The remaster of Tales of Grace f is a much-needed revival for one of the best entries in the franchise. It failed to garner much attention during its initial release, which was limited to the Nintendo Wii, followed by a port to the PS3. The port brought new improvements to the game and added the ‘f’ moniker to the title. However, the timing couldn’t have been worse since the franchise was in a downward spiral at that time.
It took nearly a decade before fans were able to appreciate the game. Now, the newly launched remastered version of Tales of Grace f makes it clear that it is easily one of the best entries in the franchise. The heart of this Tales game is its story, featuring a brilliant cast of characters that sticks with us until the end. The combat system is also one of the best offered by the franchise. While it might not impress visually, its art style is charming and closer to classics like Tales of Vesperia than the newer entries.
Tales of Grace f Remastered follows the release of Tales of Symphonia Remastered last year. Bandai Namco seems to be continuing the trend of bringing classic Tales games to modern platforms. Given the extensive catalogue of titles available, they have a lot to handle. The first game to receive the remaster treatment was Tales of Vesperia, but it took a few years before the initiative resumed with Tales of Symphonia.
Tales of Grace f is set in the world of Ephinea. The main protagonist is Asbel Lhant, who, along with his brother Hubert, is living peacefully on the outskirts of their village when they encounter an amnesiac girl named Sophie. They decide to take her back to their home. As the story unfolds, Sophie makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Asbel. Years later, Asbel discovers that Sophie is not actually dead, and together they embark on a quest to save the world of Ephinea. The narrative starts with simple origins but develops into a rich tale of humanity and friendship, fostering an emotional connection with the characters we play.
If you’ve played a lot of the past Tales games, you’ll sense a degree of familiarity here. This is true to some extent, as the characters in Tales of Grace f follow common anime tropes. Their party banter, motivations, and character development all follow a set of clichés that can be off-putting, but they still manage to remain charming enough to keep us engaged in their fate. While the story doesn’t provide many interesting points of conversation, the battle system manages to keep the game fresh. It is an action RPG where you rely on your Chain Capacity to perform a wide range of moves, including normal and special attacks.
Each character has two different types of Artes, A-Artes and B-Artes. They can use either of these abilities on the fly, helping to keep the combat dynamic. These special abilities rely on the Chain Capacity gauge to execute, and this gauge slowly builds over time, opening the door for more Artes. The attacks are not limited to melee or magic damage; they also offer elemental affinities and can synergize with other party members’ Artes for a powerful strike. The game has a vast range of skills to unlock with the availability of Titles. Equipping a character with a title allows them to learn new Artes or receive stat boosts after doing more battles. The game allows character customization using this method, letting us pick the Artes to learn over time.
The exploration aspect of the game might feel a little barebones. Since this is an older game, the environments feel dated. Dungeons are frequent, but I wasn’t a fan of their design. It’s easy to get lost in them, but having an objective marker helps us reach our goals in time. There are no random battles in this game, so you can avoid encounters as long as you dodge the enemies seen roaming around the world map or dungeons. The remastered version also offers the ability to turn off enemy encounters.
The newly added features in the game are mostly shortcuts. When you first boot up the game, it asks for a difficulty option and then opens the grade shop, which is now accessible on the first playthrough, unlike in the past when it was limited to completing the game. Auto-saving is a great modern feature that’s been added, and cutscenes can be skipped as well. The remastered version of Tales of Grace f is aimed at both series veterans and newcomers.
The PC version of Tales of Grace f performed quite well for me. It is not a demanding game and should run on a wide range of hardware. It also played beautifully on Valve’s Steam Deck and looked gorgeous, especially on the OLED display. I was able to stick closer to 60 FPS performance on the Steam Deck, getting a buttery smooth gameplay experience.
Tales of Grace f Remastered Game Information
- Price: $39.99
- Publisher: Bandai Namco
- Developer: Bandai Namco
- Platform: PC (Reviewed)
- Disclaimer: A review code was given by the publisher
