Tales of Graces f is considered one of the better Tales of games. With a strong focus on combat, a lovely cast of characters, and an easy to follow story, Tales of Graces f stands out in the series. And if I were to be reviewing Tales of Graces f on its merits as a Tales of game alone, it would get high marks. The skits are fun, the art is timeless, and it’s a very good game all around. But the key I was given is for Tales of Graces f Remastered, a remastered port of the Action RPG originally released on the Nintendo Wii and eventually ported to the PlayStation 3. And given the added features of the Remastered version and the price tag attached, I’m not sure I look at the Remastered version so favorably.
Tales of Graces f Remastered
Developer: Namco Tales Studio
Price: $40
Platform: PS5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC
MonsterVine was supplied with a PS5 code for review.
Tales of Graces f Remastered Sticks to the Series’ Strengths
Tales of Graces f is, at heart, a story about friendship. Making friends, maintaining friendships, and overcoming hardship for friendship. I’ve found that I enjoy most Tales of games and Tales of Graces f is no exception. The action combat is very tight and fun, the artes are satisfying, and the combat animations are smooth, attractive, and graceful. The cast is fleshed out with lots of skits, a mainstay in the series, that make the cast even more appealing than they would have had you simply played through the story alone. This is an excellent Tales of game.
But throughout my time playing Tales of Graces f Remastered, something kept bothering me. The game looks gorgeous, given a timeless art style that seems like it’ll age very well even into the coming decades. And the textures have been upscaled, Tales of Graces f Remastered is the best this game has ever looked. Waypoints have been added to the game to show you where to go for the next story beat. Cutscenes and skits are now skippable, so replays take less time. You’re able to toggle enemy encounters, allowing for battle-free wandering if you so choose. On selecting New Game, you’re immediately given access to the grade shop along with a bunch of points to make your playthrough easier or harder should you choose to change it.
And I think immediate access to the grade shop is a good thing. I imagine like I’m sure Namco Tales Studio imagines, most people playing this game either won’t be playing it for the first time or are established fans of the series. And the grade shop isn’t a necessary thing, you can easily bypass it immediately and start your New Game playthrough fresh. And that’s when it hit me. It’s not that these features aren’t good, that these quality-of-life upgrades aren’t welcome, it’s that they’re simply not enough.
I kept thinking throughout my playthrough, what makes this better than the PlayStation 3 version? Of course, it looks better, but by how much? Would you pay $40 for a DLC that simply upped the resolution of the textures? What price would you pay? If Bandai Namco released a DLC that gave you higher resolution textures, skippable cutscenes, an immediate grade shop, an enemy encounter toggle, and waypoints, what would you pay? So I started to dig into it, and I found out that Bandai Namco delisted the original Tales of Graces f from the PS3 store almost a year ago.
Now, I’m conflicted. I dig Tales of Graces f and the Remastered version offers some very nice quality-of-life features. And truthfully, if we go back to the original Wii release and then look at the Remastered version, it’s a night and day difference. I refuse to be a fence sitter, but damn if Tales of Graces f Remastered didn’t throw me for a loop on whether or not I found this game worth recommending. And truthfully, if you want to play Tales of Graces f now, legitimately, your only option is to buy this Remastered version (Although you can still get a digital copy of Tales of Graces f in a combo pack with Tales of Xillia on PSN.) This is especially true if you’re playing on an Xbox or the Nintendo Switch.
With that in mind, I think Tales of Graces f Remastered is a bit on the pricey side for what you get, but I appreciate it coming to all modern platforms and think that alone is worth the rerelease.
The Final Word
Tales of Graces f Remastered is the best this game has looked and the definitive experience. While I think delisting the original was unnecessary, I think it’s great that Tales of games are being brought to all modern consoles and no longer locked to single platforms. Though a bit pricey, Tales of Graces f Remastered takes a fan favorite into the modern era and makes it available for more people than ever with some quality-of-life functionality that the original sorely needed.
MonsterVine Rating: 3.5 out of 5 – Fair
