I had never really dived deep into the Granblue series until recently. From an outsider looking in, it seemed like an almost impenetrable series of fighting games but with an intense love for the Final Fantasy series and knowing that Nobuo Uematsu—the composer of my favourite Final Fantasy games—was involved, was just enough of a push to get myself invested into the series.
For this reason, when CGM was invited to San Fransico for a Granblue Fantasy preview event, I jumped at the chance. CY Games America hosted this event to show off two of its games. The upcoming Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, and the long-awaited Granblue Fantasy: Relink. We were given free rein to play as much of each title as we wanted over two hours. I split my time up between the two evenly, and now I’m bringing my impressions to you!
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
Starting with Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, a more known quantity of the two, it is best looked at as a sequel to Granblue Fantasy Versus as it comes with all the content previously released with Fantasy Versus with some very significant changes for long time-fighting game fans. Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising includes both Cross-Play and rollback netcode. Basically, meaning it makes the online play of Fantasy Versus much more enjoyable and smooth for both players, no matter the lag.
Along with this, there are a few new characters added to the roster. Another significant addition to Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is its online lobby system, in which you are able to compete in mini-games and travel around this small chibi world, and its own Fall Guys-style mini-game event mode called Grand Bruise Legends. Not only is Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising including the story from the previous version of the game, but it has added two arcs to close out the story of Versus.
This seems like it would be the best jumping-on-point for any level of player. For returning fans, you can continue on the story and continue dominating the playfield. Or, if you are like me, because of the inclusion of the older content, You can get caught up all while learning some newer characters to the series and jumping into the online hub world to play some mini-games. A bold move for CY Games America is that they are also releasing a free version of Granblue Fantasy Verus: Rising. You will be able to choose from one of four characters, part one of the story, and, most importantly, play all of Grand Bruise Legends with friends.
During my time with Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, the only mode available to us was VS fighting with AI or another player. Thankfully I was able to sync up with another journalist at the event, and we played against each other. It was fluid and fun, if not a little complicated. With no onboarding process, I was a little unsure how to properly use my characters, but I still had an enjoyable time.
It was just enough of a taste that I dove into Versus at home after the event. During my playtime, it was apparent that style and music are at the forefront of Granblue Fantasy, and it’s something I can get behind. It would have been nice to try out Grand Bruise Legends, as it was a big focus point during the presentation.
My biggest takeaway from Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising was that they did a great job of mixing the genres of fantasy and fighting together. It all felt like Final Fantasy, which is a great feeling. There is this certain level of smoothness while fighting that even though the combos themselves were a little too complicated, the minute-to-minute fighting felt fluent and easy enough that even a newcomer like me could hold my own before diving into learning the combos or which character would best suit my abilities.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink
Lastly was my brief time with the long-awaited Granblue Fantasy: Relink, an action role-playing game set in the universe of Granblue. The basic story setup we got was that there are these four god-like beings that everyone wants to control. You select your character and go through missions to save the world, focusing on cooperative play with up to four players. This game almost felt like older Tales games like Tales of Symphonia if the battling was less instanced and more a part of the open zones.
I picked the default character with a gun, who was flipping around and better suited to deal with groupings of enemies rather than singular foes. There was a time limit of five minutes, in which I had to fight through a group of enemies and take down two bosses. We weren’t really given context for this mission or the ability to use the co-op feature. It didn’t matter because it was super slick and stylish while maintaining this high level of fun and strategy.
This would be a perfect entry point for fans of RPGs who don’t necessarily enjoy fighting games. You wouldn’t be missing out on the draw of Granblue either because, again, the style and music are on point. With a cast of twelve characters, co-op, and an outstanding soundtrack, I can’t wait to see more of Granblue Fantasy: Relink.
Along with its slick hash and slash-style battle system, Granblue Fantasy: Relink also has these abilities you can deploy. For example, my character used guns, so his abilities were a type of area of effect where he would shoot his gun into the air, and it would rain down bullets onto the enemies, a charged shot that would deal a devastating blow to a singular enemy, and finally an almost shadow like dodge that would continually dodge while the ability was active. For a final showy blast, each character has an ultimate-like ability that would cut to this cutscene of your character, dealing a ton of damage.
One of the main focuses in the battle system in Granblue Fantasy: Relink is its titular Relink attack. As you damage an enemy, a bar will build up with your characters. If you can manage to build up each character’s bar, you can link these ultimate moves in what has to be some of the coolest animations I have seen in a long time. I can only imagine playing with some friends, hooting and hollering as we pull off some slick moves.
While we have yet to see just how deep its RPG systems go, it does know that it is an action game and doesn’t shy away from it. While we were told there were hundreds of missions, if they can pull off a good variety, there is no reason that Granblue Fantasy: Relink won’t stand among the greats of the action RPG genre.
Overall, I was thoroughly impressed by what was showcased. Cy Games America wants to branch out, and starting with an action RPG is a great step when every ounce of Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising and Granblue Fantasy: Relink feels like it could belong in any of the big-time JRPG worlds existing today.
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is releasing on November 30, 2023, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC. Granblue Fantasy: Relink will be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC in February 2024.
