Video Game / Granblue Fantasy Versus

Believe in Victory

A world scattered like clouds through an endless blue sky. Life is a tempest of adventure and combat, and the wind is never at rest.
How long will your journey last? Where will it lead? All you can know for certain is the heft of the weapon grasped in your hand, and your own resolve to wield it.
But do not despair. You have but a brief time to burn-so blaze. Light the skies with your glory. Put even the stars to shame.
Are you prepared? Will you give yourself wholly to this fight?
Come, you children of fate. The hour of reckoning is upon us.

Granblue Fantasy Versus is a 2D Fighting Game Spin-Off of the Granblue Fantasy video game series, developed by Cygames and Arc System Works for the PlayStation 4.

Announced in December 2018, Versus launched on February 6, 2020 for Japan (published by Cygames themselves) and other Asian regions (published by Sega), with XSEED Games bringing the game to North America on March 3rd, 2020. Marvelous Europe also released the game in EU/PAL territories on March 27th, 2020. The game was also released on PC (via Steam) on March 13th, 2020.

Like Guilty Gear Xrd and Dragon Ball Fighter Z, Versus utilizes the similar 3D graphics on a 2D playing field, powered by technology behind the Unreal Engine. The game's official website can be found here.

Cygames has stated the plot is separate from the original mobile game. Versus is accessible and friendly to newcomers, but also features deeper game mechanics to appeal to those in the fighting game community.

A sequel was announced on January 21, 2023 titled Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising and it released on December 14th, 2023 on both Playstation 4 and Playstation 5 (Deluxe Edition owners on PS can play it 3 days early) and PC/Steam. It features all content from the original game as well as compatibility with DLC and save data, along with new characters and stages, updated and refined gameplay, rollback netcode and crossplay, and an updated online lobby featuring minigames similar to Fall Guys. There also is a free version^note Similar in a sense like Dead or Alive 5 and 6, and Killer Instinct (2013) which includes 4 playable characters (Gran and 3 rotating characters) and limited modes/options.^note The list of differences between the full and free game versions can be found here◊. Unlike Versus, which had a physical print run for Playstation, it is digital only this time for Rising.

Trailers: Compiled in the Official YouTube Channel.

Playable Roster

Base

• Gran, Katalina, Charlotta, Lancelot, Percival, Ladiva, Metera, Lowain, Ferry, Zeta, Vaseraga

Downloadable Content (Versus)

• Wave 1: Beelzebub^note Final boss in both RPG and Arcade modes, and can be unlocked in-game by clearing RPG Mode once., Narmaya, Soriz, Djeeta, Zooey
• Wave 2: Belial, Cagliostro, Yuel, Anre, Eustace, Seox
• Wave 3: Vira, Avatar Belial, Lunalu

Rising

• Anila, Siegfried, Grimnir, Nier

Downloadable Content (Rising)

• Wave 1: Lucilius, 2B, Vane, Beatrix

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This game provides examples of:

