2024-02-11 01:10:08
Granblue Fantasy is a somewhat unfamiliar IP in Korea. Although the fan base is very strong in Japan, in Korea, Granblue Fantasy Versus, released in 2020, is the first Korean version of the work.
‘Granblue Fantasy Relink’, developed by Cygames, suffered difficulties during the development process as the collaboration with Platinum Games fell apart following its first release in 2016, but was officially released on the 1st following 8 years of hard work.
Even before I played the trial version, I was worried. This is because eight years have already passed since its first release, and its release has been delayed several times in the process. The worries were unfounded. I bought the game right following playing the trial version.
To conclude, the battle is very fun. The skill effects, directing, and action that take advantage of each character’s individuality are excellent. If you look at the combat alone, GOTY is also worth aiming for.
Genre: Action RPG
Release date: February 1, 2024
Developer: Cygames
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5
■ Obvious yet immersive story
The story of Granblue Fantasy Relink is a typical royal road. It depicts the journey of the protagonist and his group who go on an adventure to rescue a kidnapped colleague. During his adventure to rescue his colleagues, he gives and receives help from the villagers, and is also given the opportunity to become stronger by being defeated by powerful enemies.
Although it is a story that can be seen everywhere, the delivery is very good. Cut scenes, directing, music, and dubbing convey the typical story more intuitively. Even if you skip the dialogue passages and play, there will be no major problems in understanding the story.
The length of the story is regarding 15 hours, which is appropriate, neither more nor less than recently released games. If you use full assist mode or skip boring sections, you can see the ending in less than 15 hours.
There was ample consideration for gamers unfamiliar with the Granblue Fantasy IP. In particular, you can find worldview backgrounds and terms in the vocabulary that you might not know if you haven’t played other Granblue Fantasy games.
■ Combat action completed in collaboration with colleagues
– Oh’s directing is excellent.
Granblue Fantasy Relink’s level of completion is so high that it’s safe to say that the battles and action are complete. Battles are carried out by rolling a so-called ‘deal cycle’ by combining normal attacks, special attacks, and abilities (skills) that take advantage of each character’s personality.
The structure itself is similar to an action RPG, but when you play it yourself, you can immediately see that a lot of effort was put into the combat. In particular, the connection between skills in the individual deal cycle and further connection with party members are excellent.
In Granblue Fantasy ReLink, in addition to each character’s attack methods, there are the concepts of ‘Link Attack’ and ‘Fight’. What both systems have in common is an attack method that shines only when linked with party members.
Link attack is an additional attack concept that involves attacking in conjunction with a colleague. When you hit an enemy with consecutive attacks, the stun gauge increases, and when the gauge reaches maximum, a link chance occurs. When the link chance is activated, each party member can make an additional attack once.
– I can’t stand battles with huge bosses.
When you use a link attack, the link counter increases, and if it fills up to 100% and the next link attack is successful, ‘link time’ is activated. During link time, attack power and critical probability increase, ability cooldown is reduced, and HP continuation effects are applied. Additionally, the enemy’s movement becomes very slow, making it easier to time extreme damage.
Oui is a concept similar to a special move. It can be used when the O gauge under the character’s health bar is filled to 100%. Oui can also be linked to party members. When at least two people link up the Five Spirits, a powerful attack called ‘Chain Burst’ is activated. The damage of Chain Burst increases depending on the number of links, and the link counter increases.
If you use Link Attack and Oui well, you can use them strategically, such as quickly reducing the enemy’s stamina to pass the pattern or timing extreme damage. In this way, individual performance is important, but there are various devices in place so that you can feel like you are attacking the boss together by linking up with party members.
There is ample consideration for users who find multiplayer burdensome. Basically, the AI performance of party members is very excellent, and they perform attacks, pattern avoidance, and ally revival appropriately. You can also set your preferred style between automatic use and on-zone use. When used automatically, it is used whenever the Oath gauge is full, and when setting the On-Zone, the player must use it to activate the Oki.
■ Farming elements that forcibly extend play time
– We are mainly raising Charlotte.
Unlike games that are provided live, console games have clear limitations in content. Even if the content is updated, the patch interval is very long or it is often included in DLC at a later date.
Strictly speaking, the end content of Granblue Fantasy Relink has a very long play time. The problem is that farming elements are scattered everywhere. In order to develop one character to the final level, you must farm all various elements such as ultimate weapons, Jin, and character reinforcement.
