Tales of Graces f

Game Info

The Tales series by Namco has been around for almost as long as the Final Fantasy’s and the Dragon Quests, but it has never caught on in the United States like it has in Japan.  In fact, it was only be constant fan demand that we even got a Tales of Graces f release in the U.S. at all.  Which is a shame, since it is well worth the extra effort it took to bring it here.  But make no mistake, it is definitely as JRPG as you can get, so those of you looking for something to play while waiting for the Mass Effect elevators to reach their floor should probably look elsewhere.

Visually, one can best describe Graces as a high definition Wii game, which is exactly what it is.  Originally released in Japan on the Wii in 2009, it was met with some criticisms about various game-breaking bugs and was eventually debugged and released on PS3 a year later with added story content, improved visuals, and extra costumes and DLC.  I have no idea what the “f” stand for in the PS3 title, but if I had to guess it would be for “fixed”.   So the graphics aren’t going to knock anybody’s socks off, but they are definitely solid for a lower budget JRPG, especially during the enemy encounters when lightning bolts, tornadoes, and fireballs roar across the screen simultaneously without so much as a frame-rate hiccup.  And loading times are almost non-existent, so you’re in and out of a battle in a snap, which is a good thing since the encounter rate can be quite high in some areas. Although most non-boss fights usually only last up to 30 seconds.

One of the main highlights to any Tales game is always the combat, and in Graces it doesn’t disappoint.  Namco always likes to come up with wonky names for each iterations combat system and they named this one the Style Shift Linear Motion Battle System, which is basically the longwinded way to say 2D fighting in a 3D arena, and it is a blast to play.  Sometimes I found myself actually seeking out enemies to fight instead of searching for loot or just trying to make my way out of a dungeon.  Throughout the game you’ll be constantly finding new moves and combos.  Not to mention that each character you can control fights entirely differently.  So if you’re looking for great combat, get this game.  Also, it should be noted that you and 3 other players can participate in battles, so it’s got a great local co-op option.  And be prepared for some downright hilarious after-battle win quotes.  They are sometimes seriously laugh-out-loud funny.

However, if you’re looking for a great story, you’d best look elsewhere.  Not to say that the story is bad.  It’s just pretty straightforward with no surprising plot twists or shocking moments.  It’s much like the graphics- solid.  You start your adventure as a little boy who eventually (spoiler alert!) runs away from home.  Fast forward several years later and you’re a young man who is about to become a knight when all hell breaks loose in your hometown.  I love the whole “starting out as a child and flash forward to adulthood” shtick in JRPGs, and it saddens my heart that you don’t see it much these days.  The story has your usual JRPG quirkiness, but for the most part, the characters are genuinely likable and you find yourself starting to care about what’s going to happen to them.

Those gamers who claim that Game X is too short or Game Y has a terrible single-player portion should definitely think about picking this up.  I’ve logged over 60 hours already and still haven’t seen the conclusion to the bonus story content that is available after finishing the main story that wasn’t in the original Wii release.  It’s a light-hearted affair and a good change of pace from the sometimes overly melodramatic main story portion.  Another major timesink is collecting titles for every character.  Titles essentially allow your characters to learn new fighting combos, acquire new spells, upgrade your stats, and even alter their appearance with new costumes.

Other than an awful J-pop opening song, the soundtrack by series composer Motoi Sakuraba is quite good, as long as you’re into fantasy soundtracks.  Music pieces generally match whatever location you happen to be in.  Near a beach?  Steel drums.  In a cave?  Hollow organ notes.  On another planet?  Synthesizers!  It’s predictable but still well done, and I sometimes found myself humming some of the catchier tunes even after I put the controller down.

So is this game going to bring any new fans to the series?  I would have to say that if you haven’t caught on to the series by now, there’s little new here to attract new players.  I first caught the Tales bug when I played the Gamecube release of Tales of Symphonia, and I’ve been hooked ever since.  So if you’ve been curious about trying it out, I strongly recommend at least giving it a rental to get a few hours into it and see what it’s like.  Any connoisseur of RPGs should definitely try it out, but I’d even suggest 2D fighting game fans to try it out.  Heck, you never know; you might find yourself signing fan petitions for their next release, Tales of Xilia.  I know I will be.