Tales of Graces f

 PlayStation 3
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 386 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 322 out of 386
  2. Mixed: 35 out of 386
  3. Negative: 29 out of 386
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. R6ex
    Apr 5, 2021
    5
    Beautiful story and characters with decent gameplay but travelling along platforming style is just too old-school and lame in this day and age. I gave up within 2 hours.
  2. BasilZero
    Feb 2, 2021
    9
    Game: Tales of Graces F
    Genre: Action RPG
    Developer: Namco Tales Studios Publisher: Bandai Namco System: Playstation 3 (PS3) Year of Release: 2012 Length of Playthrough: 70 hours Total Score: 94/100 Value Score: 9.4/10 • Story: 9/10 • Characters: 9/10 • GamePlay: 10/10 • Graphics: 8/10 • Sound: 10/10 • Music: 9/10 • Length: 10/10 • Replay Value: 10/10 • Player Value:    Game: Tales of Graces F
    Genre: Action RPG
    Developer: Namco Tales Studios
    Publisher: Bandai Namco
    System: Playstation 3 (PS3)
    Year of Release: 2012
    Length of Playthrough: 70 hours

    Total Score: 94/100
    Value Score: 9.4/10

    • Story: 9/10
    • Characters: 9/10
    • GamePlay: 10/10
    • Graphics: 8/10
    • Sound: 10/10
    • Music: 9/10
    • Length: 10/10
    • Replay Value: 10/10
    • Player Value: 9/10

    Pros
    +Lineage and Legacies sequel story added to this version compared to original Wii version
    +Very lengthy base game (about 55 hours) and the extra story gives a decent amount of extra playthrough (15 hours)
    +Great cast and story with a ton of voice acting
    +Great combat system
    +New Game+ with a ton of replayability

    Cons
    -Not as visually appealing to other PS3 Tales series titles due to the original being a Wii game, assets and visuals not as good looking    … Expand
  3. Hellhammer
    Sep 4, 2020
    9
    Tales of Graces f was a shot in the dark for me as it happened to be rather cheap at the time. I expected little as my first Tales experience (Tales of Xillia) was rather underwhelming. To my surprise this quickly became one of my favourite games. The story is good, but what makes this work are the very endearing characters. They may be a little cliche, but they are just so hard not toTales of Graces f was a shot in the dark for me as it happened to be rather cheap at the time. I expected little as my first Tales experience (Tales of Xillia) was rather underwhelming. To my surprise this quickly became one of my favourite games. The story is good, but what makes this work are the very endearing characters. They may be a little cliche, but they are just so hard not to like. What truly made this game for me though was the combat system. It is hands down one of the best fighting systems I have experienced. It feels so fluid and fast paced, yet approachable. You dodge and weave around the enemy using many different moves while also having the option to switch characters. By the time I finished the game I was just not ready to stop fighting yet. I honestly hope this game sees some form of remastering at some point so that I can experience it in a more polished setting, because the game really deserves it. Did I mention that the music is also top notch? Because it is.… Expand
  4. CadeWylan
    Jun 25, 2020
    1
    Terrible voice acting, cliched story, bad characters, bad graphics, and a just plain over-hyped battle system. All flash no substance. I've played every 3D tales of, and this is one of the only two I haven't finished. It does nothing to reel you in, it has no compelling elements and doesn't have anything that another Tales of game doesn't do better. Not to mention all the other games youTerrible voice acting, cliched story, bad characters, bad graphics, and a just plain over-hyped battle system. All flash no substance. I've played every 3D tales of, and this is one of the only two I haven't finished. It does nothing to reel you in, it has no compelling elements and doesn't have anything that another Tales of game doesn't do better. Not to mention all the other games you could have bought and not wasted money on.… Expand
  5. ShunOugarden
    Sep 23, 2019
    8
    Good graphisms, scenario and play. Why only 8 ? too much invisibles boundaries on the road and not enough skins.
  6. CSickmann24
    Jan 10, 2019
    9
    I finished this game 3 times so far and i give it a 9. Only thing that stops me for giving a perfect score are the dungeons. Otherwise it is a great J-RPG!
  7. Empyrea
    Mar 10, 2018
    8
    This game has a good plot. Each character has its own personality. Graphics are a little better than in Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World. Soundtrack is quite good. Voices as always are really good. It took me 38 hours to beat the first game because after that you can access to the second part which took me 10 more hours. The final boss is damn diffucult but with the info that I gotThis game has a good plot. Each character has its own personality. Graphics are a little better than in Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World. Soundtrack is quite good. Voices as always are really good. It took me 38 hours to beat the first game because after that you can access to the second part which took me 10 more hours. The final boss is damn diffucult but with the info that I got in Internet I could beat him without leveling up my team. To sum up a good rpg. If you like rpg you must have it. If not the case you may prefer watch some gameplay before making a decision.… Expand
  8. tomvs123
    Feb 28, 2018
    5
    This game is average and its primary audience, based on the story, is 7-18 year-olds. My 5-year old had a blast watching me play it and even helped me get through many of the 10-minute boss fights.

