The Granblue series initially debuted almost a decade ago on mobile devices and web browsers exclusively in Japan. While the original game never received an official international release, a fighting game spin-off titled Granblue Fantasy Versus was released in 2020 from the prolific fan-favorite fighting game developer Arc System Works, which received pretty solid reviews. Now ahead of the release of the new action RPG spin-off Granblue Fantasy: Relink that is coming early next year, Granblue Fantasy Versus has also received a follow-up titled Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising.

A Familiar Experience

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising serves as a sequel that also feels like more of an update to the first game as well. This game brings back the full roster from Granblue Fantasy Versus along with the addition of four new fighters on the base roster with more coming through DLC. There is a healthy roster of different characters to choose from here overall, which will only keep growing with the upcoming DLC as well.

As for the game’s combat system, it is almost exactly like in the first game but with a few extra features like dash attacks. For those new to the series entirely, the combat very much feels like an Arc System Works game, though you won’t find any assist characters or the like here to use in battle. The controls are very intuitive and the game’s Training mode or the tutorial missions in Story mode can help you to get fighting fit for your upcoming battles. I quite enjoyed the way the game utilized not only the various attack moves but also blocking and counterattacking effectively. For the most part, you can just button-mash like a lot of fighters if that is what you are looking for, but that certainly is not going to be anywhere near a sound strategy if you are looking to take the game online against good players.

Story Mode is split into three parts, starting with the one found in the original Granblue Fantasy Versus game. However, the developer stripped out all of the RPG elements of the game’s story mode and instead just turned it into a story that accompanies a mix of fights against hordes of grunts and matches against other fighters in the game with nothing else surrounding it. The only real thing you get to do is choose your character’s skill set and support skills. This is very disappointing coming off of the first game’s RPG elements that people greatly enjoyed.

The majority of the early stages of Story mode serve as a tutorial, but you’ll eventually get past them and into the more general missions and eventually boss battles. Some missions even add an ally fighter to the battle who fights alongside you, which is much needed in some of the more difficult boss battles.

After completing Part 1 of the Story mode, you will unlock Part 2, which features the story content added to the previous game as post-release content. Then, completing Part 2 will unlock Part 3, which is the all-new story content in Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising. This new content is certainly enjoyable and the story from the original game is still captivating in itself, but the way this was handled in the game helps to push the idea that this is more of an ultimate version of the first game than an entirely new sequel.

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising offers players two other offline fighting modes besides Story and Training with Arcade and Versus modes. Versus is just your traditional local multiplayer where you fight a friend or the CPU, while Arcade mode features seven battles that let you face off against a series of characters until you reach the final boss, Beelzebub.

This Arcade mode is handled a bit differently than most though, as you start the mode by picking the fighter you would like to fight against in the first match and their difficulty level. From there, you will then be offered up to three options for the subsequent fight depending on your initial difficulty. For instance, if you chose Normal difficulty for the first one, you will be given three options to choose from after between Beginner, Normal, and Hard, each of which offers a different fighter to square off against. This is a very compelling way of handling Arcade mode and allows for a bit more flexibility. Completing Arcade mode doesn’t offer anything special ending-wise, unfortunately, but rather just provides you with an ending screen for that character that is then unlocked in the in-game Journal.

Playing Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising online gives you the option to jump right into online battles from the main menu or instead jump into one of the open online lobbies where you don a chibi avatar as you walk around an open area. This felt very reminiscent of the lobbies that made up Dragon Ball FighterZ, which is another Arc System Works game, of course. In the online lobby, you can fight others, spectate matches, just chat, and even take part in mini-games through Grand Bruise. This game also adds rollback netcode and crossplay as well, though it remains to be seen how well the online will hold up when more people are playing.

For those looking to face off against others, you can go to the arcade-like machines found in the center of the lobby and fight a direct opponent or even choose the standby stations to get in a queue for ranked or casual matches with customized settings. I thought it was pretty cool that each lobby has a leaderboard housed in the lobby that continually shows the top players with consecutive win rankings.

Grand Bruise matches are also available in the online lobby, though this mode is also available in the same fashion from the main menu. These are quite different from anything else in the game, as you instead switch to a chibi avatar like found in the lobbies and take part in mini-games. It was pretty difficult to find matches online and also had multiple disconnections in the exclusively early access period, so hopefully that improves upon release. When I did get a matchup though, I very quickly realized how much Grand Bruise felt inspired by games such as Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout.

This mode works as a battle royale that starts with a certain number of characters and whittles you down until only one remains. The first stage I played titled Rising Royale had us racing to the finish line against one another with numerous obstacles and pitfalls along the way. The unique aspect was that it added a Mario Kart-like item box element that you could grab to use to help you win. At the end of each round, only a certain number would advance and eventually, there is a winner.

Multiple other mini-game options are chosen at random in Grand Bruise, including one where you are fighting monsters and have to survive until the end or another where you have to survive dropping bombs and stay on a platform until only a certain number remain. Like Fall Guys, there are also team-based stages as well. This mode could prove to be a lot of fun, though people will probably lean more toward the traditional fighting modes since that is what they are here for instead of mini-games like this.

An issue I came across that I’m not sure if it was a bug or just a coincidence was the majority of times that I made it to the end and survived round one, my game would disconnect while waiting to load the second round. However, if I did not make the initial cut, I could stay and spectate the rest without any issues. This is a serious problem if it’s continuous for a lot of players, as it will quickly turn players away from even wanting to try it.

The lobby also has a Crane Game where you can spend your earned in-game Rupies to unlock various prizes, including characters’ colors and figures. This isn’t too overly hard either, though it does cost 50 Rupies for each play.

Besides the fighting modes, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising also features the Journal and Figure Studio modes. Journal is a hub for all of the artwork and music either included from the start or earned throughout the game through purchase or unlocking. This includes things like the Arcade ending screen artwork and a whole lot of others. Between the artwork and music, there are many for you to work towards collecting, which adds some replayability to the game for the completionists out there. The Journal also hosts bios for characters and weapons, as well as a full list of terms to help catch you up on the world of Granblue.

The Figure Studio mode is also available which lets you select available backgrounds that you’ve unlocked in the game and then place a variety of different figures upon them. This includes characters, objects, weapons, effects, and even just basic shapes. You start with several figures, but more can be unlocked by buying them at the Rupie Shop or winning them via the Crane Game. You can get quite creative here and create some awesome dioramas to take pictures of and share, but likely most players will end up skipping over this since it’s a fairly niche mode overall. Regardless, it is a neat feature for those who have an interest in doing so with a lot of options.

Verdict

While Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising serves as a sequel to its predecessor, it still manages to feel more like what you come to expect from a remaster with upgraded content. That is not a knock on the game at all though, as the experience throughout is very satisfying across the board except for the removal of the RPG elements in Story mode. I had a lot of fun with the game’s fighting-based modes and even the all-new mini-game-focused Grand Bruise mode, both of which will have me coming back to play more in the future. Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is a perfect entry point to the series for those who are new and especially those excited about the upcoming action RPG Granblue Fantasy: Relink. There is even a free version of the game with rotating characters that is releasing alongside the game, so feel free to give that a try before purchasing the full version of Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising.

Score: 8.5/10

Pros:

• Large roster of fighters with four new additions
• Combat improvements keep the gameplay very enjoyable
• Online lobby system is very well designed
• Grand Bruise may be Fall Guys lite, but it’s still quite fun
• Lots of replayability

Cons:

• Removal of RPG elements from story mode
• Lack of arcade endings
• Random disconnects in Grand Bruise mode

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.