Granblue Fantasy: Relink – Endless Ragnarok Review – Endless Combat, Endless Fun

Granblue Fantasy: Relink – Endless Ragnarok Review

Granblue Fantasy: Relink is an RPG perfectly suited for portable play. So a Nintendo Switch 2 version feels like a natural next step. You’re going on quests in closed-off stages, always tethered to a central hub. Quests never take that much time to complete, all upgrades are at your discretion, and there’s a strong focus on multiplayer. It’s custom-built for that portable ‘pick up and play’ vibe that the Switch is so good at. The expansion, Endless Ragnarok, builds on this essential design philosophy. More playable characters, more intense battles, and more ways to linger in the endgame. It’s everything you could hope for, assuming you resonate with Relink’s core gameplay loop. Although the base game’s flaws are still pretty prominent.

Combat is still the shining jewel here, the keystone that holds Endless Ragnarok together. The new characters have some incredible moves, and mastering them is a real joy. Like the rest of the cast, you’ve got unique mechanics to puzzle out, excellent specials to experiment with, and new gear to level up. The Conflux is crammed with cool new fights, and the Summon system adds a whole new layer to an already dense combat system. It totally rules. As a new player with a pure love for grinding, Relink and Endless Ragnarok presented a fresh canvas that I immediately started filling in. The battles are fast-paced, intuitive, and infinitely repeatable. My problems are with the rest of the game.

A Delightful Gameplay Loop

Again, I’m a new player. I went into Relink cold, with no prior knowledge of the Granblue Fantasy universe. This was something of a mistake, as it turns out. The introduction is a parade of cutscenes and exposition that tries summing up the entire run of the mobile game. I more or less got the gist, but still. It felt like starting a TV show at season four, after two major villains have been roundly defeated. I’d honestly rather be dropped into the action with no warning. It’s not like these characters are terribly complex. You’re almost certainly familiar with these archetypes, even if the specific characters are new.

On that note, I can’t recommend the English voice cast under any circumstances. Normally I love overly sincere delivery mixed with corny dialogue, but that plucky dragon sidekick is extremely unpleasant. That, plus the high concentration of squeaky-voiced characters made the English voices a non-starter. Although it wasn’t long before I was smashing my way through most of the plot. The major narrative beats are pretty fun, but I have little patience for any scenes where the entire expansive cast has to weigh in on every tiny development.

Quiet, Vyrn

It feels like an eternity before you’re in the thick of it, action-wise, but your patience is eventually rewarded. Once you’re in the mix, doing quests and slaying monsters, the simple beauty of the gameplay loop properly unfolds. I’m a simple man, it turns out. A long list of quests, a bunch of battles to win, and a deep roster of party members to max out? I’m in paradise. But I’m an absolute sucker for an action RPG grind. It overrides my objectivity and any sense of good taste. I fully recognize that many players will be utterly bored by this system. But it seems like Endless Ragnarok knows its audience.

The expansion is heavily skewed towards this delicious gameplay loop. You’ve got a bit of plot ensuring it all hangs together, sure. But the real meat of it all is battles. Tons and tons of fights, steadily escalating in difficulty. I’ll wade through an ocean of monsters if it keeps my mastery points and weapon levels constantly rising. And once a given party member is maxed out? Why, that’s the perfect time to start working on someone from my back line. It’s a labor of love, one I’m perfectly happy to plug away at. But I totally get it, this kind of constant grind is not for everyone.

That Wonderful Grind

If you played and loved the original release of Relink, then Endless Ragnarok is going to be an amazing time. It’s a heaping helping of new battles, new bosses, and new characters. Between that, the summon system, and some new progression mechanics, there’s so much to dive into. But this is still a pretty bare-bones RPG in a lot of ways. The plot is a gauzy layer draped over a constant combat loop. There’s a ton of front-loaded plot to absorb for new players. And the dialogue is to be endured rather than enjoyed. But, problems aside, this game will be a total blast for a very specific audience.

***A Nintendo Switch 2 code was provided by the publisher***