Well worth the wait for this game. Having been a player of the mobile game some years ago, this game does not disappoint at all. The gameplay and combat feels smoothly and flows very well and looks great too! Definitely recommend.
Quick overview. This game was made with a ton of love and you see that from start to finish of your time spent on the game. Solid 28 hours in so far with zero regrets. I have no experience in the granblue universe or even like jrps (aside from final fantasy) and i heavily heavily recommend this game. Try the demo and if you like it support the devs and get it direct from them. If we can’t support games like this, then what the hell are we doing ?
Story – 6/10
Honestly the only reason it get’s this score is because of the intrigue it manages to pull off at times. It’s serviceable and i never found myself skipping cutscenes but did find myself blanking out. This game has a rating for 12 or older so i don’t see why all of these eastern asian games have writing to appeal to a 5 year old with cringey dialogue. Seriously why is this a thing ? It’s so bland at times and it’s a real shame because every other aspect of this game is crafted with so much love. Get rid of the cringe anime dialogue and story and just hire competent story writers. Seriously if i was paying a team of writers to come up with an interesting story and they gave me this, i would fire the whole department. This type of writing for the audience your going for is a joke. You can appeal to kids and adults with good story writing, just look at one piece.
Graphics 9/10. This games graphics at times are out of this world. From things you do in combat, looking like it’s straight out of an anime made by MAPPA (less the blood lol). The only reason why this doesn’t get a ten is because when looking at things from a distance, they can be quite low res sometimes.
Animations 10/10. Inside combat is where this really shines, pretty much every animation in this game feels silky smooth and has that premium touch. This is what tripple a animation is suppose to be like.
Combat. 9/10. It’s simple and yet has a lot of depth and extends to your whole party not just the main character. the way it looks, feels, the bosses are absolutely wild (only experience i can compare it two is ff16, so if you know you know). Even mowing down hordes is fun, but each enemy has enough punch so it’s not a push over. Difficulty is good, i find myself dying, which is a rare occurrence in pretty much all games i play (yes even soulslikes, as though the only thing your not doing in the game to win is press b then rb twice lol). Enemies fight back and it feels like a challenge. It also spices up combat with different ways to use the environment, good amount of enemy types and did i mention the bosses holy moly. On point, in the future i would like to see more quick control commands to control party member tactics, if we ever get another game.
Worldbuilding – 6/10. Usually i wouldn’t even mention this as a point but it is very relevant here. You can learn about this world, and it is intriguing to learn about. HOWEVER, the game does not do a good job at explaining the background to all the characters. They have added in a system which is basically all still cutscenes with tons of dialogue. This is a shame because some stories are interesting.
Endgame – 9/10. Not even going to bother explaining how good and rewarding endgame feels. ZERO microtransactions, feels like your actually making progress. One thing i will say, is it can get a little repetitive. The reason being is the story in the missions is practically non existent. Which brings me back to story. Have self contained stories, that are good and not cringe moving forward. More variety and and endless based survival mode would be top tier too.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink is a action JRPG with hack-n-slash combat straight out of the Nier/Bayonetta playbook. While its combat system doesn’t quite match these peerless examples, its nevertheless fast, strategic and most importantly – fun.
The combat – backed by some terrific boss battles and a gorgeous graphical aesthetic largely help to counter the key weaknesses of the game – namely a lack of freedom (levels are all very liner) and a story/dialogue that may grate at time. Nevertheless I think a lot of heart and passion went into this game, which makes it a solid JRPG alternative to the ‘good old days’ when heroes are young and plucky, airships are a primary means of transport and a magical girl with blue hair drives the plot forward.
The main story clocks in at around 12 – 20 hours depending the level of side quests you add on. The main story is fast paced with some great showdowns, superb fantasy hubs and a few gameplay switch up’s to keep things from growing stale (again, trying to copy Nier’s homework). Once complete, there is an extensive list of extra quests to take on, with a lot of difficult options and a generous cast of characters to play as. These can be tackled in multiplayer, or with AI for single players.