    I can't do a review of the combat justice since I hated it. I played through it on the easiest difficulty just to endure it and complete the game. To me, it's chaotic, button-mashy, requires    This game is average and its primary audience, based on the story, is 7-18 year-olds. My 5-year old had a blast watching me play it and even helped me get through many of the 10-minute boss fights.

    I can't do a review of the combat justice since I hated it. I played through it on the easiest difficulty just to endure it and complete the game. To me, it's chaotic, button-mashy, requires almost no strategy, and is limiting from an action perspective. Look at other reviews to get a better idea of how it works.

    The English voice acting is below-average, but tolerable, and the game's target audience likely won't have any issue with it. There's no Japanese language option.

    The non-combat game mechanics, maps, and dungeons are relatively standard. I was quite pleased with the over world map and dungeons, which are higher quality than those in Tales of Xillia. The areas in Graces felt real (but small) while those in Xillia felt like giant empty squares that were randomly filled with monsters and items.

    And the dungeon puzzles: At first, they're okay, but they get more annoying the farther you get. For example, there are multi-room puzzles where you'll need to go over five rooms to push a thing that might affect something in a different room. You then need to hunt for the thing it affected and hope that's what you need to progress. You might be okay with this if have a photographic memory, follow a guide, or create your own map.

    The story is average. If you'd played more than five teen-focused JRPGs, then you've already seen everything that this story has to offer. The good points for it is that it's consistent and doesn't really resort to any "power of friendship" mechanics.

    Your primary goal is to stop an evil being that's trying to destroy the world, for no valid/believable reason.

    The story isn't at all mature. You play as a 11-year old boy who turns into an 18-year old, and he's having a hard time coming to terms with adulthood, responsibility, and the decisions of others. He's definitely the innocent and stupid type. One example is that there's another character who want to sacrifice herself for the greater good of humanity, but the main character keeps stopping her through his child-like outbursts. It's funny in stories like this where someone is trying to do a noble and meaningful sacrifice, and the protagonist just stops it because his need to keep that person as a friend outweighs his desire to give that person what she wants. Or maybe they just all assume that the other person doesn't really want to sacrifice herself... Either way, it's a bit silly.

    The story is very predictable at first. For example, the guy with the evil eyes is the evil one. Later in the game, the story changes character allegiances and motivations at a whim with very sketchy background and reasoning. So it goes from being very predictable to completely unpredictable (in a bad way).

    The characters aren't bad, but are a little flat and uninteresting. There's a lot of trope-following here and you'd have a hard time telling the main character apart from a multitude of 14-year old boy JRPG protagonists (Isn't he supposed to be 18?). But if you haven't played a lot of JRPGs, you'll probably find someone to like here.

    I completed the main game and found a new option on the title screen that started up a new story about 6 months after the end of the main game. In this story, you're dealing with the consequences of the main character's decision at the end of the first story, and it isn't very interesting. I gave up part way though when I had to go to the 4th dungeon to get another random thing to progress the story. That was also the point where some more annoying dungeon puzzles popped up and battles started becoming so difficult that level grinding was required (even on easy mode). Play though this part only if you absolutely love the characters or need to know what happens next. That's not me, so I'm here writing my post-game review.

    In closing, I think this is a good game if you're young (under 18) and are prone to like anime or Japanese games. But for everyone else, it might be a bit of a chore to get through, especially if you've been playing JRPGs for 30+ years.    … Expand
  9. raccoondaddy
    Apr 2, 2017
    8
    Tales of Graces F is yet another entry in the Tales RPG franchise. For those unaware of the gameplay, it is a blend of the standard RPG battle visuals with a combat system that plays like a beat em' up game.
    This blend keeps all of the traditional elements you would find in any RPG, like magic, special attacks and even summons and keeps the combat moving. In Graces', that gameplay    Tales of Graces F is yet another entry in the Tales RPG franchise. For those unaware of the gameplay, it is a blend of the standard RPG battle visuals with a combat system that plays like a beat em' up game.
    This blend keeps all of the traditional elements you would find in any RPG, like magic, special attacks and even summons and keeps the combat moving. In Graces', that gameplay remains the same. (Which is a good thing, at least for these games.)

