Tales of Graces F Remastered Review
Pros
- Best battle system in the series
- Nice quality of life additions
- Titles system is unique
- Game still looks great
- Pascal is a treasure
- Skits add depth to the characters
Cons
- A little too much backtracking at times
- Still the same game
- Animations are a little stiff and dated during scenes
The Tales of series has a long history in the JRPG world, with its first title, Tales of Phantasia releasing back on the Super Famicom. With a total of 17 games in the mainline series, the west wouldn’t get a few of the releases, especially early and in the middle of the series’ life. There was one game released on the Wii, Tales of Graces, that wouldn’t see the light of day in the west, but it would eventually get an enhanced port on the Playstation 3. Tales of Graces F, as it was called, was met with critical success, but the game was stuck on the PS3 until now, with the release of Tales of Graces F Remastered!
All Grown Up
The game is split into two main parts: the Childhood Arc and the Adulthood Arc. The plot starts with the main protagonist, Asbel Lhant, who is living in the town of Lhant, finding a mysterious girl at a nearby location. This girl has amnesia, so him and his friends decide on the name of Sophie. They also befriend Richard, the crown prince of Windor. One day, they all decide to sneak into a castle via a secret passage, but it is here that they are attacked by a strange creature which sets the plot off to a time skip and the later arc. The plot starts off slowly, especially in the childhood section, but it will pick up not too long once you reach the adulthood arc.
(1 of 2) The childhood stuff is kind of slow, but isn’t a bad introduction to the gameplay
The childhood stuff is kind of slow, but isn’t a bad introduction to the gameplay (left), Things really get going once you get into the adulthood arc. (right)
One of the first things you will notice about the remaster is that it definitely looks better, as you would hope. While the PS3 version was no slouch, as it was a high definition console, the remastered version just simply runs smoother and looks more vibrant. The PS4 version was used for this review, and the game runs at a solid 60 FPS, which is pretty much the case across the board, except for the Switch version (30 FPS). The original version ran at 60 FPS during battles, with it being 30 FPS out of battles. Happily, there wasn’t anything noticeable in regards to frame dips or technical troubles on our PS4 version.
Living a Better Life
Before diving into the gameplay, let’s go over some of the things added into this remastered version of Graces F. In addition to the graphical increase, there have been a number of quality-of-life features added to the game, which is a huge improvement over the original. One big example is the Grade Shop being unlocked from the beginning. This is a great feature that allows one to tailor the game to their specifications, so if you want an easier time in battles, you can turn on some options. You can also turn off enemy encounters on the various fields you explore, so you just pass through the random enemies you can fight there. There are other various improvements, too, like being able to skip cutscenes, a destination icon to show you where to go, and more.
…there have been a number of quality-of-life features added to the game, which is a huge improvement over the original.
The gameplay for Tales of Graces F is truly a highlight, as it involves some skill and requires you to pay attention rather than just casually mashing a button without thought. The exploration is pretty standard for RPGs of this type, though perhaps, is starting to feel a bit dated, as you simply run around various locations, where you can fight enemies, look for treasure chests and talk to NPCs.
One unique thing that Tales games have over others are Skits, where occasionally during the story, you will receive a button prompt to view a brief conversation between some of your party members. These typically will only provide you with some extra banter, but they do also have a gameplay function in Graces F.
The battle system in Graces F is still one of the better ones in the series.
Enemies are visible on the field and you can avoid them if you want to, but running into one will start a battle. Fights are conducted in real time and can be a little difficult to master, but once you get the hang of them, things go much more smoothly. It is still probably the best battle system in a Tales game, especially after mastering its complexities.
All of the action in combat centers around Chain Capacity, or CC. The majority of the actions you take will use up this CC resource, such as normal attacks, Artes (special attacks) and even your sidestepping maneuver. Thankfully, basic movements and guarding don’t take up CC, but you will burn through it pretty quickly otherwise. One peculiarity is you are almost always locked onto an enemy during combat. There is a free movement system, but using it just depletes your CC so fast, that it’s a bit of a mystery as to why it’s even in the game.
While CC is spent very quickly, you can get it back just as fast, so there isn’t really all too much downtime during battles. Apart from boss battles, most of the normal battles don’t really take too much time either, so battles progress quickly. Of course, you will want to do plenty of battles, as the character progression is tied behind the Titles system. While Titles aren’t anything new to the series, they were mostly just there for show or to provide some extra costumes for your characters. Tales of Graces F overhauls the Titles system and directly ties the mechanic to character progression.
It is still probably the best battle system in a Tales game…
Lord of Lhant
Every playable character will have over 100 Titles you can unlock during the course of the game. All of the Titles will have five ranks and you unlock them by earning SP from winning battles, so there’s definitely a lot of grinding and meaningful progression as you go through the game. Each of the Titles will also have a passive effect attached to them, whether it enhances a stat or maybe plays a part in the special in-battle Eleth Gauge. Either way, you will be using and switching Titles a lot, in an effort to gain new Artes, power up already learned Artes, or simply getting more passive stats/skills. Note that you can auto-equip new Titles, based on a user-defined threshold you set, which is a really clever touch. For example, you can set it so the game switches to a new Title if you get Rank 3 in one.
You can only fully control a single character in battle, but have the option to switch over to other characters with just a single button press. If you have other people in the house with you, there is also multiplayer during fights, where up to four players can actually play at once. This only occurs during battles, though, so don’t expect much use outside of that for the function.
It will take a little bit to learn all of the intricacies of the combat system.
The normal attacks have a skill tree, of sorts, where depending on the direction you hold with the left analog stick, the move performed will be different. This system is almost akin to fighting game-like combos, which keeps the combat fun and engaging throughout. The Eleth Gauge, once filled, will allow you to enter a state without any CC restrictions, as well as gain access to powerful Mystic Artes. Enemies can also enter this same state, plus even some bosses will have their own Mystic Artes, keeping combat tactical and interesting.
Mixing It Up
Outside of battle, Tales of Graces F has both item creation and something called the Eleth Mixer. Item creation is known as Dualizing in-game, where you can combine items to make new ones. You are only able to do this at vendors and special NPCs, but it’s a great feature and it allows you to get some nice items to use in battle, provided you go out to farm the ingredients.
The aforementioned Eleth Mixer is a real standout feature for the Tales series that adds another layer of depth to progression. It’s essentially something you can set items into, which will make them either be used automatically during battle, or it will duplicate the item as you’re exploring. Of course, there’s a limit to this, as the Mixer has its own gauge, with the stronger the item, the more of the gauge it uses but it truly encourages players to seek new items and experiment with it as you go.
(1 of 2) The Titles system allows you to learn more skills and strengthen your party.
The Titles system allows you to learn more skills and strengthen your party. (left), The Eleth Mixer is a neat way to unlock more items throughout your playthrough. (right)
The Complete Package
Tales of Graces F Remastered is the best iteration of this game, not just because it’s no longer stuck on older hardware, but also the inclusion of all the various DLC packs. A Deluxe Edition is also available, which includes some optional DLC that isn’t really much more than a starter kit. Players can expect to spend around 40-45 hours for the main story with the addition of the original DLC story found on the PS3 release.
Tales of Graces F Remastered is the best iteration of this game.
At its heart, this is much the same game as the one released on Playstation 3, but with updated textures, a more vibrant color palette and helpful quality of life features. If you have never played the original release, like the series in general, or are a fan of action RPGs, or even just want to return to Graces F again, then it’s definitely worth a look with the remastered edition, especially considering the lower box price at launch.
A Graceful Remaster
Tales of Graces F Remastered is a faithful remaster that improves upon the original PS3 version in every way. While it doesn’t really change much at its core, including some of its original flaws, it does have quite a few quality of life additions that makes it the best iteration for fans of the series and the original.
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