Granblue Fantasy: Relink Endless Ragnarok launches today with the franchise's first crossplay

Cygames put out Granblue Fantasy: Relink Endless Ragnarok today, July 9, on PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC through Steam. It is a paid expansion to the 2024 action RPG, and it arrives on every platform the same day. The Switch 2 version is worth pausing on: it is not a delayed port landing months later, it is part of the launch.

The headline feature for anyone who already plays Relink is crossplay. This is the first time in the series that PS4, PS5, Switch 2, and Steam players share one matchmaking pool. You need a Cygames ID to turn it on. Switch 2 owners also get something the other versions do not: local wireless co-op with people in the same room.

That sounds like a checkbox, but it fixes a real problem. Relink's co-op quests need other players to fill lobbies, and the base game split its population across three separate online ecosystems. Adding a fourth platform without crossplay would have made every pool thinner. Cygames ran a closed beta in March specifically to test the crossplay servers before committing. Merging everyone into one pool on day one gives the game a fighting chance at a healthy multiplayer life past launch week.

What you actually get for your money

Pricing is clear, which is not always true of this kind of release. Existing owners pay $29.99 for the upgrade kit. Newcomers pay $59.99 for a bundle with the base game plus the expansion. One catch on the upgrade: it only works on the platform you already own the game on. If you have Relink on PS5 and want to play it on Switch 2, you are buying the full bundle again.

The content list is long. Six new playable characters (Beatrix, Eustace, Fraux, Fediel, Maglielle, and Gallanza) push the roster to 28, each with their own combat kit. There is a new story set in Zegagrande Skydom, framed as an epilogue, built around end-of-the-world monsters called the ragnalia. Director Tetsuya Fukuhara estimated more than 30 hours of play once you count post-story content.

The most interesting addition is The Conflux, a solo roguelite mode. You take run-based trips with randomized conditions and power modifiers, and it hands out crafting materials and gear far faster than the base game did. That matters because the single loudest complaint about Relink was the grind: farming rare materials meant replaying the same quests over and over. The Conflux is Cygames answering that complaint directly. The catch is that it is solo only, with no co-op.

There is also a reworked summon system (you equip summons and fire off a Primal Burst tied to the party's Full Burst chain) plus three new progression layers: Master Traits that push past the old level cap, Weapon Transcendence for a higher tier of weapon upgrades, and a Chaos difficulty that adds a telegraphed one-shot attack you have to dodge on time. A day-one patch, version 2.0.2, went out alongside the launch.

Why this expansion even exists

Fukuhara has been open that this was not the plan. "With the original release Relink, we actually had no plans for an update or an expansion of this size," he told SmashPad at Summer Game Fest. "But because there were so many voices that wanted to see more and more of Relink, this far exceeded our expectations." Narrative director Sanshiro Hidaka said the team weighed a full sequel and chose the expansion route to get content out faster: "We decided that we really wanted to get this content out to our fans as soon as possible."

Give the team credit for reading its own audience. The base game sold a million copies in 11 days back in February 2024 and passed two million by mid-2025, and the studio turned that into more game rather than a full-price sequel.

The reviews land in one clear spot

Endless Ragnarok sits in the 86th percentile on OpenCritic, and the critics mostly agree on the shape of it: a great deal if you already love Relink, a hard sell if you do not.

On the positive side, GameMAG framed it as "another 50-100 hours of fun monster-slaying action" for anyone who finished the base game. COGconnected scored it 75 out of 100 and singled out the summon system and new progression. GameGrin called it "more of what makes Relink so much fun."

The knocks are consistent too. RPGSite noted that "most of its bosses are reskins of older ones with a few new moves and mechanics," and found the epilogue story thinner than the original campaign. TechRaptor was blunt about the barrier to entry: "If you're like me and are looking to enjoy Granblue Fantasy: Relink - Endless Ragnarok as a regular player, I have a hard time recommending it." The reason is that the expansion expects you to arrive with fully upgraded characters, weapons, and seals before it lets you engage. SmashPad put it more colorfully: "you have to be a real Granblue/action RPG sicko to experience it all."

That is the honest summary. This is not a broken launch or a cash grab. It is a big, dense pile of endgame content aimed at the people who already sank dozens of hours into Relink, and it does little to welcome anyone who bounced off. If you maxed your party and want more, the $30 is easy to justify. If you finished the story and drifted away, this probably will not pull you back.

One more thing worth flagging before you pick a version: the Switch 2 build runs at 30 frames per second in both handheld and docked modes. For a fast action RPG, that is a real consideration if you have a choice of hardware.