    As for the story, it's pretty good and for the most part that characters are likeable for a few exceptions, whom I won't name. But that is just my opinion and some may like them.

    Also, there is plenty of things to do and see in the game and the additional content added to this version wraps the story up fairly well, in the end.

    My major issue with the game was the pacing. For most of the first half, there seemed to be a whole lot of going back and forth to the same place, which felt more like doing errands than playing an RPG. Sure, I know this happens in almost all RPGs, but this game just did it TOO MUCH. Outside of the that it was good.

    Overall: Tales of Graces F is a great RPG, that has issues getting the story moving but ends up paying off in the end. The epilogue section wraps everything up pretty well and balances the tedious pace of the early narrative.    … Expand
  10. NexusTsunami
    Jan 22, 2017
    8
    Ich bin mit Tales of in die Riege der JRPG´ler eingestiegen. Dementsprechend musste sich Graces f beweisen. Und dies hat es. Wenn auch meines erachtens nicht so gut wie Tales of Vesperia ist es dennoch toll.

    Charaktertechnisch haben mir vorallem Cheria, Sophie und Pascal gefallen (mein Augenmerk liegt halt nunmal bei den Mädel´s :-)). Leider leitet dieses Spiel den Untergang der Open    Ich bin mit Tales of in die Riege der JRPG´ler eingestiegen. Dementsprechend musste sich Graces f beweisen. Und dies hat es. Wenn auch meines erachtens nicht so gut wie Tales of Vesperia ist es dennoch toll.

    Charaktertechnisch haben mir vorallem Cheria, Sophie und Pascal gefallen (mein Augenmerk liegt halt nunmal bei den Mädel´s :-)).

    Leider leitet dieses Spiel den Untergang der Open World in der Tales of Reihe ein... allerdings ist die "neue" Art der Oberwelt schöner gestaltet als es ein Tales of Xillia getan hat.

    Das Kampfsystem ist im Vergleich als andere Ableger ganz anders gestaltet. Dies macht es aber nur ungleich schlechter sondern ist, wenn auch wie gesagt anders, dennoch auf dem gleichen hohen Niveau wie seine Verwandten.

    Wie immer ist die der OST schön anzuhören und bietet einige Ohrwürmer.

    Kurzum: Ein gutes Tales of...    … Expand
  11. TalesRaven
    May 1, 2016
    8
    Absolutely wonderful game, despite its obvious drawbacks. A fast paced and complex battle system, a colourful cast of characters whose interactions are natural and funny, fun and innovative dualizing and title systems, and an endearing (but by no means perfect) storyline serve to make this game a very enjoyable experience to any JRPG fan. Unfortunately, there are a few drawbacks - theAbsolutely wonderful game, despite its obvious drawbacks. A fast paced and complex battle system, a colourful cast of characters whose interactions are natural and funny, fun and innovative dualizing and title systems, and an endearing (but by no means perfect) storyline serve to make this game a very enjoyable experience to any JRPG fan. Unfortunately, there are a few drawbacks - the combat takes a while to open up and cannot be fully explored without delving deep into the optional dualizing system, the story can move at a very slow pace at times and the OST is rather bland. The game is chock full of content, from the hundreds of different sidequests to the funny skits the characters have, filling up the dualizing book, side bosses, arena fights, finding new locations on the world map, extra dungeons and obtaining titles and costumes. Overall, the pros heavily outweigh the cons, and the game will give you joy every time you pop the disc in.… Expand
  12. miastalman
    Mar 24, 2016
    8
    Well that one is a bit archaic and ugly - it is a port from Wii. I liked that game, because it had really nice figthing system. If you played xillia or zestiria - their ones are too easy, here you have a bit of a challenge. Plot is ok, nothing special, environment is nothing extraordinary, just what you would expect from game like that. Overall I think it is good game, there are no actualWell that one is a bit archaic and ugly - it is a port from Wii. I liked that game, because it had really nice figthing system. If you played xillia or zestiria - their ones are too easy, here you have a bit of a challenge. Plot is ok, nothing special, environment is nothing extraordinary, just what you would expect from game like that. Overall I think it is good game, there are no actual drawbacks, just it is far to be perfect.… Expand
  13. Super_Cloud
    Jan 13, 2016
    8
    I really enjoyed the story of the game, the music were good, the character were great except for Cheria who kinda annoyed me sometime, i liked the battle at first but i quickly became annoyed by the stat system, like if your accuracy was too low you would do less damage, breaking the nova barrier all the time was extremely annoying and the boss near death were suddenly super powerful forI really enjoyed the story of the game, the music were good, the character were great except for Cheria who kinda annoyed me sometime, i liked the battle at first but i quickly became annoyed by the stat system, like if your accuracy was too low you would do less damage, breaking the nova barrier all the time was extremely annoying and the boss near death were suddenly super powerful for no reasons... other than that, the game was great.… Expand
  14. Delinquent_B
    Nov 30, 2015
    7
    I would give this game 7.5 but that is not an option.