• After-Combat Recovery: Clearing a floor in the Tower of Babyl restores a portion of your characters' HP.
• All Swords Are the Same: Weapon skins are merely cosmetic items that don't change how the character plays, though it's downplayed as the character's available weapon skins are of the similar size or type as their default weapon(s).
• Alternate Continuity: This fighting game spin-off has a ton of mythology gags to the source gacha game, but with its choice of villains (Beelzebub, Belial, and Lucilius) and some plot points being referenced (such as Cagliostro sealing Beelzebub away somewhere else), the story of Versus is chiefly based on the "What Makes The Sky Blue" story arc of Granblue Fantasy. However, this spin-off also takes liberties by adding or repurposing concepts different from the original "WMTSB" lore or the gacha's main story quest. For example, Exia and Versus Core weren't mentioned in the original lore. Further complicating matters are the late-game twist that Gran and Djeeta can co-exist here (even though they were simply the respective male and female gender options for the same Grandcypher Captain protagonist), and the source material itself also receiving story content such as "Tower of Babyl" that takes place after "WMTSB".
• Ambidextrous Sprite: The characters are cel-shaded 3D models made to appear like traditional sprite animation, but they still get flipped when they change facing. Curiously, the flip isn't instantaneous, instead accompanied by a brief animation of the character switching their weapon from one hand to the other, though obviously some of their asymmetrical design features (such as Ferry's earring) just get mirrored.
• Anti-Frustration Features:
  • The Command List uses face buttons, triggers, or keyboard icons instead of generic text notations and command shorthands like "Low Attack", "Medium Attack", "High Attack" / "L/M/H", etc... If you reconfigure your key bindings, the command list also directly changes to reflect the updated settings. Each character's individual command list also previews the moves' animations on the bottom right of the screen.
  • Normally, losing an RPG Mode quest doesn't reward you loot or EXP. The exception to this is the Tower of Babyl, where if you lose somewhere in the 5-stage waves, you'll have to start over from the closest checkpoint floor, but still earn item drops and character EXP to compensate for the stages being longer than usual.
• Ascended Meme:
  • When Metera flirts with the Lowain Bros during their intro conversations, Tomoi would say a variant of "Step on me!", a meme phrase commonly used in anime communities. There's even a trophy for Metera that has the explicitly-written requirement of "Step on an opponent 10 times in a match".^note It simply means finishing them off with her Super Skybound Art
  • Much like her anime episode, Djeeta's existence lives and breathes the in-joke of the Granblue community that she's the avatar of whaling. Case in point, whereas Gran is using pretty standard stuff, save for Reginleiv implying a "free player at a high level", Djeeta rolls in with attacks specifically accessible from the "Conquerer of the Eternals" variant— indicating a whole lot of time and a whole lot of resources sunk in.
  • When used as a helper character in Rising, Gran may ask why everyone is always talking about his boots. This is a reference to the "Gran Boot Fantasy Versus" meme from the base game.
• Battle Intro: Just like Guilty Gear Xrd and Dragon Ball FighterZ, animated intros play for each character before the match starts, though one character's animation varies depending on their "slot" (Player 1 or Player 2), and their interaction specifically depends on who they fight. All characters will also be amused at their own mirror match.
• Bowdlerise: Metera's and Zeta's outfits are censored by default, but this can be subverted as the "original" uncensored versions can still be unlocked by beating RPG Mode and toggled in the settings.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Several primal beasts and allies of the Grandcypher crew suddenly became aggressive and act out of character as a result of Belial using the Exia on them. You have to defeat them in a fight to help them break free and regain their memories.
• Bribing Your Way to Victory: Players who pre-ordered these spin-off games or bought the season passes can submit codes to receive in-game items for the Granblue Fantasy gacha game, ranging from cosmetic outfits for a character, to precious and advantageous materials for progression (such as Evolite, Gold Brick, etc.) that are normally difficult to obtain.
• Celebrity Endorsement: A short Teaser and a Test Matchup Video for the Closed Beta featured Japanese FGC aces Daigo Umehara and Fuudo (Keita Ai) from Mildom Beast (formerly known as Cygames Beast) trying out a beta build of the game.
• Charged Attack: Various normal attacks, Skills, special moves and super moves involve holding down the attack button, though the implementation or effects may greatly vary depending on the character. Many charged attacks release the typical stronger version of a move (e.g. Percival's "Lohenwolf"), some have unique charge levels that can be stored and unleashed later (e.g. Gran's "Power Raise"), while others may have entirely unique gimmicks (e.g. Lancelot's "Turbulenz" doing a follow-up attack). Charged attacks are such a ubiquitous mechanic here, the characters' Command Lists would helpfully label them with the "Chargeable" text in its command inputs.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience:
  • A character's HP and SBA gauges constantly flash blue if a Super Skybound Art can be performed.
  • The character's model briefly glows gold while performing a Heavy version of a Skill.
• Completion Meter:
  • In Versus, the Mission Training tabs display pie charts and percent-based completion rates that specifically encourage the player to achieve S Ranks for each mission.
