If you’re looking to pick up the long-anticipated release of Cygames’ Granblue Fantasy Relink (click here for our full review) and you’ve got to weigh up whether you pick it up on PS4/5 or PC, hopefully, this article can be of help!
Graphical Settings
If you’re using a 16:10 monitor, you’re out of luck on widescreen support, with the game choosing to offer a fixed choice of five 16:9 options.
And if you’re using a monitor with a high refresh rate, the game caps its frame rate to 120, with fixed options of 30, 60 and 120. 120fps is still plenty, I was running on a 144hz 1440p monitor, and it was smooth as butter. But if you’re hoping to get the most out of your high refresh rate monitor, you simply can’t.
My biggest gripe with Granblue Fantasy Relink’s PC-specific options is its very limited graphical/performance settings. If you’re someone who likes a lot of customizability, you’re once again out of luck. It’s lacking a lot of, what are now, commonly adjustable settings for the better part of a decade: Post-processing, shadow quality, anti-aliasing, texture filtering, SSAO; they’re simply not there. probably most disappointing, no support for either Nvidia or AMD’s various AI-powered, performance-boosting tech, which have now been seeing more widespread support after being available for a couple of years. It feels like the bare minimum, which is pretty disappointing for a somewhat hotly anticipated release.
Keybindings/Controller Support
You can rebind keys, but it never feels like the way you should play it. The first time I booted the game, I was presented with a Steam interface message that boiled down to: “This plays best with a controller. Connect it for the best experience”. There are also no in-game controller mapping options aside from alternating between what the left bumper and left trigger do in combat or which analogue stick you use for the in-game communication system. It’s also worth mentioning that there is no mouse cursor or scroll wheel support within menus, but you can left-click to confirm and right-click to go back.
Performance
In terms of in-game performance, I had no issues, but I also have a PC well above the recommended specs. According to Nvidia’s built-in performance overlay, my 99% average framerate was 118, and that was in a session where I ran through the game’s first three chapters. In certain scenes, like when entering the first town hub, the GPU load did spike to 100%, but would quickly fall closer to 60%, while my GPU temperature peaked in the mid-60s with its stock cooler.
PC Performance is, however, super variable due to the wealth of hardware configurations, so check that you’re at least meeting the minimum specs.
Buyer Beware!
Going through the Steam reviews as of 02/02/2024, Granblue Fantasy: Relink is sitting at a mostly positive rating, with various complaints about crashes when booting the game (this happened once for me, but I couldn’t repeat it) or crashing after the first cutscene.
Ultimately, however, I think the two biggest detractors to the PC release of Granblue Fantasy Relink are this: no crossplay between PC and consoles, and the PC port is region-locked, unlike its console counterpart. A core component of this game is the ability to fight what are essentially fantastic MMO raid bosses with up to 3 friends. But if you’re split across systems or different regions, you’ll miss out on the bulk of this game’s non-story-focused content.
PC or Console?
In its current state, I would push people towards a console version of Granblue Fantasy Relink over its Steam release if that’s an option they have. They’re both the same content-wise, but the disappointing PC settings and baffling lack of cross-platform and cross-region play compared to its console counterpart (which also has cross-gen support) make it hard to recommend. Cygames has addressed some of the known issues regarding crashes on the game’s Steam page, but unless they very quickly announce changes to the PC version’s bizarre restrictions and you’ve got the option, pick the console release.
And once again, remember to read our full review on the PS5 release of Granblue Fantasy Relink here!
Granblue Fantasy Relink is available now on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC via Steam.
Developers: CyGames
Publisher: CyGames
Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.
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