Tales of Graces f Remastered
Developer: TOSE
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed), PC
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $39.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
With as many games that are seeing remasters and remakes over the past few years, there are still countless classic JRPGs languishing on older platforms and many of these happen to be those in the Tales of franchise. While Bandai Namco has slowly been bringing some Tales of games to modern platforms even while putting out a brand new entry just a few years ago, many of their most beloved entries require dusting off an older console to play thanks to some specific platforms lacking backwards compatibility. Thankfully, fans of Tales of Graces f no longer need to worry about the title being trapped on the PlayStation 3 as Bandai Namco has brought Tales of Graces f Remastered to all modern platforms. Offering a bevy of quality of life improvements alongside graphical enhancements, has this over a decade old JRPG held up?
Story
Asbel Lhent is the son of a minor lord and, thanks to his position, often uses his freetime to explore at will and get into trouble, even if it means dragging his sick friend Cheria and younger brother Hubert along for the ride. One time when venturing past the village limits, they encounter a strange girl in a flower field suffering from total amnesia. The children decide to name her Sophie and opt to take charge of her care, despite Sophie appearing older than them. When the kingdom’s prince stops by Lhent, Asbel even manages to quickly make friends with the royal despite his father’s wishes and an encounter with an assassin. In an effort to continue to rebel against his father, Asbel brings Sophie to the capital after being put on house-arrest only for Sophie to be slain by a monstrous creature and the rest of his friends injured or worse.

This cataclysmic event in the young Asbel’s life sees him flee from his duties as a lord’s son and enter the knight academy, splitting the tight-knit group of friends apart and sending them on their separate ways as seven years pass. Now, nearly a fully fledged knight, Asbel is informed that his father has been slain and he must return to his hometown where not only does he learn that Cheria is fully recovered and capable of magic, but most shockingly at all Sophie makes a surprise return during a battle against enemy invaders.With Sophie mysteriously returning and things growing more dire for the Lhent land, even stranger events seem to be occurring throughout the land as even the prince that Asbel once thought as a friend has changed drastically throughout the years, bringing new dangers to the land already struggling under the threat of invasion.
Tales of Graces f Remastered’s storyline is incredibly charming and entertaining even if it is a bit too predictable and does take a bit too long to actually get going, dragging out the “child” storyline a bit too long. Many familiar tropes are explored and realized throughout the game and even some of the twists can be rather predictable, but this is hardly a bad thing as the story remains entertaining both in part due to how earnestly it is told and the cast of characters that make up the core cast. While Asbel may be a bit hit or miss initially, he grows to be a likable protagonist throughout the journey while Sophie’s amnesiac antics remain adorable and entertaining especially as players learn more about her history and truth behind her, even Cheria works quite well as a foil to Asbel and eventual love interest. The rest of the cast includes the rough and tumble Malik, the more stoic and intelligent Hubert, and the oddball favorite, Pascal.

Not only are these characters fully realized throughout the game’s storyline but also through the stellar skits that are spread throughout the adventure. Anyone familiar with the franchise will be familiar with “skits” which are side-pieces of dialogue that happen between the party in certain locations and all of these are a real treat here, making every random skit a joy to discover. Even the post-fight dialogue is given subtitles, which is great for those taking advantage of a certain new addition to this release, as many character interactions post-battle are hilarious. It is worth noting that no new story content was added into this game, though it does include all DLC that was released for the original with the exception of cross-over costumes. This means there are brand new skits for certain DLC packs, costumes, and item interactions that those who only ever played the base game can enjoy for the first time. Unfortunately, cross-over costumes such as Hatsune Miku and the .hack franchise were not included in this remaster.
Gameplay
For the most part Tales of Graces f Remastered still plays the same as the original release though a number of quality of life improvements have been made. These include the likes of an auto-save when traveling between areas, a faster movement speed with an even faster movement speed available should the player wish, the ability to completely turn off enemies in the field for easy travel during the many backtracking moments, and most helpful at all, little indicators that point not only to the next story objective but also hourglass icons that highlight timed events that will vanish should players advance the story. A helpful little feature for a franchise known for having random events tucked away in the oddest locations.

