Granblue Fantasy: Relink

Really nice anime-style action jrpg with a reasonably short story campaign that you don’t have to dedicate your life to in order to finish. Took me about 20 hours. Had a great time.

There’s at least an extra 100 hours of content there after the credits roll if you want to beat all the extra bosses, unlock all the crew mates, max out their stats and grind to get the best gear for everyone.

If you're a GBF fan like I am, you'll like this game. Even if you're nota GBF fan, but you like JRPGs like Final Fantasy or the Tales series, you will probably really enjoy this game. The one thing to note about it though, is that this is structured very much like Monster Hunter or God Eater, where you'll go out on Quests to slay certain enemies and bosses for rewards, rinse and repeat. After the main story, there is some story content remaining, but a lot of it is just a postgame grind to complete harder difficulty quests.

It's overall enjoyable, pick it up on a discount and you'll definitely get your money's worth

I do highly recommend installing a mod that removes the garish blue text box from 30% of the screen, but thats not nessecary.

Combat is pretty good, and the mechanic of teaming up with your allies is very rewarding, especially if you coordinate it with real players.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink, o jogo que finalmente deu aos fãs de anime e RPG de ação uma desculpa legítima para sair do gacha e entrar num jogo de verdade. Depois de anos de espera (e de incontáveis summons falhando no mobile), a Cygames decidiu que era hora de libertar os jogadores de sua eterna prisão financeira e entregar um hack ‘n’ slash que mistura Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter e pura animação shonen no liquidificador.
“Eu não conheço Granblue Fantasy, posso jogar?”
Claro que pode! Assim como ninguém lê o manual de instruções antes de usar o micro-ondas, ninguém precisa ter jogado o gacha para entender Relink. O jogo faz um ótimo trabalho te jogando direto na ação sem precisar de um PhD na lore de Granblue (embora, se você for procurar, vai encontrar uma história de anime tão longa que parece ter sido escrita por um IA treinada apenas em JRPGs de 2006).
A premissa é simples: você é o Capitão de um grupo de aventureiros num barco voador, explorando um mundo de ilhas flutuantes e lutando contra qualquer coisa que tenha o azar de cruzar seu caminho. Ah, e tem uma waifu azul chamada Lyria que basicamente pode invocar deuses para destruir seus inimigos. Porque claro, né?
Se você já jogou Devil May Cry, Tales of, ou qualquer RPG de ação onde você aperta quadrado até ganhar, vai se sentir em casa aqui. O combate é rápido, fluido e cheio de efeitos especiais que fazem seus olhos implorarem por um colírio.
Você pode escolher entre diversos personagens, cada um com estilos de luta diferentes – tem o clássico espadachim protagonista, a maga destruidora de telas de loading, o brutamontes que bate como um caminhão e até um cara que luta usando golpes de MMA (Granblue nunca decepciona).
E o melhor de tudo? Você pode jogar com os amigos! Isso mesmo, um hack ‘n’ slash com co-op online, para você e seus amigos se juntarem e passarem mais tempo discutindo builds do que efetivamente jogando. (Não posso dizer se funciona bem o online, porque eu não tenho amigos para testar. Sim, você pode jogar com pessoas aleatórias online, mas eu te garanto que irá só passar raiva. Consegui jogar offline até liberar o Lucilius, ultimo boss oficial do jogo, e ele infelizmente precisei recorrer ao online, só para ver que mesmo eu sendo burro, ainda sou mais inteligente que uma boa parte dos jogares disso aqui).
Se você acha que Granblue Fantasy é só "mais um jogo de anime", você claramente nunca viu um evento da franquia no Japão. Lá, Granblue é basicamente uma religião.
O jogo original de celular ainda é um dos gachas mais populares do Japão, apesar de ter sido lançado em 2014 (o equivalente a um dinossauro na indústria de gacha).
Os personagens têm um nível absurdo de popularidade, com algumas waifus e husbandos (eu crinjo horrores falando esses termos, mas eles são universais, aposto que mesmo contra a sua vontade, você entendeu o que eu quis dizer) sendo mais reconhecidos que políticos.
Os eventos ao vivo da franquia reúnem multidões dignas de um show do BTS, com fãs gritando pelos personagens 2D como se fossem estrelas de cinema.
A hype para Relink foi tanta que o jogo esgotou cópias físicas na Ásia no lançamento, provando que Granblue não é só um jogo, é uma instituição. (Talvez possa comparar com a igreja, uma instituição gigantesca até com CNPJ, existente apenas para roubar suas carteiras).
Enquanto no Ocidente muitos jogadores olham para Granblue e dizem "parece legal, mas quem são essas pessoas?", no Japão e na China a reação é mais parecida com "MEU DEUS, A VYRA ESTÁ NO JOGO, EU POSSO MORRER EM PAZ".
JOGASSO SIM, COMPRE SEM MEDO.

