[Some epic music starts playing]
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At it's best, Granblue Fantasy Relink is a highly-concentrated, epic action RPG that keeps on one-upping itself in it's grand vistas and even grander bosses with one-off mechanics, over-the-top encounters and oodles of giant creatures to fight and besiege. At it's worse, Grandblue Fantasy Relink is this👇

³⁰⁰ 💥₄₅₀ 🔥 ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁
🗡️₂₅₀💥.... ݁⊹ . ݁˖ . 5600 𝘿𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙚

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For my first-venture in the Grandblue-verse, I was taken aback by how honest and by-the-book the narrative and it's depicted cast are: A ragtag group of happy-go-lucky friends that all bond over their love of helping and venturing forth, with a villain who seeks to destroy the (rather standard depiction of a fantasy world) world over selfish gains. I admit, 'twas refreshing at first, but after Vyrn's 10th dumbass quip I lost all the spark the game's setting hold one me in an instant.

₄₅₀ 🔥³⁰⁰ 💥⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁
³⁰⁰ 💥⁴⁵⁰💥.... ݁. ݁˖ . 5750 𝘿𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙚
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Granblue hooks people with promises and comparisons of "Monster Hunter"-akin combat ('least, that's what I keep hearing people comparing it to!) And I mean, it has big bosses! Big bosses of epic proportions that stomp, slash and shoot about, creating a mini-circle-hellscape to push through. Beautifully telegraphed with the occasional exciting scripted sequence and some really engaging attack patterns that get better as the story progresses. "Get better", as unfortunately the beginning til middle point devolves into your eyes fixating on the upper half of the screen, rhythmically pressing Light or Heavy Attack and a well-timed dodge or two, watching in dread as the bosses health bar is shrinking at a snail's pace no matter what you do.
And I want to circle back to the "Monster Hunter" comparison that keeps popping up: I don't see it. Sure, it has late-Game quest-grinding, co-op hopping big monster slayin, but is that really the Monster Hunter experience? There aren't any nuances or prep-work going into a battle, just punching and slashing til it's healthpoints reach 0%, which takes a... while...

³⁰⁰ 💥₆₀₀🩸⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁
₄₅₀ 🔥₄₅₀ 🔥... ˖ . ݁5370 𝘿𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙚
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Gorgeous visuals and set-pieces that are often just a sad backdrop for the corridors and circle-arenas of the mission. Variety in characters and trees, yet limited on what one can actually do, while the trees, resources and level-ups beckon you to the horror that lie beyond the final boss (Repeated Grinding and optimization). A beautifully rendered cast of Skydwellers that play it surprisingly straight and "honest-core" (?), yet remain too one-dimensional for any sort of depth or attachment to be made. From the glimpse I have taken into the endgame, it is a purely self-indulgent grind, as every quest is just stripped down skinner-box version of it's story-quest counterpart and, yeah, no thanks.

There is a lot of qualm's I have with the game, but the biggest is probably the fact that a game very much focused on it's combat and big encounters, said encounters are so- OH WAIT LESGO I CAN DO FULL BURST LESGO

݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁ 🔥¹³⁰⁰ 💥₄₅₀ 🔥₁₄₅₀ ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁
݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁ 💥₁₂₅₀💥₁₂₅₀ 🩸₁₆₀₀ ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁
݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 𝙁𝙐𝙇𝙇 𝘽𝙐𝙍𝙎𝙏 ݁ ₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ .
݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ݁ ₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ .
.⊹ 55600 𝘿𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙚
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...fuck this imma go to sleep 🛌