Last weekend saw a major event for GranBlue take place, but it wasn’t EVO or anything directly linked to fighting games. Instead, it was Anime Expo 2023. Here we got news about a few titles, but some more information on the upcoming sequel GranBlue Fantasy Versus Rising. Nier is coming to GranBlue Fantasy Versus Rising when the game releases.

While discussing the new title, developers have talked about what’s coming with the new instalment in the series including announcing a new character, Nier. They’re going to be arriving in GranBlue Fantasy Versus Rising along with the rest of the roster later this year.

Source: Arc System Works

Neir’s biggest mechanic is the primal beast, Death. They’re a monster that she can summon to fight with her, with bigger moves and damage that you can order. To use Death though you’ve got to spend Love’s Redemption which is a unique resource. Once you run out, you won’t be able to call on Death for a little while. There are other fighting game characters which have similar resource mechanics but it’s a fresh approach for Nier in GranBlue Fantasy Versus Rising.

Will Nier Be in the GranBlue Fantasy Versus Rising Beta?

The other big update on the horizon for GranBlue Fantasy Verus Rising is the upcoming open beta. This is going to be starting up later this month, available to players on PlayStation 4 and 5. It’s going to feature 25 characters in all, including Siegfried, but not Nier. We’ll get to play some of the new characters at this early look at least!

Source: Arc System Works

Also at the event, they talked about some of the changes to mechanics in the game. Rush, Backshift, and Overdrive are all going to be removed for GranBlue Fantasy Versus Rising. These mechanics will be missing but other mechanics like Raging Chain are going to be added as a replacement. This looks different to the early reveals, where something similar to Rush was definitely visible.

GranBlue Fantasy Versus Rising looks like it’s making quite a few decent changes. It isn’t going to be a complete reinvention. However, there’s big enough changes coming that the latest title still feels pretty fresh, especially with exciting new characters like Nier in GranBlue Fantasy Versus Rising.