Tales of Graces F Remastered Review (claybigboyrobbins)
Let me preface this review by saying I consider myself a big fan of the Tales Series, but I haven't played as many of the games as I would like. I started with Tales of Symphonia when I was in Middle School back in 03 or 04, and I fell in love. It became my favorite game of all time, and still is to this day. I then played Phantasia on the Gameboy a few years later and thoroughly enjoyed it, and appreciated the shared world with Symphonia. Played and beat Tales of the World Radiant Mythology in high school, then in college, I bought Tales of Destiny and got pretty far, but didn't finish it.
I have Abyss, but have not really played it yet (That might be next). I rented Legendia from Hollywood Video and nearly threw up in my mouth after playing it for 30 minutes.I was super pumped when Vesperia came out, and I enjoyed it, but never finished it, and it never grabbed my like Symphonia did, or even Phantasia. The characters were good, but I couldn't get behind them, the story, or even the world itself like I did Sylvarant and Tethealla. Then I got Zestiria for Christmas from my brother, and I just haven't been able to get far at all, before I get bored and stop playing. Berseria has an intriguing story, and Velvet is a cool character, but I don't feel compelled to keep playing after a while, and I haven't gotten very far. Tales of Arise was fun, but I got stuck on the Cyslodian Lord, and haven't jumped back in. The graphics look really good, and can be beautiful at times, but I miss the look of the older, cell shaded games.
Then Tales of Graces f entered the chat. I was on the fence for a couple months on whether to pull the trigger and buy it or not. The last few entries left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, so I was gun shy. Boy, am I glad I gave it a shot! The battle system is every bit as good as people claim it is. You can see where Berseria and Arise built upon the system, but Graces does it the best imo. The first boss that kicked my butt was Queen Slime. I legitimately raged harder than I have in a little while. When I looked up the battle on google, I was relieved that other people struggled as well, and many claim her as the first true road block in the game, and some claim the hardest due to your lack of good abilities at that point. But after many retries, I finally got used to timing my dodges, and got lucky and took her out. I felt rewarded for memorizing her patterns, and mastering the battle system. Each subsequent boss made me master a different aspect of the battle system, first dodging, then timing attacks, then party composition, then switching characters, until I was able to beat the final boss of the main arc in one try (Probably one of my favorite gaming accomplishments now).
The story was engaging enough that I wanted to see what happened next, and it pushed me through some of the growing pains. The characters truly shined as well. At first, I was frustrated with how Asbel treated his family and friends, but then I became frustrated with how they treated him. What followed, though, was a beautiful redemption arc for Asbel, and most characters showed growth throughout the game. They all came together in such a way that felt earned, and real. Also, Sophie is such a sweet, unintentionally hilarious character. Her skits alone made the game worthwhile. Throw in Hubert and Asbel's dynamic, on top of Cheria and Asbel's dynamic, and the layers of these relationships interacting with each other has so much depth. The themes of sacrifice, what it means to be human, war, loyalty, and the past's effects on the future are done very well.
Ultimately, I would put Tales of Graces F right under Tales of Symphonia for me in my ranking of Tales games. I think I might even put it above Phantasia as my second favorite, because even though I love the characters and world of ToP, Graces just does so much right. The lack of dungeons compared to previous Tales titles was a breath of fresh air as well. I was afraid it would feel too "on the rails" like some other games, but that wasn't an issue for me. The world and cities weren't as memorable or as well designed as the ones in Symphonia or Phantasia, and was certainly the weakest part of the game for me. But not since Symphonia has a Tales game hooked me in and gave me that classic, Tales feeling. I give this Tales of Graces F a 9/10 and HIGHLY recommend it for anybody on the fence like I was!