Tales of Graces f Review by: EvilAlu - 9.7/10
Exploring GracesDescription - Tales of Graces F, is a Role Playing Game (RPG) on the
PlayStation 3, also released on the Wii, Tales of Graces was ported to
the PlayStation 3 on March 13th 2012 for North America, and August 31st
2012 for Europe, under the title Tales of Graces F. Developed by Namco
Tales Studios and Published by Namco Bandai Games.Plot
- Tales of Graces F takes you in to the world of Ephinea, and follows
the story of Asbel Lhant. As he is a young Lord, he is expected to
follow in his fathers footsteps, and take his place as the Lord of Lhant
when his father steps down. One day he comes across a strange girl on
Lhant Hill, she has no recollection of who she is,where she comes from
or how she even got there. Asbel and his brother decide to take her back
to Lhant, and eventually decide to call her Sophie, which she seemed
most pleased with. Together with Sophie they set out for Barona, to
search out his brother Hubert, who his father had taken there just a
short while prior. They soon discover that Barona isn't as peaceful as
it seems, when they uncover the dark force known as Lambda. They try to
fight this dark enemy, but in doing so tragedy strikes. After a tragic
event in his childhood, Asbel vowed to himself that he
would gain the power to protect the people closest to him. He sets off
alone to the kingdom of Barona, to join the famed knights academy. Some
years
later and Asbel is all grown up, and this begins the start of long and dangerous adventure.
Story
- In the world of Ephinea, a small town called Lhant sits peacefully in
the country of Windor. In this town you discover Asbel Lhant, the young
lord and heir to his fathers title. Asbel wiil be joined by his brother
Hubert Lhant and his childhood friend Cheria Barnes. One day while
exploring the Hills of Lhant, Asbel and Hubert discover an amnesiac
girl, who has no has completely forgotten who she is. Together they
decide to take her back to Lhant, in the hopes that she might remember
something about who she is. With the townsfolk unable to identify her,
Asbel, Hubert and Cheria decide to care for the girl themselves, and
name her Sophie after the Sopheria flower. Later that same day, Lhant is
visited by Richard, prince of Windor who becomes friends with the three
young children. Eventually, Richard must return back to Windor's
capital Barona, but invites Asbel and co to visit him at the castle. The
three decide to visit Richard shortly after his departure, and upon
meeting the young prince, Richard suggests sneaking in to the castle at
night through a secret passage. As you travel the dark and damp
catacombs under the castle, you are attacked by an unknown enemy and get
mortally wounded, you later go on to discover this enemy was Lambda.
During the fight, Sophie unleashes a brilliant bright light and charges
to your defense, in doing so sacrificing herself for you and the team.
When Asbel wakes up, he finds himself back in Lhant, he then finds out
the news of Sophie's death, and his only brothers political adoption in
to the Oswell family. Still grieving over the loss of his new friend
Sophie, and now the loss of his brother Hubert to a new family, Asbel
runs away from home to join the knights academy of Barona.
