2024's Forgotten GOTY

Granblue Fantasy Relink now has the third highest concurrent player count of any JRPG on steam! AND in the process of making this video it hit one million sales! By all metrics it's an extremely successful JRPG and one of the most successful JRPGs on steam. However... This does raise a question. Due to it's extremely turbulent development cycle, is the game actually good or does it have some serious flaws? Are these metrics based on actual quality or does the reputation of Granblue and the hype behind it release carry it to success in spite of it's quality? Let's find out!
Twitter: / mhswoocer
Video Edited by Lazo!!! He COOKED on this one, guy is great at what he does. Check him out here: / thatboylazo
#granbluefantasyrelink
#granbluefantasy
#granblue

[@blacksheepwall79]

Characters dont get 20 skills. Gran/Djeeta is unique like that most of them get 8

[@blacksheepwall79]

Bte not being a hater, great video. Just wanted to correct minor error

[@mhswoocer]

Thank you for pointing this out!

[@ahmadbugshan9603]

I think its more like 10 or 12? idk all I look at is the offense page 🌚

[@supremehonky5573]

@@ahmadbugshan9603 Nope most of them get 8, 10 is really the max

[@braveravier2565]

​​@@ahmadbugshan9603it is 8

[@yozu365]

This game was such an amazing pickup, especially when I've always hesitated on starting the actual mobile game due to the daunting amount of content. You've done it again, mhswoocer. I'm glad you can speak up on one of my favourite games this year.

[@SanyaBane]

"Nothing great, nothing terrible" - a most accurate description of GBFR story.

[@seaglass3034]

A lot of people in the JP gaming industry, from the administrative staffing, to the voice actors themselves, seem to have respect and some personal investment in the IP. As someone who's played the fighting game and mobile game for years -- I am so glad this iteration turned out so well.

[@robertwolfgan]

As a person that only counts with a strong phone, may I ask if that "mobile" game you mention is worth it and it's name please?

[@heromedley]

man the set pieces in this game are absolutely amazing it have you run through a collapsing mine shaft board and take down enemy sky ships fight a goddamn mech with another mech and a walking colossus thats atleast a hundred times larger than anything in the entire game

[@mhswoocer]

It's funny, I wasn't planning on making a video on this game initially. But the exact moment I changed my mind was the link attack on the colossus LMAO

[@kp00pDestroyer1]

Spoiler alert You can control bahamut and it was awesome

[@kevinlibo-on3394]

My poor fingers playing charlotta 😂

[@oldkabu]

macros are your friend, friend i couldn't play Rakham, Lancelot, Narmaya, Yodarha or Charlotta either until I made a macro of two mouse clicks that repeats itself as long as I keep the 3rd button on the mouse pressed

[@thex8625]

Feelz

[@fatherofrose4027]

I’m a lance main so I know bro but the damage we do is fire

[@8TDK]

if you need macro for such a simplistic playstyle try changing game man@@oldkabu

[@randelllevy20]

exactly i wanted to play her but my god my hands are on fire

[@sangheilicommander1056]

I've seen people say this story was "mid" or "boring". I'm like, what the fuck? Did we even play the same game? Each chapter just got better and better and more exciting to see what the next location would be. Even up to the end where i was having a giant nut fest. That final boss was fucking badass.

[@SkullivanBones]

Yo, saaaaaaame!

[@BlueJhin]

To each of their own i guess, however as OG GBF player, this is quite the low bar. Some side story like Society story ( The Pyet-A, Zeta, Vas and Yoda Story ), or 000 story is very high compared the main Relink story. I mean it will surely burn their limited budget as they focused on polishing on combat, but I hope someday Cygames will put those gem story on Relink. It dont have to be fresh start story, just pick from gacha alone some of big story.

[@gh3364]

It was fine but, it felt like a lot of side stories of the main game mixed together lmao

[@eternalpunishment3922]

the story was too cliché and predictable imo. made me skip (especially the first half). When they got Lyria and Vyrn off the screen, it actually became more interesting

[@EricBlanchBrines]

to me the story at the end felt: bro they kidnaped our friend lets save it x3 times, once u finally save it another one gets kidnapped.. like there's a foundation but the focus of the story is lost imo

[@Ty-douken]

One thing that you didn't mention is the structure of the game is one of the most interesting I've seen & though I haven't played more than the demo yet, it's easily my favorite thing about the game & doubt that'll change. Having a brief but fun campaign & then moving into coop missions you can play with your friends for additional upgrades & then moving to a raid style boss encounter section after that is both unique & a fun way of keeping each part of the game focused on what it delivers best to the player. A friend of mine has best the campaign & some of the coop missions with random people, but once I get around to finishing the game he'll join me to push through the coop missions & then we can start tackling the raid section together. I really hope more games learn from this going forward, for example Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 seems to be doing something similar with campaign, coop & competitive modes as one package.

