Granblue Fantasy: Relink

If you like Monster Hunter, but prefer your games to be character-based with anime levels of mobility, you've come to the right place. And this is coming from a Monster Hunter fanatic right after the release of Wilds.

This. Game. Is. Fantastic. There is a massive roster of playable characters, all earnable in-game... even the DLC characters. Yes, that's right, you can get the DLC characters, all of them, for free, in the endgame content. Each character has a completely unique playstyle, and the weapons and sigils systems are akin to Monster Hunter in that you can craft different "builds" for your preferred characters.

Not only that, but each character has Fate Episodes in which you can choose to experience their backstories.

There are two drawbacks to this game, though. First, in order to truly play the multiplayer content, you gotta finish the main story first. Second, though there is a TON of content after the story to play though (almost puts Iceborne to shame), the game does get a little grindy, specifically on the last 3 quests at the highest difficulty. Before that, there's not a lot of grinding or farming. You might hit the same boss 2 or 3 times in a row, but even Monster Hunter is more punishing than that.

Another note is that the matchmaking is region-locked by default, and there is a Worldwide Matchmaking mod on Nexus that allows you to play with players all over the world. If the game seems dead, you're not using the mod.

I hope to god we get another game like Relink. The Granblue setting is so rich in characters, and there is so much untapped potential. Sequel. Please. I need more Granblue.

The game overall has a great story and intuitive controls. It seems there is also a lot of content in the game from the Main Story and the Quest Counter. First Time Player of the series and would recommend

Finished the main story in 15ish hours, but wasn't interested in the endless grind at endgame. But it was a fantastic 15 hour playthrough. Fun flashy combat, beautiful scenery, super anime encounters. Terrible cringe inducing dialogue, much of it from the annoying dragon sidekick. Absolutely worthwhile if you can get it on sale.

This game is really fun and all characters have their own fighting style. While this game is grindy to a point, it is not that bad if you only focus on a single character. This game is also best when playing with friends, but otherwise all missions are doable with you CPU companions. Just make sure they are properly equipped and leveled.

Relink is a fascinating game that's really excellent in a lot of aspects. It's beautiful to look at, with lovely towns in particular and Granblue's tried-and-true character designs. The moment-to-moment action gameplay is fun and engaging, with a variety of movesets between the various characters that you can access without any payment needed at a fair rate. While the story itself is nothing too special, the boss fights and setpiece moments are AMAZING, the sort whose very existence took me by pleasant surprise, and things just keep ramping up! The main story itself is not too long, but I got the impression that there's a massive endgame to keep you coming back for another hundred hours easy if you love the game. This is a wholehearted recommendation!

I love this game so much, it feel like monster hunter but with story and alot of interesting charater

just 100% on steam
gonna eventually 100% in game

fun combat
a bunch of unique character play styles
short and sweet story
insane post game content to do with friends or alone

worth at full price
definitely worth on sale

Really enjoyed the boss fights.

Cool characters and engaging combat.

I really picked a good game to hold me over until Monster Hunter Wilds came out.

Great combat, cool grind. End game is pretty much just a boss rush though

First interaction with this franchise. Fun and addicting game. Will like a follow up or a DLC similar to the way Monster Hunter World did it.

The game can be a bit grindy, however, playing coop and with friends makes it a lot more enjoyable

average 5/10

Great anime graphics. Faces are a little too simplistic. The story is forgettable. The game play is decent. There is some substance to it, but its nothing special. After beating the game, you can play a bunch of one off missions and continue to get stronger and fight stronger versions of the same monsters. There are so many stats and different things that need to be upgraded. You can spend 10x the amount of time powering your characters up then you did playing the campaign. The character list is pretty massive and diverse. I like all of the options and I enjoyed powering up my team. I think the end game was more fun then the campaign, but it does feel like a pointless grind. Which all grinds are, but this one is just more obvious. I will probably keep playing until I get into another game, after that I will probably never pick this game up again.

It's not a BAD game. But's its too much of a bit of everything to be a GOOD game to me. Gameplay CAN be fun, as every character plays differently. Gotta find the ones you like and there's many. Rackam was my guy.