Seven
long years later and Asbel is returning from a mission, when he
encounters a familiar face. The girl is Cheria all grown up, she passes
on the news that Asbel's father has passed away while defending Lhant
from the invading forces of Fendel. Hearing the news, Asbel decides to
return to Lhant with Cheria to help defend his home. Upon arriving, you
are told that Cheria's grandfather has been taken by the enemy, and you
quickly decide to go to his aid. You decide to lead the invading nation
of Fendel's forces to Lhant Hill, where you have a plan to put in to
action. You quickly discover that although your plan works, you are
outnumbered, and stand no chance at victory. At this moment a bright
light appears from nowhere, and completely destroys one of the enemy
tanks. You are shocked to see the return of Sophie, who aids you in
wiping out the remaining forces. You,Cheria and now Sophie return to
Lhant to find it under attack, but before you have a chance to do
anything Stratha's military enters the fight, and disposes of the
remaining enemies. Asbel is surprised to see the one leading the Stratha
forces is none other than his brother Hubert. Now known as Hubert
Oswell, he informs Asbel that he has been sent to secure Lhant. After
some heated discussion and a slight brotherly spat, Asbel is banished
from Lhant. Along with Sophie, you decide to take the East Lhant
Highroad and head to Barona. On your travels you start to hear rumors of
Richards death, upon hearing this, you and Sophie decide to look in to
the rumors. You head for the secret passage that you took so many years
ago, and end up in a familiar setting from your childhood, as you find
your way back inside the catacombs of Barona. You eventually meet
Richard inside, where he explains to Asbel that his uncle had killed his
father to assume the throne. Richard joins your team, and you set out
to Gralesyde to make arrangements to take back Richards throne. On your
way to Gralesyde, you encounter a strange girl named Pascal, a genius
from a race known as Amarcians. You find out that the only way to get to
Gralesyde is via the Wallbridge Ruins, and that you will need her help
to enter. With this you gain a new party member, and continue your
journey to reclaim Richards throne. With the aid of a newly acquired
army from Gralesyde, Asbel, Sophie, Pascal and Richard reclaim the
throne, and Richard is crowned the true king of Windor. But this is only the start of your journeys with Asbel, as many long and dangerous paths are yet to be walked.
I
could continue to write about the story all day, but a general idea for
this amazing adventure is all that is needed, and I wouldn't want to
take away from the game for anyone else who has yet to play Tales of
Graces F. The story in this game has a lot of things a role playing
gamer looks for, it has the length the action and the adventure. Not to
mention the vast amount of content provided throughout, such as "Skits"
that have been featured in many of the Tales games series. These skits
will provide everything from casual chat amongst you and your team, to
some humorous conversations that will leave you with a smile on your
face. Thou the story is great, I didn't find it as capturing as some
other games from the Tales series. Regardless of this fact, the story
still has its moments, and can be highly interesting at times. And the implementation of the "Child Arc" all gameplay and story from Asbel's youth and the "Adult Arc" Story and gameplay going in to his adult years, give this game a twist that brings something new to the Tales series. I give
the story a worthy score of 8/10.
Gameplay - Like in many games of this
caliber, you are treated to the usual visits to towns, cities, inns and a
lot of other locations you discover on your travels. Tales of Graces F
has kept to the simpleness of managing your inventory and weaponry. Even
to people who have never experienced a Tales game, you will have no
trouble using any items you may acquire, and setting weapons and armor
is a breeze to do. You have the option to add a few accessories, which
can provide some support. Along your journey you might come across gems,
be it from defeating an enemy or finding it in a treasure chest. The
gems can be added to weapons to improve their over all performance. When
you have mastered the weapon with the gem attached, you can then chose
if you want to leave it where it is, or combine that gem with others to
make powerful accessory gems. These gems can up any of your stats, from
attack to speed, depending on the gems used you can create a gem with a
mix of stat improvements. The deeper you get in to the game, the more
powerful the gem classes become, allowing you to make even better items
to equip to your characters. Skills in the game can be a little
confusing if you aren't used to the system set up, but it isn't to hard
to work out, and after a few battles and a bit of practice you can
master it rather quickly. You set skills by assigning them to different
directional buttons, this can make performing high hit combos very easy,
it also allows you to master skills quickly and effortlessly. Avid
players of the Tales series, will find setting skills is not much
different from any other Tales game. And should easily grasp the system.