  • Unlike the first iteration, the Story mode of Rising now has a percent-based completion tracker and a meter below each of the main parts.
  • Much like some of the previous ArcSys games, Rising has a percent-based tracker of how much content has been unlocked or bought in the Gallery.
• Compressed Adaptation: The gacha game's original stories and events get summarized in a few paragraphs and/or images at most if they are ever referenced here, similar to a Previously on… storytelling which allows these Fighting Game spin-offs to focus more on their own plot. Notably, Djeeta's first quest summarizes the entire "What Makes The Sky Blue" trilogy arc in just a few minutes; whereas in the original game, that arc took at least three years to conclude.
• Continuity Cameo: Various Granblue characters from the original gacha game initially have cameo appearances even if they aren't (or didn't start off as) playable characters. Most of them can be seen in the stage backgrounds, or in the arcade endings of the playable characters.
  • From the stage backgrounds:
    • The main crew of the Grandcypher make an appearance on its corresponding stage.
    • Lunalu appears on the Auguste beach stage, doing on-and-off sketches and relaxing. She only pays attention to the fight if there are two guys fighting as it gives her material for her BL doujins. Elmott can also be seen in the same stage grilling food.
    • Jin, Kaz, and the Bonito are distantly visible in the background of the other section of the Auguste stage, specifically the Round 3 variant.
    • The Auld Shrine stage which came along with Anila in Rising also features her fellow Divine Generals Vajra (and her dog Garjana), Andira, Mahira, Kumbhira, Vikala, and Catura in the background.
  • From the Arcade mode endings:
    • Charlotta daydreams about being taller than Sevastian, Baotarda, Cordelia, and Bridgette.
    • Lancelot's eating out with Vane.
    • Ladiva comes back to the Jewel Resort Casino to discuss matters with Christina, while Therese is seen in her bunny girl waitress outfit and very annoyed at having to wear it again.
    • Lowain's delusions feature Tomoi rescuing Freesia and Machorilla as one of the people Lowain's cooking for.
    • Zeta's shopping with Beatrix.
    • Beelzebub reminisces about Lucilius.
  • Assorted examples:
    • Ilsa makes voice-only appearances in Eustace's victory lines.
    • Societte appears in Yuel's Super Skybound Art animation. Its related victory screen also (references the uncap artwork of Summer Yuel from the gacha game). She's also present in Yuel's arcade ending screen.
• Cooldown Manipulation: A character's Skill will have a slightly reduced cooldown if it's performed using its technical command input instead of its simple command input.
• Cosmetic Award: You can acquire weapon skins as you progress through the RPG Mode's quests.
• Counter-Attack: The types of counter-attacks are helpfully indicated by the "Parry!", "Punish!", "Counter!", and "Crush!" notifications, varying mostly in their semantics, gimmicks or timings, though it's still possible to have an overlap of these four depending on the circumstances. Some characters also have special defensive skills that supplement these with the flinch immunity and damage reduction benefits of the "Armor!" property.
  • "Parry!" attacks involve the special defensive skills of some characters (such as Charlotta's "Königsschild", Lowain's "Come at Me, Bro!", Belial's "Give Daddy Some Sugar" or Anre's "Arm the Bastion") that rely on strict timings. Most of them automatically initiate a counter-attack only if the character is hit during their defensive state, though Anre's is unique for allowing manual counters and combos after blocking.
  • "Punish!" happens if the character attacks just after blocking, evading or negating the opponent's attack.
  • "Counter!" deals more damage and hitstun than usual but it only happens if the character attacks when the opponent whiffs or fumbles the timing of their own move.
  • "Crush!" happens if a stronger attack beats a weaker attack when both of them were about to clash simultaneously.
• Critical Hit: In RPG Mode, a critical hit deals more damage and is visualized with a unique font. Weapons with Verity skills boost critical hit chance when they're equipped in your grid.
• Crosshair Aware: In RPG Mode, there will be red markers on the floor indicating the area that would be covered by a raid boss's powerful attack.
• Dash Attack: Rising introduces a universal dash attack mechanic for all characters, performed by tapping the forward directional button twice (which makes the character dash or sprint), followed by a light, medium, or heavy attack.
• Desperation Attack: Super Skybound Arts are stronger and more cinematic alternative super moves which can only be used if the character's HP dips down to 30% or lower while also having a full SBA Gauge. The HUD helpfully indicates that a Super Skybound Art can be unleashed when both the HP and SBA gauges are flashing light blue.
• Dodge the Bullet: The evade mechanic allows you to dodge your opponents' attacks and projectiles, as demonstrated by Ladiva in her trailer by dodging Gran's "Reginleiv".
• Easter Egg:
  • In the Auguste Isles stage, Lunalu only pays attention to the fight if there are two guys fighting.
  • Characters may have unique facial expressions depending on the opponent whom they're facing. For example:
    • In his regular victory animation, Lancelot stretches out his hand and smiles at his defeated opponent. But when he wins against either Beelzebub or Lucilius, Lancelot has a very serious look instead. If his opponent is Lowain, then he gets an awkward smile.
    • In her intro animations, Narmaya has a serious expression when she fights her opponents... Except when they're Gran or Djeeta, as she gets overjoyed upon seeing the Grandcypher captain.
