Friendship never ends. Tales of Graces f Remastered.

Time really is a funny thing. A few years ago, if you were to ask me what my favorite series was, I’d quickly reply with, “Tales of”. No ifs, ands, or buts. Nowadays? Well, I’m sure you’ve gathered things have changed. I still enjoy and respect the Tales of series. I owe the series a lot because it provided me with some amazing gaming experiences. I thought I’d be able to recapture some of that with the remastered version of Tales of Gaces f. If you’re looking for the bottom line, then yes, the game is fun. But for me, as someone who has moved onto other series’ and as someone who did 100% of everything back when it was originally released on the PlayStation 3, I cut the journey short.

I’ll start with the updates. The visuals have been enhanced, there are multiple quality-of-life improvements (quicker movement, encounter toggling, etc.), and all previously released DLC has been included. Taking it a step further with that last one, Tales of Graces f is decked out with extras. For those new to the game, Tales of Graces f takes places in the world of Ephinea. In classic Tales of nature, the game begins with a gorgeous anime opening that sets the mood of the adventure. When you begin a new game, you will be introduced to some young children who you get to control for the first hour or so. I wasn’t thrilled by this, but once their little portion ends, the game truly begins. It stars a man named Asbel Lhant, the son of the Lord of Lhant. After experiencing a great tragedy as a youth, Asbel becomes a knight for the Kingdom of Barona. Asbel gets to meet new friends, and reconnect with old friends in an epic tale about war, betrayal, and most importantly, friendship. Yes, “the power of friendship” theme might seem a bit tired, but stick with it. Besides Asbel, you get to meet his brother Hubert, a peculiar prince named Richard, an amnesiac named Sophie, Asbel’s childhood sweetheart Cheria, the knight captain Malick, and the spunky engineer Pascal. This group of seven makes for some wonderful dialogue whether it’s in the story or during one of the classic Tales scripts.

Combat remains the highlight of the game. You can skip the story content and still hold the game in high regard thanks to such a skillfully crafted combat system. Tales of Graces f doesn’t use magic points. Instead, battles revolve around Chain Capacities (CC). All actions, with the exception of moving and guarding, require CC. For all intents and purposes, your CC acts as a stamina bar. Even the most basic attacks are more than just a standard slash, but they require at least one CC. Basic attacks are called A-Artes, and are the backbone behind forming combos. Instead of a standard three hit combo, characters can perform unique attacks that utilize their weapons as long as they have enough CC. Each character has an A-Arte Tree that shows how to perform each attack and the required CC. At first, characters won’t have much CC so their attack patterns will be limited. As they grow, their CC limit grows and results in the ability to perform amazing combos.

Alongside A-Artes, characters have unique B-Artes. Asbel will enter a new stance with his sword, whereas Malik will be able to cast elemental magic. My personal favorite character, Cheria, can use healing magic along with devastating thunder magic. B-Artes can be chained along with A-Artes, but some characters can perform combos by beginning with a B-Arte. It all adds up to a unique and highly addictive battle system. It may take a bit of adjustment. However, once you realize you can essentially chain any attack together, you’ll have a hard time going back to an orthodox battle system.

After a battle, characters will gain experience points and skill points. Skill points are for Titles, a feature that has existed in the series for years. However, Titles are now more important than ever since they are what allow characters to learn new skills, upgrade their current skills, grant bonuses and more. With over 100 titles for each character, building a character has never been so fun. Battles are the best part of the game, and when your characters learn new skills from their Titles, the fun never stops. However, there is still plenty to do outside of battle. Joining the usual talking to NPCs and shopping for gear, various aspects have been added and/or upgraded. The first feature is Dualizing. By taking two items, you can combine them to form something else. It’s a simple, yet effective way to earn money, upgrade your equipment and create new items for cooking. Cooking is now a simple process of combining two raw ingredients. However, cooking got a huge upgrade thanks to a feature called the Eleth Mixer. By putting food in the mixer and fulfilling certain requirements in a battle, the meal will get cooked and used immediately. Not only that, the mixer allows you to make items and grant certain bonuses.

Originally on the Wii, Tales of Graces f looked gorgeous in HD on the PlayStation 3. And now for current gen, Tales of Graces f Remastered is a sight. Inomata created some colorful characters and the animated cut scenes thrown in during key events show off her work. One of the game’s themes revolves around flowers, and Tales of Graces f has lots and lots of ’em. You’ll be experiencing plenty of pinks and purples as you travel the world. This is a beautiful game in and out of battle. Those who are Tales of junkies will be glad to know that the anime cut-ins are back during the Mystic Artes.

The biggest flaw in Tales of Graces f Remastered is still the music. Usually, Motoi Sakuraba and Shinji Tamura are the two composers for a Tales title. Sakuraba’s style is evident in a few areas, but Tamura seems to have created more of the tracks. Thus, most of the songs aren’t very exciting and quickly loop. When the music is good, it’s good. But when the music is bad, it’s bad and it’s bad often. Aside from that, the cast did a wonderful job of voicing each character. A group of well-known voices from games and anime lent their talents and delivered solid performances.

So, Tales of Graces f Remastered still feels and plays wonderfully. The journey is still memorable. The graphics are sharper than ever. The combat is still tight, filled with options, octane, and customization. This is still a great game. So, why did I stop? It’s because I’ve done it all before. I previously maxed out the Eleth Mixer, I fought the cameo battles, I finished all side-quests, I got a boatload of Titles for every character, and the list goes on. The only thing I didn’t do was max everyone’s Titles. (I would have if there was a trophy attached to it but there wasn’t.) I looked back at my playtime on my PlayStation 3 and I had nearly 100 hours. I wouldn’t have accrued that much time with the Remastered version thanks to the GRADE shop being unlocked from the start, but Tales of Graces f is still a long game on its own already. Knowing me and knowing the number of optional materials I’d feel obligated to pursue, I figured it best to just stop after a certain point. Don’t let that dissuade you; especially if you missed your chance on PlayStation 3. I just caution the original platinum hunters. There’s very little brand-new content that would make going through all these motions a second time as special or groundbreaking.

Overall, 8/10: Tales of Graces f Remastered is fun. Period. All the things it did right originally are being done right again. Take that as you will.