I was very critical of Relink’s game design pre-expansion, but I do have a soft spot for the Granblue universe. So when Endless Ragnarok got announced, I felt my day was ruined, but I was silently hopeful that my pain points would be addressed. The expansion was my opportunity to give the game a second shot. Currently in Chaos++ and am taking my time, so some things may be conjecture, but whatever.
Pros:
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[*]I like the change where you can perfect guard mid-combo and still keep it going. Adds a dynamic feel to combat where you can just keep the offense going.
[*]Visual noise reduction: options to decrease battle effects from allies and remove their damage numbers is always welcome. Helps significantly.
[*]Summons. Neat little way to get around Astrals being too strong for regular use, and most of them feel pretty strong. I enjoy how they’re implemented, but I wish knowing when summons are ready were more in your face, because a lot of my pubs just don’t use theirs. I forget as well sometimes.
[*]Catching up isn’t too bad. The Conflux alleviates some of the grind significantly and the first 3 stages can be breezed through if you have a base endgame party. MSP is the main bottleneck now with the new master levels. Partner system also takes some heat off of the grind, you only need to focus on 3 characters really.
[*]Build diversity seems to have improved, which was a pain point for me—though it seems minor to get DEF and HP buffs for equipping defensive sigils, it’s a step in the right direction. Mastery Traits also fix some holes in the characters. And with transcendence available for all weapons, the Terminus weapon is no longer the only weapon in the game.
[*]The new additions are absolutely fantastic. Each of them are quite distinct with their gimmicks and animations. Maglielle was especially long-anticipated for me and I am very happy to see the Avieth(?) generals playable together.
[*]Yasuyuki Kaji is finally out of the director’s seat, so this expansion is automatically a 6.7/10 minimum.
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Cons:
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[*]Perfect Guard and Dodge are still a strict 5 frames. In the year of our lord 2026, where industry standard is at least 10-15. Cygames, what are we doing?
[*][spoiler](I would say something about improved dodge not lengthening the perfect dodge window being a problem but invincibility feels like it’s got a good duration to it. I’m starting to think it’s balanced.)[/spoiler]
[*]Cannot bring partner units into Conflux.
[*]Visual noise is still a problem in some fights. Can’t hide your own damage numbers, and some effects still feel very strong on the eyes and are impossible to parse enemy tells from.
[*]I cannot speak on Mastery Traits but some characters have definitely got some stinkers or at the very least, some logic behind them got overlooked by the devs.
[*]With 12 years worth of enemy designs in the original game, Cygames refuses to give us anything more than recolored enemies to represent the Ragnalia. Feels pretty bleh for an “ominous threat”, I’m just saying.
[*]Grand total of FOUR (4) Lucilius fights. Couldn’t you have picked another Angel to wank?
[*]It is 2026 and we still can’t skip fate episodes.
[*]Fraux instead of Nier. FKHR, I [b]KNOW[/b] THIS WAS YOUR FAULT. [i]YOU WILL NOT SEE SALVATION.[/i]
[*][spoiler]I don’t really have a problem with Fraux, I like her too—I just really wanted Nier.[/spoiler]
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It’s still Relink, but the band-aids the base game got made it more approachable for newcomers and gave it some bulk for people who sunk 150+hrs in it and still want more to do. Honestly, I was expecting a lot more (maybe even a full campaign like the original), but I’m fine with this. Tetsuya Fukuhara, I hope you’re next, you baby back bum. And Hidaka—I will be watching your career with interest, and your balance changes with anticipation.