I had a great time with this solo. Plays smooth, each character feels unique, and I really enjoyed the writing. What a treat!

In fact, all I want is more. If the next installment features a longer story, companion interactions/actual scenes for already fantastically written dialogue, you're looking at a GOTY contender.

Go bigger Cygames! You're ready!!

super fun story, good coop grind, i feel like im sung jinwoo with lancelot

This game is pretty interesting to me.
I do really like Granblue Fantasy, so it might be why I like this game a lot... But this game was really fun!
You can finish the story without issue, it's not really a challenge. If anything, it's more of a tutorial for how the mechanics work. The plot is alright, but it's not a masterpiece.
The game has a lot of playable characters that you can pick from, all are fairly different from one another. It would be challenging to not find a character you enjoy playing. Character designs are good, and each character has a backstory to them, which you can find out a bit of it in-game as well which is fantastic. You can also watch the anime or play the pretty average mobile gacha game, but I really like how you don't really need to see the source material to understand whats happening, or learn about different characters.
Post game can be a pretty big chore, but you don't really need to do it? Unless you're a completionist. If you think you'll only play the story and that's it, I would highly recommend buying this on sale. The story is only about 10-15 hours long. Otherwise, I think this game is worth buying even at full price. Endgame content is quite grindy like I said before, but it's not terrible. It reminds me a lot of Monster Hunter. You group up with 3 buddies and take on quests. Quests can range from fighting a boss, clearing hordes, defending an object, etc. and you can sort quests by what materials you're looking for as well.
This game has voice acting! Both Japanese and English is really good, and the English voice acting isn't bad. If anything, I'd recommend playing with the English voice acting. I think it sounds amazing, and I usually play JRPGs and watch anime with Japanese voice acting.

For downsides, the multiplayer is pretty iffy without mods, since it's a regional thing, and everyone who still plays this doesn't really use the base multiplayer. We use a mod which turns on global matchmaking, then send party codes in a Discord server, usually the official one. Modding is pretty easy though! And it's not illegal or anything either.
Cygames has kind of abandoned this game though to persue Versus: Rising, a fighting game, so don't expect new content, DLC, balancing, etc anymore. It's a shame, but the game wouldn't really fit as a live service game, since it's more of a story game.

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Overall, I think this game is a hidden gem. I would highly recommend to give it a try if you get the chance. Pick it up on sale if you're unsure. If you want to support the devlopers more, try out Versus: Rising, or maybe buy some of the DLC for this game.

I didn't know if I was going to like this game. I always didn't consider myself a person that liked these style of games. However, here I am 20 hours later and still playing. It is a lot of fun.

monster hunter but anime. nice, the story is very interesting and the important is there waifu material

Superb JRPG experience with 22-hours main story adventure.
Great voice acting and soundtrack.
Variant boss fight, somehow similar to Nier Automata.
End-game content super GRINDING.

Fun game overall, but way too short. Game encourages you to run all over the place and loot chests and ground collectibles because they are marked on the map, but that takes a lot of time and the items in those chests are not really needed. The game also pushes a lot of extra quests, missions and stories about the characters that are also not needed. If you just focus on the story of the game and process the objectives, I think you would see the credits roll within 5-6 hours. I typically get 50+ hours out of these types of games, but this one only gave me 18 and that includes a ton of side grinding on optional content.

beautiful and crisp graphics, tight and responsive gameplay.
Worth every penny , I can't wait for them to make another game like this one in the future.

9/10 game for recovering gacha addicts. Many of the systems and UI are clearly influenced by gacha, heavily optimised for non-stop dopamine hits, but without the real-money gambling. If you understand what you're getting, i recommend it at 50% off.

If you aren't addicted to mindless grinding, it's closer to a 6/10. The story is short (<15hr) and not very engaging; even though you're the "captain" of the crew, you're kinda just dragged along one event after another. There are probably better JRPGs you haven't played yet.

Combat is nothing like Monster Hunter—it's much faster and involves spamming flashy skills, like Genshin Impact, Scarlet Nexus, Tales of Arise or other real-time action JRPGs. Many characters have rotations based on rage bars or builder/spender combos although some are more flexible. Most fights that last more than a minute will involve extra-flashy events like slowed time and chained ultimates. Overall it looks and feels great, but I can see it getting annoying at late game with longer fights.