Combat is also the same as it ever was, and that is a good thing as it is one of the best types the franchise has ever had. Rather than having MP or any other resource, Tales of Graces f Remastered makes use of Chain Capacity (CC), to allow players to dish out attacks to their foes. Players will enter battle with one to four party members, controlling only one directly, and use Assault and Burst Artes that all take various CC points. Higher level artes or longer combos require more CC and players cannot attack at 0. This makes customizing your favorite character, or characters since it is enjoyable to play as nearly every member of the roster directly, with their Arte chains and directional attacks. Players can even perform guards to build up power and dodge incoming attacks at the right time to regain CC faster, or target an enemy’s weakness with a proper Arte to regain CC and lay down the damage as much as possible. As players fight they can also trigger their “Eleth Mixer” in certain conditions which will automatically craft and use healing items or boosting items under certain circumstances. When used, the mixer has to be recharged at shops for a cost.
The best way to unlock additional Artes and improve a character’s stats is through the use of titles. Tales of Graces f Remastered features a slew of titles for every character and they are all unlocked in a variety of different ways. Some happen naturally through story progression, others come from completing mini-games, cooking, shopping, or even using certain Artes enough times. These titles, when equipped, will level up and permanently unlock various boosts, rewarding players for keeping on their toes and offering a vast amount of customization.

Now, as mentioned earlier, a number of quality of life elements were added into the game but one we neglected to mention is the Grade shop. Unlike other Tales of games and like it was originally in this title where the Grade Shop only unlocked in New Game+ and depended on the amount of Grade earned from the previous playthrough, this time the Grade shop is unlocked right at the start of the game with enough Grade to unlock everything should players choose. This ranges from simple boosts such as having extra health or Eleth charges to completely game-breaking ones like offering 2x and even 5x XP, these are combinable by the way, boosted SP gain, boosted money gain, additional damage from everything and to everything, and more. These Grade Shop options are entirely optional and even if purchased can be turned off in the settings later, though this does mean that players can make the title incredibly easy if they feel like it by breaking it wide open with all of the unlocks right off the bat.
Audio & Visuals
All of the character and enemy models in Tales of Graces f Remastered have seen a significant visual upgrade to look as smooth and detailed as possible while retaining the art style. The character portraits for skits and general dialogue are colorful and detailed as well, though there is a bit of disconnect at times when exploring some of the more mundane locations that haven’t quite been given the same type of attention as the character models. There are a number of animated cutscenes scattered throughout the game as well and these also appear to have been retouched to look as impressive as possible for this remaster, something which is an excellent addition given that many of these scenes are meant to be incredibly important to the story.

One of the other features we’ve hinted at in quality of life is that players can now select the Japanese voice track for the first time ever in the West. This dub choice is available at any time and allows players to either select the English dub they might be familiar with or listen to the Japanese version, all of which is now completely subtitled as mentioned before. This is a great addition for the remaster and one that many players should give a chance, especially since a couple of English characters are a little wooden sounding. The soundtrack consists of some stellar sound design featuring soft and soothing town themes for exploration and fast-paced tracks for combat and boss battles. There is also an incredibly charming opening song, something every JRPG feels like it should have.
Overall
Tales of Graces f Remastered is an incredibly handled remaster that not only brings the game’s excellent combat system to modern audiences but its enjoyable storyline as well, despite it few faults. With plenty of side-content to explore and even post-game content, all assisted with handy quality of life features and a feature that should be unlocked with every upcoming remaster, the immediate unlocking of the Grade shop, and this action RPG remains as fantastic as it ever was, making it a must play for any fan of the franchise or even JRPGs looking to experience a classic.
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