Granblue Fantasy Relink is finally releasing early next year, following a really long wait and several delays. Yet, such a long time in development isn't without motivation.
TechRaptor visited the Cygames Artworks exhibition in Ueno, Tokyo, and in the section dedicated to Granblue Fantasy: Relink you can read an interesting statement from the game's director Tetsuya Fukuhara, describing the challenge of creating the game's visuals.
"The fabric of Granblue Fantasy is woven together with countless beautiful illustrations - reinterpreting this game's iconic art into 3D without losing its signature style was a monumental challenge when creating Granblue Fantasy Relink.
The islands and the characters have been skillfully rendered to appear as the original illustrations themselves have sprung to life, making the latest evolution of the franchise truly a spectacle to behold."
Those who know the original Grandblue Fantasy mobile game certainly will be able to relate to the statement. Cygames has one of the most talented art teams in the world, and Granblue is perhaps the climax of their mastery.
Releasing a 3D rendition of that world and characters, which have so far lived only in 2D, without doing them justice, would have been truly regrettable.
Yet, from what we have seen so far, it appears that Cygames' developers and artists have managed to overcome that monumental challenge, as the game looks absolutely gorgeous.
Considering that Cygames as a company has very limited experience outside of mobile games, that's definitely an achievement and shows the long wait and delays from a different perspective.
At long last, 8 years after the initial reveal, we'll finally be able to enjoy the results of that "monumental" effort, and I couldn't be more excited.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink is coming on February 1, 2024, for PS5, PS4, and PC.
If you'd like to see more, you can check out the latest character reveal focusing on Ghandagoza alongside plenty of gameplay.
