Tales of Graces F Remastered PC Review
Summary: Tales of Graces F Remastered is an almost perfect remaster of a highly beloved title that provides an excellent gaming experience despite its few flaws.
4.0
A Memorable Tale
The Tales series is one of the most recognized JRPG series for several reasons. As such, it’s no surprise Bandai Namco decided to port and remaster one of the most beloved titles, Tales of Graces F, to the modern audience as Tales of Graces F Remastered. Tales of Graces F first released back in 2012 as an enhanced PlayStation 3 port of the original Wii game Tales of Graces. The title stands out with its dynamic combat, touching narrative, and charming cast of characters. However, the remaster failed to fix some notable issues that could have easily been fixed.
Tales of Graces F follows the story of Asbel Lhant, the son of a noble family in the kingdom of Windor. Asbel is a headstrong and adventurous young boy who one day meets a mysterious amnesiac girl called Sophie while exploring with his brother Hubert. As the story progresses, he also meets Richard, the kingdom’s prince, and all three quickly become friends. However, a tragic incident occurred in their childhood, and Asbel’s life changes significantly as he is separated from all his friends and his brother. He vows to become a powerful knight so such misfortune never happens again. The narrative then skips seven years later, and the characters have grown significantly. He reunites with old friends and faces the threats of war and a mysterious force known as Lambda.
One of the game’s biggest highlights is its character-driven storytelling. The main cast, including Asbel, Sophie, Hubert, Cheria, Malik, and Pascal, all bring unique personalities and motivations to the narrative. Their serious and comedic interactions create an emotional connection with the player. The Tales series is well known for its charming character skits, and Graces F is no exception. These optional conversations provide additional backstory, humor, and insight into each character, making the journey even more enjoyable.
While the plot may follow some basic JRPG tropes, such as the power of friendship overcoming adversity, it still delivers an emotionally engaging and satisfying story. The Future Arc, an excellent exclusive post-game epilogue added in Tales of Graces F, expands on the ending and provides additional closure for the characters.
In terms of gameplay, Tales of Graces F truly shines with its Style Shift Linear Motion Battle System (SS-LMBS). Unlike previous Tales games that relied on traditional TP (Technical Points) for special attacks, Graces F introduces the Chain Capacity system, which dictates how many actions a character can take before pausing and regenerating their points. As such, players are encouraged to think strategically and master dodging, blocking, and chaining attacks efficiently. Each character has access to two different combat styles: A-Artes, the basic attacks, and B-Artes, which are more advanced techniques. B-Artes are more powerful and sometimes use elements such as lightning but take longer to get the hang of and are a bit slower.
However, this combat system allows players to switch between different attack styles on the fly. The game also encourages an aggressive playstyle, rewarding precise dodges, and counterattacks with additional CC recovery. However, combat is also hindered by how clunky some characters’ movesets are and how hard it is to chain attacks into combos. The remaster could’ve easily addressed this, but unfortunately, it did not. Boss fights and enemy encounters require strategy and adaptability, especially on higher difficulty modes. The AI party members are fairly competent, but players can manually switch between characters to take full advantage of their unique abilities. All in all, despite some flaws, Tales of Graces’ combat is still satisfying and rewarding.
When not playing through the game, players can freely explore its colorful and vibrant world. However, it’s worth noting that this world is quite empty and soulless as, unlike many, there isn’t much to do or side activities outside of missions in dungeons and field areas. Fast travel becomes available later in the game, making navigation more convenient, but the journey can sometimes feel like a straight path between story beats. Additionally, while traversal is mostly painless, the minimap and map aren’t very useful, especially when navigating unknown areas.
Side content in Tales of Graces F includes a variety of quests, optional dungeons, hidden bosses, and item crafting. The game offers plenty of customization options, allowing players to enhance weapons, armor, and accessories. Cooking also makes a return, giving characters stat boosts and healing benefits outside of battle.
Tales of Graces F Remastered provides notable upgrades in terms of visuals and performance. The game offers upscaled HD resolution, giving character models and environments a sharper, more refined look. The anime-style aesthetic and bright color palette are pleasing, but they also look dated compared to other JRPG titles of the modern era. However, the timeless illustrations maintain the game’s original charm. Performance-wise, Tales of Graces F Remastered runs smoothly on PC. The port provides 120fps support, as well as screen options, resolution options, shadow options, and more. The remaster also adds the option to turn off enemy encounters and autosaves, making it by far the definitive edition of the game yet.
Final Thoughts?
Overall, Tales of Graces F Remastered is an almost perfect remaster of a highly beloved title that provides an excellent gaming experience despite its few flaws.
About the Author
Abdul Saad Abdul Saad is a seasoned entertainment journalist and critic, and has been writing for five years on multiple gaming sites. When he isn't writing or playing the latest JRPG, he can be found coding games of his own or tinkering with something electrical.
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