Tales of Graces f is often touted as the best combat in the long-running action RPG series, and has unfortunately been “stuck” on PS3 – at least in the West, since its initial release here in 2012. Bandai Namco has just announced that Tales of Graces f Remastered will be released on almost all platforms – Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, AND computer. I had the opportunity to check out Tales of Graces f Remastered in person and talk to the game’s producer, Yuki Ishikawa.
In Tales of Graces f Remastered, Asbel Lhant made many lifelong friendships as a child. There is Hubert Lhant, his brother; Sophie, suffering from amnesia; Cheria Barnes; a girl from his village; and Richard, a prince from a neighboring kingdom. Drama and trauma push Asbel from his would-be lordship to the knight’s academy, and seven years later he reconnects with many of his childhood friends. The story of Graces is filled with political drama, character transformation, and the power of friendship.
Ishikawa emphasized that the core concept and core value of Tales of is storytelling, with an emphasis on character drama. “So even though it’s a very simple story (in Tales of Graces f) – whether you choose friendship or you choose to save the world –… that’s something that appeals to me strongly,” Ishikawa explained.
Ishikawa noted that Graces f’s combat system is another of its best features, a point also highlighted by many fans of the series. While it differs from the lauded combat in the latest Tales of Arise, Graces f’s combat system is highlighted as a feature that “powers the entire experience, pumping non-stop action and rewards to the forefront” in IGN review.
I only briefly looked at the many, many things you can do to customize your party in Tales of Graces f Remastered, which included huge skill trees and loads of equipment, and I felt like I was barely scratching the surface of the combat system during the hour I played. Is plot learning here, and while I picked up the fight fairly easily, I felt I was far from mastering the real-time action battles that allowed me to switch between up to four different characters.
When I wasn’t fighting, I was exploring the enchanting world and finding people to interact with and items to discover around every corner, aided by improved quality of life.
Tales of Graces f Remastered has been improved while remaining completely faithful to the original. Ishikawa said the team’s priority for the remaster was to bring Tales of Graces f to a wider audience and, in terms of specifications, improve the frame rate to bring it up to current standards. It looks like they’ve succeeded on both fronts, obviously on the first, given the list of platforms Tales of Graces f Remastered has been announced for and its expanded language options. In terms of performance, the game looked sharp and ran smoothly at 60fps on PS5 (and should run at 60fps on any system except Nintendo Switch, which I didn’t get a chance to experience). It retains every element of the original and fans can experience it as it was by turning off or ignoring the quality of life additions, but it’s quite a tempting set of features.
In my opinion, the most important additions are the destination icons that point you in the right direction for your exploration; dash around the world, which makes moving and reversing much faster; and an enemy encounter toggle feature that allows you to avoid battles entirely.
In my opinion, these features keep Tales of Graces f Remastered from feeling like an outdated JRPG, but bring it closer to modern standards.
You can also skip cutscenes and skits, autosave is available, and “some DLC skits for the original version that were only available in Japanese will now be available in other languages and with English voice-over in the remastered version.”
Speaking of language options, subtitles will now be displayed in-battle and post-battle, which is an especially useful update for those who prefer to play with a Japanese voice-over. I played with the English voice-over and honestly it sounded a little dated considering I’m used to modern, often excellent anime dubs, so the ability to switch between English and Japanese voice-overs in the options is a welcome feature, too.
A lot has been added to Tales of Graces f Remastered (the full list of which you can read Here), but I’ll leave it at that to say that DLC from the original game will be included – although unfortunately this doesn’t include licensed content. (Sorry, no Hatsune Miku Sophie or Lelouch from Code Geass Richard.)
“Unfortunately, we are limited by legal considerations,” Ishikawa explained. “And of course there is some content that is exclusive to the platforms; “Obviously we can’t bring something to Nintendo that’s a PlayStation-licensed item, for example.”
However, many of the included DLCs, such as costumes and item packs, are conveniently available from the get-go. To unlock costumes, you must accept the DLC, equip the title it comes with, and then level up that title to be able to dress up in the costume. If you want to equip every available costume, this can potentially be a tedious task, but there’s a nice reward waiting for you at the end.
Overall, Tales of Graces f Remastered seems to have been created with seasoned fans and newcomers alike in mind.
