When it comes to the fighting genre, more often than not it’s easy to think of the space as home to the well-known premier franchises and just a small handful of others. While there are a few indie and higher-end but lesser-known fighters out there that do pretty good jobs, it feels like there’s a struggle to break through against series that have been around for decades. As Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising helps to prove, it isn’t for a lack of trying or quality in all cases, with some really going the extra mile to try to appeal to as broad an audience as possible.

The easiest thing to note about the game, right out of the gate, is that it’s plain gorgeous, and has an undeniable amount of personality to offer up across its pretty impressive roster of 40 total fighters, many of which having their own distinctive look and flow. The game’s personality comes through pretty well everywhere, whether through some very flashy attacks, voiced introductions, or sometimes even in smaller details in the midst of fights. Back that up with probably the most scalable set of control styles that should accommodate everything from total beginners, to people who have at least some mild skills, to folks who want to be in full control, and it’s also a game pretty well anyone should be able to dive into, possibly even with minimal direction or initial investment. 

Even beyond the straight-up fighting modes, whether against the CPU, local opponents, or online, and the challenging grind of Survival Mode, fans of the Granblue Fantasy series (which this is simply an offshoot fighter from, borrowing its characters and general storylines) should also enjoy a Story mode that adds some flavor. I’d argue that while this is a great option, and adds to the overall content offered up, it also likely has a pretty narrow audience that will want to work through it all. For people unfamiliar with the franchise, it will likely lead to them feeling pretty lost, but even if you know the characters and the stories around this title, the fighting itself may get a bit tedious, depending on what you’re looking for. Despite whatever shortcomings there may be though, there’s no question that this is a very earnest effort to make the best fighting game possible, and in general it feels like the combination of elements works quite well.