The skies are vast, full of infinite wonder and, dare I say it, endless adventure for those willing to take the first leap into the great unknown. Granblue Fantasy: Relink – Endless Ragnarok, a DLC expansion port of the action RPG Granblue Fantasy: Relink, once again tasks players with exploring the skies. Does it merely maintain the splendor Des Miller found in the game’s original release, or are there enough new features to warrant a double dip? Thankfully, Both newcomers and returning players will find a hefty amount of content to get lost in, as well as a hopeful promise of what might next be in store for Granblue Fantasy.
In terms of its overall narrative, Granblue Fantasy: Relink is a quintessential JRPG. Plot-wise, there really isn’t anything here that you haven’t seen in other games, but it manages to pull you in. I became invested the more I delved into the main story, and the party characters in particular made a lasting impression. There’s a way to tell a story and showcase character growth that, when done well, makes it stand out brightly. The sense of found family and adventure throughout Granblue Fantasy: Relink’s tale is a treasure that motivates you to keep going all the way to the game’s still quite loaded endgame. It’s a rare game that can so succinctly pull off that feat.
To top off its ultimately compelling and entertaining narrative, Granblue Fantasy: Relink’s gameplay is even more resplendent. The ARPG gameplay mechanics are fine-tuned and polished to a near-blinding sheen by co-developer PlatinumGames (NieR: Automata); whether against waves of enemies or simply one massive foe, combat is beautifully orchestrated.
The party AI is phenomenal and deeply intuitive (and, at least on the Steam Deck, you can opt to play the game solo or with multiplayer co-op rather easily depending on your preferences, with both gameplay options being well-implemented), and any button combo shortcuts work quickly and just as intended. Dodging and positioning during attacks are key, evoking heavyweight combat systems in games like Final Fantasy XIV, Harvestella, or Ys.
Even if you opt to go into Assist or Full Assist Mode to make fights more intuitive and easier to pull off, there’s a beauty and strategy to finding out the inherent rhythms in combat. There’s a wealth of things to do outside of simply fighting enemies too in Granblue Fantasy: Relink. I was delighted whenever the opportunity to race through a dungeon area collecting shiny stones occurred, or when the game allowed me to run and jump and slide from platform-to-platform as if my life depended on it (I suppose it did!) during frenetic chase scenes.
The larger-than-life summon battles brought to mind the Eikon fights in Final Fantasy XVI or the mech battles in The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, but pulls them off in such a way that they feel both more cinematic and fluidly interactive all at once. The quests you can undertake while in towns feature varied objectives and increasing difficulty, letting you truly test your mettle in exciting ways.
Endless Ragnarok takes an already stellar game and brings it to even grander heights. For new players like me, that includes seamlessly incorporating expansion elements into the main story campaign early on. New characters are available to recruit right from the get-go. One of them, a long-range shooter named Eustace, instantly became a mainstay in my party the minute I recruited him. There’s also an added gameplay mode called the Conflux that opens up later on. An optional roguelite area, the Conflux helps you level characters and gather the necessary materials for easier crafting, which, in turn, helps you progress through the main story and the Endless Ragnarok content even quicker.
For those who are already finished with Chapter 0 of the main story, the Endless Ragnarok content provides even more difficult challenges and quests to overcome alongside a new and rather entertaining summoning mechanic, plus a new way to upgrade weapons to make them all the stronger. Considering that the Endless Ragnarok endgame content adds nearly double the amount of content as the main story, though the narrative components are more directly tied to the quest counter and its new difficulty tiers than as presented in the base game’s story route, it’s definitely enticing for returning players while granting newcomers even more incentive to play through the game in its entirety.
Visually, Granblue Fantasy: Relink has a grand, cinematic feel throughout its cutscenes, and its beautiful gameplay sequences rely on anime visuals and aesthetics. I love the character designs and the artwork throughout. The UI is gorgeous and easy to read and navigate, with the Endless Ragnarok content playing seamlessly on the Steam Deck without any performance issues.
The English voice acting is enjoyable to listen to, with major kudos going to the voice actors for Id, Rosetta, Eustace, Rolan, and Djeeta. The phenomenal soundtrack stirs the soul, serving as the perfect motivation during intense fights and action sequences. Given the sheer amount of text both in the main story and endgame content, alongside the more visual novel-esque presentations of the optional character-centric Fate Episodes, there’s nary a typographical error to be found.
Since I wasn’t a returning player to Granblue Fantasy: Relink, I can’t say how Endless Ragnarok stands on its own; however, I feel it’s implemented in such a way that its additions intermix well with the base game, including new characters and the Conflux. Like with Chapter 0 before it, the majority of Endless Ragnarok’s quest content feels like a welcome extension to what’s already an extremely mechanically well-designed ARPG.
I greatly enjoyed my time with Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and I’m fortunate to finally have gotten the chance to try what’s a truly delightful adventure with Endless Ragnarok. This is definitely an expansion I’d wholeheartedly recommend both returning players and newcomers to try out. If what exists here in Granblue Fantasy: Relink – Endless Ragnarok is any indication, then I truly believe there’s endless potential for future Granblue Fantasy games of this ilk.
