Tales of Graces

Tales of Graces
File:Tales of Graces Cover.png
Developer(s)	Namco Tales Studio
Publisher(s)	Namco Bandai
Artist(s)	Mutsumi Inomata
Composer(s)	Motoi Sakuraba
Series	Tales
Platform(s)	Wii
Release	Wii
Genre(s)	Role-playing video game
Mode(s)	Single Player Multiplayer Co-op

Tales of Graces (テイルズ オブ グレイセス, Teiruzu obu Gureisesu) is the 12th mothership title and the newest generation in the Tales series for the Wii and PlayStation 3. It follows lead character Asbel Lhant, who desires to obtain greater strength. The game was originally released exclusively for the Wii in Japan on December 10, 2009.

Tales of Graces ƒ is a PlayStation 3 port of the game containing more content than its Wii counterpart. It was released in Japan on December 2, 2010, and in North America on March 13, 2012.

Gameplay

Tales of Graces features a seamlessly traversable overworld, similar to Tales of Hearts. Each dungeon, town and other locale is connected with detailed location geometry instead of a traditional world map.

Battle System

The battle system used for Tales of Graces is the "Style Shift Linear Motion Battle System" (SS-LiMBS). In this system, characters have two different fighting styles to choose from. The A-style artes are pre-determined, however you can set the B-style artes, and the player is able to freely switch between the styles in battle.

Characters are also able to sidestep in a 360 degree circle around the enemy as well as Free Run. "Blast Calibers", as used in the Tales of Destiny (PS2) remake, make a return in Tales of Graces, renamed as "Mystic Artes".

In battle, players attack using the Chain Capacity point system used in the Tales of Destiny (PS2) remake. The free run maneuver which originated in Tales of the Abyss is renewed in this game, but it is limited by Chain Capacity points.

Settings

Tales of Graces takes place on a planet known as Ephinea. The people of Ephinea use a substance called eleth which is formed from giant crystal-like structures called valkines cryas which has allowed civilizations on the planet to flourish. On Ephinea there are three kingdoms—Windor, Strahta, and Fendel—who are competing for dominance of the planet's eleth.

In the remote region of Windor lies the city of Lhant. The eldest son of the baron Aston, Asbel, is a bright and cheerful boy who spent his childhood like any other carefree boy does: enjoying every day together with his irreplaceable friends. After a certain incident awoke a new desire in Asbel, he decided to enlist himself in a knight's academy in the capital in order to gain the power to protect others.

Graces takes place seven years after the incident. In his eighth year, Asbel has grown up and established himself as a fine knight. However, at the death of his father, Aston, he gives up his dream to become a knight and takes over his father's position of Lhant's baron.

Plot

Warning Spoilers ahead During their childhood, Asbel Lhant and his brother Hubert are heading to Lhant hill to see the Sopheria flowers bloom. When they reach the top, they are surprised by a shining beam of light and a mysterious girl appears in the light. The girl awakens, without any knowledge of who she is, and Asbel decides to take her back to their hometown of Lhant and see if anyone knows her. Back in Lhant, Asbel and Hubert run into their friend Cheria and begin to ask around for any knowledge of their new mysterious friend, but no one knows her. Asbel is then called to go see his father. Aston, Asbels father, scolds Asbel for being so reckless and then tell him that he will eventually become the Lord of Lhant and needs to be more responsible. On this note, he tells Asbel that they will be visited by some people from the Windia capitol, Barona, and that he should not talk to any of them. Just then, the leader of the local guard Bailey enters and tells Aston that their is trouble on the road and Aston leaves, telling Asbel to stay in town.

