Post by Pimpjira on Aug 12, 2016 17:35:22 GMT
Tales of Graces f is one of the many Tales games that have been released on PS3. It is a much-enhanced port of Tales of Graces from the Wii but except for those speak Japanese, barely anyone in the west would have played that. This enhanced HD port for the PS3 features the entire game as well a whole new epilogue chapter, Lineages and Graces so even though the presentation isn’t up to PS3 standards, there is a lot of bang offered for your buck. The game is quite cheap nowadays.
The graphics in Graces f look good and are bright and colorful but it wouldn’t surprise many to hear it’s a port off a Wii game. It looks nice but is lacking the detail and openness of Tales of Vesperia which looks quite a bit better and it was released in 2008. The sound is up to normal Tales standards. The music is pretty good but most of it fairly forgettable with a few standout tracks. The opening features a cheery J-Pop song but it fits with the game. The English voice acting is quite good as well and the voice actors fit the characters well. There is no dual-audio which annoys some people.
Tales of Graces f begins with a lengthy prologue where most of the main characters in the game are children. This portion of the game is slow and there is no freedom but it gives time to build up the game play as the battle system is a bit different and makes for some good character development. The prologue lasts a few hours so some may feel that it drags on but it’s surprisingly well done. There is much hand-holding during this opening chapter but a bit later when the characters are adults, the game will let go. Even the combat is limited at this time and nothing other than the basics are learned until the next chapter. The only real issue during this period is that the main character can be kind of annoying at times, he matures later on though and it’s better. For those who want to replay the game, the child portion can be skipped for subsequent walkthroughs.
The story revolves around Asbel Lhant, as the protagonist. He is set to become the Lord of the Lhant when his father steps down. When he finds a strange girl with no memories(of course while venturing around places he shouldn’t be in). After going back to town, Asbel, his brother Hubert, and friend Cheria decide to help the amnesiac regain her memories. They name her Sophie. Soon after, Richard the young prince of Windor arrives in Lhant and he befriends Asbel and Sophie after they stop an assassination attempt. The five children all become friends but it isn’t long before certain events tear them apart and they live their own lives for the next seven years.
They are brought together by circumstances but of course things aren’t like they used to be and the plot becomes about saving the entire world in time. The story isn’t really special but the characters that populate it are a lot of fun, even though the friendship theme of the game is corny and heavy-handed at times. I found myself rolling my eyes a few times over the course of the story. It is slow going at times but the game really picks up in the second half and doesn’t stop. Overall the story is decent but the characters are what really bring it to life, while the story eventually avoids cliches it doesn’t really happen until later on.
After the first chapter, the game doesn’t take long to start moving at a quicker pace. There are still some slow points but overall the game moves along nicely. The gameplay opens up but there isn’t much in the way of exploration and side quests until the whole party is gathered. This won’t really matter as it did take a bit of time to adjust to the battle system, even Tales fans as Graces f introduces some new differences. For those who have never played a Tales game, the battle system plays out in real time and works more like a fighting game. Battles are quickly paced and revolve using attacks wisely and creating combos.
Combat won’t feel entirely different for Tales veterans but the this battle system makes some changes. Normally characters have regular attacks and had to use TP(Tales version of MP/magic) but that system has been done away with. Now all attacks are known as artes and the TP system is gone. Now characters have a CC(known as chain capacity) gauge of which all attacks require a CC amount and it charges up when characters guard or stand still for a few seconds. There are two kinds of artes: A-Artes which work like regular but they must be chained together to use the more powerful arts. Then there are B-Artes which work like special attacks and don’t need to be chained but many have a casting time or cost more CC to use.
Each character has a different style for using their different attacks and switching freely between any of the four characters in their current party is available during battle. Local multiplayer is also an option as buddies can control the other characters. Going solo of course the AI will take care of the other party members. The combat is fast and fun and can be very challenging but there are several difficulty modes. The game is at it’s most fun on the moderate difficulty or higher but if a play is stuck or don’t want much challenge they can always switch to easy. Those of pretty much any skill level could make it through the game with some practice. Only certain side quests and optional bosses really provide a challenge even on the easiest difficulties. Party members on AI can have their behavior manipulated but can’t be controlled directly. Battles may be paused to issue them spell commands though(such as healing). Overall though the AI works well on it’s own and doesn’t require much input accept at crucial moments, most likely during some of the tougher boss battles.