The quest system is the only thing that is similar to MH (or instanced MMOs like Phantasy Star Online) but much more streamlined. Simpler menus, fewer buttons needed, fewer unskippable timers, able to repeat quests from end screen. MH could learn a thing or two about removing bad friction from UI instead of removing good friction from gameplay.

Gear upgrading is gacha-like, not MH. Tiers are bloated; instead of a meaningful difference from a weapon +1 to +2, you always upgrade by 10's (e.g. from +10 to +20) using the "add as much upgrade material as possible" button. The numbers don't really matter (until endgame theorycrafting), you don't need to carefully consider which weapon to craft or upgrade, you just press the dopamine button until you run out of money or materials, go grind the same quest a few more times, and come back to press the dopamine button. You need to craft and upgrade every weapon to unlock bonus passives anyway.

Field maps are quite simple, linear but with enough gameplay variation to distract you. It never feels like walking down the same corridor for 5 minutes. The 1 town and 1 city look nice, cute details like stray animals, busy marketplaces with NPCs shouting over each other, but they stay mostly the same so it starts to lose its shine after a while.

In-engine cutscenes are well done, lots of impressive set pieces with seamless transitions to gameplay.

Story is typical anime. It starts with an established party of 7 with a lot of backstory, which is slightly overwhelming as someone new to the franchise, although the main plot point is extremely basic so you can just follow along without knowing one weirdly-eared species from another.

The UI for story scenes has an amazing feature I wish was standard in other RPGs and Visual Novels. There is a glossary that automatically filters words that were recently mentioned in dialogue. E.g. characters talk about X faction, if you press the glossary button, it lists the lore entry on X first.

If only they did this game like what capcom did to Monster Hunter Franchise.
I bet this game will be a nice addition/competitor those who like Monster Hunter. But it is what it is, and I kinda disappoint about the fact that this game already dying.

Great time that played smooth, only catch was the main character's combat felt more sluggish than any other character, but you can switch him out almost immediately. The story was a grand time and reminded me of classic animes, the game also featured multiple plots with a focus on redemption and the reminder its never too late to make amends or better yourself, which always hits deep.

Super fun game either solo or co-op. It's like an anime Monster Hunter with FFXIV dungeon bosses instead of large animals. My only gripe is the annoying, over-the-top, anime-style voice acting, which to me is just another way to say "bad voice acting".

This game is really good and serves as a standalone introduction to the Granblue Fantasy universe with a huge cast of diverse characters to play as in a Monster Hunter-esque experience.

Personally, my favorite aspect of the game is the story as it has a lot of cool moments with a few callbacks to the browser gacha such as summoning Bahamut . Even though the game's narrative is not the best, it has a few moments that elevates it. Another aspect that I like is the variety of characters, each with their own unique playstyles that suit their characters. They even have individual story episodes that serves as an introduction to the characters. Personally, my favorite characters are Zeta and Narmaya. Graphics are also really nice and runs really good. The soundtrack is also really good, particularly the tracks for Bahamut, Bahamut Versa, and Lucilius

However, even with all the pros above the game is still a bit grindy, especially deep into the endgame where drop rates are quite bad. Endgame raids also have the problems of oneshotting too often for my liking. Your mileage may vary on this.

In conclusion, I do recommend Relink for people who would like an anime-styled Monster Hunter as well as people who are interested in the Granblue Fantasy universe.

Anime, the game.

This game wouldn't have flopped if the multiplayer was done right but the region locks and lack of multiplayer accessibility killed it tbh. Still a great game though and if you got 3 friends to play it with, you'll love it.

I like it a lot, very fun to play and cool story. It gets very grindy after you beat the story though.

Granblue Fantasy Relink is a good action jrpg. The graphics of the game are good, the music is fantastic, and the story is good. You should give this game a try.

Firstly, I don't know much about this series beyond it having been a mobile game but the story was easy enough to follow with plenty of character backstory to explain who they were. The post game is essentially monster hunter, so if your like me you'll love this game; its biggest flaw were the "bug fixes" where they imo ruined certain chars, once they started with that I lost all interest in playing.

i kinda have mix review within the game but the story was good not the best but interesting, gameplay was fun and it fun using different character wish the story was a bit longer since the story is only 8 hours or less depend if you choose to skip overall it a fun game but wish they add more content that involve story

