Granblue Fantasy Relink FPS Unlocker Guide: How to Go Beyond 120 FPS
When I first launched Granblue Fantasy: Relink on PC, I expected one thing: buttery-smooth combat that would fully take advantage of my high-refresh monitor. The combat system practically begs for fast reactions, perfect dodges, and split-second combo timing. Then I opened the graphics menu and noticed the maximum frame rate was locked at 120 FPS.
For plenty of players, that isn’t a problem at all. But if you’ve invested in a 144Hz, 165Hz, 240Hz, or even 360Hz display along with a powerful graphics card, seeing unused performance feels frustrating. After spending time reading community discussions, experimenting with different settings, and comparing results, I found that unlocking the frame rate can make the gameplay feel even more responsive—although it also comes with a few compromises that every PC gamer should understand.
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Why So Many Players Want More Than 120 FPS
Granblue Fantasy: Relink already feels polished at 120 FPS. The animations are fluid, combat is responsive, and boss fights remain readable even when the screen fills with particle effects. Still, once you’ve experienced games running above 144 FPS, it’s surprisingly difficult to go back. The improvements aren’t dramatic like jumping from 30 to 60 FPS, but they’re noticeable enough if you spend a lot of time playing fast-paced action games.
For me, the biggest difference wasn’t the visuals alone. The controls felt a little snappier, quick dodges became easier to time, and camera movement looked cleaner while exploring the world. If you’re someone who enjoys squeezing every bit of performance from your PC, the artificial 120 FPS cap can feel like an unnecessary limitation.
Main Benefits of Unlocking the Frame Rate
- Lower input latency during combat.
- Smoother camera movement while exploring.
- More fluid animations on high-refresh displays.
- Better responsiveness when chaining attacks and dodges.
I wouldn’t describe the improvement as revolutionary, but it’s definitely noticeable if your hardware is already capable of producing those extra frames. Instead of leaving unused performance on the table, the game can finally take advantage of modern gaming monitors.
The Original FPS Unlock Method No Longer Works
When the PC version first launched, players quickly discovered that the game’s configuration file stored the frame rate limit. By editing a file named GraphicSetting.vdat with a hex editor, it was possible to bypass the restriction without installing additional software.
The values were incredibly simple. Changing a single byte determined which frame rate option the game would use, and selecting the hidden value effectively removed the cap.
| Hex Value | Frame Rate |
|---|---|
| 00 | 30 FPS |
| 01 | 60 FPS |
| 02 | 120 FPS |
| 03 | Unlimited FPS |
It almost seemed too easy, and it didn’t stay that way for long. Later updates changed how the engine handles configuration files, making this workaround obsolete. Today, editing the file usually causes the game to overwrite your changes, ignore them completely, or fail to launch correctly.
Because of those updates, the community shifted toward a more reliable solution that doesn’t permanently modify the game’s files.
The Community Fix That Actually Works
The most popular solution today is GBFRelinkFix, an open-source utility created by the modding community. Rather than patching the game’s files directly, it loads alongside the executable and adjusts several engine behaviors during startup.
Besides removing the frame rate limitation, the tool includes several quality-of-life improvements for PC players. Depending on the version you’re using, it can also improve ultrawide monitor compatibility, aspect ratio handling, and various display settings that aren’t available through the standard options menu.
What the Tool Can Do
- Unlock the 120 FPS limit.
- Add ultrawide monitor support.
- Improve aspect ratio behavior.
- Allow custom frame rate limits.
- Offer additional display tweaks through a simple configuration file.
One reason this solution became so popular is that it’s easy to configure. Most settings are controlled through a straightforward INI file, so you don’t need to edit binary files or repeat the process after every launch.
How to Install the FPS Unlock
Step 1 – Download the Tool
Download the latest release of GBFRelinkFix from its official repository and extract the archive somewhere convenient on your computer.
Step 2 – Locate the Game Folder
Open Steam, navigate to your Library, right-click Granblue Fantasy: Relink, select Manage, and then choose Browse Local Files. This opens the installation directory containing the game’s executable.
Step 3 – Copy the Files
Move the extracted files into the game’s root folder. The DLL file and the configuration file should sit in the same directory as the main executable.
Step 4 – Set Your Preferred FPS Limit
Open GBFRelinkFix.ini with a text editor and locate the frame rate section. Here you can specify a custom limit that matches your display instead of relying on the default 120 FPS restriction.
| Monitor Refresh Rate | Suggested FPS Limit |
|---|---|
| 144Hz | 144 FPS |
| 165Hz | 165 FPS |
| 180Hz | 180 FPS |
| 240Hz | 240 FPS |
| 360Hz | 360 FPS (if your hardware supports it) |
Personally, I recommend matching your monitor’s refresh rate instead of running with no limit at all. It usually provides an excellent balance between smooth gameplay, lower temperatures, and quieter system operation.
Step 5 – Verify the Unlock
Launch the game through Steam as usual. Don’t worry if the graphics menu still shows 120 FPS; that’s completely normal. The menu doesn’t accurately reflect the real frame rate once the modification is active.
Use an external monitoring tool to verify your actual FPS while playing.
- Steam FPS Counter
- NVIDIA App Overlay
- RTSS (RivaTuner Statistics Server)
- MSI Afterburner
If the installation was successful, your monitoring software should display frame rates well above the original cap.
Things You Should Know Before Playing at 240 FPS
Unlocking the frame rate definitely makes the game feel smoother, but it isn’t completely free of side effects. The developers originally optimized many parts of the engine around lower frame rates, and pushing the game far beyond its intended limits can introduce a few visual quirks.
Cloth and Hair Physics Become Less Natural
One issue that immediately caught my attention was the character physics. Hair, cloaks, skirts, and other cloth animations don’t always behave the same way once the game starts running at extremely high frame rates. Instead of flowing naturally during exploration or cinematic scenes, they often appear much stiffer than intended.
This doesn’t affect combat mechanics, but if you enjoy the game’s presentation and character animations, it’s something you’ll notice sooner or later. During story scenes, some outfits simply don’t have the same lively movement they do at lower frame rates.
Your Graphics Card Will Work Much Harder
The second drawback is increased GPU utilization. Once the limiter is removed, the graphics card attempts to render as many frames as possible whenever it has available resources. That means higher power consumption, more heat, and faster fan speeds.
Busy towns and large hub areas are particularly demanding compared to combat encounters. Even players with premium hardware have reported noticeably higher temperatures after removing the frame rate cap completely.
- Higher GPU temperatures.
- Increased power consumption.
- More noticeable fan noise.
- Greater overall system heat.
If your PC already runs warm during demanding games, it’s worth monitoring temperatures after enabling higher frame rates. Sometimes limiting the game to your monitor’s refresh rate provides nearly the same experience while keeping hardware stress much lower.
Should You Unlock the FPS?
After spending plenty of time testing different settings, I think the answer depends entirely on your hardware. If you’re using a standard 60Hz display, there’s little reason to change anything. Likewise, owners of 120Hz monitors already have a frame rate cap that perfectly matches their screens.
For anyone gaming on a 144Hz monitor or faster, however, unlocking the frame rate makes the combat feel just a little more responsive. Camera movement is smoother, dodges feel sharper, and the overall experience benefits from the additional fluidity, especially during long boss battles where every input matters.
At the same time, I wouldn’t recommend running completely uncapped unless you truly need it. Matching the game’s frame rate to your monitor’s refresh rate gives you almost all the benefits while avoiding unnecessary GPU load, excessive temperatures, and some of the visual oddities that appear at extremely high frame rates. For me, that balance ended up being the best way to enjoy Granblue Fantasy: Relink on PC.