[@maiktwo]

CrossCode, UNSIGHTED, Cassette Beasts, and Dandara. You have my immense gratitude, mhswoocer, for introducing me to some of my top games, and your videos are an excellent craft of getting hyped without exaggerations, and proving it without major spoilers. I'm excited to demo Granblue. Great work, and thank you!

[@BlackShinobi86]

Relink was a breath of fresh air. it never got boring or bogged down in too many side quests.

[@dylandang7365]

Almost perfect game If Yuel was in it then it a perfect game

[@moreoliveoil1579]

Korwa is cuter.

[@arzurianrein4612]

@@moreoliveoil1579 no no, korwa more like pretty/beautiful instead of cute, yuel is cuter in term personality and appearance.

[@davidsudjana]

dude's cultured

[@moreoliveoil1579]

@@arzurianrein4612 Korwa has a butt. Yuel has a half butt.

[@arzurianrein4612]

@@moreoliveoil1579 bruhh, theyre the same size. also yuel has big fluffy tail, so thats extra for me.

[@avirei98]

The first boss is so cool. Multiple forms definitely felt like I was fighting a primal. It was an epic boss fight reminiscent of final fantasy 14 without the transition and epic music behind it. But it was still super cool. But if your head did what final fantasy 14 has done with all that 70s I would have. Just I don't even know what to say and fights for us, but instead of it being no magic and no fantasy, it's high magic high fantasy if I love it. I've always just wanted monster Hunter but with magic and stuff or classes or something and the closest thing I've ever gotten was soul sacrifice (PS Vita exclusive) and they never ported that to the consoles or remade it or at least gave us a sequel. No wonder I love this game. It's the same company that made my favorite video game character Bayonetta

[@keibr]

Story is great for who read the original game lore (Relink has an original story) Story is ok for who is new to the franchise. btw, the fight against evil is natural, what change is the content. We need more game like this.

[@yue7507]

this game was a pleasant surprise. I never heard of the franchise until a couple days before release date on PC. Little did I know that this was gonna be one of my favourite games of all time!

[@_Fizzy_1]

Yet another banger, mhswoocer. Keep up the great work. Also I like the focus you put on storytelling in the beginning of the video. Very cool to see.

[@SkullivanBones]

I was in a similar mindset when i heard platinum games left the project regardless of the terms, but im so happy i was proven wrong in my doubts XD

[@RUS12388991]

Actually some of platinum staff moved to Cygames after platinum stopped working on Relink. For example, current combat director is the same one who worked on Relink's combat when Platinum still worked on the game. He joined Cygames during development.

[@KuroXavier]

Honestly the fact that this game exists, is magical to me

[@DarkHeroCC]

I'm glad you're enjoying Relink, the game is fantastic and has me addicted! 😅

[@quino711]

If I wasn't playing Dragon's Dogma for the first time I would be playing Relink. But DD is just too good and the second one comming next month will keep me very busy haha

[@quino711]

Awesome video as always! I'll have Relink on my radar for later for sure :)

[@yass3425]

Does dragon dogma still holds up graphically and gameplay wise? If so I may try it after this one

[@ekkymahesa8708]

​@@yass3425 graphic is similar to old Skyrim and with such an amazing gameplay you barely notice it's a decade old game

[@binhvan4893]

Now you mention it, this game is kinda similar to DD with the whole story niche. Both have pretty good lore and story but at the end of the day, its the combat that makes people love these games.

[@yass3425]

@@ekkymahesa8708 ty alot ^^

[@Clout_Strife]

I think the combat feeling good can still be attributed to Platinum to a degree they're contract work was up, but they helped Cygames Osaka build a base and train the dev team on action game development

[@krum1985]

I agree, the gameplay of Granblue Fantasy Relink is incredibly satisfying. Pacing wise, I thought Ø was a bit slow, but otherwise I didn't think about it while playing (which is how a well paced game should feel IMO). I did feel a bit of fatigue on extreme and up, but that's just me not being a fan of really fast paced combat systems. All in all, I'm glad I bought and played the game =)

[@synndakitt]

Just finished my first jrpg ever, Tales of Arise, and im itching for more like it. How does this game compare to it?

