give this one a shot.
Score: 9/10
Pros:
- Entertaining, fully-voiced story
- Fate Chapters flesh out the many characters, and have surprising content depth
- Combat is fast, mostly fluid, and fun
- Hundreds of quests (many optional) to undertake
Cons:
- Locking onto enemies can be more hassle than it’s worth
- Graphically just okay, even if the art style is pleasant.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink review code provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.
