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 its content volume and new combat systems. The presentation focused on the new story, characters, summon system, '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 their radar. However, the response following the three scheduled updates was far more enthusiastic than expected, and they decided to develop the expansion to answer that call. 'Relink' is a console adaptation of the 'Granblue Fantasy' IP, which began in 2014; it has surpassed 2 million units in cumulative sales, earning praise for its unique character actions and cooperative combat.

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 piecemeal fashion would not satisfy user expectations, so they 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. Beyond just increasing the quantity, they have refined the UI, balanced the main game, and added new event cinematics.

Entry requirements have also been revealed. The new story of 'Endless Ragnarok' unlocks after completing the 'Proto Bahamut' quest in the latter half of the main game. However, some elements will be unlocked before the story begins, and specific unlock conditions will be announced separately at a later date.

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,' and because the two games share some action commands, players will quickly adapt regardless of which one they play first. Powerful new bosses have been added to match the new story, and existing bosses will return in high-difficulty quests with new patterns. He hinted that while familiar faces like 'The World' and 'Beelzebub' are included, there are still unrevealed bosses remaining.

'Summon' and 'Master Skill': A Combat Overhaul

Director Hidaka took the lead in explaining the combat. The core is the new 'Summon' system. While the original 'Relink' focused on 4-player party coordination, this expansion allows players to briefly call upon summoned characters to the battlefield to control them directly and fight together. Players can select up to four summons and swap them out depending on the flow of battle.

The primary use is as a counter to deflect dangerous enemy area-of-effect attacks. Director Hidaka explained that while a summon is active, the entire party becomes invincible. This allows 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 recovery items or deploy invincibility barriers. Synergy depends heavily on how players combine the unique skills of their four characters 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—unique actions and bring them all into combat. While there were initial concerns that it would be impossible given the schedule, once the concept drafts were shared, the development team became highly motivated to implement it.

Another pillar is the 'Master Skill' progression system. Depending on the path chosen, a character's primary abilities, combos, and playstyle will change. Each character has three paths, and as they level up, they gain path-specific buffs and passives that evolve their combat style. For example, the character 'Id' has one path that accumulates buffs to enter a super-powered state at 10 stacks, while another path is a high-risk, high-reward style where successful full-charge attacks reset cooldowns, allowing for continuous burst damage.

Director Hidaka revealed that this structure was inspired by Blizzard Entertainment's 'Diablo' series. The intention is to solve the issue from the previous game where only the most efficient builds were used, leaving niche abilities ignored, by broadening the range of build choices. For some characters, choosing specific paths can 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' convenience feature has been greatly expanded. Assist Mode allows the system to handle core ability activation, recovery, and evasion timing to some extent, removing the need for complex commands.

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

Director Hidaka summarized that they have elevated the depth of combat by adding summons to the 4-player coordination. Director Fukuhara expressed confidence that this expansion is not just a patch, but a level of work equivalent to creating a new game, and that it is the result of answering the voices of fans who said, "We want to enjoy the world of Relink more deeply and perfectly."

'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.