• Elemental Powers: Just like the gacha game, every playable character or boss is associated with an element, manifesting as part of their weapon trail and some of their special moves. There are also a select few who can channel several elements in their moveset, though the RPG Mode in Versus makes things easier by associating each of them with a primary element. For example, even though Yggdrasil has earth, lightning, and fire attacks, she's still primarily an Earth-elemental.
• Enemy Mine: Versus marks the one time Beelzebub managed to do this over Belial ever since both were introduced in the "What Makes The Sky Blue" story arc of the gacha game. The final chapters of this game's RPG Mode reveal that Belial has been playing Beelzebub like a tool, which forces the latter to make a temporary alliance with the Grandcypher crew protagonists to defeat Belial, destroying the Versus core in the process and forcing Belial to retreat by order of Lucilius.
• EX Special Attack: Rising introduced "Ultimate Skills" as a universal mechanic for all characters, costing 50% of the SBA Gauge with each use. These are visually flashier and further enhanced versions of a character's Skills which deal more damage or have better properties than their standard counterparts.
• Flash Step: In Versus, every character has a quick dash called Tactical Move, costing 50% of the SBA Gauge, which also links into a dash attack upon contact, and has a backdash version as a quick escape. However, Tactical Moves have been entirely supplanted by other mechanics newly-introduced in Rising, such as simpler and more straightforward universal dash attacks that don't consume the gauge and aren't indicated by a unique visual flash.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: Used mostly for fanservice, such as when Ferry's victory animation shows a glimpse of her butt cheek, but the camera usually moves so fast that it's almost unnoticeable.
• Funny Background Event: While most of the background stages consist of other characters from Granblue doing their own thing or simply standing on the background, the Auguste Isles stage feature Lunalu drawing near the beach◊ while Jin and Kaz are standing atop a rock, trying to catch fish.
• Gameplay Automation: RPG Mode has an Auto Play feature from the pause menu that lets the A.I. take control of your main quest character alongside the already A.I.-controlled partner. However, using this feature prevents enemy kills from being counted towards the Bonus Missions.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Some RPG Mode story cutscenes play as though NPCs like Io assist you in the upcoming battle, even though they aren't actually playable within the game's roster.
• Gameplay Grading: The Basic Mission, Skill Practice and Combo Practice sections in Versus utilize the letters D, C, B, A, and S (in ascending order) to gauge how much of each individual training mission has been completed.
• Genre Mashup: The RPG Mode of Versus combines the Fighting Game mechanics with RPG Elements and Gacha Game features derived from the original Granblue game. The Story Mode of Rising trimmed the fat of the RPG elements, but a few of them (such as damage numbers, numeric HP values, and unlockable skills) still remain.
• "Get Back Here!" Boss: Several bosses in the RPG / Story Mode habitually try to escape from your attacks, but to varying degrees depending on the situation or their powers. For example, Yggdrasil will periodically move offscreen to the side and must be chased, Ares may constantly teleport around its arena, while Grand Order, Proto Bahamut and Beelzebub may either flee to the background or briefly disappear before they unleash their powerful attacks or gimmicks. It's such a recurring tactic, even your Mission Control (e.g. Lyria) will tell you what to do while waiting for the boss to come back.
  Lyria: Focus on dodging for now!
• Gosh Dang It to Heck!: If you have a Mirror Match of Lowains, the first Lowain would ask "What in the freshest hells?"
• Happy Ending Override
  • The story mode of Versus ends with the crew teaming up with Beelzebub and driving Belial back to the rift between worlds. All's well that ends well right? Wrong as Eustace's character quest reveals the brainwashing that Belial performed all over the skies is still very much so in effect, even worse what remains of the Society still hasn't recovered their memories setting up a conflict between the Grandcypher Crew and the Society. And, since Eustace himself uses attacks from Home Stay Moon, two things are now in effect: First, Ilsa (who also fell victim to the brainwashing) is now the highest authority and no one can stop her. And two, the Society is now in shambles and since Gran/Djeeta were heavily involved with the events they likely do not remember why, meaning that the Society doesn't have the manpower to inforce order back into the skies or deal with the remaining threats, giving Beelzebub (as well as Belial and Lucilius) plenty of time to recuperate and make plans while the Society and the Crew waste time fighting each other.
  • It doesn't get any better in Rising, either. By the end of the 3rd story arc, Lucilius is awakened by Belial and has destroyed not only Port Breeze but also the Singularities' hometown of Zinkenstill. Not to mention, the newest member of the crew, Rein, not only turns out to be Gran and Djeeta's mother, but is also the divine guardian Versusia, a physical avatar of Bahamut's destructive half designed to heal any injuries to the broken world by purging elements it deems unnecessary. She performs a Heroic Sacrifice in order to hold Lucilius at bay long enough for her children to escape, keeping Lucilius imprisoned within the pocket dimension he intended to use to kill Gran and Djeeta. The two Singularities and the crew have only barely managed to stall Lucilius's plans, but hope is still on the horizon, as Rein's consciousness still exists somewhere within Versusia.
