Tales of Graces has an interesting history as it was originally released for the Nintendo Wii in 2009, then enhanced a year later for PlayStation 3 with an additional epilogue. Yet it wouldn’t come to North America until 2012, when the PS3 version was finally ported over. Now Tales of Graces f Remastered is out for consoles and PC, allowing everyone to play the stellar action role-playing game in its best version yet.
Similar to other Tales games, battles are active in Graces and are a real standout. Players control one party member, while AI controls the rest of your party (you can define how they approach battles beforehand). This all comes together to create a fast-paced battle system that only gets better as you progress in the game thanks to the mix of skills you unlock and the combo chains you can put together.
Graphically, the game looks quite a bit sharper than the original release, although its Wii origins are still noticeable as the game isn’t overly detailed and the character designs are relatively simple. However, the art style is top-notch and the simplified designs really pop with the bright color palette. They’ve done a great job keeping the original art style and designs and making it the best version of it possible rather than upending the game.
But what has always made the Tales series special are the incredible stories and Tales of Graces sports one of my favorites. What makes it particularly striking is how the game begins with the main characters as children for an entire chapter before experiencing a seven-year time jump. There’s plenty of world-level story beats, such as the tension between nations and a coup for the throne early on, but exploring the characters and seeing how time has changed each of them is why the game is so uniquely special. This also includes the Lineage and Legacies chapter, so you’ll get to see what happened to the characters after the original ending as well.
The biggest draw of Tales of Graces f Remastered are the various quality of life upgrades the JRPG has seen. My favorite is the addition of destination icons, which allows you to easily see where to go next to continue the story. There’s also the ability to turn off enemy encounters and a new auto-save that is handy but not a game changer since save points appear pretty regularly. You can also easily skip cutscenes, which is great for those replaying multiple times.
Another interesting change is that the game’s Grade Shop, which allows you to customize your experience with upgrades that make the game easier or tougher. This was originally exclusive to new game plus, so being able to do it from the onset is great for returning players or those that want to make the game a bit easier (although it has a wide range of difficulty options already). These are all smart choices by the developer that show how well thought out this remaster is.
Tales of Graces f Remastered Review: Final Verdict
With some great quality-of-life changes and upgraded graphics, Tales of Graces f Remastered is the best way to play the beloved JRPG. Whether you’re a newcomer to the story or have played it before on Wii or PS3, this upgrade is well worth checking out as the story holds up, and the gameplay is as thrilling as ever. This is a remaster done right, as it stays true to the original while making some smart tweaks.
SCORE: 9/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 9 equates to “Excellent.” Entertainment that reaches this level is at the top of its type. The gold standard that every creator aims to reach.
Disclosure: The publisher provided a PlayStation 5 copy for our Tales of Graces f Remastered review. Reviewed on version 1.000.003.
