On the topic of new characters, I'm pleased with the debuting members of this game's refreshed roster. Old favorites of mine (such as Percival, Vira, Soriz, and Ladiva) are now joined by cool newcomers I've taken a liking to. The hulking Siegfried is a powerhouse that's become a new main of mine due to his similarities in regards to a certain Soulcalibur character with the same name, plus Anila's Terry Bogard-inspired moveset is legitimately funny to pull off during heated online encounters. While Grimnir and Nier's playstyles don't appeal to my tastes, I still have to applaud them for having slick character designs. Now when we're talking about this game's content mode suite, more positive impressions enter my mind - players who love single-player content can busy themselves with the arcade and story modes, while competitive players can hop online to enjoy casual/ranked/lobby matches and an all-new mode that's reminiscent of everything fans love about Fall Guys.
I must admit, though - while finalizing my Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising review, a bout of disappointment swept over me regarding this game's story mode. That's because of the omission of the first game's local/online co-op option, which made all the beat 'em up action so great in the first place. While the first game's story chapters and boss fights return with a batch of new content, I can't help but be let down by that aforementioned exclusion and the lack of deeper gameplay mechanics implemented in that game's RPG Mode. I prefer the process of unlocking weapons and skins for my favorite characters simply by playing online to raise their mastery levels over having to farm materials in RPG Mode to find them, however.