- Quick Summary: Granblue Fantasy: Relink’s upcoming Endless Ragnarok expansion left a positive impression during a hands-on preview. While its combat systems felt a little overwhelming as a newcomer, the DLC offers exciting boss battles, new mechanics, and The Conflux mode, which provides fast-paced combat challenges.
Granblue Fantasy is an anime-inspired action RPG that originally started life as a hugely successful mobile game before making the jump to consoles with Relink. Following strong sales and a fanbase eager for more content, it's now receiving a major expansion in the form of Endless Ragnarok.
During a recent preview session at Nintendo, I got to play a slice of this brand-new mega expansion DLC on the Switch 2. While Endless Ragnarok requires players to reach a certain point in the main game before they can access it, the preview dropped us straight into the new content.
The demo itself was split into two sections. The first acted as an introduction to Endless Ragnarok's new systems and quests, while the second jumped ahead to a later point in the DLC to showcase The Conflux.
Entering Endless Ragnarok
The first part of the demo focused on us all getting familiar with the expansion's mechanics. We completed tutorials covering Summons and Traits before heading to the Quest Counter to begin our first mission, Fatebreaker.
As someone who hadn't played Granblue Fantasy: Relink before, I was actually quite pleased the tutorial section was included. There was a lot to take in, as pretty much every button on the Switch 2 Controller had a purpose. This included all the usual guarding and dodging as well as standard attacks, but also Link Attacks with teammates, special abilities, and summoning powerful creatures that you temporarily transform into to unleash devastating damage.
Along the Summons point, one thing that immediately stood out to me was the game's creature design. These monsters were all unique to one another, particularly some of the larger characters. This made the whole thing exciting while sticking to that classic anime RPG feel.
However, I will say the combat system felt quite overwhelming at first. There's a lot of controls and abilities to remember, but it gradually started to click once I got deeper into the preview session. However, trying to remember all of the buttons and abilities meant I rarely ever paid attention to my health in the top left of the screen, which did leave me needing to recover or be revived on more than one occasion.
To Cygames' credit, there was mention of a new Assist Mode added via Endless Ragnarok, which, although I didn't use it, is said to make the combat that bit more accessible across all difficulty levels.
Another slight drawback for me was that this opening section we got to play was definitely the slowest part of the preview. A lot of the early action ended up being cutscenes and storyline setups that, yes, could be skipped (if my memory is correct), but doing so means you miss out on the narrative. Thankfully, the second half of the preview was much faster-paced, and actually ended up being a much better training ground for honing my skills.
On that point, while we didn't get to play the whole game during the preview, I did catch the developers say that Endless Ragnarok expands the game by roughly 1.5 times, but with nearly double the playtime. That sounds like a lot of new content to explore if you're already a Granblue Fantasy fan.
The tutorial section culminated in a boss fight against what I believe was a Level 200 enemy. It took me quite a while to bring the giant down, having only just learned the controls. Because of this, I wasn't exactly chaining together perfect combos or expertly timing every dodge and defensive manoeuvre. Eventually, though, I got there, and here are some of my key takeaways when it comes to combat:
- Keep your guard up and time your dodges carefully. When bosses start charging attacks, they're usually about to hit extremely hard.
- Use your skills frequently rather than relying on basic attacks. The damage difference is significant.
- Stay mobile. Getting behind enemies and using jumps can help avoid dangerous ground attacks and frontal assaults.
- Make the most of Link Attacks with teammates whenever possible.
- When available, press both sticks in to activate a special team manoeuvre. These attacks felt like the ultimate anime RPG finishing move, with everyone unleashing their own abilities before combining for one enormous final blow.
The Conflux
The second half of the preview jumped ahead to a later-stage save file, dropping us all into The Conflux section.
From what I experienced, The Conflux is primarily built around successive waves of combat encounters. After completing one battle, you'd move through a portal and immediately begin the next challenge.
For the most part, waves focused on clearing out large groups of smaller enemies, though others featured much larger boss encounters. Most were fairly traditional action RPG battles, too, but there were some attempts to mix things up...
One section I experienced, for example, focused on collecting gem-like objects while simultaneously avoiding attacks from a powerful enemy. It almost felt like a mini platforming challenge and provided a welcome break from the constant fighting.
As somebody completely new to Relink, I actually found The Conflux incredibly useful. The steady stream of battles gave me plenty of opportunities to experiment with different attacks, abilities, and combat strategies, helping me quickly figure out what worked and what didn't.
Of course, most players reaching this point in Endless Ragnarok will already have spent significant time with the base game, so they'll likely arrive with far more refined combat skills than I had during the preview. But if you are relatively novice, like I was and still am after the preview event, then this Conflux portion of the game really was the place to both test and level up your technique.
If I had one criticism of The Conflux, it's that some of the combat waves started to feel a little repetitive. The gem-collecting section stood out specifically because it broke up the rhythm of fighting wave after wave of enemies. There were also moments when the sheer number of enemies on screen became overwhelming. Between the effects, attacks, allies, and enemies, I occasionally lost track of where I was, who I was targeting, and, honestly, what on earth was going on.
Final Early Thoughts
Granblue Fantasy: Relink isn't typically the sort of game I gravitate towards, but Endless Ragnarok left a positive impression.
From what I experienced, the boss battles are exciting, the special abilities are cool to use, and each monster's design is pretty great, in that classic anime style.
My biggest reservation comes from that initial boss encounter, which perhaps lasted a little longer than I'd have liked. That may be down to my own lack of experience with the game's combat systems, but as an early DLC battle it felt slightly more demanding than I expected.
One feature spoken about on the day that caught my attention was wireless multiplayer in the full release. I think this is a really nice bonus, as taking down large, overpowered bosses alongside friends would definitely make target prioritization and team coordination far easier, especially during the more chaotic encounters where enemies are attacking from every direction.
Adding to this, I think Granblue Fantasy: Relink has definitely found a home on the Switch 2 with Endless Ragnarok. With the party-game approach of the Switch, this co-op aspect could be really huge, and having done some digging into the game's history, multiplayer is really what Granblue Fantasy is all about.
Speaking of the Switch 2, the game seemed to run really nicely on the second-generation console. Even during incredibly hectic battles, the frame rate seemed to hold strong, suggesting the RPG action won't overwhelm the Switch 2's power.
Based on this early look, Endless Ragnarok appears to offer exactly what existing Granblue Fantasy: Relink fans are likely looking for, albeit coming from an outsider to the game's perspective here.
For newcomers like me, it can be a little overwhelming at first, but once the combat starts clicking, there's certainly a lot of fun to be found. And, in my opinion, this game is really going to connect with Switch 2 users, as it feels like it fits perfectly within the Nintendo ecosystem.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink - Endless Ragnarok launches on July 9, 2026, and comes as either an upgrade on the base game or with it for $59.99 (£49.99) on PS5 (and PS4), PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.
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