[@joe_the_zombie]

Neat video, well edited, thanks for putting this game on my radar

[@mhswoocer]

Thank you! The edit was done by my editor Lazo (linked in the description) I think he did a phenomenal job

[@gmg9010]

Ok but what about it having time to slow down because if it’s just action all the time I won’t have time to sit and reflect or feel like I’m actually living in this world.

[@byletheisner5006]

Exactly, that is a rather amateurish and "fast food" manner of storytelling, in the way that it is superficial.

[@quadraoq4478]

Playing for 160 hrs already mashing buttons. My fingers kinda hurt lmao. Time to take it slow

[@yass3425]

Lol go easy on yourself 😂

[@abzkhun2025]

i stopped playing lancelot and charlotta, decied to play rosetta since the buttong mashing is not the same as lance.

[@Aripuni1]

Then play siegfried, you cant play him with mashing

[@mhswoocer]

I'm not even kidding, this is why I main siegfried LMAO

[@GhostOfTazio]

never heard of GBF before this game so i watched the 2 seasons of the anime then booted the game up. story is fine but whatever. the combat is the best ive ever played. reminds me of Tera for some reason

[@IchiExorz]

Yeah I remember seeing the very first trailer for thsi game back in what. 2016? or was it even earlier? And thought it looked amazing. Couldn't wait for it to release. Now it finally released and honestly. It's just as amazing as i thought it would be back when I first saw the trailer. I heard many people say that the story is "eh" and that most of the gameplay & fun is in the endgame. But honestly just playing through the game and you can see how much effort they put in the story missions. For everyone on the fence to get this game, just do it. It's worth it.

[@deadringer8050]

Phil never said starfield wouldn't show up on playstation just that the 4 games wasn't starfield or Indiana Jones

[@Lanzetsu]

This is the reason Golden Sun is to me one of the best RPG of all times (and sometimes I doubt it is THE best), you can even reject the mission to save the world and the game ends there with a bad ending, but if you go on you are faced with a lot of obstacles that you NEED to do in order to advance, most of the stuff you get forced to do are needed by other people to help you advance, so it is way more organic than simply telling you to do random stuff.

[@adnanyusufi4436]

nicely edit and narrated video, u earn a new sub bro

[@maas6927]

The only thing impossible Is crossplay.

[@sumdud23]

i have just completed ff7 remake normal mode and halfway thru the hard mode and was wondering what i would do after i finished that and intermission, guess i will play this, was a bit dismissive of cuz i associated w/ gacha games

[@naphtaligarde1646]

7 years of wait is worth the time.

[@fhjunior6183]

Thanks for the vid

[@arsenixshirogon]

I warned you about the discord sound in the video when you asked for help getting it. Now I am on my way with 3 large pizzas to ruin your diet

[@ladykushina9292]

I love it I just hate the rng on boss items I’ve farmed for hOok for 4 hours and never got one. But on the other hand I’d really like to see about 10 more characters in game not including the two new ones seofon n tweey. I want Aliza and Sturm

[@ShyKnight00]

Hope u comeback to do another video on the dlc when everything is released

[@mhswoocer]

I would love to!

[@EldenKaz]

I personally love this game, I’m here for the long haul.

[@regerts744]

Does it's reputation and hype carry it? No. I've never played Granblue, didn't know it was a mobile game. I thought it was solely a fighting game. Relink carries itself. I have no prior love for the series but I'm definitely in love with Relink. My only gripe and it's a very small non issue is that I wish there were more non blonde girls to play. As even Katalina and Djeeta look blonde even if they're meant to have brown-ish hair. Narmaya and Ferry are the only ones off the top of my head that aren't blonde or blonde adjacent. And we have ANOTHER blonde female on the way. 💀 Does Granblue only have blonde girls?

[@antgc8893]

No, but the most popular girls in Granblue are normally blond. There's Jeanne d'Arc, Yuisis, Mirin, Andira, Anila, Vajra, Mahira, Kumbhira, Monika, all of them are super popular, and didn't make it to Relink.

[@regerts744]

@@antgc8893 That's a little bit of a let down but I'm gonna keep praying for a black haired girl anyways. 🙏 The only GBF girl with black hair I know of is Nier.