Characters learn their skills through titles. Titles have always been around for the Tales but it is much deeper here. Characters learn different titles as they do different things in battles, do side quests, and more. Each title has different skills and bonuses attached to them and they can be changed inbetween battles. The process is simple but this makes for some fairly deep character customization. I liked this system quite a bit. Another thing to consider(both in and out of battle) is the eleth mixer. The eleth mixer is used to cook items for battle, create items while walking around, and provide bonuses for combat and more. This will take some time to get used to but the game explains the process well and is very useful. More slots and points increases will be rewarded the more the eleth mixer is used. Items, books, and recipes are set to the slots and it does it’s thing automatically. This makes for an extra layer of strategy both in battle and while exploring. Both of these systems require a bit of grinding if trying to collect all the trophies in the game.
Then there is the dualizing system. Weapons, items, and more may be dualized used with items found exploring and during battle. Dualizing costs a fee but it is the best way(or only) to get many items in the game. Dualizing can also be used to improve equipment. In the game, monsters will drop shards when defeated in battle and may be dualized into weapons or armor. Then after some battles the equipment will be tempered which then the weapons may be dualized with each other to create gems which work as excessories. This can be done again and again to make even low-level equipment fairly powerful.
All of these systems may seem daunting at first but everything is explained well and become second nature in no time. When not killing monsters, changing equipment and such, etc the game does provide some distractions. Several dungeons in the game have puzzles that must be figured out. They aren’t exactly brain-teasers and are mostly east but some of the final dungeons get more complicated. There are also a couple mini games spread out that feature a card game and block puzzles. Both are fun distractions but neither are very memorable. I think the balance would have been better though if there were more puzzles or none at all. Since they only pop up in a few places they seem more out of place than anything.
Tales of Graces f for most will feature about 40-50 hours for the main game and another 10 hours or so for the epilogue. The game is already quite meaty but it can last well over 100 hours for completionists. There are many side quests spread out through the game, some which will be extremely hard if done in one play through. There are some bonuses which may some almost impossible for some but thankfully the game has a newgame+ option. Upon each completion of the game, the story can be started over with newgame+. But this time players may spend grade to buy different bonuses for extra playthroughs. Grade is accumulated through the game, doing different things but it won’t show until starting a new game. Grade can be used to buy many usual bonuses(such as damage and experience multipliers, keeping titles, etc). This makes doing everything in the game very much possible but will also take a very long time.
There are a lot of side quests with many towns and dungeons to explore but unfortunately the world map was split into sections and the world doesn’t feel very connected. This isn’t much an issue but it would have been nice if the map was expanded for the PS3 release since the game is large, a full world map probably wouldn’t have fit on the original Wii game. Aside from the side quests, the game is also filled with skits and discoveries. These are optional conversations that make some of the best dialogue in the game. Some of it is serious but most of the skits are humorous and they are all fully voiced. Some of them are easy to miss, so be careful if wanting to see them all as they can come up during random times and locations. There are also some silly costumes and accessories to put on characters but they unlocked much later in the game for side quests and most them are paid DLC which is why they don’t get much mention here.
Tales of Graces f isn’t about to convert anyone who dislikes the series or JRPGs. Even though the battle system is more like a fighting, the many RPG elements make it a definite role-playing game. The story and characters are but the battles are definitely the highlight of the game. Tales of Graces f is easily one of the better JRPGs on the PS3 and offers a lot of content. It also stands up to the better games in the series imo: Tales of Symphonia/Abyss/Vesperia/Xillia. Highly recommended for any JRPG or Tales fan.
+ Fun battle system
+ Plenty of customization options
+ Some likeable characters
- Story and characters can really be dumb at times
4/5
4/5
