I actually do like some of the characters in Graces. I think the time with them as children then growing into adults was a smart way to give them some growth and depth. Asbel learns to be a more competent leader and reliable soldier after his actions put everyone in danger, Cherria grows to be more independent and not rely on Asbel all the time, and Hubert becomes less cowardly and a capable warrior in his own right. Unfortunately that doesn’t apply to everyone though, such as Richard getting possessed, thus losing all of his character until the end. Malik and Pascal aren’t part of the timeskip so don’t have the same level of depth. Sophie is also fine enough, and her relationship with Asbel is very sweet. Not my favourite cast, but certainly not the worst. In fact that’s probably how I’d describe Graces as a whole. It’s not amazing but I did have a lot of fun with it, and I certainly don’t regret my time.
I was really surprised by Graces’ OP song when I first heard it. I thought it felt really unusual for a Tales OP, and thought it belonged better in a romance anime or something. But the more I’ve listened to it the more I’ve grown to love it, and it’s now one of my favorites in the series. I still think Xillia has the best OP song out of all of them though!
When I first heard Graces' Opening song the singer sounded familiar, turns out she sings the ending Every Heart for Inuyasha as well, so no wonder it's such a great opening!
I was always trying to figure out why I love Grace's battle system but don't like any gameplay after The way you worded how it's a counterplay heavy battle system makes perfect sense now. xillia zestiria and especially berseria became way too spammy for my liking and had extra mechanics like linking that I didn't really like Meanwhile, I think the A and B art thing are very creative and I'm kind of sad they didn't just use this template going forward
Graces was my favorite Tales game for quite some time. I love the combat, and although the story is simple, I don't think simple means bad at all. I actually l9ve CC when you can gain more mid combo, which is why I think Berseria does it the best. You can quite literally do infinite combos if you're good enough
I've been trying to finish this game for the last 8 years (took a break from the final dungeon in 2019 after getting rekt by the enemies there and just now returning to it), so now wrapping up the post-game content, I quite like your retrospective. I think the F chapter really does a lot of the heavy lifting for me story wise, like everything about the writing and character chemistry just feels improved (though unfortunately some of the dungeon design is really annoying there). The combat has gotten really addictive to me to the point where I'm really interested how going back to the earlier games will feel for me. Honestly what amazes me most is just how huge it is, considering the seemingly short development time. Like I cannot fathom someone 100%ing it, specifically with the skits. But then all the sidequests, the annoying Magic Carta collecting, etc
Me and my freinds found the enermies at the start of the final dungeon unesserily too hard which result in us wasting alot of time grinding only to wipe the floor with the final boss.
I pretty much 100% this game back in 2011. I couldn't put it down for the longest time and loved the story. The skits were a nightmare, so were the super bosses. The only thing I had left to do was defeat the final super boss and gave up because it was a looooong fight that burned me out.
So either I missed a side quest or does Cheria's childhood illness never gets brought up ever again? IMO CC is not the issue, the issue is mixing CC with TP or not having CC represented with numbers. Also Zestiria wanting you to do rock,paper scissors and real time and Berseria 's arte tree didn't help those games at all.
I respect your stance on Graces but to me Xillia is like that to me. While the friendship stuff was starting to get overbearing, I found the story had enough unique stuff like with Sophie that it stood out. Xillia was where it REALLY started to feel like it was just repeating stuff from earlier games with a HD coat of paint, and its sad that Graces still seems like the " good old days" compared to how bland Arise has felt.
I agree about the cast feelling very wooden and boring, aside from Pascal stealing the show and Sophie who is supposed to be like that for most of the game. And at least the English performance only adds to that feeling. Although I notice they all become a lot more entertaining and likeable during the added Future story in F, but its a bit too little too late to really bump the cast up as a whole for me beyond middle of the road at best out of the whole series
The game play was quite difficult like increasing the difficulty to increase experience. I didn't really like that or the Level up 50+ hp per level or the difficulties of bosses.
LMAO at the statement "It's obvious Graces didn't get the same love and attention as Tales of Vesperia got in terms of crafting a solid story." Tales of Vesperia's story is absolute garbage. Which Sephiroth clone is the main villain? Oh it's the one you bump into a couple of times throughout the story for him to say something cryptic and that's it. I couldn't find myself wanting to fight a final villain I didn't really know until the conversation prior to said fight.
I can agree Tales of Graces would cause more games to implement weird level-up systems (Trails of Xillia) for example the grid system. I found it over complicated. Some trail games like Arsie was interesting but quite hard. If Tales of graces wasn't an sucess then other tales of games would prob not be released. Tales of Grace story and gameplay were Ok compared to other games. Tales of games are still quite interesting indeed.
This is actually my favorite game in the series. Either how the titles work and the immensely satisfying game play
I agree with you 💯 I love graces so much
@Erynn Jeagerbomb facts man I've replayed the game like 5 times since I was in middle school
@@gaminwithwilson2437 yep I've replayed it around the same amount currently playing it right now on my steam deck
@@gaminwithwilson2437 I have fond memories of playing it as a teenager
Hard disagree that Cheria's VA was wooden. Laura Bailey is a treasure.