Story was meh. Bosses are basically just bullet-sponges. Art and graphics are beautiful.

Short Story. Most of your time will be grinding out sigils and other stuff to make your characters stronger, as well as getting demolished by end game bosses. Loved it ALL, especially playing with friends.

A better game than Tales of Arise.
better story, better gameplay. hell, better sidequests.
only thing i'd give Arise is it has better character development in the second half of the game, if all you do is play the main campaign in this one, but that immediately falls flat the second you play/listen to some of the lore for your favorite characters of choice in this game.

Game feels kinda mobile game-y in a weird way (rewards for achievements, character cards for unlocking a character of your choice, enhancing weapons.... etc) but I wouldnt say it takes away from the experience too much.

Great hack and slash.
Wish there was more special attacks included lvl up was getting but stale at the end
As for the story, just your generic someone get captured need to save them .
Visually cut scene was awesome to watch, Dragon scene especially

Great level up and progression system. Really leaves a lot of room for surpirses all the way to the very end. High precision gameplay which gives skilled players wide chance to excercise high level skills and timed dodges.

"fast paced monster hunter", the mechanism is almost simple you just hit the mob and it's done, really enjoy it at 50 hour, after that it really boring cause it doesnt have any challenging stage after you reach meta build, i don't know what to say as a browser player , it almost doesn't have any update after so long.

But if really trying to play for fun combat?, it really reccommended game, also the story is really good, it's simple and well made. Try it your self or you can try Mobage Version on a browser

If the Tales series and Monster Hunter series had a baby. Love it.

Now start making more updates for this or I'll riot.

Anime Monster Hunter, far better than any of the other monster hunter clones. With a story campaign! Amazing costume design. Cygames is a studio I will be keeping an eye on from now on.

Combat and character options are just great in this game. Also runs great on the Steam Deck

I bought this on the recent Winter Steam sale, but I always planned to get this due to my enjoyment of the original Granblue Fantasy. The story in Relink is captivating, exhilarating, and endearing on top of this the game has good graphics through its colorful art style, visual effects, and world designs. Gran and Djeeta are the best balanced in the game and eventually become one of the best in terms of combative play. I was originally surprised there was no options for DLSS, FSR, or XeSS though to be honest the performance is already great. I just would prefer the better Anti-Aliasing DLSS would provide to the game and who knows the developer might retroactively add it to the game, but eh. Anyways this is a very fun game with bright and colorful visuals with a lot of cast members to choose from.

I really enjoy this game, but the fact that your can't play the story in co-op has absolutely killed it for me.

Unless you're really into Granblue Fantasy, this is going to feel like you've just walked in on a group of friends you don't know and who are just kind of politely giving you hints to let them do their thing in peace. You also realize that they're not very interesting people to begin with and you'd rather be hanging out with other people anyway, but you're also too polite to get out of there.

So you just kind of awkwardly stand next to them while they do stuff together, and neither of you really know how to get out of the situation.

That is the Granblue Fantasy: Relink experience.

want anime action jArpg? this is the most anime jArpg, the fight are epic and the combat are amazing, wish they can make one like this for Rage of Bahamut too

The game delivers an engaging and immersive story, with numerous animations and cutscenes integrated into the main missions, each hour feels unique and dynamic, ensuring the experience remains exciting from start to finish. Once you reach the later stages, the game opens up more. Even on the hardest difficulty, it’s possible to power through the story without much trouble, but after that, it shifts into a grind-heavy boss rush. You can choose to quickly defeat the bosses once and be done, or invest time optimizing your characters for faster, more efficient runs.

Pros:
- A solid JRPG with a diverse cast of characters, a wide range of combos and skills, and multiple progression systems to boost your strength.
- Plenty of build variety. In later missions, sustaining your character’s health becomes crucial—you can’t deal damage if you're dead.
- Fast-paced combat that knows its strength, cutting out unnecessary fluff and letting you dive straight into the action.
Solid music and competent AI. Solo play can actually be easier than expected at times.