The roster of characters is excellent – and makes the most of Granblues range of colourful and very attractive cast with varying fighting styles (see Granblue Fantasy Verses), sufficient to say there is something for everyone. I particularly liked how blatant the Gatcha elements were – with in game currency – unlockable tokens and everything (copying Genshin Impact’s homework now…), thankfully there is no battle pass, no storefront and everything can be earned in game – phew! Wonder how many course corrections there were in development…
At this point I’m going to mention in passing that this game is subject to the usual Sony censorship – it’s the usual, a tiny bit of clothing fill in and most of the women now wear ubiquitous black shorts…just in case that bothers you (the internet suggests it certainly bothers some!)
Anyway, the story is good fun providing you are fine with the classic JRPG tropes. A few surprises or a bit more daring with its story telling would have helped (it feels that every single Granblue story revolves around astrals being corrupted by something dark and shadowy), but there is a good effort here with dramatic cutscenes and likable characters. While the English dub is serviceable, some of the localisation choices are ‘odd’ with a real effort to westernize some terms – likewise the characters just can’t stay quiet for more then 2mins, the floating ‘lizard’ being by far the worst offender. Take for example the first major boss battle against a wind deity – during a particularly dramatic attack all the characters are rambling away with exposition – its very grating, distracting and a real shame during what would otherwise be a combat high point (and when the music is excellent throughout).
Compared to some of the drab and serious ‘J’RPG’s floating around (looking at you Final Fantasy XVI) it will either make for refreshing comfort food – or tonal whiplash. Regardless I found its short, highly focussed story beats enjoyable compared to a needlessly padded game.
+ Great graphical style – lovely art-style throughout that really helps elevate the game
+ Superb, fast paced combat with a lot of different styles to try
+ Enjoyable, ‘classic’ JRPG story with good production values and some great boss battles
– Cluttered HUD covers the screen with no options to scale down, no photo mode for such a lovely game?
– You may find the main story far too easy until the late game quests
– Questionable localisation, and constant yapping from characters throughout distracts and annoys
PS – not sure? Try the excellent demo on the playstation store! That’s what won me over!
Well worth the wait for this game. Having been a player of the mobile game some years ago, this game does not disappoint at all. The gameplay and combat feels smoothly and flows very well and looks great too! Definitely recommend.
Story – 6/10
Graphics – 9/10
Combat. 9/10.
Worldbuilding – 6/10
Endgame – 9/10
Quick overview. This game was made with a ton of love and you see that from start to finish of your time spent on the game. Solid 28 hours in so far with zero regrets. I have no experience in the granblue universe or even like jrps (aside from final fantasy) and i heavily heavily recommend this game. Try the demo and if you like it support the devs and get it direct from them. If we can’t support games like this, then what the hell are we doing ?
Story – 6/10
Honestly the only reason it get’s this score is because of the intrigue it manages to pull off at times. It’s serviceable and i never found myself skipping cutscenes but did find myself blanking out. This game has a rating for 12 or older so i don’t see why all of these eastern asian games have writing to appeal to a 5 year old with cringey dialogue. Seriously why is this a thing ? It’s so bland at times and it’s a real shame because every other aspect of this game is crafted with so much love. Get rid of the cringe anime dialogue and story and just hire competent story writers. Seriously if i was paying a team of writers to come up with an interesting story and they gave me this, i would fire the whole department. This type of writing for the audience your going for is a joke. You can appeal to kids and adults with good story writing, just look at one piece.
Graphics 9/10. This games graphics at times are out of this world. From things you do in combat, looking like it’s straight out of an anime made by MAPPA (less the blood lol). The only reason why this doesn’t get a ten is because when looking at things from a distance, they can be quite low res sometimes.
Animations 10/10. Inside combat is where this really shines, pretty much every animation in this game feels silky smooth and has that premium touch. This is what tripple a animation is suppose to be like.
