Granblue Fantasy: Relink – Endless Ragnarok Review - A Great Time to Re-link Up With Your Party
For a really long time, Granblue Fantasy: Relink has been on my wishlist to play. I’d known the endgame was a bit of a slog, which some people really enjoyed, but with the DLC coming and promising to revamp some of that grind, I bided my time to enjoy the game as a more complete experience. Unfortunately, lacking the wisdom of exactly how long the endgame content was, I started the save from scratch.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink – Endless Ragnarok has a bit of something for all players. What I noticed early is that you can dive into the DLC decently early, but only enough to give you a little taste. The rewards for completing the early content are very good, and will save you a bunch of grinding for weapons. This speeds things up nicely, and allows you to get through more of that endgame content faster. It wasn’t until I reached the end of the main scenario that I got my second taste of the DLC. Again, good rewards to ease that grind.
On the whole, Endless Ragnarok boils down to small rogue-like dungeons called the Conflux. After each set of three or so, you’ll get a random choice of boons that last until the run ends. Only when you get to the actual endgame (much after the story ends) does the flower of content really begin to bloom. Suddenly, not only are there non-combat nodes, permanent unlocks, better loot drops and more varied content, but also new weapons and the start of a new storyline.
I think the Conflux is fun, and the majority of the content is definitely aimed at endgame players. A new difficulty means you’ll have something to test your mettle against, even if you were comfortable at endgame in the vanilla experience. Multiple new characters mean you can try some new things out. Some will join you quite early in the story, if you’re starting from scratch, while the others can be unlocked naturally as you progress through the higher levels of the Conflux. If you want to get them earlier, though, that’s also an option. The flexibility is really nice.
Speaking of that flexibility, I want to talk about the Conflux itself. The combat missions are fairly standard: 1-2 hordes or waves, then a boss. The better you do and the more specific conditions you achieve, the better your reward. That’s all normal stuff. Between each of the maps though, you have options on how to progress. Elite options will give you better loot for a harder fight, but some of the other options took me completely by surprise. Spot the difference? A shell game but with NPCs emoting? There are some interesting and wild choices that give you the option to avoid combat if you’re feeling a bit tired. You can also save your run and exit in the designated rest stages, which can be useful if you’re in a particularly long run.
More than anything though, there’s just so much of the DLC. Even as I thought I was wrapping up the review, new things were showing themselves. New weapons mean I’ll have plenty to grind out, should I wish to, and a summon system adds a bit of extra spice to combat. I haven’t even fully levelled the new characters, but I am really enjoying their kit.
One place I felt was lacking is kind of similar to how I felt the base game was lacking, and that’s in the story. It’s all completely serviceable, but I wasn’t exactly moved deeply. Just like the Fate episodes, I found myself holding back, skipping through stuff as quickly as possible. I’m sure some people will really like it, but it wasn’t for me.
Just like when I finished the story in the base game, there’s just a glut of content here. Every time you think you’re finished, something new happens, or a new goal makes itself known, and the goal posts shift. This isn’t a bad thing; having a juicy piece of content in front of you, whilst it can be daunting, is also truly exciting. And it is exciting – combat is fun, and the new additions make it more enjoyable. It’s a fine balance, but I think it’s done well here.
Endless Ragnarok offers something great for new and returning players. New players will enjoy the easing of a steep learning curve and a better on-ramp to endgame content. Returning players will get something new to really test their builds and new ways to augment them.
Granblue Fantasy Re-link – Endless Ragnarok was reviewed on PC with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