Cons:
- Matchmaking is only reliable during the final missions. I often couldn’t complete daily quests because of the lack of available sessions.
- The grindy nature of the game means you sometimes have to farm low-level materials for your high-level characters. - - -
- These materials are locked behind lengthy sequences. It’s honestly faster to farm the final boss for powerful sigils than to grind through certain tedious areas, like Fortified Hearth.

It's a fun game. But there's no reason to keep playing the quests after beating the story, as you'll be facing the same 5 bosses over and over at progressively higher difficulty levels...

I love this game. Its worth the money honestly. The animation and graphics are great. The fight style combos are fun. The variety of characters are cool since we get to play as Seofon and Sandalphon. I just wish they would put out more content for this game. We waited forever for this release so i dont mind waiting for more story or something/ Just expand on it i dont want to wait years for another one.

While people mention the story being short it feels like plenty compared to a lot of games and the content beyond really allows you to enjoy this game long term. Hopefully Cygames decides to make another similar game in the future.

Granblue Fantasy Relink has great graphics, music, and an enjoyable and flashy combat system.
It does lack a bit in the story department but if you're a fan of Monster Hunter you'll especially enjoy playing through the postgame, as it offers a wide variety of side quests you can tackle with friends.
8/10

Relink turned out to be just what I wanted out of the Granblue Fantasy franchise ever since I fell in love with Versus.

I'm going at this from the perspective of someone who became a fan of this franchise after playing the first Granblue Fantasy Versus game, not the mobile/browser game. That's not out of any kind of distaste for it, it's just that I hadn't gotten into it. I mention that because I wanna recommend this game even as someone who's not a long-time, die-hard fan of these characters, setting, and story.

It's certainly converting me though. This is the type of game that I wished a lot of those turn-based JRPGs back in the day that I just couldn't get into were. Party-based action RPG with accessible controls, flashy combat, a pretty huge roster of characters who all play very differently from one another and a wide array of skills and specialties that bounce off one another, even when you're doing the game entirely solo with CPU party members. It's an exceptionally simple system to pick up mechanically, but the meat is in its progression that goes far beyond anything I saw in the simplified RPG Mode in the fighting game. It seems to be applying what the original mobile game does to an action RPG, and to great effect. It goes pretty hard the further you get into it, but I never felt overwhelmed. Challenge comes, for the most part, from bosses with insane move sets and Overdrive/Bloodlust abilities where the bosses go wild and you're expected to just avoid their attacks and wait for them to tire themselves out before you go ham on them again, though I do wish there was more variety in some of the side quest bosses. If you're only interested in the story, it's fairly well-balanced all the way to the end, including the brilliant epilogue chapter that I hope you don't skip. 'Cause it's an even better, more epic finale than the final chapter.

If you're looking for tight Souls-like combat, this ain't that. Not one bit. I love those games, but I don't think that fits what Relink is going for, and it doesn't need to try and emulate DS3 or Sekiro like almost every other game has been trying to do for the past several years. Blocking is actually useful. Perfect dodges don't just grant i-frames during the dodge, they grant invincibility for a few seconds after. Skills are on cool-downs rather than mana. There's a special meter for cinematic Skybound Arts like in the fighting game. This is meant for fun, flashy, overall simpler combat where the spectacle is the focus. What I like about this system is you could definitely go deep, min-max, use characters with timed combos like Siegfried, pick a party that suits a specific play style, expand on your build with different sigils, especially the late game ones with massive buffs and interesting drawbacks like disabling dodges and blocking for a huge damage boost, etc... OR you could just pick your four favorite waifus and play with that team for the entire run time and the endgame. That's what I'm doin'. Katalina, my stalwart, knightly, gap moe darling <3