There are many things that could be said about Granblue Fantasy Relink but I'll lead with a compliment. This action rpg game based on a very popular gacha mobile game could easily have been just as laden with predatory faux-gambling so you grind endless hours for your favourite character or just end up paying some cash. But they didn't do that. You can unlock all the characters in a fairly reasonable amount of grind. The game still has quite a whole lot of grind though.
The main story of the game does not pose a real challenge but once you get to the post-story content, the side-quests you undertake, which become the main focus after the story, throw some fairly engaging fights at you. Having to grind some of them really wears down the enjoyment you have but that's honestly just for completionists.
The story is a fairly serviceable anime plot, expect no huge surprises and a hefty dose of power of friendship saving the world but it does its job to keep you entertained.
When I started playing and even now that I consider this game finished, I don't really have a character in the fairly sizable roster that I really like over all the others but this is purely a matter of taste. Suffice it to say, the game this is a spin-off of has an absolutely ridiculous roster, so the selection here is almost surprisingly sensible.
Relink's combat system highly depends on your character of choice. Some of them work via rhythmic button inputs, others rely on building up a meter, some others again deal big damage by building up and then spending a ressource. At least in this regard, I think everyone can find a character that caters to their tastes. The fights themselves are usually comprised of mowing down waves of smaller enemies or fighting against larger monsters and bosses in confined arenas, reminiscent of Monster Hunter or dungeons from classic MMOs.
Another thing that I find noteworthy is the pretty solid voice-acting in the English version. I enjoyed hearing the quips and dialogues of the various teams you can put together.

Overall I'd recommend Granblue Fantasy Relink to weebs, fans of beating up on enemies three times their size and people who love to grind to constantly make bigger numbers.

It seems to me that a lot of the reviews are upset that the game isn’t an endless service kind of game that’s constantly getting new updates and bosses, but I’m the kind of person that wants to play a game, beat the game, and then move on to playing other games. If I want to experience an old game again, I would rather replay it than every few months Re-download it and play a few hours of new content, then uninstall it again.

Love the gameplay, the graphics, the character designs, the music, everything. I just wish that you could play co-op through the whole campaign. I don’t see why you can’t. If you could, this could probably have been my favorite co-op game.

the game graphic is astounding, the gameplay is simple yet challenging. it was nice experience. #JPRGisnotdead

Probably my favourite game of 2024. Loads of characters with very different gameplay styles, pretty world with a number of hidden things to find and mega upgrades to be had for all your characters and weapons. Feels a bit like anime Monster Hunter but the bosses have more predictable phases and are rewarding to master.

I played through the main story, which still leaves the massive grind for gear and materials to reach the true endgame. So, take this as a review of the first 20 hours or so of the game.

It's gacha methadone. Based on a gacha game, looks like a gacha game, has all the myriad currencies/side quests/objectives/unlocks/skinner box dopamine curve of a gacha game etc. But wiithout artificial gates built out of energy bars that deplete daily or random pulls for characters or other constant pressures to monetize via microtransactions. It can even be played offline. An excellent way to not play certain popular mobile games and to enjoy a cheesy but sincere story.

Probably not worth $60 for just the initial story mode but there is a lot of time to sink into post story content. Maybe wait for a sale.

Additionally it runs like a dream on the steam deck.

It's been a minute since I not only started a JRPG, but actually completed it (FF15 was probably the last). Well, "completed" might not be the right word, since Granblue Fantasy post-main story has apparently a really long epilogue (another six hours or so) and a seemingly infinite amount of endgame similar to Monster Hunter games. Great for people with time, I guess, but I am really quite content with the main story.

I must also say that I took probably over 500 screenshots. The game is stunningly beautiful, with rich colors and just an endless supply of wallpaper opportunities.

Anime-style Monster Hunter Lite

Good:
+ Cel-shaded graphics and character models are aesthetically pleasing
+ Decent amount of optional post story content like quests and more unlocks for characters
+ Pretty solid roster of characters (at least 12), each with different style of combat
+ Voice acting for the main story, battle dialogue and character stories

Bad:
- Story (or lack thereof, what little bit of story we have is very generic. They are probably better off using the story budget somewhere else)
- Chest platforming mini-game start getting pretty obnoxious late-game
- Lots of story dialogue and character banter happening mid-battle, making it really hard to fight and listen/read at the same time
- Bosses/fight patterns recycling near the end of the story/in postgame content

Rating:
3.5/5 Dial soap bars

Great game, then the develops completely abandoned this project. Throw in a few DLCs for money but don't support any version of crossplay or online services. Amazing game to play for literally the main story by yourself.

Get it on sale, don't support this at full price. Absolutely tarnished a beautiful project.

A good game, too bad there's a lot of grinding at the end of the game.

Fun action rpg with a light story.
Kinda expected a more full fledged jrp with this but it's still good.

8/10

Good combat but childish story

This game is the ultimate...popularity test! If you were lucky enough to convince your friends that you're not a weeaboo fantasizing about all the characters 24/7, and to play the game with you, this is the GOAT anime game out there. If you don't have any friends though...well sh*t. Good luck getting past the last Bahamut quest in the story ;)

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