Granblue Fantasy: Relink - Day One (DLC)

Granblue Fantasy: Relink is an action RPG built around a party of four skyfarers tearing through aerial fantasy set-pieces together. It borrows the visual identity of Cygames' long-running mobile gacha - the painterly skies, the crystalpunk airships, the extended cast of swordsmen, mages, and gunners - and translates it into a console-style action game with surprisingly tight combat fundamentals. If you have never touched the original browser or mobile title, that is fine. Relink is narratively self-contained enough to function as a standalone entry point, even if series veterans will get more out of the cameo parade. The combat is where Relink earns its keep. Each character in the roster plays meaningfully differently. Katalina is a defensive bruiser with parry timing windows. Io channels spell charges like a mini-rhythm game layered on top of dodging. Ferry leans on pet-management mechanics while staying mobile. The system rewards learning one character deeply rather than button-mashing through all of them, and when you find a build that clicks, the moment-to-moment fights feel genuinely expressive. The main story is relatively short and linear by RPG standards - expect around 15 hours - but it is clearly the prologue to the real game, which is the post-story quest board. That is where Relink reveals its actual design philosophy: structured monster-hunting loops, escalating difficulty tiers, and gear systems that create real build decisions around sigil loadouts and weapon upgrades. The writing is functional rather than exceptional. The main cast hits familiar archetypes - the amnesiac protagonist, the loyal knight, the cheerful rival - and the dialogue does not aim for the density or moral complexity that defines the RPGs I tend to obsess over. Choices do not matter here; this is not a branching narrative. What it does have is genuine affection for its characters, and several of the sidequest vignettes land emotionally precisely because the writers know these people well after years of source material. The worldbuilding is more implied than explained, which can feel thin if you are expecting lore dumps, but also avoids the padded exposition crawls that kill pacing in lesser action RPGs. The co-op component is the game's strongest selling point for long-term value. Running high-difficulty quests with three other players, each bringing a different character kit to the encounter, produces the kind of emergent coordination that action RPGs rarely manage without a full MMO infrastructure behind them. Solo play is supported throughout - AI companions are competent enough to clear most content - but the game clearly breathes best in 4-player sessions. Some endgame quests border on the repetitive side when farming specific sigil drops, which is a structural issue inherited directly from the genre, but the combat loop is engaging enough that the grind rarely feels punishing. The Day One edition bundles in a set of starter bonuses alongside the base game. It does not fundamentally change what Relink is - an action RPG with a devoted fanbase, a polished combat engine, a modest main story, and genuine depth waiting in the post-game content for players willing to invest the hours. If you want a narrative RPG where your decisions shape the world, look elsewhere. If you want to theorycraft builds, run flashy co-op hunts, and gradually master a character who rewards practice, Relink earns its time at the table.

Monika · Scout Team

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