[@muhammadnurfitri196]

​@@regerts744 you can check gbf wiki to see the cast

[@xxalcarazxx]

​@@regerts744their different costumes colors change hair color aswell i use the black hair with red katalina she looks great

[@hangtang1210]

Nope, there are a bunch, it's just the matter if they're popular or not. I can count some popular girls like red: Alexiel, Anthuria, Selfira. white: Aliza, Fraux, Cidala (twins), Heles, Kaguya, Korwa, Lily, Magisa, Medusa, Michael, Orchid, Pholia, Vikala, Yuni, Zooey, Fediel, Wamdus. pink: Gabriel, Tien, Yggdrasil, Manamel. black: Ilsa, Lich, Lunalu, Nier, Yuel, Galleon, Shitori. green: Kolulu, Payila.

[@kevingraham4736]

Just needs to fix the poor excuse of a "target lock" and some of the camera wonkyness, and I would have no complaints about the core gameplay itself

[@dragonclaw4159]

Can a game go through development hell and still be or even amazing after leaving it? Yes, it can, but it's FAR from easy.

[@omarswanson876]

Great video!

[@mhswoocer]

Thank you!

[@mikereyes2269]

Game reminded me a lot of Dragalia Lost especially boss encounter with the telegraphs and all. The raids in Dragalia Lost were amazing. Hope they take inspiration from that game for the raids.

[@blabbitybla2780]

that's because they're both made by cygames!

[@serenity3157]

They are same dev

[@yashuya2022]

Hell yeah bruddah!!! Reason why I gave this game a chance. Tried dragalia and once I saw this being announced I knew Cygames would let me down.

[@shatteredsentient5321]

Nintendo should hire them again to make a game on Switch or something 😂

[@endgamevibez]

Well said. 👽💚

[@mhswoocer]

Thank you!

[@santyperez2737]

love the game! worth the wait

[@drumlesstrance]

Why did you use DQ11 footage 😭

[@mhswoocer]

Don't misunderstand, I LOVE dragon quest 11. For a while it was my favorite game of all time! (might still be!) but *because* of that, I have a ton of footage of it on my computer so it was just the most easily accessible LMAO

[@KenBladehart]

Kinda wish people actually do research on the game's development history. There are nothing chaotic or crunching about it 1 - The game was revealed in 2016, which already look like its far in development. Later they announced the game would come out in 2018. Four-ish development timespan, which is not that long. Kinda quick if one would argue 2 - The game secretly delayed because the contract with PlatinumGames ran out (few PG employee jumped ship), and the game now being worked by Cygames themselves. I want to emphasize this; *contracted*, not co-developed. Cygames doesnt even have a proper home console studio before this. They opened up Cygames Osaka specifically for the game They restarted development because the engine wasnt performing to Cygames's standard. 2019 to 2023- again, four-ish year of development. Standard length for game to be cooked. Heck the game didnt even get delayed by Covid because the game pretty much done before, all they have to do is just copypaste the old content to the new engine Also, the game only "delayed" twice, even if you could them that. Release window of 2018 and 2023, no concrete date because they know they might encounter unexpected problems _cough_ PS4 _cough_

[@Sammysapphira]

0:56 this opinion is terrible... I'm so tired of people like you pushing writers and developers to make stories that are just GO GO GO GO with no time to actually develop characters or build relationships. Having 0 breaks is an equally bad version of pacing that makes the viewer numb to what's happening. If every boss threatens the entire world, then no boss is interesting.

[@omarswanson876]

I don’t think it’s that serious bro lol

[@arzurianrein4612]

tbh, its depends on the goal of the story tho. in this case, gran need to save lyria so they need to catch the culprit as fast as possible. but if we talk about longer story, sure its fine to take a break once in a while to know better about the main cast in the game.

[@goobatroopa_]

I don't ever want a meaningless break composed of inconsequential and unrelated bullcrap. Just give me the main story. 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim was extremely guilty of this during endgame and the peak climax of the story. All of a sudden I had to spend 6 minutes looking for spare change to buy a snack as the Apocalypse is happening. That is the worst video game story telling sin i've ever dealt with.

[@byletheisner5006]

I agree, as I said already, it is a rather superficial approach at storytelling. The introduction of mundanity is beneficial to the story.