    1. The plot/characters I only liked the plot in the beginning and the end. Its very lacking and repeats the same events over and over. For example. Asbel obsesses over protecting his friends all the time. I only liked one character named Hubert. the rest was copy paste form other tales of games. We all know the formula. There is    I would give this game 7.5 but that is not an option.

    1. The plot/characters
    I only liked the plot in the beginning and the end. Its very lacking and repeats the same events over and over. For example.
    Asbel obsesses over protecting his friends all the time. I only liked one character named Hubert. the rest was copy paste form other tales of games. We all know the formula. There is the old "veteran" guy, the emotionless loli, the white knight main character and his childhood friend.

    2. Battle system
    This is were this game shines. I only played 3 tales of games. Abyss, Graces F and Xillia.
    This game got the best battle system by far. Its deep and fast paced. In the Epilogue of the game. It surprisingly gets even better with the introduction of new mechanics.

    3. Dualize
    I always liked gathering different equipment but the game forced me to use the "Dualize system" its an system that lets you fuse "shards" to power up your gear. It can also fuse ingredients to create food. So yeah. There is not much gear overall. You have to fuse those shards in your equipment, then fuse both equipments to create a "gem" a gem is an equipment that boost stats. So if your Shard got an attack property your gem gets attack.
    Its possible to fuse those gems as well to create a better one.

    I got 70 hours in this game because the combat was very addicting. played it on the moderate difficulty. Mobs were easy to beat and the bosses were challenging.

    If you crave a new Tales of game or just a JRPG you should get this one.    … Expand
  15. Klaww25
    Nov 25, 2015
    8
    This game is better than I expected and it is far better than vesperia in terms of story. The graphics may be subpar but the gameplay is great. The music is decent and there is some humor in it. The story may not be as mature as xillia but it is still very good.
  16. hugoboy
    Oct 5, 2015
    10
    I don't know if developers these days have become lazy, or just plain greedy. There are few games this gen (and last) that i can confidently call a complete game. And Tales of grace is definitely one of those utterly complete game. Definitely a must buy for any rpg fanatic.
  17. Qlonoa
    Aug 15, 2015
    9
    This game is one of my favourite JRPGS of all time . The characters have an incredible design and have their own personality. It's a very completed gameplay and battle system and there are hours and hours of post-game content. The story is Amazing.
  18. mupo0853
    Jun 28, 2015
    8
    In my opinion the story for starters is remarkable the story and character development shines brightly for the main character and support characters that you can tell the emotion swayed when something drastic happens or even simply going to the next town. the battles are engaging and fun to experiment with new arts and the soundtrack gets you pumped when in battle. the crafting system isIn my opinion the story for starters is remarkable the story and character development shines brightly for the main character and support characters that you can tell the emotion swayed when something drastic happens or even simply going to the next town. the battles are engaging and fun to experiment with new arts and the soundtrack gets you pumped when in battle. the crafting system is rewarding and adds a fun alchemy touch to the game play .Sadly it can get repetitive though as there aren't many artes and you may end up using the same strategy over and over. And the negative views dissapoint me. I can't give it a perfect rating because of the battle repetition and the lack of fast travel but I can't give it a horrible rating, it's too good of a game for that. I might add because they give this game a horrible rating because of the fact it's not like other tales, but maybe it should be able to explore and a 1 is overkill. If you want to make a review be realistic not butt hurt because it doesn't fill nostalgia.… Expand
  19. Ventrust
    Jun 3, 2015
    7
    Tales of Graces is one of the more differentiating games in the lineup of The Tales of series. It removes a lot of combat elements that have always been present in the series, like the old artes-chains and the complete removal of a mana gauge. That's right, every art in the game is free.
    How does this new battle system compare to the rest of the series? Actually, I think this game has    Tales of Graces is one of the more differentiating games in the lineup of The Tales of series. It removes a lot of combat elements that have always been present in the series, like the old artes-chains and the complete removal of a mana gauge. That's right, every art in the game is free.
    How does this new battle system compare to the rest of the series? Actually, I think this game has some, if not the most fun combat experiences in the series. The removal of mana makes it so the game is much more resistant in throwing new artes in your face, but the artes you do get are flashy and fun, not to mention that you can chain certain artes into each other if you acquire the right skills. You don't have normal attacks in this game: every single move is basically an Arte, and the combat seems the most varied in the series because of this. Due to the nature of how strong these elements make you, some enemies have an obscene amount of health in he late game, and I felt personally no enemy has a fair chance because of all the options the game gives you, so a lot of them also appear to have rather cheap attacks to actually give you a challenge. Having an enemy use their mystic arte more than five times in a battle, if not more is rather hard to deal with. Should not be a problem though, as this is the easiest game I have played in the series, and I have played 6 so far. Still, it's a rather fun game that does a lot of interesting things with the series, and stands on its own in that regard: it's combat is very distinguishing in the series.

