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Exploring the World of Tales of Graces f Remastered
Tales of Graces f Remastered from Bandai Namco, has a long and storied history. Having first released for the Nintendo Wii, it then had a launch on the PlayStation 3, before finally coming to the modern generation of consoles now. With me so far? Good.
However, despite being a massive RPG fan, I have never played any of the Tales series previously, and so diving into Tales of Graces f Remastered has been something of a voyage of discovery. The main question that needs answering though is whether this game should have stayed in the past, or is able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the new generation of RPGs, like Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
A Gripping Narrative
As I may have mentioned before (like every time I have to review an RPG) the most important thing in these games is the story. You can look past shonky graphics and such if the narrative is gripping, and luckily here the story is really good.
We play as a child (in the beginning) called Asbel Lhant, son and heir of Aston Lhant, the lord of Lhant. One day, Asbel and his brother, Hubert, are exploring an area that their father has forbidden them to go to, and they come across a young girl, Sophie, who has no memory. Now, before you roll your eyes and say “Not another amnesia story”, Sophie’s memory loss is not the main driver of the story. You see, through a series of unfortunate events Asbel and his brother are separated, but they also befriend the prince of the Kingdom, Richard, and end up going on all kinds of unlikely adventures which culminates in Sophie seemingly being killed.
After this, many more things happen, but it would be wrong of me to spoil a 17-year old game, wouldn’t it…
Charming Anime Aesthetics and Detailed Environments
With the story all present, correct and pleasingly engaging, I turn my beady eye to the matter of the presentation of the game. Here the news is also pretty good.
There is no getting away from the fact that the bones of Tales of Graces f Remastered are more than a decade old, and this shows up in the design, which is quite polygonal when playing in the normal view. The action is smooth, however, and other than monsters suddenly popping in to view when running about, there is nothing untoward here. The cutscenes are presented extremely well, with a nice anime style to them, and I’d be quite happy to sit there and watch a full length Tales of Graces f Remastered movie. There are also little cutscenes that you can choose to watch as you wander about, and these help flesh out the characters; charming in their own right. The battle and field screens are also very nice to look at, and apart from the slightly old fashioned graphics (Dragon’s Dogma 2 this ain’t), I have no complaints.
From there, the audio is equally good, with the usual stirring battle music to enjoy and general battle sound effects playing out nicely. The voice work is well done, with the actors properly committing to the roles they play, and they manage to convey what is happening nicely.
Mastering the Art of Combat
As we move onto the gameplay, there are a few things that are different. Now, the first thing I’m going to chat about is the battle system, as while it is simple to use (ish), the behind the scenes bits of the fighting is horrendously complicated and requires quite a lot of study to get to grips with. Basically, the system revolves around titles, which are honorifics you can give to your characters, and these are earned by either performing feats in battle or by exploring. Each title has five levels, and each level will teach the character it is applied to a new skill. With me so far?
Once a skill has been learned, it is always available, even if the title has changed, and so you can build almost an a la carte approach to your offensive options. Alongside that come some special attacks in A Artes and B Artes to choose from, as well as moves being linked to certain directional inputs as you fight. And yes, it is as complicated as it sounds! Luckily, there are two modes for those of us new to this world, and the Artes can either be triggered automatically or semi-automatically, which makes things a bit easier. Basically, at times, you may well run into a fight hammering either the A or B button and hoping the game knows what you want it to do! Meanwhile, the rest of the four person team under your command can have certain conditions set and they will fight autonomously. As you use the system and read the many pop ups about the system, it does start to make a bit more sense.
Exploring a Vast World: Quests, Side Stories, and Hidden Secrets
The rest of your time in Tales of Graces f Remastered will be spent exploring and achieving certain things in certain places (again with the no spoilers approach) and luckily, the game takes mercy on us and usually shows us where we need to be. There is a marker on the screen showing any next destination, alongside another that appears for time critical scenes – it doesn’t matter too much if you miss these, but again they can expand the background of what is going on. Otherwise, explore the large world, track the story, and partake in a fight or two, levelling your party as you go.
So much has been shoehorned into Tales of Graces f Remastered that even trying to review every facet would result in bleeding fingers and a review about 5,000 words long. I haven’t mentioned the card game, dualizing, or any of the other things we can get involved in, but they are all there and waiting to be discovered.
A Highly Recommended RPG for Fans and Newcomers Alike
It means that Tales of Graces F Remastered is a pretty great game. Yes, the first chapter is narratively weaker than the rest, but it sets the scene for what follows, as the story drags you along. Alongside that, it also looks good and plays brilliantly, and so if you have room for a huge RPG in your life, Tales of Graces f Remastered is highly recommended.
Helpful Links
Buy Tales of Graces f Remastered on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/tales-of-graces-f-remastered/9p4dzt37ksf6