[@SoldierBoy3064]

the only down sides to the game are the online problems and the mech head part being needed for so many essential upgrades that's it... it's a very great game and I have 175 hours already 😊 just beat final boss last night 😊😊

[@cloudwalker9572]

I disagree with the pacing. The last 3 chapters are boss fights after boss fights and overstay it's welcome while the rest of the game leaves you wanting more with how good it was. The game deserves story extensions like two added campaigns of 20 hours or so. Doesn't even have to be the logical follow up of the story. It could even be the story of the gacha adapted to relink.

[@legitplayin6977]

My problem is that it’s so painfully anime, I can’t really stay for the gameplay alone.

[@akiradkcn]

Glad you understand its a vou problem

[@gregorymasters5805]

Its bcos relink’s combat is made by platinum, who are known for fun combat.

[@yosharian]

Story of this game is godawful

[@shatteredsentient5321]

The final fight was stereotypical. I enjoyed it because it was epic.

[@byletheisner5006]

I would argue that its pacing is also bad, a story needs moments of lull, of calm, not only at the beginning plbut durings its course, to develop the characters, the relationships and the world further. It also serves to highlight the relevant and impactful moments by making them stand out even more. A story that "only ramps up and never lets down" is a story which ultimately has very little impact beside its ending

[@purextreme5460]

So many years in development and while i like the game it lacks content and just gets to repetitive once the honeymoon phase is over and rebirth releases those concurrent numbers are going to drop for both PS5 & Steam and being both platforms divided i fear multiplying is going to be an issue.

[@ChaosLightspeed]

You say it lacks content... That's complete bullshit. The game really only starts AFTER the main story.

[@Sac11111]

@@ChaosLightspeed apparently if your game doesn't have over 1000 hours worth of contents, it lacks content yea this is what live service brainrot believe

[@serenity3157]

Na, even if you compare it to MHW base world without DLC the amount of bosses is not really far even if you don't include the other elemental skeletons and quakadiles

[@ragingnep]

​@@ChaosLightspeedi mean if you count grinding sigils than sure theres alot of content. But the games has pretty low amount of unique bosses, and most of the bosses aren't even fun or hard to fight against. Mhr the base game has 46 bosses, i doubt relink even has 25

[@moreoliveoil1579]

@@ragingnep World Brain Rot is real, but no one wants to talk about XX / GU.

[@zaviusfirerave]

I'm sorry. Are you actually trying to defend this Granblue Fantasy Relink's story?

[@stovespiegel]

Absolutely unhinged take. One of the absolute worst paced games I have ever played. (Multiplayer is kino)

[@silvertaken]

Sadly the story feels like a filler from the main story. In the gacha you get to know why Lyria sticks with you; how you meet Rackham, Katalina and the others each with their own plots; the profecy of the girl in blue and the dragon, why from the start they don't trust soldiers in armor; Gran/Djeeta's obssesion with Eustacia; etc.

[@spicoli2801]

Yeah, basically like MH. Good game, useless story. Although story is much les tedious here than most MH titles. But if you buy it just for the story you're pretty much throwing away money.

[@SheepyMcSheeperton]

I heavily dislike how this story starts, I felt no attachment to the characters and couldn't really get invested until almost the end of the story because it doesn't actually take place at the beginning. I shouldn't have to look through a bunch of lore pages on each main character for a proper introduction to everyone, or to understand what's happened up until this point. Even if that information isn't integral to understanding the story being told in Relink, it reaaaally takes me out it. Fortunately the characters themselves are entertaining enough, and the main draw of the game isn't the story. It's the combat, bosses and the online co-op, which are absolutely fantastic, I think most people just tolerate the mid story because it's short.

[@jaimydamen6956]

Thats fair i mean i think if you really wanna love the story people should watch the anime or play the mobile game but the story overall is pretty basic stil loved it tho if defo carried it for me tho

[@SheepyMcSheeperton]

@@jaimydamen6956 I guess my issue is that it seems like both the game's advertising and community make it seem like this is a good entry point for newcomers, and story-wise I just can't agree if you need to watch an anime or play the mobile game for more context first. However I will admit after sinking 100 hours into Relink, I am more interested in both the anime and mobile game. Though it sucks that season 2 hasn't been dubbed into English despite being out for 5 years, maybe Relink's success will change that.

[@jaimydamen6956]

@@SheepyMcSheeperton thats true tbh but i didnt mean story overall sorry i meant character wise thats why they made the fate episodes but they dont hit the same as the mobile game and anime so i get it

[@googus2110]

mid game

[@andy-xz2uk]

reminds me of phantasy star, good game