Character enhancements include attack ability, HP and resistance, weapon collection bonuses, and limit breaks. The method is to unlock each stat with mastery points.
Jin is similar to the rune system commonly found in other games. When worn, it receives the skill effect attached to Jin. For example, ‘Combo Bonus V’ is a type whose power gradually increases when you hit the enemy with successive attacks. If you wear multiple runes and activate the combo bonus skill up to level 30, the power increase effect increases up to 100%.
To set it up as efficiently as possible, you need to farm Jin with two skills. However, it is not easy to farm a Jin that has the skills you need at the same time. Ultimately, you need to farm a large number of these Jinn, and even obtain a ‘exclusive Jinn’ that greatly strengthens the characteristics of each character, so the difficulty of farming is very high.
– Jins with high value can only be obtained from certain content.
In addition, rare Jins such as exclusive Jins, glass attribute conversion, and additional damage can only be obtained through the random gacha system ‘Jin Conversion’ or artifact appraisal. To put it simply, the ultimate weapon is the final weapon. It is randomly dropped during the ‘Proto Bahamut’ subjugation quest that is unlocked at the end. This also has a low drop rate and if you are unlucky, you may not be able to obtain the weapon for the character you are training.
It’s not just this. To activate all weapon collection bonuses, you must craft a total of 6 weapons, including the ultimate weapon, for each character and enhance them to level 150. In this way, in order to develop a character to the final stage, you must overcome the low probability to acquire the ultimate weapon and exclusive Jin, and complete Jin farming and character strengthening appropriate for the character characteristics.
You may develop a character you love to your heart’s content, but because the ultimate weapon or exclusive Jin does not appear, you may end up crying and having to develop another character once more.
I mentioned the disappointing points earlier, but depending on your perspective, this is an element that can be seen as an advantage. The fact that there is a bit of randomness and a lot of farming elements also means that it provides motivation and a long play time.
– To obtain the ultimate weapon, you must visit Proto Bahamut without delay.
Still, the so-called ‘monster coloring game’ is a big negative factor. It is completely understandable that previously-appeared bosses appear once once more. In other games, it is common to see existing bosses utilized in ways such as hard mode.
In Granblue Fantasy Relink, the bosses that appeared in the main story from Extreme to Maniac and Proud difficulties appear as is, with only increased stamina and damage. It wasn’t that I felt much growth in the story section, but trying to beat the same boss every time on each difficulty level was very boring and difficult.
It was also disappointing that cross-play between PC and PlayStation was not supported. The PlayStation version was released 3 days before the PC version. The reporter also purchased the PlayStation version to play it quickly, but upon hearing that it did not support cross-play with PC, he additionally purchased the PC version.
The reason I paid twice was because I didn’t investigate properly. However, in a game where the final content is focused on multiplayer, party matching is bound to be inconvenient if cross-play is not supported.
■ Game quality that highlights the advantages rather than the disadvantages
Since the release of Granblue Fantasy Relink, I have played it every single day. The play time has already exceeded 50 hours. Luckily, I acquired Charlotte’s exclusive Jin and ultimate weapon and am working hard to train her. I plan to complete the final strengthening of my ultimate weapon and develop a new character soon.
Granblue Fantasy Relink’s combat and action are truly outstanding. Among the games I’ve played in the past few months, I enjoyed it so much that the combat was the best. My fellow reporters who are playing with me are also enjoying it with as much enthusiasm as when they played Pal World.
I mentioned quite a few of the disappointing points and shortcomings earlier. Nevertheless, because the combat was so enjoyable, it didn’t feel difficult or difficult to play.
User response is also very good. At the beginning of its release, it received poor reviews due to the unstable multiplayer environment and freezing phenomenon, but as of February 8, it received a ‘very positive’ rating on Steam. The number of concurrent users easily exceeded 100,000.
If you are a user who likes flashy battles and cooperation with party members, I recommend you give Granblue Fantasy Relink a try.
Advantages
1. A battle that captures both splendor and depth
2. Intuitive story
3. The fun of attacking bosses with colleagues
disadvantage
1. Cross-play between platforms is not supported
2. Excessively increased farming elements
3. Rotate a specific monster
1707617647
#Granblue #Fantasy #Relink #years #waiting #rewarded #battle
