Tales of Graces f

by Namco

• Enlist the help of up to 3 friends to fight by your side!
• Enhanced HD graphics and improved outlining to bring attention to the detailed anime art style by renowned Tales artist Mutsumi Inomata.
• Experience all-new content exclusive to the PlayStation3
• Use the Style Shift - Linear Motion Battle System to freely switch between fighting styles and deftly evade enemy attacks.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002I0K2J4
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 13, 2012
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (109 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,014 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Amazon.com

On the planet of Efinea, Asbel Lhant is constantly seeking the strength to protect those he holds dear. Little does he know that he will be drawn into a conflict between three rivaling kingdoms fighting for dominance of the world. Asbel, his childhood friends and the mysterious and innocent Sophie must explore the bonds of friendship while fighting for peace on their home planet.

Beautiful anime graphics

Visually stunning RPG

Use the Motion Battle System

Synopsis

As the follow-up to the original Tales of Graces, Tales of Graces f features stunning high-definition visuals with improved outlining and the detailed anime art style of Mutsumi Inomata. The gorgeous and spacious environments truly immerse you in the beautiful open world. Master new combat styles to aid you in battle. The Style Shift - Linear Motion Battle System allows you to freely change between fighting styles while evading enemy attacks. Use powerful new techniques and take the fight to your foes like never before with Accelerate mode. Enlist the help of up to three friends to battle enemies side-by-side, and explore more than 10 hours of engaging gameplay in the all-new Lineage & Legacies epilogue that's exclusive to the PlayStation 3. This all-new content features new dungeons, dangerous new monsters and powerful new spells, attacks and techniques. Can you fight to maintain peace on the planet of Efinea?

Key Features:

• Venture to the planet Efinea to become Asbel Lhant as he is joined by his childhood friends and the mysterious Sophie on a journey after becoming drawn into a conflict between three kingdoms vying for control of the planet
• Explore the bonds of friendship between Asbel, Sophie and Asbel's pals
• Freely switch between fighting styles and evade enemy attacks with the Style Shift - Linear Motion Battle System
• Bring the fight to enemies like never before with powerful new techniques when you activate Accelerate mode
• Delve deeper into the Tales of Graces f with the all-new, PlayStation 3-exclusive Lineage & Legacies epilogue that features more than 10 hours of immersive gameplay
• Battle terrifying new monsters, arm yourself with new spells, attacks and techniques and explore new dungeons in the epilogue
• Immerse yourself in the open-world environments that are brought to life with enhanced high-definition visuals that feature improved outlining and stunning anime art by renowned Tales artist, Mutsumi Inomata
• Grab up to three friends and battle side-by-side with the innovative multiplayer system

Product Description

The popular RPG series by Namco Bandai returns to PlayStation 3 with this port of the Wii hit Tales of Graces. In addition to the full game refreshed for this HD console, PS3 owners can look forward to additional costumes, new story elements and new battle skills.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 78 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Graceful Entry Into the Series March 14, 2012

By S. Rhodes TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

The Good:

+A very inventive battle system that has a focus on strategy
+A good story with great characters
+Lots of customization to do
+Lots of sidequests to do at some point
+A lengthy quest

The Bad:

-The voice acting could be better
-The story is very slow paced and has a tendency to get bogged down in too much exposition. It's a very enjoyable story but sometimes you really wish it would just move along rather than taking time to explain what we already know

Note: The Following Review is Long

The Tales series has had a shaky history in the states. Many of them haven't even seen release stateside. Case in point, Tales of Graces was first made available on the Wii in Japan in 2009. When Tales games do get a release outside of Japan there are small handful of fans who take note. The last major release in the United States was Tales of Vesperia on the XBOX360. Tales of Graces comes out amidst worry for some fans as it opts to try something new and different for the Tales series. The results are actually great. It may take a bit of time to learn, but Tales of Graces is certainly a welcome addition. It has a few things that keep it from being nearly as good as previous entries in the series however.

Our story centers on Asbel. A rebellious youth who doesn't desire to follow in his fathers footsteps. Instead of becoming ruler of the Lhant he'd rather be a knight and protect his friends. As a boy he has gotten into trouble and gotten into heated arguments with his father. When he and his brother Hubert go to Lhant Hill (against his father's wishes, of course) they stumble across a mysterious girl who doesn't seem to know anything.... There is also their friend Cheria who has a mysterious illness no one can cure. Asbel wants adventure and excitement, and upon meeting another young boy named Richard, they all form a friendship that they hope will last a life time. Unfortunately, due to Asbel's reckless nature tragedy strikes... and that eventually leads to him leaving home to become a knight to better himself. Seven years later, amidst tragedy, he returns to Lhant and discovers that his father may not have been as terrible a man as he thought and that as a child things happened that he simply couldn't understand.

