Transparent Strategies And Free Content Is Why I Love Granblue Fantasy: Relink

For better or worse, we’re in a time where live services and long-running games are excessive. Some of these are genuinely entertaining, while a lot of the projects simply exist to prey upon the consumer. Worst of all, they lack any transparency in their strategies and future consistency. They end up becoming stale very soon because of the borderline non-existence of interesting updates, and they believe updates only mean more ways to earn from the game.

This is a problem plaguing a lot of long-running games and not just live service: the inability to keep the game fresh and unique over extended periods of time. A long-term game comes out, but there’s no planning as to how to keep it afloat, and then its demise is just a matter of time.

Thus, it’s important to come up with a proper roadmap and be honestly transparent about the stuff you’ll be adding and what you can’t, just like Granblue Fantasy Relink did.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink v1.1 Adds Quests, Gear, And More Future Free Stuff

Back when Granblue Fantasy: Relink came out, I discussed and praised it extensively in my review. The game was a splendid achievement and a ton of fun. But you know what the best thing was? Cygames presented a roadmap for the next three months right on release. The recent update proves it was not just empty promises to attract players, they intend to live up to it.

Let me list some of the additions and new stuff this update brings. First is the brand-new Proud difficulty quest against the super boss Lucilius, which is sure to give you a jolt if you’re not prepared. If you thought Tale of Bahamut’s Rage was hard, prepare yourself for The Final Vision. What’s more, the game received new overpowered sigils and plenty of QoL updates to improve player experience.

Gbf is my introduction to the series. What is happening and what the HELL is going on????
byu/AstramIsTheBest inGranblueFantasyRelink

For a long-running game, consistent and meaningful updates are everything. The new quest shows Granblue Fantasy: Relink knows this, and doesn’t plan on releasing repetitive quests and boring content. But wait, there’s more. This latest adventure also introduces us to a new playable character, Sandalphon.

On release, two new and unique characters were confirmed to be joining the roster later at no cost. Now, a third character has been revealed, and he’s completely free, too. Granblue Fantasy: Relink’s care for the players continues to please me.

Microtransactions Are Added To Support Players, Not Prey On Them

There’s one other “surprise” this latest update brings, and that is microtransactions. Now wait a moment. Before you start bashing Granblue Fantasy: Relink, hear me out. As anti-microtransactions as I am, I can see a lot of logic and reason behind this decision. Coming from me, that’s the equivalent of very high praise, considering how much I hate microtransactions in games.

First of all, microtransactions in Granblue Fantasy: Relink is truly micro. Nothing costs more than $3 at the moment. It’s not microtransactions in the guise of $45000 packs (I’m looking at you, Star Citizen). Next, take a moment to look at the content of the packs, and you’ll see why I think it’s logical.

Coming to Version 1.1.0: Various Item Packs ($2.99 ea.)

🔹Self-Improvement Pack 1
🔹Weapon Uncap Pack 1
🔹Weapon Upgrade Items Pack 1
🔹Sigil Upgrade Items Pack 1

Need a boost of power? Use these packs to give yourself a kick-start when setting out on your #Relink journey! pic.twitter.com/tueDs0InM8

— GRANBLUE FANTASY: Relink (@gbf_relink_jp) March 14, 2024

Granblue Fantasy: Relink is a game that is all about the brilliant end-game and grinding for the best stuff, similar to Monster Hunter. The content of these microtransactions is some of the rarer stuff you obtain from the grind. Notice something? There’s absolutely nothing here you can’t get by playing the game without spending any money.

If you’ve been playing it as much as I have, there’s a good chance you already have everything listed here. I’ve spent over 200 hours in Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and I have multiple copies of these items. These microtransactions are designed to support the new players by easing some of their grinds and giving them access to these otherwise very late-game items.

Recently, Microtransactions Just Mean “Pay To Win” And A Replacement For Updates

Granblue Fantasy: Relink takes a very appreciable approach with microtransactions. However, it’s not your fault if you immediately dismissed it after hearing “microtransactions,” because I did the same. It’s just the concept of microtransactions has been so misused in recent times that the word itself leaves a bad aftertaste.

If a game has microtransactions, other than some exceptions, you can be almost sure this game lacks solid content unless you spend a ton of money. Every meaningful progression route will be locked behind a paywall; you can forget about closing the gap between those who spend, it’s “pay to win” through and through.

Microtransactions Ruined Gaming
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Besides, microtransactions are thought of as a replacement for consistent content and updates. A game that should very clearly receive consistent free updates and then add microtransactions to augment that experience, thinks “Why add free content when we can charge for it?” Then they go ahead and market the game as completely “free to play.”

STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT II IS STILL PAY TO WIN – XfactorGaming
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There are plenty of examples of how many live services and long-running games shut down because of this predatory strategy without coming clean about it and continuing to deceive their player base. When people realize this, a severe backlash is bound to happen.

That’s why, Props to Cygames for keeping the microtransactions as transparent as possible in Granblue Fantasy: Relink. It’s clearly mentioned that these are all stuff you can obtain normally, too.

Plus, the most praiseworthy fact is that you can only purchase these packs once per account. It’s not a “keep spending, keep winning” kind of thing. Cygames has made it clear it’s for supporting early players only, not a pay-to-win scheme. These items can be purchased only once to ease the initial grind, not to powercreep the entire game to an unfair extent.

There’s A Lesson To Be Learned From Granblue Fantasy: Relink

My purpose in discussing all this was to highlight just how impressive all these steps are that Granblue Fantasy: Relink has taken. They set it apart from the predatory tactics prevalent in current times, and set an example for every long-running game to follow. A game can’t stay afloat without any updates, and if it overly pushes the pay-to-win agenda. Redfall didn’t receive any for a long time.

3 months after release & Redfall has had no substantial update. People are also still waiting on the additional content they paid for.
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Granblue Fantasy: Relink is giving fresh content every month, new playable characters free of cost each unique and versatile, a new roadmap for a consistent future to keep the players updated, and microtransactions that are transparent in their purpose. All of this is an example of a long-running game done right.