Where I think this game suffers is in its localization, subs for which match the dub, not the original Japanese. Cygames' in-house localization team certainly has a bit of that Mahvel influence. You might see occasional [current year] lingo, which is kinda cringe. It's not too bad if you're used to how anime works once it's been twisted by Americans, but it's jarring for someone who's listening to the Japanese dub, and has been learning the language, to see how mismatched so much of the dialogue is to the subs. A "thank you" can be translated into a snarky comment. A motivational shout in Japanese could be translated to some kind millennial lingo. An explanation of a certain thing that would've been good world-building is described in not the most compelling way in English. And they actually made my boy Rackam say a "that just happened" line. There's just little things that get in the way of an otherwise perfectly fun fantasy anime romp. Not enough to ruin the game's story since I can at least understand enough of it while just ignoring the localization, but I see why it turns some people off, especially when they're playing the dub. And given this is an in-house team, this was already the case in the fighting game, and I wouldn't be surprised if the original mobile/browser game has always been this way. A more concrete example is Djeeta, the female version of the main character. She's far more consistent in voice and writing in Japanese, for both Relink and Versus, as a motivated, optimistic young girl who found herself in a wild situation and is excited to make the most of it. She's known hardship but appreciates the bonds she's built from it. But in English, it's jarring hearing this girl introspect about her long-term goals of reaching Estalucia, how she values her crew, her life link with Lyria, her respect and admiration for Katalina... while also occasionally talking sass in a kid-friendly sitcom kind of way that makes me gag. It's like EN Djeeta and JP Djeeta are two entirely different people. It's not the worst nor is it the vast majority of the game's dialogue. But it could've been way better if they didn't use the dub's subtitles for the Japanese dialogue and had those translated separately.

For as "shallow" and "weeb" as some reviews might consider this game's story, it's a good time. A lot of its depth and world-building is found through archive entries that can be picked up throughout the main story quests or found in higher difficulty side quests, as well as unlockable voiceover stories that talk of each character's adventures that I assume are from the mobile game's established lore. There's a ton to look through, just like there was in GBVS. There's a lot here that goes beyond just the cutscenes and the dialogue during gameplay, and as someone who's enjoyed that sort of less direct storytelling from the FromSoftware games, it's something I ended up enjoying even from a franchise that I had very little exposure to. I should say that this is by no means an opaque, indirect story. It's far more traditional, lotta cutscenes, some dialogue that's presented in a visual novel style like in the original game and Versus, but it's served well by all the archive entries and item text to find, some of which can even only be found in the epilogue chapter and in the endgame.

But I get it, many wouldn't be interested in just reading about a world they only just got into. You'd have to see it, and play in it, and actually be curious about it from what the actual game offers. Show, don't tell, right? Relink's certainly good at the showing part. I'd already been interested in the setting since the fighting game. Just the idea of an entire world where people sail on airships to different floating islands was already wild to me, and I wanted to find out more. Relink delivered. Its environments are gorgeous. Its world is beautifully stylized and vibrant, and all the different locations that you go through in this adventure can range from idyllic to hellish in a heartbeat without feeling inconsistent. While an open world game like that would be insanely cool, this isn't so. It's sadly not Black Flag for Weebs where we get to sail to each island freely on the Grandcypher. Maybe someday, Cygames. It's more linear than that, with the main quest taking you to different parts of the Zegagrande Skydom, and in between chapters, you can choose to spend some time on the deck of your ship or in one of the two beautifully designed hub towns to take on side quests. It's a net positive and avoids a lotta the problems that big open worlds have.

So-so localization and repetitive side bosses aside, it's wild that this is the first time this franchise went the 3D action RPG route and did it so well right off the bat. Relink was meant to be a small diversion from Gran/Djeeta's larger adventure, but I don't mind sticking around Zegagrande a little longer.

A good action game with a decent main story, great art style, and great voice acting.

A classic jrpg experience, the combat is incredibly fun with a lot of characters and customizable skill loadout, making the endgame grinding feel less like a chore, especially when playing with friends. As for the main quest, i finished it in around 16 hours and its such a wonderful experience.

The narrative is straightforward, and the story itself is pretty good eventho its considered short. I also found it somewhat predictable, but it remains enjoyable to follow.

The environment somehow feels nostalgic, everything looks gorgeous and comforting. My only complaint is the ui, its just too many stuff on the screen and there is no option to remove/hide it.

As for the soundtracks, i found the main menu theme song so memorable.