Tales of Graces, like so many other games in the series, has a relatively simple premise that eventually unfolds into an epic tales. Nothing you see at the beginning of the game is any indication of what you're in for. But more importantly than that, the characters are what make the story so worthwhile. We begin the game seeing them as annoying children, but once they mature we can take note of their changes. And the story still develops them as they go. It's a likable cast and you'll find a lot about them as the game progresses. The story is also filled with twists and turns. Some you'll see coming and some you'll be amazed at. One could accuse Tales of Graces of using overdone plot points (the mysterious girl with memory problems is a favorite, it seems) but it's the execution that works here and not the idea itself. The only issue with the story is that of all the Tales games to precede it, Tales of Graces certainly takes the slowest the develop. The prologue alone might take four or five hours, and beyond that you'll feel restricted as it builds up to what's really going on. It is definitely a game you have to be patient with. Once it gets going, however, the characters become endearing enough that it can be hard to put down. The themes presented here can be a little heavy handed (particularly the theme of friendship) but Tales of Graces spends less time preaching to the audience and more time trying to illustrate the importance of the themes it's trying to showcase. What you get, in the end, is a dramatic tale that is more about characters than it is the situation they find themselves involved in. This is what makes the story worth playing through.

While the formula for storytelling has remained consistent with the Tales series, the gameplay has not. There are changes. The feeling of a Tales game is certainly still there, but the complexity of the battle system will take even veterans of the series a moment to learn and establish. Every character has a chain capacity (CC) and each attack will drain your CC. Some attacks will use one CC while others might use two, three or even four. You can string them together so long as you have the CC for it, but it's certainly more than just a hack and slash game in this regard. Depending on which directional button you press as your attacking, you'll pull off different moves and combos. These are called Assault Artes. At first this seems limiting, but it gives Tales of Graces a layer of strategy that no Tales game has had before it. And you can easily restore your CC by guarding in battle. Later in the game, however, players will gain a second stance and perform Bursts Artes, which can also be chained together, but they're stronger attacks. They also consume CC. It can take a few moments to really let this sink in, especially because there's a lot to swallow with the battle system. Luckily, after each fight the game will offer you tips to consistently help you out. It's a little strange at first, given the lack of Tech Points found in other tales games. As I said, the strategy here is much more in depth than you may realize.

Enemies also have weak points. Each assault arte and burst arte has its own attributes and some of your enemies are going to be weak to them. This means that you can't always string together the same attacks for the same result on every enemy. If you want to succeed in Tales of Graces, you're going to have to try several different mix-ups when attacking your enemies. At first the whole battle system seems confusing and overwhelming, but after only a couple of hours it becomes second nature. If you're having trouble with the battle system or can't learn it at first, you can always adjust the difficulty level of the game any time you wish.

Sometimes when you get into battles you'll be challenged to certain tasks such as completing a battle in fifteen seconds, chain together four artes, don't get hit or something else along those lines. The reward for doing so is often more lucrative rewards. Complete the challenges consistently and you'll start getting better items. There's a bit more here to entice you to battle. The biggest addition, however, is the Eleth gauge. A gauge that continues to increase as you do battle. Perform well by dodging attacks or striking enemies and you'll gain an Eleth Burst which will temporarily let you perform all of your attacks without consuming CC. In boss battles this is a very useful tool.

Before in Tales games learning new artes usually entailed reaching a certain level, learning them from certain NPCs (or advancements in the story) or using some artes a certain number of times until it lead to learning a new arte. Here it's entirely different. Abilities are now learned through the title bestowed upon a character. As you battle you'll gain skill points, which will go toward learning certain abilities a title has. Once you've learned them all you can switch titles and learn more abilities. It's a bit deeper than other tales games, but it's relatively simple to grasp.

The battle system isn't the only thing that has changed. So have some of the other aspects of the game. You can combine items to make better ones. You can also combine certain items with your weapons and armor and make them stronger and change their attributes. But most important of all is the introduction of the Eleth Mixer. Place an item in it and the mixer will continue to duplicate them as time goes on. Put two ingredients in it and it'll cook food for you (that'll get used automatically in battle). Of all the additions to Tales, the Eleth mixer is certainly the most amusing of the batch.

That's not to say everything about Tales has changed. The game still has lots of skits. All of them are voiced this time, however, and they often add more development to characters. They don't just add to the characters. Some of the time they add to the overall story. Characters will speculate about events that just happened or comment on other characters as well. They're all optional, but if you want the most out of the story and characters, it's a good idea to take a look at all of them.

Tales of Graces isn't without any faults, however. The pacing of the story is incredibly slow, and in real Tales fashion the story can get bogged down in exposition and drama. The game will explain lots of things to you... several times. You'll also find yourself running from Point A to Point B and back to Point A with only hearing exposition and seeing events explained out to you. The Tales series has always done this, but it's particularly noticeable here as the first few hours of the game have you constantly running between the same places over and over again with slow progression across the overworld. It is by far the most restrictive the Tales series has ever been in terms of exploration. Story is the focus here as the game doesn't even want to let you stray from the main path for too long. Other times Asbel simply won't go certain places, instead informing you that there's no need to go there. Most of the characters are interesting enough at least, but you won't find them to nearly as memorable as characters you found in previous outings such as Tales of the Abyss or Tales of Symphonia.