I actually do like some of the characters in Graces. I think the time with them as children then growing into adults was a smart way to give them some growth and depth. Asbel learns to be a more competent leader and reliable soldier after his actions put everyone in danger, Cherria grows to be more independent and not rely on Asbel all the time, and Hubert becomes less cowardly and a capable warrior in his own right. Unfortunately that doesn’t apply to everyone though, such as Richard getting possessed, thus losing all of his character until the end. Malik and Pascal aren’t part of the timeskip so don’t have the same level of depth. Sophie is also fine enough, and her relationship with Asbel is very sweet. Not my favourite cast, but certainly not the worst.
In fact that’s probably how I’d describe Graces as a whole. It’s not amazing but I did have a lot of fun with it, and I certainly don’t regret my time.
I was really surprised by Graces’ OP song when I first heard it. I thought it felt really unusual for a Tales OP, and thought it belonged better in a romance anime or something. But the more I’ve listened to it the more I’ve grown to love it, and it’s now one of my favorites in the series. I still think Xillia has the best OP song out of all of them though!
Xillia's OP is such a banger...
When I first heard Graces' Opening song the singer sounded familiar, turns out she sings the ending Every Heart for Inuyasha as well, so no wonder it's such a great opening!
I was always trying to figure out why I love Grace's battle system but don't like any gameplay after
The way you worded how it's a counterplay heavy battle system makes perfect sense now.
xillia zestiria and especially berseria became way too spammy for my liking and had extra mechanics like linking that I didn't really like
Meanwhile, I think the A and B art thing are very creative and I'm kind of sad they didn't just use this template going forward
this game had a quite unique kind of humor. i still remember alot of the funny moments to this day, especially the victory quotes!
Graces is my favourite Tales game and very close to my favourite game ever made.
Great Review so few Tales of -Series Reviews on UA-cam sadly
Graces was my favorite Tales game for quite some time. I love the combat, and although the story is simple, I don't think simple means bad at all. I actually l9ve CC when you can gain more mid combo, which is why I think Berseria does it the best. You can quite literally do infinite combos if you're good enough
I love graces f it's my favorite tales game
I've been trying to finish this game for the last 8 years (took a break from the final dungeon in 2019 after getting rekt by the enemies there and just now returning to it), so now wrapping up the post-game content, I quite like your retrospective. I think the F chapter really does a lot of the heavy lifting for me story wise, like everything about the writing and character chemistry just feels improved (though unfortunately some of the dungeon design is really annoying there). The combat has gotten really addictive to me to the point where I'm really interested how going back to the earlier games will feel for me. Honestly what amazes me most is just how huge it is, considering the seemingly short development time. Like I cannot fathom someone 100%ing it, specifically with the skits. But then all the sidequests, the annoying Magic Carta collecting, etc
Me and my freinds found the enermies at the start of the final dungeon unesserily too hard which result in us wasting alot of time grinding only to wipe the floor with the final boss.
I pretty much 100% this game back in 2011. I couldn't put it down for the longest time and loved the story. The skits were a nightmare, so were the super bosses. The only thing I had left to do was defeat the final super boss and gave up because it was a looooong fight that burned me out.
So either I missed a side quest or does Cheria's childhood illness never gets brought up ever again?
IMO CC is not the issue, the issue is mixing CC with TP or not having CC represented with numbers. Also Zestiria wanting you to do rock,paper scissors and real time and Berseria 's arte tree didn't help those games at all.
Sophie's blessing at the end of the childhood arc is stated in game to have cures Cherria. Cherria mentions it shortly after you meet her as an Adult.
I respect your stance on Graces but to me Xillia is like that to me. While the friendship stuff was starting to get overbearing, I found the story had enough unique stuff like with Sophie that it stood out. Xillia was where it REALLY started to feel like it was just repeating stuff from earlier games with a HD coat of paint, and its sad that Graces still seems like the " good old days" compared to how bland Arise has felt.
Do u feel that way about xillia 2 as well?
I agree about the cast feelling very wooden and boring, aside from Pascal stealing the show and Sophie who is supposed to be like that for most of the game. And at least the English performance only adds to that feeling. Although I notice they all become a lot more entertaining and likeable during the added Future story in F, but its a bit too little too late to really bump the cast up as a whole for me beyond middle of the road at best out of the whole series
The game play was quite difficult like increasing the difficulty to increase experience. I didn't really like that or the Level up 50+ hp per level or the difficulties of bosses.
LMAO at the statement "It's obvious Graces didn't get the same love and attention as Tales of Vesperia got in terms of crafting a solid story." Tales of Vesperia's story is absolute garbage. Which Sephiroth clone is the main villain? Oh it's the one you bump into a couple of times throughout the story for him to say something cryptic and that's it. I couldn't find myself wanting to fight a final villain I didn't really know until the conversation prior to said fight.
I can agree Tales of Graces would cause more games to implement weird level-up systems (Trails of Xillia) for example the grid system. I found it over complicated. Some trail games like Arsie was interesting but quite hard. If Tales of graces wasn't an sucess then other tales of games would prob not be released. Tales of Grace story and gameplay were Ok compared to other games. Tales of games are still quite interesting indeed.
Am I the only one who thinks this game has a better story than Final Fantasy X?
Uh.... you might be mate. Sorry, I don't think this story is that good from a writing perspective, but don't be afraid to enjoy it regardless.