    Now, for some negatives: While the fighting and any element/mechanic that is directly connected to the combat is great, I can't say that for the rest of the elements of the game. It's characters, while not boring or even bad, don't stand out compared to other RPG's. I think there was a total of two characters who I had not already seen in other stories, and they are really not that important to the story. Again, they are not bad characters at all, I have just already seen them, and other than in their combat styles,I find no real interest in them. The main character looks and feels great to play as, but nothing about him differentiates him from any other typical RPG hero. And that is generally the cast summed up, they don't stand out. They have rather funny conversations, none of them leave an impact on the story as a whole, and are just a group of friends traveling to save the world, none of them affect the plot :/
    The story and moral are also basically standard JRPG tropes, and they are not unique. Not bad, but other stories have done these stories, and have done them with unique characters or untypical elements. The only part where this game trumps other JRPG's is with it's combat. This might especially get monotonous boring since this is pretty much the longest Tales game f we just look at story events, excluding Tales of the Abyss. And when you take the extra story arc you get after the game with Graces 'F', you have a really, really long RPG with the only stand out element being the combat, which might get to easy when you get used to it. But the game is still worth playing, if only partially, because of those cool and flashy battles. If you enjoy stylish, fluent combat with lots of options, then Tales of Graces is one of the best games you can chose to fill this need.    … Expand
  20. FantasyCritic71
    May 23, 2015
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Does Tales of Graces F suck? Is it the worst Tales game ever? Or is it just underrated? Lets find out.

    ~ The Story ~

    The story of Tales of Graces F revolves around friendship which is something that a few people might not like to delve into. The story for Graces F is not bad its just executed in a way that's not very appealing.

    There's some things I liked about the story such as the big change from all the characters during the Child Arc. Hubert went from coward to badass in just 7 years Asbel went from rebel little kid to powerful & respectful swordsman. Alot of interesting things also occurred after the child arc such as Cheria being mean to Asbel, Asbel's father getting killed, Hubert kicking his brother out of his own kingdom, Richard slowly becoming insane these things were really good it made the story really interesting. My 3 favorite moments were 1. - Sophie extending her hand toward Richard only for him to say **** You" and hit her with a blast to her face. 2. - Richard laughing in the Anime Cutscene when he was building the cocoon Idk why? but that laugh sounded so epic and cool to me. 3. - Emeraude unveiling her true evil intentions and 4. - Richard & Lamda's Backstory of how both of them become sad & depressed people hating on the world.

    Overall the story got boring after Richard attacked Lhant and it became all about the bonds of friendship, friendship, friendship, friendship I am so tired of friendship.

    ~ The Gameplay ~

    The gameplay is the highpoint of this game and it does not disappoint I had a blast playing this game but that refers only to the combat. The Child Arc Gameplay was terrible it didn't get good until After.

    Dungeons - Alot of the dungeons in the game felt really samey its easy to get lost in them plus once your inside there's no map so good luck trying to find your way once your inside. I also did not like some of the puzzles in this game especially the ones inside the Amarcian Ruins & in the last dungeon The Ghardia Shaft they really suck.

