Granblue Fantasy: Relink - Fantastic* *with caveats

It was worrying to see discussion about how to "AFK farm" in Granblue Fantasy: Relink (GBFR or Relink). With aid from very capable AI teammates, it's possible to set Relink up so the game plays itself. I didn't have to contemplate using such methods until well over 80 hours into my playtime. I could leave my rig running, waste energy and shorten the processor lifespan to have bigger stat numbers. But much better options were available to me.

Data-miners allege some of the best, rarest items in the game have a 1 in 10,000 chance of dropping. The cost of upgrades would have you destroying bosses you've long mastered, over and over. I settled on some mods and Cheat Engine to enrich my single-player experience. In most cases, getting the best drops would provide little reason to continue playing a game. GBFR has enough other things to pursue. Weapons from the current final boss have a reasonable drop rate. You can kit out many different characters to tailor a killer team of AI to beat the game single-player. You can improve clear times and optimize means of sequence-breaking boss fights. Short-cutting the loot grind doesn't take away from Relink. If these goals entice you, cheating enhances GBFR. I recommend playing this way when the thought of AFK farming comes to mind. Play on PC for the most flexibility! Relink works great on Linux aside from a brief spat of crashes I experienced on Steam Deck.

With over 175 hours of playtime as of this writing, I am still in love with the game-play of GBFR. Attack with rhythm based combos. Charge up attacks. Juggle skill cool-downs. Trap enemies in bullet time while you move at normal speed and have quick cool-downs. Exploit windows of vulnerability. Dodge or block incoming attacks to avoid damage. Perfectly time those blocks and dodges to get bonuses. Stack resource-bar-fueled super attacks with the rest of your team to decimate boss HP.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink - PC game-play demonstration for corruptedsave.com from corruptedsave on Vimeo.

The anime style in conjunction with these mechanics is fun. Characters yell out each other's names when it's their turn to contribute to a super combo. The character designs fuel a gacha game, and translate well in Relink with their varied play-styles and personalities. There's an awesome soundtrack consisting of everything from traditional RPG tunes to J-rock. While the game is fully voiced, the English track and localization is questionable. The voice acting extends to each character's side-story. Completion provides equipment slots and stat boosts. Enjoy a light visual novel presentation, with charming writing in most cases, to take a break from slaying dragons.

The game is structured into story chapters and missions. Most missions have very little in the way of trash mobs and instead drop you right into a boss fight. I did have good flashbacks to Armored Core VI, Monster Hunter, and PSO2. The streamlining is very welcome in contrast to more recent JPGs like Arise, Octopath, and VII Remake. I hope this model of buying a complete game, instead of being beholden to the miHoYo or core Granblue Fantasy gacha model, gets more positive traction.

Having accessibility options, even if not used, that can help with dodging or combo inputs is awesome. Quests can be auto-replayed if you are grinding for a monster part or a specific piece of gear. Management happens in hubs where you can chat with preset phases and stickers if you are online and in a group. Destiny's tower feels like a gross, living micro-transaction billboard prison in comparison. Relink hubs have instant travel to the quest counter, store, and other points of interest.

Annoyances beyond abysmal drop rates are still present too, unfortunately. There is no quality of life accessibility for rolling on gear. You will only get some rarer items one at a time with a complementary stale voice line every time (unless you cheat or use mods). Cleaning your inventory of unwanted gear can be cumbersome despite some filtering and sorting options. Inventory caps means you will be putting currency items into a slot machine more than you might like, instead of being in combat. Some stat mechanics are obtuse. I had to read third-party content creator content to decipher what Relink was doing. These gripes could be a deal breaker, but again, I have my workarounds so I can focus on what I want to do in Relink, which is land sick combos with a bunch of screaming anime characters.

I'd not have expected GBFR to resonate with me as it has. If I still had the time spent but was counting on RNG drops for everything, I probably would have walked away. Instead, I was able to play Relink in the best way for me. I'm excited for the update later in March that adds a new boss encounter and 2 new characters. Relink has been a delightful surprise and I can't wait to play more.