At the first day of the Granblue Fes 2020 on December 12, Cygames finally unveiled a release date estimate for Action RPG Granblue Fantasy Relink - 2022. Not only on PS4, but the promising game has been officially confirmed for PS5 as well. Moreover, Cygames unveiled new gameplay footage for Granblue Fantasy Relink. Alongside the game's main key artwork and new character illustrations from Gran and Djeeta. We detailed everything below.The first announcement of the Granblue Fantasy Relink segment was the 2022, PS4, PS5 release date. Director Tetsuya Fukuhara explained the online multiplayer will be cross platform. He also acknowledged fans waiting for the game are anxious. As such, he explained all the game's development till that point.
Granblue Fantasy Relink Development so Far:
- August 2016: "Project Re:Link" Announcement with a first trailer
- December 2017: Gameplay demo premiere
- December 2018: Story footage and "Granblue Fantasy Relink" official title reveal
- Dec 2019: Multiplayer gameplay reveal
Granblue Fantasy Relink Stages of Development:
- First playable: The game is in a playable state so game feel can be experienced
- Pre-production: Missing elements are added and improvements are made to problems identified in the first playable build. Core of the game is fleshed out in preparation for Vertical Slice development.
- Vertical Slice: A limited amount of characters, maps, items, and features are available, but a small portion of core gameplay can be experienced in near-finished quality. The final budget and development schedule are determined based on the quality of this build of the game.
- We're here now - Alpha Version: Various features and resources are either unfinished or using temporary assets, but the game in its entirety is generally in a playable state.
- Beta Version: Planned features and resources are fully implemented. Some potential bugs and glitches may still need to be fixed, but the game should be nearing a releasable state.
- Master - What they call going Gold in Japanese: Ready for release. Generally 3-6 months before actual release. Day one patches have become common alongside releases to fix any last-minute bugs found in development.
First off, Director Fukuhara admitted Granblue Fantasy Relink was announced too early.
The game's development started in early 2016. Which means it was announced half a year later. Fukuhara added "with how the game industry works, and with the now decided 2022 release date, normally, the game should have been first announced in Summer 2021". Fukuhara apologized multiple times, while comments overall were pretty understanding and grateful Cygames is telling us so much about the game's internal development.
Secondly, the staff explained Blue, a character who was initially supposed to be the protagonist of Granblue Fantasy Relink.
Lastly, the staff explained what happened since Cygames stopped working with PlatinumGames on Relink
The last part of the Relink segment featured new gameplay with Djeeta. Players can switch any time between being either Gran or Djeeta.
Granblue Fantasy Fes 2020 -Â Granblue Fantasy Relink Segment
- 06:04:40: Start of the Granblue Fantasy Relink segment
- 06:16:51: Relink gameplay with Djeeta
- 06:23:27: Quest gameplay and boss fight
The Granblue Fantasy Fes 2020 will be ongoing on December 13. You can check out our schedule for the event.
Personally, I was expecting the release date of Granblue Fantasy Relink to be much closer than 2022. Especially when considering what Cygames said at Granblue Fes 2019. However, all the explanations leaves me pretty satisfied, and I'm looking forward to the game.
Lastly, the official Twitter shared a special illustration for Granblue Fes 2020 Day 1: