Tales of Graces f (PS3) Review

June 20th, 2012 at 6:10 pm -

One can ignore this game thanks to its floral cover design but Tales of Graces f, released March 2012 by Namco Bandai, really blossoms into becoming one of this generation’s best RPG’s.  It has a great story with satisfyingly difficult gameplay and a fantastic leveling up system.

You follow Asbel Lhant, the eldest son of a lord, who disregards his father in every way possible. When he travels to a hill he was forbidden to go to, he finds a girl named Sophie in a bed of flowers asleep. Asbel soon finds out that she has lost her memory and the 11-year-old boy takes her back to his hometown, Lhant. He tells his father that he’ll look after her but his plans do not go so smoothly. Seven years later, he is a knight-in-training in a desperate attempt to become stronger rather than accepting his lordship. The story is well told through brilliant voice work and writing. The voice acting, led by Bryce Papenbrook (Asbel), is stellar and drives the beautifully crafted story forward. Many scenes of Graces end up in tears, heart racing moments and laughter. A hallmark of the Tales of games is that it is focused on character development and the developers use mini cutscenes called skits. Gamers will learn of the character’s thoughts, moods and casual talks during these “skits.” They also lead to many laugh out loud moments along the way and immerse the player into the plot. It’s refreshing to play through a light hearted story without apocalyptic worlds or super serious plots like Borderlands, Final Fantasy or Dragon Age. The story is just plain fun and engrossing to follow.

The two protagonists of Tales of Graces f, Sophie and Asbel.

Tales of Graces f is a broad Action RPG in terms of its battle mechanics and a unique level up system. With each character, there are normal attacks (a-artes) which grow in number as you progress throughout the game and spells (b-artes) which will also grow in number but you can only choose four at a time. Every move you make will use a meter called CC and when you are low, the character will have to guard to regain CC. Another way of regaining this meter is to evade attacks at specific times, rewarding the player for tactical combat. At Normal setting, this game provides a great challenge and fans beckoning for a difficult play through will get a kick out of Tales of Graces’ Chaos Mode. If that is not your cup of tea, there is an Easy option as well. Graces also provides a deep level up system called Titles; This system provides given names for characters at critical parts of the story or excellence in certain moves. Players can select specific A-Artes and B-Artes to add to their characters but you can also have the game randomly select titles as well. Titles also provide stat boosts and they level up by a system of five stars. As your experience goes up, so does the star level; each level includes a stat boost or a special move of some sort. You can also customize weapons you collect throughout the game. With gems scattered throughout the land or bought from stores, you can “dualize” weapons and upgrade them. You can also “dualize” two weapons together to create either a gem which improves the statistics of a character (when equipped) or a more powerful weapon. Tales of Graces f provides a deep, customizable and enjoyable game play experience which many fans of RPG gaming will adore thanks to the “Titles” System and battle mechanics.

Asbel in the town of Barona

Despite Tales of Graces originally being a Wii game, the PS3 version is stunning to look at. Every object and environment is beautifully crafted with attention to detail: the sky looks teared, the towns are colorful and it feels like you are playing an anime. The art style of the Tales of games is always something to marvel at and gives the game its identity amongst the crowded RPG genre.  All the caves, dungeons and towns look unique and do not look the same. It is easy to fall in love with the game’s graphics. Some may say this game looks childish but Tales of Graces f has subtle undertones of dark themes such as tyranny, the fear of death, and the struggle of resource management. The cartoon look will fool you but overall, Tales of Graces f is a stunning game built on an excellently drawn out world.

The music, however, is a mixed bag. The soundtrack playing in the dungeons and battles are repetitive and bland. On the other hand, Matoi Sakuraba (the composer of the game) has mastered the music which orchestrates the emotional scenes between characters. The main theme of Sophie is a wonderful example, which perfectly describes her inner feelings throughout the game as she feels confused and scared of what’s ahead. The voice acting in Tales of Graces f  is excellent and it does not want to make you tear your hair out like many other J-RPG’s. With voice actors, Bryce Papenbrook (Zidane from Dissidia: Final Fantasy) and Laura Bailey (Serah Fallon from Fantasy XIII-2), Namco Bandai signed up a talented cast list who should be considered for other roles in the industry or future installments for the Tales of franchise.  There are a few hiccups in voice editing but overall the sound of the game is remarkable despite some repetitive soundtracks.

Tales of Graces’ main story will give you a hearty thirty hours of play. However, there is another part of the story attached to it called Legacies and Lineage which continues the narrative by five hours. It takes place six months after the game’s main plot and as a fan of the franchise, I felt incredibly satisfied with my purchase. Two words came to mind when I found out about this extra part in the story: Fan Service. In addition to that, there are plenty of side quests and a lot of titles to unlock. Plus, the trophy list will be difficult to defeat, thanks to its ridiculously hard, Chaos Mode. Like many Roleplaying Games, the player will receive hours upon hours of gameplay so you will definitely get your money’s worth if you decide to purchase ‘Tales of Graces f.” In conclusion, Tales of Graces f is a game that every RPG gamer will need to check out because of its breathtaking graphics, deep gameplay mechanics and thrilling story. This is undoubtedly one of the greatest RPG’s of this generation.