It's called "Grindblues Fantasy" for a reason. Not the easiest game to grasp but can be incredibly rewarding once you get into the flow of it. It's a really hefty time sink, but I'd say it features some of the coolest progression systems I've seen in any live service game. There's just so many different things you can work on to get your grids kitted out to the point it can feel incredibly overwhelming. But like any game of this nature, you're gonna have a bad time if you try to hyper-optimize the crap out of everything. Though if you pace yourself and set reasonable goals, you'll still be able to progress steadily — just maybe not as fast as the tryhards. It's definitely more of a marathon than a sprint.

The writing is pretty decent too, and the game has built up a huge cast of lovable characters over the years. Of course, not every story event is stellar, and there have been some notorious flops along the way (looking at you Seeds of Redemption), but it's solid for the most part. The Society and What Makes the Sky Blue arcs in particular deserve special mention because they're just THAT good. The latter especially; shit permanently damaged me and rewired my brain chemistry.

So yeah, I think Granblue is pretty cool. I played the crap out of it during the pandemic, took a break for a couple of years, and now I'm back on the grind (though I'm definitely taking it easier this time to avoid the burnout). Would I recommend it to most people? Probably not! It's definitely not a game for everyone, but if you're looking to scratch that MMORPG itch, then I think it's bound to have you covered.

Also it has Sandalphon. He's awesome. I love Sandalphon. My #1 meow meow ever.

(While this isn't directly related to the game, I think it's also worth mentioning that the unofficial GBF wiki has got to be one of the best gaming wikis out there. Granblue is a behemoth of a game and the player experience would be a lot worse if we didn't have access to such a good resource.)

Music so bonkers good I bought the soundtrack within half an hour of starting the game. The tiny bit of story that's in here is also really promising and does a solid job of introducing us to its protagonist, Beat. She's messy, she's impatient, she's got hang-ups and complex feelings about very specific things. She's thoroughly compelling and at times, hauntingly relatable. That is to say, she's just like me for real (ADHD + perpetually doomed by debilitating perfectionism).

It's worth mentioning that the actual rhythm game portion has a bit of an initial difficulty curve and can take a while getting used to. It's mostly the "dodge" and "double tap" notes that were tricky since there aren't really direct equivalents to them in other rhythm games I've played. But hey, the struggle for mastery is part of the appeal so I don't think it really detracts from the experience or anything.

It's kinda hard trying to articulate just how cool this game is. Like yeah, the puzzles are REALLY clever and it's got a neat art style, but that hardly scratches the surface of its brilliance. The core mechanic is deceptively simple: you've a got a 2x2 grid of squares and you move them around to make stuff happen. It's still decently challenging, and you're bound to get stumped from time to time (in a good way).

But I think what really makes Gorogoa tick is how it marries "gameplay" and "narrative" in a way I haven't really seen elsewhere. I'm not really sure how to describe it and I don't think "ludonarrative harmony" is the right term (it's similar, but not really the same thing), but it just works.

Anyways, I saw a bunch of nerds on Twitter the other day discoursing about whether video games count as "art". Probably should've dropped this in the QRTs and ended that debate for good.