This action RPG's more-with-more-on-top excess is as fun as expansion design gets

Special effects go off like fireworks, my screen a constant blur of colour. Gushes of golden numbers—some of them in the millions—accompany every sword swing and magical burst. AoE patterns light up the floor, warning me about the maelstrom I'll soon have to dodge my way through. And while all of this is going on my party's endlessly chatting away to each other, remarking on every activated skill and buff.

I've done all this before. Hours and hours of it, even.

And I'm happy to say I'm enjoying myself just as much now as I did in 2024. Endless Ragnarok, Granblue Fantasy: Relink's expansion, doesn't reinvent the action RPG, but it definitely makes taking it for another spin a lot of fun. I may have seen much of this before, but I've not experienced it in this way, or at this relentless white-knuckle level of intensity. There are multiple new quest difficulty tiers to tackle, new playable friends to recruit (and enhance), and even new mid-battle summons to unleash. At first the flurry of new systems, items, unlocks, and upgrades is a little overwhelming, but as they essentially all boil down into new ways of making all of my big numbers even bigger, and often replace something I've already cleared (a character's skill tree, for example), coming to grips with them all doesn't take long.

There is an excuse for this hefty slice of postgame fighting and upgrading; an ominous figure fond of dramatic poses and booming monologues, bringing new and ever more dangerous threats to the skies with them. It's just enough energetic nonsense to make progress meaningful, to make me believe I'm doing more than clearing another screen's worth of quests, without it feeling like I'm narratively back at square one and nothing I achieved before mattered.

The real star of this newly extended show is Conflux mode, mysterious gates that lead to roguelite-ish gauntlets stuffed with helpful upgrade materials and shiny new treasures. No two runs are ever the same, and half the fun is adapting to whatever gets thrown my way, and daring myself to pick more challenging battles for greater rewards.

As someone who is deathly allergic to min-maxing anything other than my consumption of tea and biscuits I half-expected my party to get instantly crushed into a fine paste by these new trials. But Conflux's difficulty curve is actually surprisingly smooth. The early quests are laid back enough to give returning players the space to shake off the rust, and by the time Endless Ragnarok really kicks off my main team are all powered up and ready to go. This expansion's something new for people who have seen the original credits roll, not an ultra painful mode designed exclusively for people who salivate at the thought of planning out their builds in a spreadsheet.

I can rush in with a team I like, rather than a team I know synergise well, and get on with mowing down hordes of enemies and opening treasure chests. Promising myself one more quest often turns into an additional hour or two's play.

Every Conflux dive is made up of a series of micro-stages, each featuring mashed up bits of pre-existing levels and enemies. Such obvious recycling is no more irritating than Monster Hunter insisting I fight a Rathalos one more time, familiarity an opportunity to further refine my approach and exploit weaknesses.

These mini challenges tend to take under a minute to clear, rushing me from one to the next with only the smallest of pauses to choose a path and which of three randomised buffs I'll take into the next stage. These range from simple, straightforward options (a no-frills 20% boost to my health) to more esoteric yet potentially greater aids. These might stack based on the number of a particular status effect I've inflicted, or only come into play when I have a shield active (or if that shield breaks).

In spite of the constant barrage of status effects and triggers and buffs intertwined with specific types of damage, and all the ways I can combine these separate enhancements to my benefit, it still feels obvious that my own direct contribution to every battle—how I use my skills, how I dodge attacks, how aware I am of a particular enemy's abilities—matter at least as much as anything else. A warning my party is underpowered for the next quest isn't a polite notification to go away and grind materials, it's an invitation to test myself.

I may not clear the fight that follows against something the size of a house that's capable of shooting laser beams out of every orifice in record time and with a perfect grade on my first attempt, but even a skin-of-my-teeth win feels worthwhile. I get a clear screen full of loot, and the feeling that I'm not a button-mashing passenger while my equipment and masteries do all the real work.

Not every Conflux stage is about making the most of my martial might. A wide variety of completely combat-free alternatives pop up along the way, covering everything from high-speed slime chases to gem collecting, people watching, and even the occasional game of spot the difference. If I'm especially lucky I'll encounter a rare treasure-packed room, a little treat along the way. Between the fast pace, unpredictability, and sheer variety of challenges, Conflux runs quickly become an entertaining loop that I'm happy to play just for the sake of playing them, no matter what my current objective actually is.

Endless Ragnarok? Yes please.

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