Seeing as how Tales of Graces was originally on the Wii, one might be tempted to think the presentation would look the same as well. It actually doesn't. If there was one game to show off the difference between HD and standard definition this is it. The PS3 version of the game has crisper and smoother looking graphics. Not to mention there are more details added to the game itself. The character models, in particular, look a lot better than they did on the Wii. The cel-shaded graphics give a cartoon like quality to the game. That's not to say the game is gorgeous all around. It's easy on the eyes, but you'll wish there was more detail to the game itself. Towns are strangely underpopulated and environments feel scarce. Character models are nice, but the portraits in their skits look much more detailed than the models themselves. It's a mixed bag. You'll appreciate the upscaling, but Tales of Graces f certainly doesn't have as much life in it as other Tales games before it.

The games actual soundtrack is pretty good, however. Some tunes sound better than others. What won't always bode well is the voice acting. Once again we have a case of a game that has found the right voices for the characters, but isn't very good at expressing them emotionally. In instances where characters should be mad, they don't actually sound mad... just slightly louder. And this is a shame considering Tales of Graces has some pretty dramatic moments that, had the voice acting been better, would've made some of Tales of Graces best moments even better.

For Tales fans, Tales of Graces F is a pretty good game. It is not the best in the Tales series by far. But it continues to do some of the things the Tales series has done so well for so long. A great story with endearing characters and plenty to do along the way. If you're a fan of the Tales series then Tales of Graces F is a game worth trying. Read more ›

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The "Tales of" series belongs in North America August 6, 2012

By Arvis Jaggamar

Amazon Verified Purchase

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I didn't know before I started playing, but I have been waiting for this game for 6 years. It has all the strong Japanese flavor of Eternal Sonata, but without the abysmal writing and vocal performance. It's brightly colored, pretty to look at, with an extremely strong battle system, a decent story despite all the "power of friendship" cliches, strong characters, a fun and satisfying battle system, and an addictive growth mechanic. Not to mention the plethora of sidequests, item creation, and the like. Very little about this game is "bad."
However, the audience for this kind of game has dwindled rapidly this generation, and with little to no marketing, games like this are dying at retail. The modern gamer would be put off by it's bright colors and exceedingly foreign sensibilities. The modern gamer would be uncomfortable spending the first 3-5 hours playing as an 11 year old kid. The modern gamer would be embarrassed for any of his friends to see the anime artwork and cutscenes.
But the modern gamer would miss the depth, the fun, the humor, or the charm that pervades every inch of Tales of Graces. It is a great tragedy of this console generation that a title like this can fall by the wayside, with only the most hardcore of the hardcore JRPG fans purchasing it new and showing their support.
If, like me, you yearn for a return to the glory days where JRPGs ruled the roost and you always knew you were getting your money's worth when you bought one, you owe it to yourself to pick this game up. Not used. Pay the extra $10, eat at home one night this week, and buy this game new. Show Namco, and the rest of the Japanese developers, that it IS financially sound to release and market their games in North America. Wallet Votes mean everything in this business.... You have the power to shape this industry. Start with supporting Tales of Graces. It is more than worth the price of admission. Read more ›

29 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tales you need to play! March 13, 2012

By Metragoon

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

Asbel Lhant and the mysterious young girl Sofie are the protagonists of a beautiful HD remade story originally on Wii. This game will have lots of hours for both old and new fans to enjoy and lots of quest and kameo battles in the arena. One of the coolest kameo appearances is Tales of Hearts female protagonist Kohaku Hearts, but they're plenty to enjoy and trophies for doing various boss fights. There are leaderboards for the extra battle mode feature and plenty of costumes to choose from so enjoy the options and freedom to mix up your looks. I don't really wish to spoil anything, but I'll just say take your time and enjoy the unravelling of the story's done in an arc fashion this time around. There are a lot of beautiful Anime cutscenes in this game and sidequests some of which have to be completed early like other Tales titles. You'll meet all of the characters very early into the game and by this time most of you will know who you use best as a team or have a personal preference. This game once again has the infamous level 200 which can be hit easily if you are using 10x eperience, but the long trophies will be the level 9999 Arles Pot and a Gentleman's Defeat. The opening theme is Mamoritai White Wishes by BoA, but anyways I hope this review helps you or gives you the desire to try this game out because you won't reget it. There's a new battle system feature called Axel Mode which is how you pull off extreme combos and Lv4 Blast Caliburs. All characters can and will eventually learn this awesome technique via a title and it really can heat up a battle. Last thing I'll note is that there's a cool feature on Efina that can make you're characters all the same character on the battle screen, but it's extremely pricy so save your gald for it.... If anyone has questions about Tales of Graces F feel free to ask me and I will help out as best I can. Thanks for reading and I hope this helped! :D

~Metragoon Read more ›