System(s): Playstation 3
Release Year: 2012
Rating: Teen
Current Amazon Price: $37.70
The Skinny:
This touching and extremely well crafted game is a must play
for fans of Japanese RPGs or action RPGs in general. With loveable characters,
a fantastic battle system, and an effective musical score this tale is a blast
from start to finish.
The Meat:
Tales of Graces was released as a Japan only Wii exclusive
in 2009. However, American fans of Namco Bandai’s Tales games were clamoring to
get their hands on the latest release. In 2012, they got their wish in a PS3
exclusive port of Tales of Graces titled Tales of Graces f. The game boasts
boosted visuals and a continuation of the original game’s story titled Lineage
and Legacies. While we here in the
states never got access to the original game, I’m not crying over that as this
port is an extremely good game that is enjoyable and solid throughout its
entire 50+ hour story.
This game has two primary strengths: its characters and its
battle system. Let’s start with taking a look at the characters. You play as
Asbel Lhant, the energetic and mischievous son of the duke of the village of
Lhant. The game begins when as children Asbel and his much more responsible
brother Hubert take a little rule breaking adventure to the nearby wilderness
of Lhant Hill, where they find a strange girl with amnesia. From here the story
follows them through their childhood and budding friendships with the crown
prince of their Kingdom of Windor, Richard. This segment also exists to lay the
foundation for the problems and trials that will face the characters in the
future. While this initial part of the game may seem slow and particularly
small in scale for people familiar with the normal earth shattering and world
saving antics common to Japanese RPGs it is in fact one of the game’s greatest
and unique features. This time spent with the characters as children helps give
background and foundation for all of the events that take place later in the
game and in their lives. It allows you to understand the characters and their
motivations better than any other game I have ever played. In most games,
especially JRPGs, a character will reference their mysterious past or a figure
from their childhood and it’s just that. Them discussing it. In Tales of Graces
f when they reference childhood events you understand exactly how they feel,
because you were there and experienced it with them. This adds a personal layer
to the story and events of the game that I have never experienced before in a
video game and is truly an unusual and pleasant device that I hope more games
in the series implement. While the story isn’t as robust or unusual as some
other games I’ve played, you feel more invested and interested in it as a
result of this style of presentation and it makes the story much more engaging.
The characters are brought to life through exceptional voice
acting and the skit system, which fans of the series will be familiar with. For
new players, the skit system involves optional cutscenes which the player can
trigger at certain points in the game. These skits range from silly, farcical
moments among the cast to deep, personal internal monologues when characters
are trying to make important decisions or work through personal problems.
Regardless of their content, all of them are enjoyable, well written sequences
involving animated portraits of the characters, and they really bring vibrancy
and life to the proceedings.
The games second greatest strength is its battle system. In
a unique new twist on the series typical combat MP has been completely disposed
of. Instead, your characters all have a rapidly regenerating resource called
CC, which is used every time the character attacks. The combat is based off of
A artes and B artes, or in a more simple sense basic attacks and magic attacks.
They both draw from the CC pool and can be combo-ed together. B artes all take
a set amount of CC, but A artes are where the interesting and strategic aspect
of the combat comes in. A artes work in a combo tree, with each step of the
combo taking more CC to pull off. For example, you start with a 1 CC basic
attack, and then move on to a 2 CC sideslash followed by a 4 CC flipkick. CC
regenerates rapidly when guarding or being passive so you are chaining combos
left and right, however proper management of your CC and how it reacts with
your A and B arte chains adds a new level of involvement and care typically not
seen in Japanese RPGs. It’s a fun, interesting, and refreshing system that
never gets old. And that is definitely a good thing, as there is a lot of
fighting to be done.
Over the course of the game your group will fight quite
often. Battles are typically encountered by running into enemies on the field,
which transitions the player into a battle screen. At the conclusion of battle
the player will receive both xp for basic levels and for whichever “title” they
have equipped. As these titles gain levels they give stat boosts or teach new
skills that can be kept even after the title is switched out for a new one,
which can be done at any time. It’s a refreshing system that allows for
excellent character customization. One thing I will say is that to effectively
play the game a lot of leveling needs to be done, so if excessive fighting and
experience gaining isn’t your bag then you may have issues with the game’s
level curve.
Finally, the music of the game is excellent. Not in the
Nobuo Uematsu, stand out in your memory forever kind of way, but in more of a
subdued, effective manner. At no point in the game did I feel the music was out
of place or going against the tone. At all times I felt it was enhancing and
facilitating the events on screen and at several points I stopped just to enjoy
it. While it may not be a particularly memorable score, it is still fantastic
in its own right and is an interesting mix of pop, classical, and heavy rock
themes.
The Bottom Line:
Tales of Graces f is
an excellent, character focused action JRPG with a loveable cast, fun combat,
and excellent sound work from the music to the voice acting. While the story is
nothing ground breaking, the characters make it an extremely enjoyable journey
from beginning to end. The added Lineage and Legacies mode found in this port
is a welcome addition as well, adding at least 15 additional hours of story and
gameplay as well as he “true” final boss. All in all I give this game an
extremely high recommendation.
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