• Hint System: When fighting raid bosses in RPG Mode, some of the NPC allies (such as Lyria) will give pointers on how to counter or dodge the boss's specific attacks.
• Hitbox Dissonance: Just like previous Arc System Works titles, a weapon's hitbox is also its hurtbox, so depending on the timing or other circumstances, you can take damage if the opponent hits your weapon. This is more apparent when the character's melee weapon has a long reach, such as Katalina's rapier, Ferry's whip or Percival's sword.
• Hit Stop:
  • A staple for fighting games; animation briefly pauses for every attack that connects.
  • The action also pauses whenever two attacks "clash", complete with the background darkening and blue sparks appearing from the point of collision.
• Hold Your Hippogriffs: When winning against Lancelot, Ladiva states that "Love is mightier than the sword."
• Inconsistent Dub: Percival gets hit with this in two ways. In the original game, his English dialogue doesn't match the character animations and is both translated and delivered in a way that gives him a completely different characterization than the original Japanese dialogue. The recast in Rising fixes this with a more Truer to the Text translation, but this results in the carried-over text from the first game no longer matching his updated dialogue.
• Inexplicably Identical Individuals: According to the in-game Glossary◊ entry for Ernest Everyman, the noseless guys with mustaches found throughout the Granblue series are all strangers who happen to look completely identical.
• Injured Vulnerability: In RPG Mode, depleting a raid boss's Overdrive Gauge causes it to enter a "Break" state where it's momentarily stunned and receives more damage from your attacks.
• In Medias Res: The story begins with Katalina uncharacteristically demanding a fight with Gran to hand over Lyria. The next few scenes and tutorials lead up to that point and explain how it happened, causing the same cutscene to play twice overall in just the first few episodes.
• Immune to Flinching:
  • Raid bosses in the RPG Mode have high flinch immunity. It would usually take specific tactics like landing properly-timed "Crush" attacks, landing super moves, quickly performing aggressive combos, or depleting their Overdrive gauge to force them to flinch and receive more damage.
  • Skills and attacks that are tagged by the "Invincible!" and "Armor!" notifications cannot be interrupted, though the two still have differences; invincibility properties also prevent the character from taking damage and usually happen only at the brief start-up (thus it's commonly applied to invulnerable attacks), while armor properties may also provide damage reduction but don't offer protection against throws.
• I Shall Taunt You: You can taunt your opponent by pressing a certain combination of buttons. Some of those taunts are matchup-specific. Moreover, characters automatically add insult to injury after pulling off a particularly damaging combo.
  Katalina: Ready to surrender?
• Item Crafting: You can forge new weapons in Siero's Shop by giving the required materials.
• It Has Been an Honor: Lowain says this word-for-word to Elsam and Tomoi if they're matched against Zeta.
• "Just Frame" Bonus:
  • Blocking at just the right frame will make your character flash white, accompanied with a "Just!" indicator. It prevents any Chip Damage and block stun, aside from providing an additional 1% increase in the SBA Gauge than what the usual blocking would do.
  • A "Clash!" requires precise timing aside from landing an attack of equal strength as the opponent's, but in doing so, both players receive a 10% increase in their SBA Gauges.
• Lag Cancel:
  • Most normal attacks can be cancelled into Skills.
  • Though the action briefly pauses when attacks "clash", players can still perform almost any attack immediately afterwards. It's more of an intentional feature as the Glossary section for explaining the "Clash!" mechanic even points out that it can be cancelled into another move.
• Lampshade Hanging:
  • Characters will be amused if you pit them in a Mirror Match, oftentimes pointing out the absurdity of having a look-alike. For example, if you have a mirror match of Gran, the protagonist trio will have this exchange:
    Gran: Don't look, Lyria.
    Lyria: D-doppelgangers?
    Vyrn: Take out that lizard!
  • This introductory dialogue when a Player 1 Beelzebub is matched against a Player 2 Metera points out the former's status as the Big Bad:
    Metera: Hmm, let me guess, you're supposed to be the villain then?
• Last Chance Hit Point: How killing with chip damage works in this game is a variant—if a player has more than 1 health point left when blocking a move that does chip damage, it will leave them at one pixel of health until the blockstring ends. At that point, should they block any more chip-inducing moves afterwards, it will KO the player blocking the move.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: There are countless references to the original Granblue Fantasy gacha game, including various lore details that are casually spoiled as character or gameplay minutia with very little of the gravity given to them in the original game.
  • Ferry's nature as a Cute Ghost Girl is already known by everyone in Versus to the point that Vyrn even acts blasé about using "Catastrophe" on her just because she's a ghost.
  • Katalina's bond with the Primal Beast Ares has been spoiled by Versus as early as its June 2019 beta tests, with the latter appearing in her Super Skybound Art animation. Before June 2019, said plot point hasn't occured yet in the original game's main story but was only vague teased in trailers and livestreams.
