Granblue Fantasy: Relink has a “strongest character” to fit everyone’s taste

Cygames released the free demo for Granblue Fantasy: Relink on January 12 for the PS5 and PS4. Impressions from users have already started pouring in, and Japanese players seem to be especially impressed by the versatility of the lineup of playable characters. 

The upcoming 3D RPG Granblue Fantasy: Relink features numerous characters from the original Granblue Fantasy – including Gran/Djeeta, Katalina, Rackam, Io and many more. Almost as soon as the Granblue Fantasy Relink demo dropped, the word “Relink” started trending on Japanese X (formerly Twitter), with users rushing to share their impressions of the game. 

Reactions seem to be focused predominantly on exploring the unique actions and abilities of each character, and at the time of writing, Narmaya, Zeta, Rackam and Yodarha seem to be the most fervently talked about characters. 

Narmaya is a master swordswoman with the unique ability to switch between the wide, mid-range Genji stance and the rapid, close-range Kagura stance. She also has the self-buffing Butterfly Effect which can power-up her attacks. The various technical inputs made possible using Narmaya’s different stances and by taking advantage of the Butterfly Effect have won over many players. 

On the other hand, Rackam is also becoming many users’ go-to choice as he is able to efficiently keep firing attacks from a safe distance, earning him the description “way too strong.” Zeta’s aerial attacks and Yodarha’s counters and wide-range attacks are likewise in the spotlight for the powerful and exhilarating plays they allow. In the search for “the strongest character,” people are proposing various candidates. 

Aside from abilities, Relink’s numerous characters-specific emotes and animations seem to be garnering a positive response, with Lancelot’s elegant stance, Zeta’s cool sitting pose, Charlotta and Narmaya’s cute gestures and many others being admired. In a previous interview with Automaton, Relink’s director Yasuyuki Kaji had mentioned that having character-specific moves is something that the team “absolutely wanted to do in Relink,” also adding, “We designed the characters so that each one feels unique to play, and we also focused a lot on the finer details of the graphics and animations in order to satisfy existing fans of the characters.” 

Development of Granblue Fantasy Relink began in 2016, and it’s been quite a tough process according to the developers. However, it seems that the extra effort and attention to detail that they poured into the characters is already being noticed at the demo stage. The demo includes 11 characters, but we can expect even more variety when the full game comes out, as it is set to include 20 characters at launch. 

Granblue Fantasy: Relink is scheduled for release on February 1 for the PS5/ PS4 and PC (Steam). Pre-orders are open, with early access perks available.   

Written by. Amber V based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2024-01-12 16:36 JST)