Idk what tf a granblue is but the combat is up there with the ARPG greats (maybe with a couple tweaks like why tf does it auto game over when the meter runs out instead of after everyone dies) and I was very impressed by how uniquely fun all the characters I tried out were.

Unfortunately where the development hell shows is everywhere else. The cities? bam, only 2 of them, non factor. The characters? bam, no development, non factor. Explorable world? none, bam non factor. The story? absolute nothing burger, bam non factor.

I think a sequel building off this games combat with a more typical RPG length/format and more fleshed out narrative could be a recipe for one of the best ARPGs we've seen in a long ass time.

man

Gameplay-wise, probably the best in the series and an improvement on 7 in almost everyway. Hawaii was perfectly captured and words could not describe the pure unbridled joy I had exploring it. (I get so hard thinking about a judgement 3 taking place in Hawaii bro its not even funny) The side modes are extremely fun as always and the new jobs were awesome.

As for the story, it is quite possibly the biggest example of peaks and valleys in the series, most comparable to 5 in that the highs are so high that they can somehow make up for the moments where you are just sitting there thinking "why the fuck did they write this this way?" or "why isn't ______ doing _____?" (you know exactly which groups I'm talking about). Sometimes it feels like the writers genuinely just forgot about certain plot threads. With that being said the game has some of the most genuinely well done twists in the series and the new additions to the cast are almost universally phenomenal. Tomizawa, Chitose, Yamai, and even Eiji were all very welcome additions that brought a lot to the plot. The main villain probably sits somewhere in the middle for me as while near the end you feel genuine sympathy for the guy but he was just gone for a decent chunk of the game and you could have more evenly spread out his backstory to make him more interesting in the first 3/4 of the game.

Of course, one of my major concerns for the game going in was the return of Kiryu, and I have to say, they did it in the most tasteful way they could have for the most part. For the first half of the game he can feel like he's just sort of there but man I think most of his segments stole the show in the second half in addition to bucket list being an blatant but tasteful integration of fans service.

Overall, while I have some major gripes with the story, I'd be a big fat liar if I said I didn't somewhat self-consciously embrace my inner white person and start clapping in my empty room at 6am after the final scene.

Well done RGG, you hit another home run. (just like my man Shinada gone but not forgotten)