Platform(s): PC(version reviewed), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch
Genre: Action RPG, Anime, Fantasy, Expansion, Endgame Content

Back in 2024, Cygames released a triple-A-like action role-playing game experience using their successful mobile title IP Granblue Fantasy to get the fantasy out and across a bigger crowd who are more comfortable with a big game experience. It was fun, replayable, approachable either solo or with friends, and worth the 30+ hours due to its tight controls, varied party members you can customize and gear up, and had a simple plot you can follow. Yeah, that last part isn’t the game’s highlight, but everything else about it was golden complete with bright cheery graphics and a rockin’ score courtesy of auteur Yasunori Nishiki (the OG composer for the series, by the by).

Years later, fast forward to now, and Cygames opt to make an expansion instead of a full-fledged sequel.

In fact, the only damning thing I can say about Cygames’ action RPG Granblue Fantasy Relink’s new expansion Endless Ragnarok is that it offers a lot more of the same, but just tougher and bigger. More boss fights than you can shake a stick on, with some new additions and fight phases for fights you’ve seen in the base game. And that’s alright, because it’s clearly meant for those who want to go back to the game’s sky island-filled world and its plethora of gauntlets.

Fantasy Island

In a nutshell, you form your team of anime fantasy characters of various shapes, playstyles, and sizes, then tackle missions ranging from exploration to boss fights akin to your creature feature four-versus-big-one type gameplay ala your Monster Hunter. Only without the weight of weapons to deal with; here, you go all-out with your spells, attacks, freeform fighting, and smooth movement. There’s a big focus on boss fights, where your usual fights take about 20 minutes or so the first time around. When you’re more well-equipped and powerful, you then try to complete bonus objectives in those fights like finishing it within a minute or 5, or even try to get through it without entering Critical Condition (ie: when you’re KO’ed and need a revive from your party).

In Endless Ragnarok, there’s a lot to justify its current asking price. The new playable characters are a blast to play as, ranging from former villains Maglielle and Gallanza, to Relink newbies Fraux and Feliel the Black Dragon.

Fraux has two bars that fill up when you’re using either her regular attacks or Devil-powered “Stand” skills; when they’re full, she gets to use three skills for free regardless of whether they’re in cooldown or now. Feliel fights with ranged void blasts, but can warp to any enemy within her view and then claw them up with Black Dragon swipes from her true form. She can also pull off counter moves that deals big damage if an enemy so much as sneezes at her.

Gallanza can go into Deathmatch stances while also tanking it for his team, meaning he’s probably going to be the one in the frontlines a lot while your damage-dealers do their work unscathed. My personal favourite is the fantasy midget Maglielle, the classy lady who sips tea after she’s done demolishing her foes with her ranged magic swords projectiles. Pulling off her attacks and skills like a giant hammer bop and a defense-reducing lance throw, and also defensive options like her shield and invincibility-granting aura builds up her magic meter. When that’s full, she can unleash a barrage of rapid-fire sword blasts from a good distance; just make sure you’re aiming it right and you’ll see your foes’ health drop fast.

Fan favourites Beatrix and Eustace also are in the game, and cater towards melee-slash-mid-ranged players who rather play as frontrunner characters. They’re all great additions to the already-stacked roster, and have a lot of cool things in their kit to make you want to start a new party with them and power them up.

Giant Attack

Summons are also new to the game and is what you expect from a crazy-ass anime action fantasy title. Once equipped, you build up another resource during combat to eventually summon them for big damage attacks. Since they’re also invincible when they’re out, you can even bring them out if you see an enemy’s Overdrive attack phase (ie: attack sequences that hit REALLY hard) so that you can avoid all that and keep your main character untouched. You’ll be getting a lot of these throughout the endgame quests, but getting the better ones do require you to tackle tougher quests.

Speaking of which, there’s a new main quest line in the Epilogue section that spans about 20+ hours of going through, though there’s about 10+ hours of grinding as expected of the genre. See, all of Endless Ragnarok’s quests are at the minimum 23,000 power level (and even going past the then-cap of 30k), and you’ll most likely be slightly under that if you’ve been diligent with the base game. You’re not going to go far with a fight if you tackle it with your own power level not even close to that.

Luckily, Endless Ragnarok gives you tons of quests and options to power up your party. You can level up your equipped character weapon(s) and get them to Transcendant levels, boosting their stats and opening up new passive bonuses in combat. The game also gives you new Sigils for you to equip, with some of them raising the damage cap or even lowering your health a tad for a big damage boost.

The new Mastery Traits system let you power up specific characters and give them between three different play styles and their respective bonuses. Increased damage caps, new bonuses and abilities to their existing ones for more oomph to their skills, more health and skill cooldown bonuses. Leveling up Master Traits using Mastery Points means more nodes to equip powers, thus better characters. For example, Gallanza gets better damage and defense boosts with his Extreme Deathmatch Mastery Trait, while Maglielle’s shield-focused Mastery Trait gives her stats boost as long as she has a shield active. Yes, I have survived a lot of battles just staying out of enemy melee range, spamming shields while attack long-ranged with swords just to get ahead while my AI party of Beatrix, Gallanza, and Ferry just do their thing and pound on their big juicy target.

Certain quests will grant you more Mastery Points than others, so you’ll eventually find the right ones fit for farming. As for materials for weapon and sigil upgrading, you will need to visit the expansion’s new Conflux mode. It’s essentially Granblue Relink’s roguelite mode: go through a bunch of random levels, and then kill the big boss at the end to fully complete the run and get better loot. As you conquer each stage, which usually involves killing mobs, killing waves of mobs, or killing infinite mobs until time runs out, you gain Auras that buff your party up. Auras not only boost your stats, but also give you additional attack properties like Poison or Paralysis, and can also stack and be upgraded further. Corrupted Auras will hamper your party, but after completing their unsealing requirements, you gain their big bonuses like 3-star rare auras or even health or attack boost for the run.

All this equal to a ton more replayability and more leveling up of your already uber-anime fantasy party from the base game. I personally find it a lot more rewarding grinding through the game’s endgame stages and Conflux for materials and power ups, all for the long haul. Then again, this replayability loop is similar to the Diablo series, where the end is the beginning, and it’s only over when you want to take a break from boss-hunting and multiplayer high-level fighting. At the very least, the new stages being offered do help you get onto your path for a higher power level, assuming you have the hours and patience for it.

Slave To The Grind

Granblue Fantasy Relink players and sweaty action RPGers who want to continue getting more buff than jacked-up meme Vyrn will find a lot to love in Endless Ragnarok’s plethora of endgame offerings. Loads of avenues to get more skills and transcendent weaponry, tons of tough bosses both revamped and brand-new, and much-requested new playable characters like the titular Beatrix and Fediel.

That said, people starting on the base game may want to wait until they’re powerful enough to tackle all the Endless Ragnarok challenges. It’s a lot to ask, but veterans and players who have waited for a worthy follow-up will be immensely satiated.

Pros

• New characters are a hoot to play as.
• Great boss fights & challenges fit for an endgame expansion.
• Masteries and weapon transcendence systems will keep you busy & power up your current party tenfold.
• Conflux mode offers a ton of replayability and rewards.

Cons

• Not newbie-friendly; clearly tailored for those who finished the base game.
• Grind to tackle later bosses & challenges can take a while (like any action RPG).

Final Score: 80/100

Review copy provided by publisher.