Asbel disobeys and follows his father and helps to protect the carriage, but is again scolded by his father. Asbel also gives the mysterious girl a name, naming her Sophie after the Sopheria flower. As the visitors enter the village, Asbel disobeys his father and introduces himself to one of the visitors, a young boy named Richard. Richard is a young boy the same age as Asbel and although he is very strange Asbel takes a liking to him. Richards sword instructor enters and demands Richard begin his practice. Asbel takes his place and fights the instructor Bryce in combat. Impressing him, Bryces superior enters and halts the fight. Richard, trusting Asbel, agrees to accompany him to Lhant hill to see the meadow, Hubert and Cheria stay behind not wanting to get into trouble. At the hill, Bryce enters and reveals he is actually an assassin and Asbel fights him to protect Richard. Richard gets too close to the cliff and falls down, taking Asbel and Sophie with him. They head back up the cliffs and at the tree on the meadow they make a friendship pact and promise to remain friends forever.

The group head back to town and everyone is relieved to see they are not hurt. However, Richard is to be taken back to the castle, revealed that he is actually the prince. And Asbel, scolded by his father, is locked inside his room as Aston and Hubert head to the capitol city of Barona. Asbel disobeys yet again, and after escaping his room, also heads to Barona. After entering Barona, Asbel runs into Cheria and they decide to go see Richard. Richard meets them at the capitols valkines and tells them of a secret passageway that can enter the castle, and they all agree to go there. Meeting outside of a place called the "Royal Sanctuary", Richard is late, and Asbel decides to sneak into the sanctuary and finds the secret passage. After fighting a giant bat the group see Richard laying on the ground and are suddenly attacked by a ferocious monster. It throws Cheria and Hubert aside, and hurts Asbel. Sophie attacks, but has little success. She is then stabbed in the chest and rushes the monster, both explode into a purple explosion.

Asbel and his friends are found and taken back to Lhant. Aston tells Asbel that he is too reckless and worse could've happened. He then tells Asbel that Sophie was killed in the explosion, and that Hubert has been adopted by another family. Asbel curses the Lhant name, and vows to become a knight in order to protect his friends and family. He then leaves Lhant, much to the dismay of his mother and Cheria, and goes to the knight academy in Barona.

Seven years later, Asbel is now an accomplished knight apprentice and is on a mission with this Captain, Malik Caesar. After completing it, he discovers he has unnatural powers, manifesting in strength against a formidable monster, but keeps it a secret. When he hears that the Fendal army has attacked Lhant, he heads there and meets a grown up Cheria, who also has special healing power. Upon heading to the frontlines, he retreats after seeing the superior weaponry of the Fendalians, they retreat to Lhant hill. At the hill, the same light appears and another girl resembling Sophie appears. After defeating the weapons, the group heads back to Lhant. Finding a way around the weapons, they travel through a cave and appear behind the enemy lines. But the enemy has attacked Lhant instead. Heading back, the group is saved when Hubert arrives with his army. After the fight, Hubert says he was adopted by a Srahtan family and is now a Lieutenant in the military. Strahta wants to help Lhant and Hubert has been given orders to stay. Hubert challenges Asbel to a duel to see who is to rule Lhant. Hubert wins and banishes Asbel from Lhant. Asbel heads to Barona and plans to meet Richard. However, when Richard is no where to be found and is presumed dead, Asbel and Sophie enter the secret passage to find him. They do, and save him from another assassination attempt. Richard says his uncle killed his father and has usurped the throne and is trying to kill him. Asbel says he'll help and they begin to head to Grayslyde, where Richards uncle is duke and will help them. The group encounters many troups at the fortress Wallbridge, and meets Pascal, a researcher of lost ruins. After she tells them of the ruins that will take them around Wallbridge, they decide to use it.

Characters

Asbel Lhant (アスベル・ラント)

Age: 11-18
Class: Swordsman
Height: 5 ft 9 in
Weight: 143 lb
Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (JPN, Present Age) Yuki Kaida (JPN, Child) Bryce Papenbrook (ENG, Present Age) Kate Higgins (ENG, Child)
The main character of the story. Asbel is the eldest son and successor of Aston Lhant, the baron presiding over the outlying region of Windor Kingdom, near the border of Fendel. Despite his upbringing to become the next baron, Asbel’s true aspiration was to become a knight. After a life-changing event, he entered the knight training school in the capital city. As an enthusiastic child, he focused that energy into his training to mature into an earnest swordsman. He watches out for others and always lends a hand to those in need. Asbel fights with a sword.

