Cygames is interested in bringing Granblue Fantasy Relink to Steam; new Interview outlines game Features

After a long period of silence, Cygames has published more new footage of Granblue Fantasy Relink, the upcoming PlayStation 4 action RPG previously known as Granblue Fantasy PROJECT Re:Link, at the Granblue Fantasy Fes 2018 held in Chiba, Japan. At the same time, Cygames also revealed a spin-off fighting game titled 'Granblue Fantasy Versus', which is developed by well-known fighting game developer company Arc System Works, also coming to PS4.

Famitsu attended the festival and managed to get an interview with Granblue Fantasy's director Tetsuya Fukuhara, where they were able to discover some interesting tidbits about the upcoming PS4 games. The most intriguing part here is when Famitsu asked Fukuhara on whether Cygames has plans to cover more console platforms other than the PS4.

Famitsu: The 2 titles that were announced this time [Granblue Fantasy Relink & Granblue Fantasy Versus] are both coming to PS4. But do you have any plans to expand to other platforms?

Fukuhara: I think I want to expand to Steam (PC). For PlayStation 4, our company also has been working on internal developments of titles like Project Awakening among others. So as a company, we do have a certain flow on putting power into consoles.

This interview also goes more in-depth on Granblue Fantasy Relink. Those who are interested in playing Relink do not need to have played the original mobile game in order to enjoy the PS4 game's story; the only basic knowledge they need is that "Granblue is a story that takes place in the sky".

While Relink's storyline is confirmed to be a continuation of the mobile game's main quests, the timeline in this PS4 game is still a bit far away from the latest main quest as of December 2018. Those who have played the mobile game, in particular, will notice this because they still haven't gotten into the sky castle featured in Relink yet. Famitsu also asked about the object dangling on Vyrn's neck, which turns out to be a speaking tube that allows conversations with faraway non-party members.

Fukuhara also confirmed that an all-new list of Primal Beasts will appear in the story. They will appear under various circumstances, whether as allies or enemies. And of course, since Relink takes place in a new sky castle, a lot of new characters will make their debut here. However, Cygames is currently still considering whether to bring Relink's characters and stories into the mobile game. Fukuhara thinks it could be useful to have a two-way promotion by having the mobile game depict Relink's story.

The basic gameplay flow of Relink's main quests will be to head towards a certain area, move around the field, and head towards the boss. Although so far only narrow areas have been shown so that it's easier for people to understand the game, the full game will also have wide locations like grasslands and snowy mountains. Relink will also have subquests with exploration features.

When asked about how many playable characters in total there will be in Relink, Fukuhara still couldn't divulge the actual number yet. But he instead made a reference to Bayonetta - an action game series made by Relink's developer PlatinumGames - where each weapon type has its own unique motions and fighting methods. When you count such weapons as characters here, the number should be very large for an action-type game. Characters will be unlocked by progressing through the game and fulfilling certain requirements.

Finally, this interview also covered the multiplayer segment of Relink. Players will be able to choose from among the unlocked playable characters, but there will not be a same-character restriction in place, which means it will be possible for all 4 players in the same group to pick Katalina, for instance. When asked if there will be any multiplayer-exclusive modes, Fukuhara assumed it would be the high-difficulty quests that are only available after clearing the main story once. However, the pre-clear lower-difficulty quests can also be played multiplayer.

Granblue Fantasy Relink is planned to be released for PlayStation 4 in Japan sometime in 2019. Although this action RPG has been in development for a long time, Fukuhara suggested that it might come out later than the fighting game Granblue Fantasy Versus, especially considering that Relink will have an enormous amount of content.

Cygames has also confirmed that an English localization of Granblue Fantasy Relink is coming as well. However, no release timeframe has been announced for the international release.