Skyfaring action RPG Granblue Fantasy Relink launched earlier this month after years of delays and reboots across multiple studios, and against all odds it has managed to stick the landing: developer Cygames recently announced that Relink sold 1 million copies in its first 11 days.
Relink has been well received on both PlayStation and PC, with an average Metacritic score of 80 and an 89% score across some 18,000 Steam user reviews. Somewhat unexpectedly, it seems to have struck a chord with Monster Hunter fans especially, particularly as they wait for Monster Hunter Wilds in 2025.
As someone who's long loved Capcom's storied hunt-a-thon and is now utterly smitten with Relink, I totally get it. It turns out that farming griffins and dragons to collect feathers to upgrade your sword, all while chasing that coveted S++ evaluation, has a lot in common with hunting a Rathalos for a rare plate drop so you can upgrade your longsword and improve your clear time. It's even got co-op so you can fight with friends. I get distinctly Monster Hunter vibes and satisfaction from Relink's extra content, and boy is there a lot of it to go around.
Relink has a nice self-contained story and a bunch of playable characters to unlock and upgrade, and this is more than enough to carry you through a few dozen hours of core content. But if you really can't get enough of the combat and want more to sink your teeth into, you can challenge a mountain of repeatable quests that have unique foes and come with their own grading system. The sheer number of team combinations ratchets things up further, to say nothing of the fighting game-grade intricacy of the game's enormous roster.
All that being said, the biggest magic trick may be Relink's ability to package a famously dense Japanese gacha game in a way that newcomers can enjoy, all while marrying it with some of the best combat in the genre. Smart tutorials, entertaining and well-place narrative primers, and some stellar voice work make Relink's world feel inviting and approachable. It all adds up to a welcome surprise for February, a long-awaited win for Granblue, and an early frontrunner for my personal game of the year.
Rather excitingly, Cygames says "we have more updates on the horizon." Here's hoping Relink also gets Monster Hunter-like post-launch content with new characters and quests.
March is due for an action RPG of its own in Stellar Blade, inspired by Sekiro, Bayonetta, and especially Nier Automata.
