Guilty Gear and BlazBlue creator Arc System Works returns with a new 2D anime title that is one of the best fighters of the year.
On paper, a 2.5D fighting game, with a quintessentially Japanese flavour, probably sounds more like a throwback than an essential purchase – particularly when it’s based on a gaming universe which first took shape as a turn-based mobile role-player. But in reality, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising feels impressively slick, honed and modern, and many would argue that fighting games are at their best when confined to two dimensions.
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is one of the first instances of publisher Cygames’ expansion from its Japanese roots to becoming a properly global concern. Technically, it’s a sequel to 2020’s Granblue Fantasy Versus, but it would be more accurate to characterise Versus as more of a dress rehearsal for Versus: Rising. The new game fixes technical problems that resulted in latency, when Versus was played online, and sports a completely remodelled control system, along with a raft of structural changes. In other words, Versus: Rising is the game that Versus should have been.
Since it was crafted by Arc System Works, fans of the BlazBlue, Guilty Gear, and Dragon Ball FighterZ games will find many points of familiarity in Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising. There are also elements in the game which will ring a bell with role-playing fans, especially the Skybound Arts special attacks, which can be unleashed when you build up a meter and which mesh neatly with the special attacks that will feature in Cygames’ forthcoming action-RPG Granblue Fantasy: Relink.
Versus: Rising’s story mode also has a role-playing style structure, since as you progress through it, you acquire a number of skills and sub-skills which can be swapped around according to your opponents. Fighting games are not generally renowned for their story modes, but Versus: Rising has one of the best we’ve come across, with a sweetly engaging plot that functions as a nice intro to the Granblue Fantasy universe and its inhabitants.
At first, it also operates as something of a tutorial, gradually introducing the game’s combos and Skills, which can be transformed into Ultimate Skills and then Skybound Arts when a gauge fills up. In addition, there’s a system called Bravery Points, which lets you unleash near-unblockable attacks, or alternatively can be spent to counter opponents’ otherwise unblockable attacks.
Spending a Bravery Point offensively leaves you vulnerable, though, and if you spend one defensively, it can help you wrest back the upper hand in a previously losing bout. Those systems bring a pleasingly tactical element to Versus: Rising’s fights, yet they manage to do so within a context which is markedly less arcane and confusing than those of many rival fighters.
So Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising manages the neat trick of being both accessible and pretty deep. Its training mode drives that impression home by not just teaching you the basics but drilling down deep into the different tactical approaches, required when particular characters take each other on.
From the start, the game has 28 characters available, covering just about all bases: the majority use melee weapons, although there are also ranged-weapon specialists and fist-fighting brawlers. Whether you prefer close-in or ranged combat, tanks, defensive specialists or all-rounders, you’ll be able to find at least one character who suits your preferred style.
Arena mode lets you hone your skills against computer-controlled opposition before you venture online – although a colour-coded system lets you pick online match-ups against human players with similar levels of experience to your own. Which means that going online is perhaps less intimidating than it is for most of Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising’s peers.
Although once you get past the novice stage you will inevitably come up against opponents with pretty fearsome fast-twitch skills. The online lobby also contains a mini-game which is more than a tad reminiscent of Fall Guys.
As you would expect from an Arc System Works game, Versus: Rising looks magnificent – every bout you play could quite easily be an action sequence from a high budget anime film. The music is very much what you would expect too – mostly fantastic, sometimes annoyingly cheesy – but Versus: Rising deserves extra marks for sticking with subtitled Japanese voice-acting in its story mode.
Overall, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is about as state-of-the-art as a 2.5D fighter can be, just as you’d expect from Arc System Works. If what you seek is an accessible, yet deep and versatile, control system married to great anime visuals and set in a characterful game universe you should definitely check it out.
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising review summary
In Short: Arc System Works aren’t exactly pushing themselves out of their comfort zone, but this is another polished and highly enjoyable 2D fighter that is not nearly as insular as you’d think.
Pros: Intuitive control system, great anime graphics, and exemplary training mode. Charming vibe and nicely fettled online play.
Cons: Online lobby mini-game is a nice idea but very derivative. Not all story mode quests involve action.
Score: 8/10
Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), PlayStation 4, and PC
Price: £39.99
Publisher: Cygames
Developer: Arc System Works
Release Date: 14th December 2023
Age Rating: 12