  • Vira's appearance, abilities and personality shift in her Super Mode can be immediately observed here through gameplay. In the original game, it took years of story content and Character Development for Vira to have a perfect fusion with Luminiera, and her personality shift was even a major plot point noticed by other characters.
  • The entire "What Makes The Sky Blue" trilogy arc of the original game is briefly summarized and recapped in Djeeta's first RPG Mode sidequest, major plot twists included, and it didn't stop there; Cagliostro's sidequest and dialogue interactions with Beelzebub also spoil the twist of him being sealed away in "What Makes The Sky Blue III: 000", courtesy of Cagliostro herself. Lucilius' appearance in Rising, particularly the stitches around his neck, also spoil the reveal of "000" where his head was severed but he was still revived regardless.
• Leitmotif: All major bosses and most playable characters are associated with a battle theme, though some have two depending on their re-appearances or if the fight involves characters who belong to a Cast Herd (such as Lancelot and Percival of the Dragon Knights). Generally, many themes in these spin-offs are also remixes or Musical Nods to existing tracks from the source Granblue gacha game, though the raid boss versions of some Primal Beasts here simply use their original boss theme tracks from that game (such as Proto Bahamut's "Wings of Terror" and Avatar's "Paradise Lost"). Lunalu is a notable exception; she doesn't have her own theme because she's a mechanically unusual stand-in for the random character selector.
• Limit Break: Skybound Arts and Super Skybound Arts are super moves that require a full SBA Gauge; the latter type is usually stronger but can only be used if the character's HP dips down at 30% or lower. Most Super Skybound Arts deal even more damage and feature extended cinematics when they hit the opponent at point blank range, and they also alter the character's victory animation if the opponent loses to the SSBA. Lastly, most super moves in these spin-offs are based on the "Charge Attacks" of playable characters in the Granblue gacha game.
• Lip Lock: The characters' mouths follow the Japanese dub, so the English voices get the lip lock treatment here. It becomes evident in certain animations where the sound comes off even before the character opens their mouth, such as in Zeta's Super Skybound Art. Following the release of more characters, this has at least been averted in the new interactions for the most part.
• Loot Boxes: RPG Mode has its own simplified version of the Granblue mobage's Premium Draw gacha. You acquire Premium Draw Tickets just by completing quests and milestones, and those can be consumed to draw weapons from said gacha.
• Multiple Demographic Appeal: These Fighting Game spin-offs have modes that cater to fans of other genres.
  • Versus aimed to attract the RPG players of the Granblue gacha game through its RPG Mode implementing streamlined versions of the source material's grid-based weapon mechanics and gacha system.
  • While Rising streamlined many RPG elements that were in Versus, it introduces "Grand Bruise Legends!" as an alternate minigame-focused co-op mode for a more casual Party Game play, chiefly following the trend of Fall Guys.
• New Skill as Reward: Clearing certain quests in RPG Mode / Story Mode unlocks Support Skills that can only be used in said modes.
• New Work, Recycled Graphics:
  • Many 2D assets such as the Support Skill icons in the RPG / Story Mode, the weapon artworks and character illustrations in the Glossary are lifted directly from the Granblue gacha game.
  • The sequel Rising reuses a lot of content from Versus because they're both made with the Unreal Engine, albeit the in-game art style and lighting effects have been tweaked. The original character illustrations from the first game can also be bought from the Rupie shop and applied for each individual character.
• One Degree of Separation: In this continuity, every playable non-villain is already a crewmember of the Grandcypher, treating each other like close friends or co-workers.
• One-Hit Kill: In RPG Mode, several raid bosses like Colossus, Proto Bahamut, or Grand Order Zooey have powerful attacks that instantly down the player characters regardless of their remaining HP. The NPCs Lyria and Vyrn often signal you that such attacks are coming and there are ways of avoiding them such as simply moving out of the attack range.
• Overly Generous Time Limit: RPG Mode quests have varying time limits depending on the quest type, but the "Free Quests" that serve as tutorials for the unlockable characters have a 1000-second timer on each stage (which reset when you move on to the next one), even if the fights there are quick, easy and simple.
• Palette Swap: Several alternate colors are available for the playable characters. The game would also automatically enforce an alternate color in the character selection when there's a Mirror Match.
• Parody: The Lowain Trailer is played out like a Japanese Variety Show, with Elsam and Tomoi having head cams on the upper-right corner providing constant excited yelling and caption zooms punctuating some of their lines.
• Play Every Day:
  • In Versus, RPG Mode has regularly-updated Bonus Missions if you are connected online, so there's some incentive in constantly clearing out the Online Missions tab, then logging in again at least once in a while.
  • With RPG Mode being massively streamlined in Rising, there are now sets of Daily Challenges that replace the Bonus Missions from the first iteration. This time, the challenges now cover the game in general (no longer being exclusive to one mode), and reward Rupies upon completion.
• Pocket Dimension: Lucilius' new plan in Rising is to lure the Singularities into one of these, a realm called "Point Zero" which he created himself using chaos energy where the laws of causality do not apply, allowing him a chance to kill hsi enemies and finally achieve his goal of the world's destruction.