9/10 i have absolutely no idea about gbf before, and now i love it
#akugbf

A pretty fantastic game ruined by it's own crap awful damage cap meta. The game is only getting a positive because it has a lot i do like about it. Really hope Relink see's a sequel without the horrendous damage cap band-aid fix that ruins this game.

All my real complaints just come right back to the damage cap mechanic. No real flexibility in builds, incredibly crappy dps checks, one shots galore, etc. All of this wouldn't be an issue if HALF of your sigil loadout wasn't being squandered by damage cap.

As a fan of the original gacha game, I really like Relink and how it incorporates the Granblue Fantasy Universe into an action RPG. The game is very fun, and learning combos is an extremely satisfying experience. It's also got a very heavy grind so strap yourself in if you're planning on digging your teeth into this game. :)

The best way to describe Relink is that it is Monster Hunter thats less mechanically deep but much more flashy.

Wow.

I played the GBF mobile game for a while, and that was a bit too much for me. This hits a sweet spot between accessible and grindy that just tickles my brain in so many ways.

Horrible grindfest but has fantastic combat and characters.

the combat system is very fancy and the models are great. Game is a little short but fun.

It's Monster Hunter style quest system. Combat focused, instead of monsters you have different anime style epic bosses like fantasy creatures, elementals, dragons etc.

Short story with extra scenes as you progress through the harder difficulties/quests. Big "skill tree", weapons crafting and upgrades, sigils with passive skills like Monster Hunter charms/jewels. Instead of weapon categories you have a ton of characters to choose from, each with a surprisingly deep moveset, again similar to Monster Hunter. You also have 3 AI characters on your team and they aren't a liability, like in some games.

Love it, hope to see more games like this in the "Monster Hunter Genre"

The art style is very animated and fun to watch, the game play is very fluid with a very fun character development system.

So lets just start off saying that I had a good time with this game visual stunning, I am not sure if this is the case, but the music was so underrated how good it was, and the story was pretty much what I expected. The gameplay was fun, I guess I was expecting a bit more complexity in that regard, but still pretty good. I didn't get around to do the other tons of missions due to backlogs, but if I had a friend to play with I would definitely go back!

its a great game.

there is a weird bug though when i share the link in discord to the store page it says it cost 1.3k Dollar instead of € lmao

Always loved Granblue, but fighting game has never been my thing. This game has given me the possibility to dip in that universe without being stuck in a fighting game, and I am grateful for it.

Aloha, this is my review for Granblue Fantasy: Relink, an anime action RPG with all the standard tropes and gameplay: beat up monsters, get loot, upgrade gear, rinse, repeat. The story is the bog standard JRPG plotline, with evil cults, dragons, summoners, and friendship prevailing over all. But let's get into the review.

The Good: responsive controls, great combat system, colorful graphics, attractive and likeable ensemble cast with fun side missions and cool backstories, massive sidequest and mission system for huge replayability, great soundtrack [seriously, crank it up!], ability to customize your protagonist, are all brewed together into fun and cozy escapism of the highest quality.

The Bad: short but sweet, I reached the end of the main story after 16 hours and while there is lots of post game content through the menu system I am left hungry for more and hope we get a sequel with more level and monster variety; microtransactions, but not excessive, like other similar games.

The Ugly: Vyrn is really annoying for a sidekick, from character design, to voice over, to his jokes, everything.

Great gameplay and anime graphics. Boss fights are fantastic.

As by-the-numbers as it gets. It is very pretty at times, but the story, characters and exposition is just "ok", and the gameplay is woefully flashy and repetitive, and not very interesting. Lost interest after ~5 hours and have never returned.

The best JARPG I have ever played.
Art style, graphics and skills effect etc are amazing.
Skills and movement control are at the top class. Every character has unique play style and skills, they are all fun to play.
Story is kind of normal.
Music is quite good.
Strongly suggest to do certain degree of afk farming automation otherwise it is too grind.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink is a stunning JRPG that blends action-packed combat with an immersive story, perfect for both newcomers and lore enthusiasts. Its detailed world, vibrant characters, and epic soundtrack draw you in, while the polished gameplay shines in solo or co-op modes. I highly recommend it for anyone seeking an unforgettable adventure.

its a good game but multiplayer option is suck. you will find no one to play with you. most of my charactor is lvl 100 and reach extreme but still can't find any online player.