    Fast Travel - Traveling is also a pain in the ass sometimes you'll have to travel all the way back to the start of a dungeon to get out this doesn't happen often because they give you shortcuts sometimes but still it really sucks. You won't be able to fast travel until near the end of the game, however you do have the option of traveling back & forth via Turtlez Transport & Ships but these only leave you in certain places going faraway can be hard sometimes. The game is very linear but you do have the freedom to break free from the story if you so chose.

    Combat - In this game you have the Titles System which grants you bonuses, ability upgrades, new abilities, stat increases and a large variety of skills. You can get titles by defeating certain enemies killing enemies in a certain way and etc. In this game you have A-Artes[Assault Artes] & B-Artes[Burst Artes] A-Artes are basically normal attacks which allow for the use of combos and B-Artes are like special attacks such as Demon Fang there's no MP so you can freely use these attacks as you please. However when the CC Meter[Chain Capacity] drops to 0 you'll have to wait for it to fill back up to perform actions again but it fills up pretty quickly so its not that big of a deal it can fill up even quicker if you block and dodge attacks with the quick step. There's also an Eleth Gauge Blue for you the Player & Red for the enemies when it fills up you can endlessly chain together combos without worry for CC and you can use your Mystic Artes with the L1 Button. When the Red one fills up the enemy gains the same abilities that you do when the blue one fills up so its a double edged sword.

    Alchemy & Dualizing - In this game you can fuse items, food & weapons together to create new ones and also upgrade weapons, its called Dualizing(I think) but I didn't go to in depth with it so I'm not very knowledgeable on that subject.

    ~ The Music ~

    Does the music suck like people say? Is it amazing? Or is it just moderate? Well in my opinion I say its moderate not that bad but not that great it could've been better but its not that bad.

    Town Themes - I love a few town themes such as Windor's Theme[Town of Dancing Wind] Barona's Theme[Majestic Grandeur], The Depths of Ruling Science & The Port Theme - To A Sea of Dancing Snow[Sounds like Symphonia]. I also like that one Forest theme - Beyond The Sunlit Tree's.

    Battle Themes - Some Battle Themes like Perplexed Sword, Mad Dance, Fodra's Battle Theme, Epic Release & The Final Boss Battle Themes were good as well.

    Voice Acting - People say its bad people say its good but I say its okay. The Voice Acting is not that great & not that bad.

    ~ Graphics ~

    Graphics are good for a ported Wii game to the PS3.

    ~ Overall ~

    Does this game deserve the hate? Nope. Should it be praised as the best? Nope. Is it worth playing? Yes it is. Great Combat, A Moderate Story & Hilarious Skits is definitely worth playing this game    … Expand
  21. Trepadora
    Feb 13, 2015
    5
    I'm sat here wondering how this game came to be known as one of the better games of the Tales franchise. I would consider myself to be a Tales fan - I've played every game I could get my hands on. But this game just doesn't spark. It feels like they were trying to gut most of what made these games so good.

    One thing I've always enjoyed was the story. But, I'm here thinking, 40 hours    I'm sat here wondering how this game came to be known as one of the better games of the Tales franchise. I would consider myself to be a Tales fan - I've played every game I could get my hands on. But this game just doesn't spark. It feels like they were trying to gut most of what made these games so good.

    One thing I've always enjoyed was the story. But, I'm here thinking, 40 hours into the game, and can barely recall much bar a few vague descriptions of major moments and nothing else. Nothing about the plot is particularly memorable. It feels as though it stumbles from location to location, going through the motions and never really providing anything exciting. Despite being near the end of the game, I don't feel as if I am - I'm not on the edge of my seat as the story reaches it's finale: I'm strolling along with detached disinterest, vainly hoping that perhaps it will surprise me with some well-thought twist that makes it all worth it.

    If you're a Tales fan, you're well aware of the host of memorable characters. Characters such as Kratos or Yuri likely stick out in your mind as interesting, fleshed out characters. However in Graces F, we have 'I want to protect my friends protagonist' and 'cool mentor guy'. If you play this game, this will likely be the extent of the characters you will see. None of them ever become particularly fleshed out beyond the first impression you had of them. Very little attempt is ever made at development, and what little is, falls flat on its face. The voices don't fare much better. While the voices themselves are okay, it is very rare hear the character to genuinely sound like the emotion they are meant to be conveying. Combined with the clumsy writing, it is more than a little awkward to listen to.