Sophie (ソフィ)

Age: Unknown
Class: Photon Combat Master
Height: 4 ft 10 in
Weight: 86 lb
Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (JPN) Cassandra Morris (ENG)
The main heroine. Sophie is an amnesiac that Asbel stumbles across during a border dispute between Lhant and Fendel. Despite her petite physique and demeanor, she possesses fierce combat skills that help Asbel repel the Fendel forces back. Initially, she doesn’t involve herself with other people’s affairs, but through time, she learns to express her own feelings and empathizes with others. Due to her lack of memory, Asbel gives her the name “Sophie,” named after the flower sopheria. She feels a familiarity to the flower and accepts the name.

Hubert Oswell (ヒューバート･オズウェ)

Age: 17
Class: Arte Swordsman
Height: 5 ft 7 in
Weight: 148 lb
Voiced by: Takahiro Mizushima (JPN, Present Age) Mikako Takahashi (JPN, Child) Steve Staley (ENG, Present Age)
Hubert is Asbel's younger brother who ranks as lieutenant in the Strahtan military. He was timid and meek during his younger ages, but is tempered into a talented swordsman through rigorous training and perseverance. With an analytical and authoritarian personality, he can be rather inflexible and obstinate. More often than not, he's seen being quite sullen towards his older brother Asbel.

Cheria Barnes (シェリア･バーンズ)

Age: 18
Class: Healer
Height: 5 ft 3 in
Weight: 103 lb
Voiced by: Shiho Kawaragi (JPN) Laura Bailey (ENG)
Cheria is the granddaughter of Frederic, the Lhant family steward. She is well-liked amongst her peers due to her cheerful and caring nature. She has a bit of a crush on her childhood friend Asbel, but never openly admits it. She works diligently as a healer, using her powers to help people who are hurt. Having lived her whole life in Lhant, she possesses a strong desire to do what she can to protect her homeland.

Malik Caesar (マリク・シザース)

Age: 40
Class: Blade Thrower
Height: 6 ft 1 in
Weight: 167 lb
Voiced by: Hiroki Touchi (JPN) Jamieson Price (ENG)
Malik is Asbel's instructor at the knight training academy in Barona, the capital of Windor. His skills as a knight are beyond exceptional and his teaching abilities are exemplary. Fundamentally, he has a no-nonsense personality, but he also possesses the flexibility that only comes with experience and maturity. Malik has trained many graduates of the knight academy, and Asbel greatly admires him.

Pascal (パスカル)

Age: 22
Class: Mage
Height: 5 ft 1 in
Weight: 99 lb
Voiced by: Kana Ueda (JPN) Kate Higgins (ENG)
Pascal is a brilliant, engineering prodigy that Asbel comes across during his travels. She's able to lighten up the mood wherever she goes, based on her extremely friendly and cheerful personality. Unfortunately, she also has a habit of being blunt in both words and actions, frequently catching people off-guard. Since childhood, she's racked her brain over a lot of peculiar experiments. Often times, she loses track of her surroundings and personal hygiene when she focuses on her studies.

Richard (リチャード)

Age: 19
Class: Swordsman
Height: 5 ft 10 in
Weight: 148 lb
Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (JPN, Present Age) Yuko Sanpei (JPN, Child) David Vincent (ENG, Present Age) Wendee Lee (ENG, Child)
Richard is the prince of Windor Kingdom, and receives great respect and high expectations from the citizens. He has a steady, understanding personality and dislikes conflict. For some time, there has been political intrigue within the royal palace regarding who will be the next king, and Richard despairs at the unceasing discord around him. Richard and Asbel struck up a friendship when they were both young, and ever since, Richard has continued to have great confidence in Asbel.

Details

Its characteristic genre name is RPG to Know the Strength to Protect (守る強さを知るRPG, Mamoru tsuyosa wo shiru RPG). The opening theme is "Mamoritai: White Wishes" (まもりたい ～White Wishes～, Want to Protect ~White Wishes~) by BoA.