Combat - The combat in Tales of Graces F is some of the best yet. It offers a great deal of challenge to the player, even if you are prepared to enter a battle. A big mistake you can make in this game, is thinking you will beat an enemy easy because you spent a long time grinding your level. I can speak from experience when I say this is not the case, at times grinding will allow you to beat enemies effortlessly, but other times you will be surprised, as seemingly weak looking enemies wipe the floor with you. Each battle is competitive and rarely gives you time to go slow, truly the best bunch of enemy interactions yet in the Tales series. Like other Tales games, how you fight is up to you, you get the same set up of choosing if you want to fight Manually, Semi-Automatically, or fully Automatic. For beginners to the game I would suggest semi-automatic, and highly discourage automatic. You also have the choice to fight or not fight, as enemies are visible to you as you journey through the game. Motion on the field is easy to control, and you have full use of the battle area to make use of. You are able to perform two different types of attacks in ToG, A-Artes and B-Artes, these allow you and your characters to perform magic attacks and physical attacks. While in battle you will notice a meter to the side of the screen with two colors, if the meter fully fills up red, your opponent will have an unlimited supply of CC for a set time, this also buffs their defense making them near invincible. However should the meter fill blue, you and your team will have the effects. When the "Eleth Burst" is in action, with some correct timing after performing a combo, you can press L1 which allows you to perform a special move, that can do a great deal of damage and increase a combo score if done at the right time. But be warned, if you are able to do this, so is your opponent. So it might be a wise idea to keep as far away as possible from the enemy when they have an eleth burst. Battle movement as a whole in ToG is smooth, and should give you no trouble as you fight your way through the game.
Graphics - When graphics are concerned in ToG, they had their moments. At times characters felt more cartoony, taking away from the anime feel to the game. Locations in the game were beautifully done, impacting you best in a city with an outstretched view of the area. Dungeons and small towns had their charm, but nothing to write home about when compared to other locations. The cut scenes in the game were as stunning as other Tales games, and makes you as the player sit back in anticipation of what is about to happen. After fight scenes also provide some nice moments that can provide humor as well as smooth graphic flow from the character interaction. Facial expression in characters is good and has its moments, but doesn't stand out at times due to the cartoony look. I give the graphics a score of 7/10.
Sound - Accompanying ToG is a stunning sound track, the opening theme music is beautiful and goes perfectly with the on screen animations. Location music fits well, but at times feels repetitive and can grate on the ears, making you bored of hearing it. Combat sounds work well never missing a beat, and letting you know when your character is hurting and in need of some healing. The voice acting was fantastic, and mixed with a great script made it better. With each characters voice fitting perfectly, you shouldn't feel disappointed with it. I give the sound a score of 9/10.
Depth - The game is extremely long, so carries plenty of depth to it. With such a vast amount of content throughout, you as the player will always be able to find something that occupies your time. With just the story you can expect 41 plus hours of gameplay, including the extras, that consist of side quests, medals and uncrackable's, you will get 62 hours plus of game time. Anyone wanting to beat the game 100% will get a mighty 112 plus hours, so this game shouldn't fail to satisfy you when length is involved. I give the game depth a score of 10/10.
Addictiveness - This game has a very addictive quality about it, which can draw you in and take hours away from your day before you realize it. With so many amazing things within the game to keep you interested, it makes it very hard at times not to get addicted to the story plots, and amazing battles. I score the addictive side to this game a 8/10.
Difficulty - Tales of Graces F has the most challenging battles of any Tales series game I have ever played. Battles are difficult but not so much so that you cant beat the game, more so that you will be challenged from start to finish. Boss battles are tough and may leave you re doing them more times than once, as each battle offers a true feel of aggression towards your characters. This brings a real feel of threat to the game, and keeps you working to be the best you can be to survive. ToG has a number of difficulty levels, from easy all the way to chaos, which can be unlocked after you meet certain requirements in the game. This can make the game even more of a challenge to those hardened gamers, I played on chaos mode all the way through myself. It is possible to adjust the difficulty at anytime, so for those players having a hard time with a specific enemy can chose to switch to easy for that battle, or train some more. I award the difficulty a worthy 9/10
Over All -To sum up, Tales of Graces F is a fantastic game. Full of interesting story, challenging battles that actually test your abilities as a gamer, and amazing vocals and animation. Slight imperfections in the game thou small can be irritating, but this is overlooked by the massive amount of content within the game. With a great selection of players, you will have new and exciting moves, spells and combos to mix and match. Which lets you feel like a part of the whole game throughout. If any of these features interest you, then for sure this is a game you will want to play. I give Tales of Graces F an over all score of 9.7.
Graphics
7 Sound
9 Addictive
8 Depth
10 Story
8 Difficulty
9
User Notice 
