Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is a new 2D anime fighting game that caught player’s eyes at launch and has retained a large amount of its popularity even after the release of other fighting games in recent times for its intuitive twists on gameplay and how easy it is to pick up.

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising released worldwide on December 11, 2023, for PlayStation and Steam. The game is developed by Cygames and Arc System Works, who are the developers of other popular fighting games like Dragon Ball FighterZ and Guilty Gear Strive.

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is a follow up game to Granblue Fantasy Versus, in which it takes the original concept of the game and makes tons of additions and improvements to the gameplay and user experience.

The creative director for the game, Fukuhara Tetsuya, said in a Famitsu interview that the decision to make a new follow-up title came from the cost of adding rollback net code (which would greatly improve online play) to the original Granblue Fantasy Versus being nearly as much as creating a new title, so given that along with all of the ideas that they were never able to implement into the first game, they decided to go for a whole new game instead.

The game is a 2D fighting game that allows players to choose from a wide cast of characters with different moves and abilities to duke it out with computers or other players, along with a variety of accompanying stages and background tracks available.

I personally think the gameplay is extremely fun. I’m not even a huge fan of fighting games, but the game’s unique alterations to the fighting game formula makes understanding the fundamentals simple enough but leaves a lot of room for improvement and optimization.

For one, the controls are much simpler compared to other games. Instead of sitting in the training room learning complicated button patterns and combos for hours on end, the game allows players to use simple inputs that only involve pressing two or three buttons together at the same time to perform a move.

The game also includes a mechanic named bravery points. They allow you to pull off special moves that can get you out of your opponent’s combos or perform high-power blows that you can chain into your own combos, but you only get three every match and the more you use, the more damage you take. This adds an interesting strategy of risk-and-reward to the core gameplay and makes the game even more fun and intuitive.

Along with the game being fun to play, there’s also just a lot to do. The game offers both single player modes like an arcade mode, training room, and even its own story mode, as well as online multiplayer modes like public/private lobbies, ranked matches, and even a wacky obstacle course?

One of my favorite things about the game is how accessible it is. Not only is the game simple to learn and doesn’t feel overwhelming like other games, but while the full game normally retails for $50, a free edition is offered on all platforms that limits what you can do in the game and only allows you to have 4 characters that rotate every week, but it’s free!

This allows the game to be accessible by tons of people, from my experience it’s been a lot easier to get friends interested in Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising compared to other games because of this free version as well as the game just being fun.

I’ve been playing this game with my friends in lobbies for hours on end and I think Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is a really fun and intuitive experience everyone should at least give a try. The game is free to try out and the unique gameplay plus the simplicity make it an experience worth your time to at least give a shot, whether it be by yourself or with friends to guide you.