A stylish gauntlet of bruises and bonding.
Granblue Fantasy Relink still stands as one of my favorite action JRPGs of all time. Its engrossing story, memorable cast of characters, vibrant world, and engaging combat, made it one adventure I thrived in exploring to its fullest. And with the promise of a massive expansion on the horizon, I was eager to jump back in. However, while Endless Ragnarok does certainly scratch that itch, it doesn't quite provide the narrative impact I wanted from it, given the lack of genuine character moments and much, if at all, of a story.
Endless Ragnarok brings a ton to the table in regards to content, more so than most DLC expansions have ever offered before. This is an absolute mountain of content to tackle. From reinvented boss encounters, six new characters to add to your party, as well as new sigils, character upgrades, summonable monsters, and a whole new roguelike mode in the Conflux, fans who have kept looking for that next new challenge are going to get their money's worth, and more.
How you view this expansion is going to depend if you are in Granblue for the story and its characters, or for the combat challenge and boss battles. For the former, there isn't much here apart from a few narrative moments that provide paper-thin context to push you through mission to mission. To say there is a story here is more or less pushing it. However, if you're in for the latter, then you are absolutely the target audience here and have a lot to look forward to.
Getting to the content is another story. Those who have just begun their adventure are looking at dozens of hours before you really can invest time in the meat of this expansion. To start the core expansion experience, you will have had to have completed the Proud difficulty challenges, which is a long way into the endgame that followed the game's ending. I'll be honest, I played a good chunk of the endgame, but had nearly 40 boss battles to endure before I could even glance at the bulk of what awaited me. That said, it was more or less worth it, even if the story stuff wasn't as impactful or present as I wanted.
Once you've put an end to Bahamut Versa, you'll encounter a new strain of mutated monsters known as the Ragnalia, creatures that are part of a prophecy that would bring Ragnarok upon the world. As you head to Mount Neigelith, you'll encounter Seofon and Tweyen, who test your mettle and invite you to stop this impending doom. While there are additional moments to this story, it doesn't quite have the same presentation or attraction that was so prevalent in the base game.
While this strain does offer up a handful of new monsters, the bulk of what is on offer is a collection of existing monsters who have entirely new move sets. While that does take monsters you've challenged a dozen times before and slap a new coat of paint on them, there is an unfortunate grind to this setup that does start to work its way into the mix.
While I would have certainly loved for more monsters to be fresh and new, I do appreciate the effort of taking older threats and giving them entirely new attacks and evolutions to master, making the battles feel familiar but ultimately a twist on what you were expecting. That said, a certain teleporting boss that returns does make for a bad experience and puts certain builds and characters into the dirt, as they simply don't have the skills or speed to even hit the guy.
With Endless Ragnarok, new difficulties have been introduced. Chaos, Chaos+ and Chaos++ have been added to further the challenge. And, once you've defeated Chaos++, Defy Infinity opens up, which is incredibly hard, especially with CPU companions. And, given this new release has full crossplay across all platforms, including the newly added Switch 2 version, finding teammates has never been easier.
While there is certainly a steep challenge to overcome here, the Conflux mode is unfortunately the odd man out. Regardless of how far I got into this roguelike mode, I never once found it even remotely challenging. However, what I find absolutely bizarre is that the Conflux doesn't allow for any co-op. So, let's say you are grinding several boss battles with friends for several hours and then need some materials to upgrade your weapons. Well, the Conflux is a sure fire way to obtain those materials. However, you then need to break the flow of playing with your friends to do this solo. With all the advancements to having more players for co-op, they made a mode where that isn't even an option. It's weird and counterintuitive to the whole package.
The Conflux works like this; you work through waves of enemies, a few mini games like spotting the difference, or some platforming, and then fight a boss. You can then move on to more and level up your character's skills in-between. It's a fun distraction, and great for collecting precious materials and leveling up new characters, especially as there are six new characters ready to join up, with two available right off the bat.
To further upgrade your character, as you likely have already maxed out their traits and weapons via the base game, you have a few new options. You can equip new damage cap sigils to work past the damage cap, or utilize Master Traits. These allow you to work towards different builds that each focus on a particular trait, such as Eugon’s grenades. This allows you to make actual builds, which wasn't technically present in the base game apart from your use of sigils, of which there are plenty of new ones to min-max your characters with.
Of the six new characters, two were part of your opposition from the base game. Gallanza and Mahlielle join your side and are worthy additions to bring into your party. Beatrix and Eustace have some interesting mechanics that make them feel fresh to the cast, but it was Fediel and Fraux who certainly stole my time, especially the melee focused Fraux who might be my favorite of the entire cast.
If you decide to venture out on your own, you can now rent characters ala Dragon’s Dogma. These are player characters that can pack a punch. It also allows you to bring with you a character you likely haven't included in your party due to their level or weapon type. You can bring one with you, and swap it out as you start to out level it.
New to Granblue are summons. At a certain point in the DLC, you'll be able to summon a variety of monsters, and then take control of many of the monsters you've defeated along the way. They can be a tad janky and bulky to control, but these really do offer up some extra variety to combat. While it can take a bit to earn enough meter to summon them, or getting access to them after everyone has done their big flashy finisher, they can certainly help tip the scale in some battles. I did find that I had most encounters largely won before they could even be summoned, and the fact they can only be summoned in certain missions makes it almost feel like a test bed of sorts for a future game rather than a full-fledged feature that feels fleshed out.
Endless Ragnarok certainly entertains, even without a strong emphasis on its narrative, which I feel is a very noticeable blemish here. Combat, new encounters, or remixed ones, and the added features to kit out your characters are the strongest elements that make this DLC really worth it. Summons and the Conflux feel fairly thin on function, but can certainly entertain from time to time, it's just a shame the roguelike addition is solo only, otherwise I would have put more time into it. Regardless, Endless Ragnarok is a damn good addition to Granblue, even if it doesn’t soar quite as high as the game it is added to.
Developer - Osaka Cygames. Publisher - Cygames Released - July 8th, 2026. Available On - PlayStation 4, 5, Nintendo Switch 2, PC. Rated - (T) Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence. Platform Reviewed - PlayStation 5. Review Access - A review code for Granblue Fantasy Relink: Endless Ragnarök was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.