Hi everybody, my names Ash and welcome to the XPN Gaming website! I personally love JRPG games. Titles like Final Fantasy 9, Blue Dragon, Dragons Quest are some of my all time favourite games, however I feel like in the last few years JRPG games have begun to change. Gone are the old school mechanics and feeling, and in their place it seems there has been a huge push to more Devil May Cry like action. Now I'm not saying these games aren't fun, but they just feel like they have lost the essence of what them so appealing to me. This is why I have been revisiting some of the classics recently, and with the boom of remasters/remakes/rereleases of old school games, I have been able to scratch that old school JRPG craving. Now Bandai Namco have remastered a classic game from their Tales franchise and I had the pleasure of checking it out!
Tales of Graces was the twelfth mainline game in the Tales franchise of video games. Originally releasing back in 2009 on the Nintendo Wii. In 2010 a Playstation 3 port of the game titled Tales of Graces f was released, this included additional content and improvements. This version of the game was also brought to the western world in 2012. Now in 2025, a remastered version of the game is available on all major platforms and includes improved visuals, quality of life improvements and extra content, some of which is available for the first time outside of Japan.
So this is a remaster which means there are plenty of improvements to be found over the original releases. These additions and improvements include:
Improved Visuals/Resolutions for modern displays
Auto Save Function
Skip Functions
Over 80 bits of DLC (pretty much everything released on the Wii and PS3 releases bar a couple of licensed packs that have been left out)
The ability to turn off enemy encounters
Dash Toggle
The ability to access the Grade Shop during your first playthrough
Improved map icons
Retry ability for battles
Additional accessibility and menu options
And there's even more on top of that exhaustive list. The included DLC packs are mainly costumes and chats but are available from the get go in the game. Whilst some of the improvements may seem minor, they do make the game play so much smoother, without detracting from the classic feeling of the OG release.
I would say the best bit of content added over the original is the Lineage and Legacies expansion. This adds upto 10 hours of extra content that is set a few months after the end of the main story. Its filled with dungeons to work through, but is a nice addition that shows what happens to the characters after the original game ended.
If you haven't played the game before, the story follows the journey of Asbel Lhant, a young swordsman from the town of Lhant in the kingdom of Windor. The story begins with Asbel and his friends discovering a mysterious girl named Sophie, who has no memory of her past. The group embarks on a quest to uncover Sophie's origins, leading them to confront the political turmoil and hidden truths within their world. Asbel's desire to protect those he cares about drives him to become a knight and face the challenges that lie ahead.
As the story unfolds, Asbel and his friends are drawn into a conflict involving the neighboring country of Fendel and the ancient race known as the Amarcian. They encounter new allies and enemies, each with their own motivations and secrets. The group's bond strengthens as they work together to prevent the destruction of their world. Along the way, they uncover the true nature of Sophie's existence and the powerful force known as Lambda, which threatens to bring chaos and devastation. At first the story didn't grip me, you start off as a young, strongheaded but naive child, and I wasn't drawn in properly until the end of the early chapters when you time jump ahead a few years. Its a slow start, but once you get through the first 10 hours the game really gets into it's stride. Playing through the story will take you around 40-50 hours, but if you want to go for a full completion you're easily looking at 120+ hours!
The game is fully voice acted, which is really nicely done, however I do wish that the game would auto play through the spoken dialogue instead of waiting for me to click the button to proceed to the next line. It's not the end of the world, but sometimes I just wanted to sit and watch the story unfold infront of me.
Tales of Graces f has a unique combat system called "Style Shift Linear Motion Battle System" and it features several mechanics that set it apart from other entries in the Tales franchise. Now I haven't played all the games in the Tales franchise, but I have seen alot of discussion that this is either the absolute best combat in the series, or it has the marmite effect in the opposite direction. I really enjoyed the battles in the game, it features a dual combat style system where you either use Strike or Burst attacks. You can switch and mix between the styles on the fly during combat, for example, you might start with Strike attacks to build up a combo and then switch to Burst for a powerful finishing move. There is also a combo style chain mechanic that governs how many actions a character can perform in a single combo. This Chain Capacity is consumed when using special attacks or guarding, and it regenerates over time or by landing attacks. Skilled players can chain together multiple special and normal attacks to create devastating combos. Whilst combat isn't turn based and more action based, you still have an active party of four characters, which you can assign tactics too outside of combat to control what style of combat actions they will carry out. There are also titles to mix things up. Characters earn Titles based on their actions in battle, such as using specific attacks or defeating enemies in certain ways. Titles grant stat bonuses and unlock new skills. Yes the combat is action based with combos, but there's so much classic JRPG woven through it, with things like stats, XP, skills, titles, tactics etc that it still feels old school.
As mentioned previously the game also has a deluxe edition available to buy which includes some additional content for an additional £15!
The Deluxe Edition includes:
• Tales of Graces f Remastered
• Battle BGM pack
• Digital Artbook & Soundtrack
• Super Growth Support Herb Set I would definitely recommend this if you're a big fan of the game/franchise but maybe wait for a sale if not as there isn't a ton of extra items for the increase in price.
However, I must admit that despite all the improvements to accessibility, there are additional paid level up DLC packs available. These cost between £1.69 and £2.49 and increase your parties levels by set amounts. I don't think they are needed, and I think they are extremely overpriced to say you don't actually get any additional content. It's basically like paying extra to use a cheat code and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It's a shame that it casts a small shadow over what is otherwise a rather decent offering.
Tales of Graces f is a good jumping in point to this classic RPG series. While you will need to put a good ten hours into the game before the story really gets going, the combat on offer is arguably one of the best in the entire franchise. Throw in the quality of life improvements and improved graphics, and you are in for action packed adventure that feels better than ever before and is also very welcoming to new players or people with accessibility needs. I would just recommend ignoring the paid level up DLCs and instead focus on the core gameplay and improvements.
XPN Rating: 4 out of 5 (Gold)
Tales of Graces f Remastered is AVAILABLE NOW!
I played the game on Xbox Series X. A copy of the game was provided for this review. A huge thank you for that! If you liked this review, why not take a look at my review for Star Wars: Episode 1 Jedi Power Battles HERE.
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