Granblue Fantasy: Relink Review – It’s Not “Anime Monster Hunter,” It’s Its Own Thing

It first launched on January 31, 2024, for PS4, PS5, and PC.

The Steam version currently has over 55,000 reviews and a “Very Positive” overall rating. Global sales surpassed 2 million units by July 2025.

For a title built on a mobile game IP but developed as a full-fledged console/PC action RPG, that’s a remarkable achievement.

Combat Is Its Core Selling Point

You don’t need to know the sprawling lore of Granblue Fantasy. You don’t even need to remember the protagonist’s name.

The only thing worth paying attention to is this: its combat system is one of the few in the genre that genuinely bakes “character difference” into the action itself.

Cygames gave every playable character their own distinct moveset and core combat mechanics.

Eugen focuses on ranged shooting, relying on ammo management and charge attacks. Rosetta controls zones and deals sustained damage through planted vines. Zeta’s gameplay revolves around aerial combo loops. Narmaya switches between different stances.

Switching characters isn’t just swapping weapons—it’s adopting a completely different control logic, resource cycle, and damage rhythm.

The difference isn’t just “different numbers.” It’s a different way to play. What really changes between characters isn’t their raw attack power—it’s how you understand and play them.

On top of that, the 4-player co-op structure gives character differences real strategic weight.

Who deals damage? Who breaks defenses? Who provides buffs? Who handles crowd control? Party composition becomes part of the game’s depth.

When four players sync up and chain together Link Attacks and Chain Bursts, the visual spectacle and moment-to-moment combat feel are genuinely distinctive.

That’s why some players call it “anime Monster Hunter.” But that label undersells what it actually is.

It borrows the co-op format—four players, boss fights, gear crafting—but its core drive isn’t “weapon mastery.” It’s “character understanding and team building.”

You learn a character’s skill rotation because you like that character. You keep grinding because you want to make them stronger.

Outside Combat, It’s a Mixed Bag

Beyond the combat, the game carries a number of compromises.

The story is compact, not sprawling.

The main campaign runs about 15–20 hours and moves at a brisk pace. But its narrative style still carries traces of mobile game design—visual-novel-style cutscenes and side quests that do much of the character work.

The real issue is that many non-core characters don’t get enough room to shine in the main story. Their appeal largely lives in side content.

Visually, it’s the game’s most consistent strength.

It doesn’t just translate 2D art into 3D models. It tries to carry over the color palettes, silhouettes, and exaggerated flourishes of the original illustrations into real-time 3D combat.

The 3D character models do an excellent job of preserving the visual style of Cygames’ original artwork.

But it’s still a heavily IP-driven title. Some characters must be unlocked through vouchers or specific progression requirements, and much of the background lore and character relationships are tucked away in side quests.

If you’re not already a Granblue Fantasy fan, some of that material won’t land the same way.

Post-game is still about grinding and builds—but by 2026, it’s not the same game it was at launch.

With the Endless Ragnarok expansion and major version updates, the game now includes new story chapters, high-difficulty content, 6 new playable characters, and additional progression systems like Master Traits and summon stones.

That said, farming materials and re-fighting bosses remains the backbone of the endgame experience. Whether that loop stays fresh depends largely on how much you enjoy the grind itself.

Some rough edges remain.

The camera can be unwieldy in certain boss fights.

Once you reach higher difficulties, differences in character effectiveness become more pronounced. Players looking for efficiency tend to gravitate toward a small pool of stronger characters, which limits party variety.

What Is It Really Selling You?

What Granblue Fantasy: Relink offers isn’t a massive world to explore for dozens of hours. It’s a character you enjoy, and a boss you can keep fighting, faster and cleaner each time.

It’s not “anime Monster Hunter,” because its core isn’t hunting—it’s characters. You learn a character’s rotation because you like them. You keep grinding because you want to see them reach their full potential.

If that loop clicks, 200 hours can still feel short.

If what you’re after is a dense story, rich exploration, and constantly shifting content, then Relink‘s single core loop may start to feel thin sooner than you’d like.

The standard edition is $60 on Steam, with an all-time low around $30. Waiting for a sale is what most players end up doing—and it’s not a bad call.

Copyright Notice: All game screenshots, character images, and related materials referenced in this article are the property of Cygames and are used for game introduction, review, and informational display purposes.