Combat. 9/10. It’s simple and yet has a lot of depth and extends to your whole party not just the main character. the way it looks, feels, the bosses are absolutely wild (only experience i can compare it two is ff16, so if you know you know). Even mowing down hordes is fun, but each enemy has enough punch so it’s not a push over. Difficulty is good, i find myself dying, which is a rare occurrence in pretty much all games i play (yes even soulslikes, as though the only thing your not doing in the game to win is press b then rb twice lol). Enemies fight back and it feels like a challenge. It also spices up combat with different ways to use the environment, good amount of enemy types and did i mention the bosses holy moly. On point, in the future i would like to see more quick control commands to control party member tactics, if we ever get another game.
Worldbuilding – 6/10. Usually i wouldn’t even mention this as a point but it is very relevant here. You can learn about this world, and it is intriguing to learn about. HOWEVER, the game does not do a good job at explaining the background to all the characters. They have added in a system which is basically all still cutscenes with tons of dialogue. This is a shame because some stories are interesting.
Endgame – 9/10. Not even going to bother explaining how good and rewarding endgame feels. ZERO microtransactions, feels like your actually making progress. One thing i will say, is it can get a little repetitive. The reason being is the story in the missions is practically non existent. Which brings me back to story. Have self contained stories, that are good and not cringe moving forward. More variety and and endless based survival mode would be top tier too.
The combat – backed by some terrific boss battles and a gorgeous graphical aesthetic largely help to counter the key weaknesses of the game – namely a lack of freedom (levels are all very liner) and a story/dialogue that may grate at time. Nevertheless I think a lot of heart and passion went into this game, which makes it a solid JRPG alternative to the ‘good old days’ when heroes are young and plucky, airships are a primary means of transport and a magical girl with blue hair drives the plot forward.
The main story clocks in at around 12 – 20 hours depending the level of side quests you add on. The main story is fast paced with some great showdowns, superb fantasy hubs and a few gameplay switch up’s to keep things from growing stale (again, trying to copy Nier’s homework). Once complete, there is an extensive list of extra quests to take on, with a lot of difficult options and a generous cast of characters to play as. These can be tackled in multiplayer, or with AI for single players.
The roster of characters is excellent – and makes the most of Granblues range of colourful and very attractive cast with varying fighting styles (see Granblue Fantasy Verses), sufficient to say there is something for everyone. I particularly liked how blatant the Gatcha elements were – with in game currency – unlockable tokens and everything (copying Genshin Impact’s homework now…), thankfully there is no battle pass, no storefront and everything can be earned in game – phew! Wonder how many course corrections there were in development…
At this point I’m going to mention in passing that this game is subject to the usual Sony censorship – it’s the usual, a tiny bit of clothing fill in and most of the women now wear ubiquitous black shorts…just in case that bothers you (the internet suggests it certainly bothers some!)
Anyway, the story is good fun providing you are fine with the classic JRPG tropes. A few surprises or a bit more daring with its story telling would have helped (it feels that every single Granblue story revolves around astrals being corrupted by something dark and shadowy), but there is a good effort here with dramatic cutscenes and likable characters. While the English dub is serviceable, some of the localisation choices are ‘odd’ with a real effort to westernize some terms – likewise the characters just can’t stay quiet for more then 2mins, the floating ‘lizard’ being by far the worst offender. Take for example the first major boss battle against a wind deity – during a particularly dramatic attack all the characters are rambling away with exposition – its very grating, distracting and a real shame during what would otherwise be a combat high point (and when the music is excellent throughout).
Compared to some of the drab and serious ‘J’RPG’s floating around (looking at you Final Fantasy XVI) it will either make for refreshing comfort food – or tonal whiplash. Regardless I found its short, highly focussed story beats enjoyable compared to a needlessly padded game.
+ Great graphical style – lovely art-style throughout that really helps elevate the game
+ Superb, fast paced combat with a lot of different styles to try
+ Enjoyable, ‘classic’ JRPG story with good production values and some great boss battles
– Cluttered HUD covers the screen with no options to scale down, no photo mode for such a lovely game?
– You may find the main story far too easy until the late game quests
– Questionable localisation, and constant yapping from characters throughout distracts and annoys
PS – not sure? Try the excellent demo on the playstation store! That’s what won me over!