If you hadn’t heard the name Granblue Fantasy before picking up Granblue Fantasy: Relink, you’d quickly learn from the moment you start the game it isn’t the first entry in a new IP.
Granblue Fantasy originated as a turn-based RPG/gacha game for mobile only available in Japan. Granblue Fantasy: Relink adapts its world and characters into an action-RPG formula for PlayStation consoles and PC, complete with co-op multiplayer and Monster Hunter-style quests. But does this make Relink a sequel, an adaptation of the mobile game’s story, or something else entirely?
What is Granblue Fantasy Relink?
Perhaps the easiest way to describe Granblue Fantasy: Relink is as a spin-off to the Granblue Fantasy mobile game. It’s not a sequel since the mobile game is still ongoing and on its third story arc, with no real ending in sight. But Relink is set after the events of the third arc, so you could argue that makes it a sequel.
Since Relink begins with the main cast still embarking on their quest to reach the mythical island of Estalucia (which has been their goal since the very beginning of the mobile game), it’s clear Relink isn’t some epilogue or continuation of the mobile game’s main plot.
As for Relink’s plot, it’s its own one-off adventure separate from the mobile game’s storyline. All the playable characters originate from the mobile game, but there are new characters and locations, too. While there’s nothing to suggest Relink isn’t canon to Granblue Fantasy, it doesn’t seem to be integral, meaning its events are unlikely to have a serious impact on the main plot of the mobile game. Although developer Cygames said the new characters could appear in the mobile game in the future.
Do you need to play Granblue Fantasy before Granblue Fantasy: Relink?
Thankfully, you don’t need to play Granblue Fantasy before Granblue Fantasy: Relink. Granblue Fantasy is kind of a nightmare to break into, what with it being Japan-only with no Western release. There are resources online to help you catch up with the story, but there’s a lot of it. The mobile game’s been running since 2014, which means there are roughly 10 years’ worth of character backstory, plot developments, and lore to digest.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink hits the ground running, doing very little to establish who its main characters are, but its opening chapter quickly runs through key pieces of backstory, such as player character Gran/Djeeta and Lyria’s life link. Each character also has Fate Episodes available at the Quest Counter, short novel segments that offer brief rundowns of their backstories.
They feel like they’re skipping over a lot, but they’re enough to get by and understand the basics. There’s also a glossary you can check any time, even during cutscenes, that contains explanations for Granblue Fantasy‘s setting, its races, lore, and other such terms.
So, if you want to play Relink but are worried you won’t know who anyone is or what’s going on, don’t. Relink is a decent entry point into the franchise, though anyone who finds themselves loving the characters and lore will be left wanting more.
