NOTE: The images used in this article are promotional pieces from the developer.
During their childhood, Richard (a prince), Asbel (a nobleman) and his little brother Hubert befriend an amnesiac girl called Sophie and witness her death. Seven years later, they are reunited with the girl who still remembers nothing. At the same time Richard is overthrown by his uncle who assumes the throne, and Asbel is subsequently overthrown by his own brother. Together, Richard, Asbel, and Sophie try to reclaim what they've lost.
The flow of story events in Graces is always driven by the characters, creating a more personal narrative than one driven by divine prophecy or the fate of the world. Concepts of friendship, offering forgiveness and showing mercy are featured heavily in Tales of Graces (at least in the beginning). The narrative lays down the foundation for this concept by introducing the characters as children, and again seven years later as grown adults who, unsurprisingly, are not the same people they once were. Allies become enemies, enemies become allies, and nearly everyone reconciles. The story never allows itself to get to heavy. There are a lot of silly melodramatic moments and skits that lend a tremendous amount of levity.
Every city, road, and dungeon is linked by the same interconnected routes and pathways. There is a lot of backtracking, so most of them will be traversed several times over by foot travel, or by turtlz (a sort of taxi service) for a fee. Exploration is tightly controlled by narrow paths and invisible barriers that funnel the player from one place to another. Even with these tight restrictions, it is very easy to become lost. The player is typically directed to head in one of the four cardinal directions (the game's compass is a life saver), or to head to a specific location without knowing where it is. It isn't until very late in the game that a map with fast travel points finally opens up, allowing for easy travel to complete side quests. The world map available up to that point acts only as a vague overview of the land, listing important landmarks like cities and dungeons with a dot in the general region they are located. Other important details, such as roads, aren't marked at all.
I also can't stand the maze-like dungeon design that the Tales games have a history of using, and Graces is the worst offender by far. Puzzles in the dungeons are tedious - not difficult, just annoying. Look up the Ghardia Shaft light puzzle or the sandshroud ruins tri color puzzle as an example. The dungeons alone are enough to make me hesitant to play the game again.
Combat takes place in real-time, within an enclosed area. The standard melee attacks and artes (magic) system of previous Tales games has been removed in favor of an A-artes and B-artes system. A-artes are performed with the X button, and B-artes are performed with the O button. The direction of the analog stick determines which A-artes and B-artes are performed, and they can be customized prior to battle. How many attacks can be strung together is limited by each character's command points (CP), which gradually replenish over time. Since all attacks are technically a form of "artes" which use CP, the player must alternate between an offensive stance and a defensive one as they wait for their CP to recover. There are some balancing issues; the difficulty will spike in places, particularly during certain boss fights, so level grinding is a must. However, the combat and title system were fun and addictive enough that I didn't mind, and this is coming from someone who refuses to grind in games anymore!
A crafting system called "Dualizing" is available at shops and wandering merchants. It combines items together to create something new. With repeated use weapons eventually become "tempered" and can be dualized with another tempered weapon. This returns the weapon to its base state, along with some additional residual stats and creates a special crystal in the process. Crystals can be equipped to characters to add further status effects or they can be dualized further. Learning how this system works early on is a boon because your gear is so important in Graces. Even with XP leveling, it feels secondary to the player's gear which has a subtle but much more noticeable effect on the gameplay and character growth.
Rather than try to revolutionize with every title, Namco makes just enough tweaks to the formula to keep the Tales of franchise fresh, and give each title it's own identity. Graces is one of the silliest Tales games, sporting more than its share of cheesy moments, general weirdness, and odd speeches about friendship throughout the adventure. The characters are fun, the colors are bright, and the ending is one of positivity and optimistic uncertainty. Graces doesn't do anything truly noteworthy, but the gameplay is solid.
First posted to videogamegeek.com
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