Tales of Graces f

Even though the Nintendo Wii wasn't particularly known for the amount of JRPGs released there, some of the best ones never actually left the Japanese market. The international gaming market was left without titles like Tales of Graces thanks to this. Luckily we have finally got a new international version of this game. And it's not just an international release, but an HD version at that. Tales of Graces F is the new version of the original way and was released as a PS3 exclusive. So, is this game as good as Tales of Vesperia? does it do justice to the original Wii version, or is it any better? Well, let's talk about it.

The plot

One recurring theme in this type of RPG games is that of the conflict between different kingdoms, and this game falls into that category. That means that not only is an adventure involved, but also a lot of story behind the war, politics, and a lot of character development and lore involved. It takes place on a planet called Efinea, where Asbel and her brother Hubert are involved in an inner war between two kingdoms.

Since this game is heavily story-driven, we won't get too much into the plot here, but there's a lot of interesting developments, plot, and big lore behind everything. Also, this F version adds an epilogue unique to the PS3 edition. And it's not just a basic one-mission thing, it's about 12 new extra hours of gameplay added into this already huge adventure.

A huge adventure

Tales of Graces F is one of those immense JRPGs where the story and missions are overflowing and filling the entire game world. Not only is it a big adventure in terms of the number of missions and the game hours, but also the extension of the game world. It's a beautiful and highly detailed world, however, it is not-too-interactive. In many ways, it feels like an anime with beautiful backgrounds you know you'll never explore.

Fluid combats

It is an RPG, but the combat feels very fluid, and even though I control some of your teammates while in combat, it works smoothly. There aren't really turns in the battles at Tales of Graces F, but rather loading bars for the attack. These prevent the game from being a complete action game but otherwise is a well-developed combat system.

You can fight a huge number of enemies and fill the monster compendium to collect info on all the creatures. Once you add a creature to the compendium you get to know all kinds of useful data about it. This proves to be very useful as you progress the game, and you can think of it as filling a Pokédex in any Pokémon game. Not to mention that it actually adds another challenge to the game, and there are many in there already.

Pros

• Tons of content
• Huge map
• Great story
• Excellent character
• Great combat system
• Fun to play

Cons

• It may be a little too cliché
• The story is great, but there’s nothing too original about it
• Even though it’s enhanced, it could have been a better job.