    Finally the battle system. It feels completely gutted and replaced by something else entirely. I recognize that a lot of effort went into this system to make it have more depth and complexity. However, it feels unnecessarily overcomplicated. I played most of the game on hard, and it rarely evolved beyond pushing one button a lot and then waiting for my CC to replenish. Certainly, there was also back or sidestepping, but it never felt particularly involving. Reducing it to what is essentially a two button system feels like it took away much more than it gave.

    I feel as if that sums up the majority of my time playing with the game, changes that took more away from my experience that added to it. I had numerous other gripes with the game as well: the titles felt like more grinding, the mixer felt superfluous, the AI was catastrophically stupid, the difficulty was horrendously balanced (tying battle rewards to difficulty level was pretty dumb) and the characters felt unsatisfying as whole to play with. Overall, this does not feel like the game series I fell in love with, and I fear I will never understand the praise it receives.    … Expand
  22. zentensu
    Oct 27, 2014
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. worst tales game out of them all. I have played all of the tales games that have been made. mostly in part due to the fans that patched some for English that allowed me to play the older ones. but this one is hands down the worst of all the tales of games,first off. the prelude is unbearably long its only even semi playable because of sophie, without her the fights would be impossible to play. next, the new fighting system, its CRAP the limitations placed on you because of the title system on learning arts, and how few arts there are in the game. it makes it the less user friendly fighting systems in any tales game, and the fact that you cant set the arts you want, all this games fighting system is, is button mashing, grant it most of the others are as well, but with manual they make it so its less of a button masher game. next the title system. how the titles are done in this game, they give you stats and skill in this game LEVELING DOSE NOT. if you put on a title for a costume you lose a chunk of your stats because of that. next the map. if you have ever played any of the tales games after the ps2 (tales of the abyss mostly) you know how the ma system should be, and they compactly diverged from that, made it a comp linear map, you cant fast travel tell you are pretty much done with the game so that makes doing side quests completely unbearable. THE ONLY plus this game has is the awesome fighting style that asbell learns when he grows up. its ONLY worth a play to play it once for the story, it is NOT worth the time to replay it like all the other tales of games, play it once then never again. im trying it again now that i have forgotten the story and i still hate it. but ive beaten the newist tales of game that was released (Tales of xillia 2) and i want to play a older one without hooking up a older system. this game is a HUGE **** up in the tales of series and needs to be forgotten NOW… Expand
  23. Friendzie
    Aug 25, 2014
    10
    The game grew on me tremendously. I mostly disliked the characters in the first 10 hours, but they develop quite a lot. Over the course of the game's 60+ hours, you'll be presented with 400 character skits that get more and more amusing as you go. There are some bad cliches and groan-worthy moments, but by the end it's mostly a very good experience. The battle system is one of the best ofThe game grew on me tremendously. I mostly disliked the characters in the first 10 hours, but they develop quite a lot. Over the course of the game's 60+ hours, you'll be presented with 400 character skits that get more and more amusing as you go. There are some bad cliches and groan-worthy moments, but by the end it's mostly a very good experience. The battle system is one of the best of all time, and the character stat development is in the hands of the player to a very large degree. Gaining levels from experience is, at best, a third of your potential growth. You'll have to discover new titles and develop weapons and armor through the crafting system to really get the most out of your team. The game features six difficulty levels to make sure you're always challenged, and an awesome "new game +" system where you're given points for how well you did in your last game, and you can use those to buy buffs that can even alter the rules of the game. For example, you can make it so that you and the monsters all do 10x more damage to each other. Again, the game just gets better as you go. The more time and effort you put into the game, the more you will find that you can get out of it.… Expand
  24. SenshiV
    Feb 3, 2014
    9
    The game is great, yes there are some things some people would not like, but it's no big deal at all. First, the game is not strictly 'linear', there are just some necessary blocks to avoid gamer to wander in places and then get lost, nothing wrong with that, i still felt pretty free to go around. I liked the voices too, my big complain is that the story is nice, but really focusing soThe game is great, yes there are some things some people would not like, but it's no big deal at all. First, the game is not strictly 'linear', there are just some necessary blocks to avoid gamer to wander in places and then get lost, nothing wrong with that, i still felt pretty free to go around. I liked the voices too, my big complain is that the story is nice, but really focusing so much on friendship...felt forced. At least everything develops well, is you get a little tired of battles you can simply put all your chars in automatic for a while even grind some exp this way, of course don't do this every time or you will miss titles. I felt the game was longer than it is, so much i wanted to finish it to play something else . Oh , even more story after beating the game in the extra section is very nice :).… Expand
  25. GranteedEV
    Dec 5, 2013
    5
    This game has awesome core gameplay. The combat system is brilliant with tight controls and good difficulty, the item synthesis "dualizing" is brilliant, and everything runs at an amazing 60fps. There are some fun characters too.