• Punch Parry: A "Clash!" happens when the players' attacks of a similar "strength" collide at the same time, dealing no damage to either side as a result. The most straightforward examples happen in a Mirror Match when both players perform the exact same move simultaneously, which for example, may even lead to two Gran players clashing each other's punches.
• Reaction Shot: Some of the super move animations feature close-ups of the victims' faces, often to comedic effect. Particularly noteworthy are the following:
  • Ladiva's "Maximum Love Bomb" and "The Shape of Love", the former featuring the reactions of characters getting kicked in the face, the latter their reactions to being pinned to the ground by Ladiva's unyielding love while a referee counts to Three. Examples include Percival still trying to pose, Ferry shedding tears and Beelzebub looking decidedly unamused.
  • Gran's "Catastrophe" also shows the characters faces immediately before getting nuked by Proto-Bahamut.
• Ret-Canon: These spin-offs mostly rely on the lore and villains (such as Belial, Beelzebub and Lucilius) established in the "What Makes The Sky Blue" arc of the Granblue gacha, but the story deviates in a way that it's running on a different path. Despite this, many elements from these games eventually became canon on the source material that's still ongoing. For example, Versus (and its marketing) is technically the first time Beelzebub is shown without his face-concealing hood, and this is where his Villain Song "Existence" originated from. Even after the "WMTSB" trilogy ended, the gacha later received content updates (such as "Tower of Babyl" and "Long Live The King") that use Beelzebub's theme song and unhooded design.
• Recurring Riff: These spin-offs mostly rely on concepts from the "What Makes The Sky Blue" trilogy arc of the original Granblue gacha game, so much so that said arc's "Paradise Lost" can be heard in many sources. Not only does it return as the leitmotif of Avatar in RPG Mode, some of its associated songs (such as Belial's "Parade's Lust") are also included here. Some themes and remixes specifically made for Versus and Rising (such as the first game's "Staff Roll" credits theme, Beelzebub's "Existence" and Lucilius' "Zero Dawn") also reuse notes or instrumentals from the intro and chorus of "Paradise Lost".
• Reduced-Downtime Features: The RPG Mode of Versus uses the core "weapon grid"-based progression system as the original Granblue gacha game, but several elements are streamlined or simplified here in comparison. For instance, you only need to consume Rupies to level up a weapon (instead of consuming Rupies and other weapons, particularly Angel weapons, in the gacha game). There's also a quick one-button quality-of-life feature that lets you automatically max out a weapon's level and skill level depending on your currently-available resources.
• Replay Mode: You can rewatch unlocked cutscenes and dialogue in the Story tab of the Gallery menu.
• Rewards Pass:
  • In late December 2020, a battle pass was added. By completing challenges like playing as certain characters or performing certain moves, you gain battle pass levels that grant you rewards like money, weapon skins, and alternate colors. You can get some rewards with the free version, but you gain substantially more rewards if you choose to pay real money for the premium version.
  • In Rising, the "Grand Bruise Legends!" mode has a feature which rewards you cosmetic items and Rupies depending on your Legend Level.
• Rouge Angles of Satin: In a mirror match of Lowains, the second trio would be talking about "copyright infrigement", to which Lowain asks "What is copy-write-in-fresh-mint?"
• Scratch Damage: Normal attacks cause no chip damage when blocked, but all skills and some unique actions do, which can however be negated by Just Blocking. Skybound Arts and Super Skybound Arts also deal chip damage even when blocked, similar to how a Special Attack works in Street Fighter. There's also a unique subtitle added to the Victory text when a player manages to defeat their opponent with a chip damage (i.e. the opponent has 1 HP left after blocking the previous attack).
• Sequel Hook: The final chapters of the RPG Mode post-launch story has the Grandcypher crew and allies temporarily teaming up with Beelzebub in order to defeat Avatar Belial... except Belial flees after the fight, but not before hinting the presence of Lucilius.
• Shoryuken: Characters have uppercuts/invincibility uppercuts for anti-air. There are basic versions like Gran's "Raging Sword" and Katalina's "Emerald Sword", but there are those with added gimmicks like Charlotta's "Holy Ladder" which is followed by a downward slash.
• Skill Gate Characters: Gran is designed to be the typical "basic, well-rounded" fighter archetype, and is a Shotoclone to boot. Same for Katalina, being the defensive Ryu to Gran's offensive Ken. Djeeta fits in between both of them, being more balanced.
• Slap-on-the-Wrist Nuke: Though they vary depending on the attacker's superpowers, many cinematic Super Skybound Arts (e.g. Gran's "Catastrophe", Djeeta's "Skyfall", Ferry's "Aetheryte Requiescat", Beelzebub's "Chaos Legion", Belial's "Anagenesis", etc.) involve explosions that really ought to annihilate the poor victim (or the entire stage and everyone/everything else in a large radius, for that matter) but can be survived with enough health remaining, meaning the fight will continue as if nothing had happened.
