
Tales of Graces f Remastered is an Action, Adventure RPG developed by Tose Co and published by Bandai Namco. It originally came out in 2009 in Japan under the name Tales of Graces and was only available on the Wii. In 2010 it was then ported to the PS3 in Japan, and renamed Tales of Graces f. It didn’t get a localization until two years later which makes since since localization takes a lot of effort and time. Especially with a game as massive of a franchise like the Tales of series.
Now with today’s advances, we can now play this wonderous game on all platforms under the sun. And what a time to be alive to not have to worry if I have the console to play this game! Today I’m playing the game on PC and you can pick up your copy from Steam, for £35.
Tired and injured? Why not take an Apple Gel? No? THAN TAKE THIS INDIGNATION INSTEAD THEN!
Before we do continue on with this review, I want thank the developers Tose Co. This company is a massive unsung heroes when it comes the development of a lot of our favourite games literally through this industry. They have mades game for every console ever released and have done a lot of remasters too. Including Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Chrono Trigger and my favourite Okami! Please do check out any games that are making in house, they may have made some of your favourites too. Now, with the sappy stuff out of the way, for now, let’s get moving!

Gameplay
Tales of Graces f Remastered has you following the tale of Asbel, Richard and Sophie. After a near death experience, Asbel and Sophie rescue Richard before he meets his end. They each make a promise that could save the world of Ephinea. I’m happy to say that the DLCs that were out during the PS3 era, are available this time around, though at a cost. However, the base game itself is still priced at what it was originally back in 2012, so no inflation here. They’ve also added the scenes to the game that was only available in Japanese copies of the game. This has been renamed as the Lineage and Legacies section of the game.
All of this reminds me of how the release of Tales of Vesperia in Japan had an extra story and character for the PS3 in Japan. Yet, in the Western releases, they removed the character all together and it was only available on the Xbox 360. Thankfully years later, the remaster version of the game brought us everything Japan had and experience something some of us never knew existed.
Revisiting Tales of Graces f after over a decade, and the developers have really done the game justice. The game feels slightly easier for anyone new to the series to understand the combat system. Even the customization of shortcuts and commands feels just as simple as it’s always been for me. Honestly, I still love a combat system that allows me to dodge attacks on my own. And only fault myself if I lose or take a hit. The only thing the RNG will always have me going insane on is the loot we get from farming items. My old habit of hording certain healing items and stat boosters are still my crutch though.

The skits in Tales of Graces f Remastered for me are the shining star of the entire Tales of series. I went hunting for skits in any way, shape or form of thing I need to do to trigger them. To me, the Tales of series does three things brilliantly: the combat system, the Katz and the skits. The combination of which I believe makes their whole series unique and amazing.
Graphics & Audio
When playing any PC game for review, I make sure to try and play it on both PC and the Steam Deck. To make sure that the graphics and audio don’t differ from both systems. I’m happy to report that the game’s graphics on the Steam Deck runs just as well on PC. Comparing the graphics from the PS3 era of the game, it all looks completely smooth and well polished. Seeing the fluid motion of attacks, movements in the overworld and the background art look stunning.
My best way to gauge everything was my fight with Kurt Bessel. To newcomers, this name will mean nothing, but to veterans like me, it shakes our very core. Kurt Bessel will make or break RPG lovers when playing this game, even on normal difficulty. Getting to re-experience this fight showed me that both the graphics and audio were really taken care of.
The caverns where the battle is held are visually better than the PS3. The music with the sounds of the impact of me hearing the dragoons coming back triggered my PTSD. The fact that Richard Epcar shouting dragon still has me panic is a good sign. Even the audio for the voice lines for each character is clean with no distortions whatsoever. With the music composed by the amazing Motoi Sakuraba, let me know that the team at Tose Co put a lot of work and dedication into giving us a great remake to a great game.

Longevity
I’ll give everyone a good length of comparison when it comes to the original to the remastered game length. The original game with main quests and all will take you 66 hours or 135 for completionists. While the remastered takes 70 hours and 140 hours for completionists. The content from the Lineage and Legacies addition did give me about 14 hours of content I’ve never seen which I really enjoyed. Getting to see what happens to the character after we beat the game is always really touching.
Finding secrets and finding all the skits thanks to an old guide, made me fall in love with this game again after a decade of my last playthrough.

Final Thoughts
If I told younger me that he hadn’t played the complete version of this game, he would ask me two things. First, “who are you?” and secondly, “got any sunflower seeds?” You thought he would call me a liar? Nah, he’s played enough Stein’s Gate to know slightly what’s up. But I digress, getting to revisit what I believe is number three in my list of best entry in the Tales of series was a great reminder of what I love and miss the most about the series.
I know the people who played the original will enjoy going down memory lane when playing. While newcomers will see the peak of what the battle system for this series can reach. Now, got out there with you bag full of Purple Gels and don’t skip the skits….please.
I give Tales of Graces f Remastered the Thumb Culture Platinum Award
Disclaimer: A code was received to write this review.
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