    ...Yet I really just dislike this game. It: 1) Does not live up to the standards set by Eternia, Symphonia, Vesperia, and the amazing Abyss 2) it    This game has awesome core gameplay. The combat system is brilliant with tight controls and good difficulty, the item synthesis "dualizing" is brilliant, and everything runs at an amazing 60fps. There are some fun characters too.

    ...Yet I really just dislike this game. It:

    1) Does not live up to the standards set by Eternia, Symphonia, Vesperia, and the amazing Abyss
    2) it has an unbearable dub. You will want to look for cotton any time Asbel, Cheria, or Sophie open their mouths. Richard too, during the main story arc.
    3) Has a weak story. Everything during the main story arc lacks any semblence of compelling you to play. I kept playing because other games in the series just got better as they went along. This one did not.
    4) has no world map. Level design is okay. While there is a "discovery" system ripping off Skies of Arcadia, there isn't anything truly worthwhile about it.

    As for the aesthetics, this is a port of a Wii game and it does show. Coming off of the gorgeous Vesperia, you'll recognize a general lack of modern effects and textures. On the bright side though, everything is rendered at a high resolution similar to HD remakes, and the art style is not bad at all. The music was prettty much forgettable, and as I mentioned earlier, the dub is cringeworthy. There is no dual audio option.    … Expand
  26. Mypsnewsuk
    Aug 28, 2013
    10
    This is my game of the year so far, one that I bought with out looking into beforehand, the game is near enough perfect, from its graphics, soundtrack, characters and story everything about it just amazed me. The game took me at least 60 hours to complete meaning you definitely get your money's worth
  27. ExCyReX
    Aug 24, 2013
    10
    Absolutely my favourite game so far, awesome storyline, great combat system, now i just finished playing tales of xillia, also beautifull can't wait for the next game.
  28. MisterNoodles
    Jul 26, 2013
    9
    This was my third Tales game and I would have to say it was my least favorite. It lacks the same character development the other ones have and it seems have taken a more serious route with this one. Which in terms has removed some of the funny cutscenes. Though to clear things up it's more the friendships of character that develops not the characters themselves. Plus the very first 2 orThis was my third Tales game and I would have to say it was my least favorite. It lacks the same character development the other ones have and it seems have taken a more serious route with this one. Which in terms has removed some of the funny cutscenes. Though to clear things up it's more the friendships of character that develops not the characters themselves. Plus the very first 2 or so hours kinda of suck and question if you really wanna keep playing, but trust me it picks up after that. The combat is heavily based around combos which is pretty cool. But they completely removed TP so you can basically spam artes, that is until your combo meter runs out and you have to defend. There is also a title system that I really didn't like all that much, but I got over it quickly. Overall it's a good game with a few problems. Worth buying or at least renting. 9/10… Expand
  29. alzarus
    May 11, 2013
    4
    The game just copypaste itself again and again and again. The most of the dungeons are extremely annoying: 2-3 designed rooms wildly combined and repeated in a very dumb way. No world map. Instead of this they story forces us to visit the same locations hundreds of times. It looks like the developer was just too lazy to put there an appropriate amount of game-content.
  30. ss4gaming
    Feb 9, 2013
    10
    I have no idea why some people are being negative to this game its absolutely amazing it has great graphics and i love the battle system its so much fun when you get used to it and the characters are so good. It also keeps that tales of charm and always has me laughing.
prev
Page:

Awards & Rankings

66
#66 Best PS3 Game of 2012
24
#24 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2012
13
#13 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 55 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 55
  3. Negative: 0 out of 55
  1. Eurogamer Portugal
    Nov 6, 2012
    90
    Tales of Graces f is a tale of magic and fantasy with a touch of political and social intrigue easily recommended to anyone who loves this specific genre.
    Read full review
  2. Gamer.no
    Oct 27, 2012
    70
    The characters are dreadful and the story is not much more than passable, but the combat system and character building is the best yet for the series. If you don't mind annoying characters, you'll have a blast.
    Read full review
  3. Hyper Magazine
    Oct 8, 2012
    80
    Putting the mysterious "f" back in "freakin' su-weet." [Nov 2012, p.77]
See all critic reviews »