• Some Dexterity Required: Zig-zagged. The game's control scheme and mechanics are designed to cater to both the casual and professional fighting game players. Players can use either or both the simplified or technical inputs for the characters' moves. This was something the developers wanted to push as a feature; even the publicly-released Player's Guide for the Beta build explains it. In a way, players are rewarded for manually inputting skill commands as this method shortens the skill's cooldown as opposed to the easier input method. These manual/technical commands would also offer slight enhancements to the skill's properties. On the flipside, Skybound Arts and Super Skybound Arts still require quarter-circle motions in order to be executed.
• Speak in Unison: A short gag in the post-game free sidequests (after Episode 40) of RPG Mode has Gran and Djeeta answering the main Grandcypher crew's questions in sync. It's Played for Laughs, but the underlying context is that both of them are two versions of the same Grandcypher Captain suddenly existing on the same continuity after the defeat of Beelzebub. Some dialogue lines later and they stop speaking in unison, however.
• Super Mode: "Overdrive" is a universal mechanic that temporarily enhances the character at the cost of a full SBA Gauge. Some of the general buffs that it provides are increased damage for most attacks, faster Overhead Attacks, and the inability to take chip damage.
• Tagline: "Power. Skill. And Spirit Collide." from the 2018 Trailer.
• Take That, Audience!: In a positive way instead. Cygames acknowledged that Percival is popular among their female fandom when, if Lowain wins a fight against Percival, his bros mention the Percy fans getting angry.
• Theme Naming:
  • Religious and Mythological Theme Naming is mostly retained from the gacha game due to the prevalence of Primal Beasts. For instance, Belial and Beelzebub are from Abrahamic demonology.
  • Percival and Lancelot are named after the Arthurian figures.
  • Since some of Narmaya's command names are borrowed from the original Granblue (like "Kyokasuigetsu"), this game also used romanized Japanese terms in naming most of her other moves (such as "Setsuna", "Mugenkagura", and "Ame-no-Uzume").
• Trailers Always Spoil: There's a "Villains Trailer" featuring Belial and Beelzebub. Yep, the game revealed its main antagonists even before it's released. Despite this, Versus is one of the earliest instances in the history of Granblue where Beelzebub's face is shown (as previously in the gacha game, he was mostly In the Hood for the sake of mystery).
• Turns Red: Raid bosses gain stronger attacks or more gimmicks when they're in Overdrive state. Some of these are temporary and reliant on the Overdrive Gauge, but there are also those with persistent changes, such as Proto Bahamut breaking its chains.
• Uniqueness Rule: An RPG Mode quest won't start if the selected player-controlled "quest" character is the same as the AI-controlled "partner" character.
• Verbal Backspace: Belial does this when his motives are questioned by the protagonists in Pandemonium.
  Belial: No, no. You've got me all wrong. This wasn't how I wanted things to go at all. The grand finale I-no, we-wanted was much cleaner.
• Version-Exclusive Content: The bonus codes that can be redeemed for in-game items and skins in the Granblue gacha game are unfortunately available only for the PS4 version.
• Victory Pose: Three variations per character depending on how you win; a standard victory pose for winning a round, a close-up pose for winning the match with attacks other than the Super Skybound Art, and a unique close-up pose for winning the match with a Super Skybound Art.
• Villain Protagonist: The aptly titled "Villain Series" DLC allows you to play as Chaos Bringer and Belial both being the Big Bads of the "What Makes The Sky Blue" trilogy from "Paradise Lost" to "000". According to Word of God, Chaos Bringer's DLC story will touch up on his secret identity which had not been revealed in the trilogy itself.
• Visual Pun:
  • The base roster are arranged to form the letter V in the first cover◊, as a reference to this fighting game's subtitle of "Versus".
  • Belial is known for his sexual innuendos, the trophy for unlocking main quest Chapter ∅ of RPG mode is titled "Hard Mode", and with Belial's smiling face as its icon.
• Wave-Motion Gun: Present in some Super Skybound Arts. For example, Eustace's seal weapon, Flamek, turns into one of these, complete with a transformation sequence and audible chargeup sound. Subverted in that the brunt of the attack is actually directed at the sky, which then rains down electricity on the opponent.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: A very strange case happens with Djeeta's story. It recounts the events of "What Makes The Sky Blue" through "What Makes The Sky Blue: 000" down to a T, but branches off into something that doesn't happen in the main gacha game; in this universe, not only did those events happen so long ago that Djeeta had begun to forget about them, it's also heavily implied that Sandalphon is no longer part of the crew. This contradicts what happens after "000" in the main game's storyline, as not only does Sandalphon remain in the crew, he also opens his own coffee shop inside of the Grandcypher. In Granblue Fantasy, the Primarch summer event "The Maydays" takes place soon after "000" ends and eventually leads to Sandalphon and the crew once again taking on Beelzebub, before they're summoned to the Tower of Babyl to take him down for good. Given that Beelzebub is clearly walking around freely after having his seal broken by Belial, something that doesn't happen in the main game as he'd broken the seal himself, it's very likely that in Djeeta's universe, Sandalphon either stayed in the afterlife with Lucifer following his duties being fulfilled, or went somewhere else. Either way, it isn't explained.
• We Cannot Go On Without You: Although you have an A.I.-controlled partner in RPG Mode, the quest will end in a failure if the player-controlled character's HP is depleted.

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