Cygames has unveiled the development secrets and core systems of 'Granblue Fantasy: Relink - Endless Ragnarok' (hereinafter 'Endless Ragnarok'), a major expansion for the action RPG 'Granblue Fantasy: Relink'.

Creative Director Tetsuya Fukuhara and Director Sanshiro Hidaka took the stage at Bilibili First Look to introduce the expansion, covering everything from its origins to content volume and new combat systems. The presentation focused on new story content, characters, a summon system, the 'Master Skill' progression system, and the full opening of Assist Mode.

An Unplanned Expansion: "Thanks to Fan Support"

It was never part of the original plan. Director Fukuhara admitted that when 'Relink' was first released, an expansion like 'Endless Ragnarok' wasn't even on the table. However, the response following the three scheduled updates was far more enthusiastic than expected, and the team decided to develop the expansion to answer that call. 'Relink' is a console adaptation of the 'Granblue Fantasy' IP, which launched in 2014. It has surpassed 2 million units in cumulative sales, earning praise for its unique character actions and linked combat for over 20 characters.

The challenge was that 'Relink' was not originally designed as a live-service game meant for long-term operation. Director Fukuhara felt that releasing updates in one-off segments would not satisfy user expectations, so the team shifted direction toward an expansion that packs core content into a single release. This includes a new story, characters, combat systems, quests, progression systems, and game modes.

The volume has increased significantly. Director Fukuhara stated that the content is over 1.5 times larger than the original, with nearly double the playtime. He explained that even for players who carry over their save data from the main game, the main story alone will take 20 to 30 hours to complete. The team didn't just increase the quantity; they also polished the UI, rebalanced the main game, and added new event cinematics.

Entry requirements were also revealed. Players can access the new story of 'Endless Ragnarok' after clearing the 'Proto Bahamut' quest in the latter half of the main game. Some elements will be unlocked before the story begins, and specific unlock conditions will be announced later.

There are six new playable characters. One character has been assigned to each of the game's six elements, featuring a mix of former enemies turned allies and entirely new characters. All six possess unique actions, offering distinct gameplay experiences.

Director Fukuhara noted that some of these characters also appear in the fighting game 'Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising.' Since the two games share some action commands, players will find it easy to adapt regardless of which game they play first. The new story introduces powerful new bosses, and existing bosses return in high-difficulty quests with updated patterns. He hinted that while familiar faces like 'The World' and 'Beelzebub' are included, there are still unrevealed bosses remaining.

'Summon' and 'Master Skill': Redesigning Combat

Director Hidaka explained the combat, with the new 'Summon' system at its core. While the original 'Relink' focused on 4-player party-linked combat, this expansion allows players to briefly call upon summoned characters to the battlefield and control them directly. Players can select up to four summons and swap them out depending on the flow of battle.

The primary use is to counter dangerous enemy area-of-effect attacks. Director Hidaka noted that all allies become invincible while a summon is active, allowing players to ignore enemy patterns and unleash firepower to trigger a break state quickly. There are also Stun-type summons that bind enemies for a set time, and Support-type summons that increase item drops or deploy invincibility barriers. Synergy depends heavily on how players combine the unique skills of their four-person party with their summons.

This system was an idea that emerged late in development. Director Hidaka recalled that the initial concept was to give every character model in the game—whether boss or mob—a unique action and bring them all into combat. While there were initial concerns about the schedule, the development team became highly motivated once the concept drafts were shared, leading to its implementation.

Another pillar is the 'Master Skill' progression system. Depending on the path chosen, the same character can have different primary abilities, combos, and playstyles. Each character has three paths, and as they level up, they gain path-specific enhancements and passives that evolve their combat style. For example, the character 'Id' has one path that builds buffs to enter a super-enhanced state at 10 stacks, while another path is a high-risk, high-reward style where landing a full-charge attack resets cooldowns, allowing for continuous burst damage.

Director Hidaka revealed that this structure was inspired by Blizzard Entertainment's 'Diablo' series. The goal was to solve the issue from the original game where only the most efficient builds were used, leaving niche abilities ignored, by broadening the range of build choices. For some characters, specific paths even unlock new transformation modes or unique Skybound Arts.

'Assist Mode' Fully Opened Through to the Ending

Toward the end of the presentation, news regarding accessibility was shared. Director Fukuhara announced that the scope of the 'Assist Mode' feature has been greatly expanded. Assist Mode allows the system to handle key ability activation, healing, and evasion timing, removing the need for complex commands.

In the original 'Relink,' this feature was disabled for high-difficulty end-game content. However, because 'Endless Ragnarok' features tougher bosses and a longer scenario, the team has made it available without restrictions throughout the entire game, right up to the ending. Director Fukuhara expressed his hope that even players who find precise controls daunting will be able to enjoy the game's action and story without hitting any walls.

Director Hidaka summarized that the addition of summons to the 4-player linked combat has added new depth to the experience. Director Fukuhara emphasized that this expansion was not just a patch, but a level of work equivalent to creating a new game, and he expressed confidence that it is the result of listening to fans who said they wanted to enjoy the world of "Relink" more deeply and completely.

'Granblue Fantasy: Relink - Endless Ragnarok' will be released on July 9 for Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, PS4, and Steam, with full cross-play support across all platforms.