Tales of Graces ƒ

Tales of Graces ƒ
Developer(s)	Namco Tales Studio
Publisher(s)	Namco Bandai
Artist(s)	Mutsumi Inomata
Series	Tales
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3
Genre(s)	Role-playing video game
Mode(s)	Single Player Multiplayer Co-op

Tales of Graces ƒ (テイルズ オブ グレイセス エフ, Teiruzu obu Gureisesu Efu), is an enhanced port of Tales of Graces for the PlayStation 3 and was released on December 2, 2010. The letter "ƒ" in the name stands for "future". The game includes an additional epilogue which takes place six months after the end of the original story called "Lineage & Legacies" and will solve the remaining mysteries of the game featuring a script three quarters as long as the original story line and is said to be 10 hours long. Other additional contents include additional new story scenes within the original story, improved high definition graphics, new game secrets, new character costumes and new Blast Calibers. The game features several tie-ins with other characters including 4 Code Geass costumes namely Suzaku for Asbel, C.C. for Sophie, Kallen for Cheria, and Zero for Richard as well as a Toro costume for Pascal and a Hatsune Miku costume for Sophie.

Starting on January 12, 2011, an English language localization had been strongly hinted at by Namco Bandai. On the company's official Facebook page, Namco Bandai gave users who followed them a puzzle image that, when solved, gave a URL to a site. The site, ataleoftworichards.com, showed a deformed image that resembled the Tales of Graces ƒ logo when the colors are inverted. Namco Bandai later confirmed that the site is, in fact, legitimate, and would gradually reveal more hints to its purpose throughout the week. Furthermore another website reported more clues have been unraveled as users transformed the images that were posted on the official Facebook page revealing even further hints that a localized version may be coming. On February 2, 2011, the teaser site finally made the message clear, stating "Tales of Graces ƒ, coming soon to North America". It was released in North America on March 13, 2012. The European release was narrowed down to Summer 2012.

Pre-Order Bonuses were announced from GameStop and EB Games, including costumes for characters in the game and a theme for the Playstation XMB.

Development

At the Tales of 2008 Press Conference it was announced that a mothership title was in development for the Wii, though at the time no other details were given. At the Nintendo Autumn 2008 Conference, a trailer for the game was shown, but not to the public. The pre-order DVD for Tales of Hearts would contain the trailer for the game that was shown earlier that year. At Jump Festa 2009, the game was referred to by the codename "Tales of Ten", and was announced to have been in development for nearly two years. The voice work was almost complete, it would have a world similar to medieval Europe and that it would be formally revealed in spring, though no other details were given. In early April it was first unveiled in Jump with the title Tales of Graces. In the April 10th issue of gaming magazine Famitsu, it was reported that the game was 30% complete.

Reception

Tales of Graces received a 36/40 (9/9/9/9) from Famitsu magazine. The game sold 113,000 copies during its first day, and 143,000 copies during its first week.

Several months after its Japanese release, the Wii version of the game was recalled by Namco Bandai due to bugs discovered in the game. Those who had bought the game were able to exchange their disc for one with the most glaring bugs corrected.

The PS3 version of the game scored one point higher, resulting in a 37/40 (10/9/9/9), the highest score that a Tales series title had received from them until Tales of Xillia which received a 39/40. The game sold 215,187 in its first week a great improvement over the Wii version sales in the same period.

IGN didn't give the US release a numeric score, though did praise the title saying it was a worthwhile entry to the Tales series. Criticisms were pointed at the backtracking and script, while also stating that, "The battle system powers the whole experience, pumping constant action and rewards to the forefront." Game Informer gave the game a 7.8, praising the game's battle system and simplicity, but expressed some annoyance for the small world and the friendship story element of the game. Gametrailers gave the game a 6.7, criticizing the game's overall presentation and easy battle system, but praised the game's story and character development.

External links

• Official Japanese Tales of Graces Website
• Official Japanese Tales of Graces F Website
• Tales of Graces F English Site