GranBlue Fantasy: Relink preview – An immense RPG full of action

GranBlue Fantasy: Relink is set to release in February 2024. Dexerto got to have a hands-on preview of the RPG ahead of its release, so here’s what we thought of the game so far.

GranBlue Fantasy: Relink is an upcoming RPG spin-off of the beloved gacha game, GranBlue Fantasy. This title is aimed at both new and returning fans of the franchise and aims to deliver a meaty JRPG experience you can sink your teeth into.

We were recently able to sit down and experience serval portions of the game, including the opening hours of the main story, some multiplayer content, and a hands-off demonstration of just how deep the endgame can get. Without further ado, here are our full thoughts on GranBlue Fantasy: Relink so far.

A Gran(d) adventure to experience 

The opening hours of GranBlue Fantasy: Relink do a fantastic job of introducing you to the game’s main party. Once you’ve selected your protagonist, either a boy called Gran, or a girl called Djeeta (you can rename your character if you want). We selected Gran for our hands-on and were immediately thrust into an adventurous narrative as the captain of a band of Skyfarers.

At the start of the playthrough, Gran found himself in unknown surroundings and had to swiftly start looking for his shipmates. As we progressed through a lush linear forest, we got our first taste of combat and were soon reunited with our friends.

These opening hours effectively gave us a good idea of what’s to be expected from GranBlue Fantasy: Relink’s single-player experience — an intriguing narrative packed full of adventure, and lovable characters to meet. Levels play out linearly and there are plenty of exciting set pieces throughout. Fans are definitely in for a gran(d) adventure here.

Quests, quests & more quests!

The main narrative is just one component of GranBlue Fantasy: Relink, however, as you’ll gain access to quests a couple of hours in. These shorter missions can be taken on alone with a party of AI-controlled characters, or they can be enjoyed with up to 4 players in multiplayer.

There’s a nice variety of quests from defending an area to fighting a tough boss, and completing them will reward you with the experience and resources needed to continue progressing the main story.

While you can’t experience the story in co-op, having quests be an essential part of the core gameplay loop allows players to regularly jump in with their friends — something that is particularly tantalizing for those who want more challenging co-op content. Once the main story is finished, you’ll be able to take on additional quests as well.

A fighting style for everyone

Combat is a huge part of GranBlue Fantasy: Relink and every character in the RPG has a distinct fighting style that makes them somewhat reminiscent of weapons in the Monster Hunter franchise. From all-rounders like Gran to the protection specialist Vane to mages like Io, who excel at charge attacks — there’s sure to be a character for everyone to enjoy. While you cannot freely swap fighters in battle, the amount of characters that will be available will surely add a huge amount of replayability to the game, and leave a lot of room for experimentation.

Battles themselves are all about capitalizing on combos starting by simply combining your light and heavy attacks, then adding in face-button abilities for extra damage. Every enemy you fight has a stun gauge and once this has been filled, you’ll be able to activate a Link Attack with another party member. The more link attacks you use, the more your link level will fill. Once it reaches 100% for the entire party, you’ll gain an advantage by slowing the opponent down in link time. Lastly, Skybound Arts act as Ults in the game, and if you’re able to trigger the attack with your teammates, you’ll perform a Full Burst afterward that unleashes an additional group attack for maximum damage.

Gameplay-wise, combat felt extremely smooth on PS5, and while there’s a lot of depth, it’s incredibly satisfying once you get to grips with all the various mechanics. It’s also important to note that the game does feature difficulty settings and an assist mode for those who may not be as experienced with action RPGs.

Endgame galore

Finally, there will be a lot of endgame content for players to dig into — featuring challenging boss battles that you’ll need to synergize party members and develop a plan of action. We were shown a hands-off live demonstration where two members of the Cygames team took on a level 135 boss that delivered a constant barrage of bullet-hell and AoE attacks that were reminiscent of some of Final Fantasy XIV‘s toughest raids.

One player took on the primary damage-dealing role in the fight, and the other focused on protection, which emphasized just how important not only dictating specific roles will be in the endgame but also crafting your builds perfectly for every battle. Although the main story is set to be approximately 20 hours long, with all the multiplayer quests and endgame on offer, you could spend up to and over 100+ hours in the game depending on how deep you want to dig into the endgame experience.

Overall GranBlue Fantasy: Relink looks to be a vibrant, immersive action RPG packed full of content to enjoy. In what’s shaping up to be a huge 2024 for the genre, GranBlue Fantasy: Relink is coming for the JRPG crown.

GranBlue Fantasy: Relink will release on February 1, 2024, for PS4, PS5, and PC.