Honestly, it's pretty damn good. Better than I originally thought it would be. There's over 20 playable characters, most are pretty different from each other from what I've seen. If you're into Monster Hunter, and don't mind a relatively chill plot, this one might be for you

Easily the most slept on game of 2024 - That I actually had rotting away on my wishlist ever since its release. Only until the end of the year, during the winter sale, did I finally decide to cop this game.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink provided the most well-spent 25$ dollar experience I might ever have - to the point where I feel like I completely stole from the brilliant devs behind this gem. As somebody who is not generally a fan of anime action-rpgs, GF:R much to my surprise completely stole my heart. Granted, I wasn't sold right away, the beginning of the game was not super compelling from a story standpoint - It was obviously a very basic, easily to follow fantasy plot just to ease me into the game. But, while the individual personalities of the characters and the story failed to grip me so easily; this did not blind me from the obvious effort and brilliance of the actual gameplay and overarching mechanics.

The earlier bits of the main story cutscenes I skipped, which sounds a bit silly, but the game actually provides a concise yet thorough TL;DR of each cutscene after you skip it - Which made me feel rather respected as a player, by the devs. It made me feel more comfortable skipping cutscenes where I lacked the attention, and allowed me to stay involved with the rest of the game which I genuinely adored, which was the gameplay and progression systems.

Gameplay and progression so beautifully thought out that I was eventually so hooked on the game that I, naturally, became invested deeply into the story. This, too, was a pleasant surprise - That I'd suddenly find myself putting down my controller to watch cutscenes, eager to see what story beat comes up next.

And, with said story only growing more and more intense each chapter, only amplified my enjoyment of this game. Multiple cutscenes during the later stages had me on the edge of my seat, jumping out of my chair, or cheering outloud as I witness everything unfold.

Strangely, as tropey as GF:R is, it takes these tropes and just amps them to the next level. I often described events happening as "video gamey", to my friends while I played. I found myself itching for something to happen, such as taking control of an enemy's badass vehicle to use for myself, only for that exact thing to happen. Whenever I'd think about how cool X would be, X would happen and I'd feel so incredibly spoiled because of it. The game goes out of its way to prop the player up, focusing on making you feel both cool and powerful - while not undermining the threat of the enemy. So many moments have insanely powerful impact, even something as simple as an ultimate move being titled "Settle The Score", stupidly satisfying and well-written when the story up to that point is taken into account.

The gameplay is simple, pretty easy to pick up - but difficult to fully master - while not seeming too hard to do so. Characters have 2 basic attacks, comboable in different ways depending on who you're playing. For example: X X X Y, X Y Y, X X X X Y all being possible combos for a character. And just those three combos could have different uses: one might be a gap closer, one might be AOE, one might just be bread & butter. Each character can equip up to 4 skills, be it damage or support or something in-between, further mixing in your combo game. You can either block or dodge incoming attacks - dodging will NOT cancel your combo! Link attacks reward team play, granting everyone a free hit on a properly damaged target. Skybound Arts are the ultimate moves of the game, charging overtime mid-battle. Huge, flashy attacks that take up the screen and deal the most damage. These can be used one after another as a party, and if all 4 members used theirs, every single one of you put your all into a final attack that deals yet another massive bout of damage.

Pile all of this together and the combat system becomes something to truly be cherished. Whether it's you alone or with 3 friends, you'll just feel so cool. Overcoming the odds, besting monsters and warriors stronger than you, watching your skill grow overtime alongside the steady progression of your characters - it's all beautifully put together.

As of writing this I've finally hit what one could call the "end" of the game - I've got one more boss to defeat and it'll be tough, but so worth it. It's a journey full of fun, laughter, tension, and hype moments that just never get old. There hasn't been a dull moment in Granblue Fantasy: Relink.