Tales of Graces
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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3] The game was released in Japan on December 2, 2010.[4]
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. The battle system is currently rated one of the best systems in the entire Tales history.
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.
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.
Plot
Settings
Tales of Graces takes place on a planet known as Efinea. The people of Efinea use a substance called Arles which is composed of another substance called Cryas which has allowed civilizations on the planet to flourish. On Efinea there are three kingdoms—Windol, Strata, and Fendel—who are competing for dominance of the planet.
In the remote region of Windol lies the city of Lhant. The eldest son of the feudal lord Aston, Asbel, is a bright and cheerful boy who spent his childhood like any other carefree boy does: enjoying everyday 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 a feudal lord.[5]
Characters
Asbel Lhant (アスベル・ラント, Asuberu Ranto)
Age: 18
Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese, Present Age) Yuki Kaida (Japanese, Child) Bryce Papenbrook (English, Present Age) Kate Higgins (English, Child)
The main character of the story. The eldest son of the feudal lord of the Lhant territory, located along the border of its country, the Frontier Kingdom of Windol and its neighboring country, Fendel. Asbel was raised to become the next lord after his father by his father and his butler Frederick. Due to a certain incident however, he developed strong feelings to become a knight, and he subsequently admitted himself to a knights' academy in the capital. There, he spent the years dedicated to his training, and soon enough, he grew up into a diligent, if idealistic, and polite young knight. When he was young, he was an energetic, straightforward and honest boy. As he grew up his personality mellowed and matured, though he retains the carefree spirit he had as a child. He tries to take care of others the best he can, and can't leave them alone if they seem to be having problems. Asbel fights with a sword.[6]
Sophie (ソフィ, Sofi)
Age: N/A
Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese) Cassandra Morris (English)
The main heroine. Asbel ran into her in the middle of a battle during a dispute at the border between Lhant and Fendel, against Fendel's military. In contrast to the innocent atmosphere she has about her, she is quite skilled in combat, and was able to help Asbel in repelling Fendel's troops. She has lost her memory, though this fact doesn't seem to hinder her except when she has to interact with others. Asbel named her after a flower that he is fond of. She fights with her fists.[6]
Hubert Ozwell (ヒューバート･オズウェル, Hyūbāto Ozuweru)
Age: 17
Voiced by: Takahiro Mizushima (Japanese, Present Age) Mikako Takahashi (Japanese, Child)
Asbel's brother who is younger by a year. Though he was once a timid, shy, and obedient child, he has grown into a somewhat haughty and strict young man, and is more responsible than his older brother. He currently holds the status of Major in Strata's military. He tends to show a depressed demeanor when he's around Asbel. His fighting style incorporates a double bladed weapon and a pair of pistols.[7]
Cheria Barnes (シェリア･バーンズ, Sheria Bānzu)
Age: 18
Voiced by: Shiho Kawaragi (Japanese)
The granddaughter of the butler working for the Lhant House. In her younger years she was frail of health, but she's since grown up into a fine, strong young woman. She's got a bright personality and is noted to have a motherly side. Though she's had feelings for Asbel for a long time, she has difficulty expressing them. She strongly feels the need to be useful to the Lhant family as she has been living with them since she was a child. She fights using throwing knives.[8]
Pascal (パスカル, Pasukaru)
Age: 22
Voiced by: Kana Ueda (Japanese)
A genius technician who Asbel meets along the course of his journey. She is friendly, cheerful and energetic, and likes to raise the spirits of those around her. She does however has some difficulties in reading the atmosphere in situations and has a tendency to say things when it's inappropriate. She is serious about her work and can get very absorbed in her research. She uses a staff that doubles as a shotgun.[9]
Malik Caesars (マリク・シザース, Mariku Shizāsu)
Age: 40
Voiced by: Hiroki Touchi (Japanese)
The eldest and most experienced member of the party. Hailed as an excellent warrior, Malik was Asbel's skilled and highly respected instructor from the Knights' Academy. While he has a serious personality, he isn't a harsh teacher. He has a calm, mature composure, and is known to be quite frank with others. Asbel looks up to Malik as being his "ideal self". In combat, he uses a bladed boomerang[9]
Richard (リチャード, Richādo)
Age: 19
Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese, Present Age) Yuko Sanpei (Japanese, Child) Wendee Lee (English, Child)
The Prince of the Frontier Kingdom of Windol and Asbel's best friend. Richard has a gentle, peace-loving personality and has earned the respect of people all throughout his nation, though he may come off to some as being a bit aloof. At times he's shown to be troubled by the politics that surround him. He befriended Asbel as a child, and considers him to be a friend whom he can always place his trust in. His weapons of choice are rapiers[10]
Tales of Graces ƒ
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".[12] 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.[5][12] 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.[13][14] 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[15] as well as a Toro costume for Pascal and a Hatsune Miku costume for Sophie.[16]
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.[17] Furthermore another website reported more clues have been unraveled as users transformed the images that were posted on the official Facebook page[18] 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".[4] On December 9, 2011, Namco Bandai confirmed a release date in North America of March 13, 2012 and at the same time, narrowed the European release down to Summer 2012.[19]
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.[20] At the Nintendo Autumn 2008 Conference, a trailer for the game was shown, but not to the public.[21] 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.[22] 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.[23]
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.[24] The game sold 215,187 in its first week[25] a great improvement over the Wii version sales in the same period.
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.[26]
References
- ^ "Wii Tales Game Revealed". IGN. 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
- ^ http://taletalesource.blog69.fc2.com/blog-entry-1964.html
- ^ a b Anoop Gantayat (July 28, 2010). "Tales of Graces, New Tales Game Set for PS3". Andriasang. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
- ^ a b Brenna (February 2, 2011). "Tale of Graces F localisation confirmed". VG247. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
- ^ a b Sal Romano (May 4, 2011). "Tales of Graces f site updated, confirms PlayStation 3 release". Scrawl. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
- ^ a b a745 (2009-06-24). "Tales of Graces Site Update - Asbel and Sophie's Teaser Profiles Now Up". Abyssal Chronicles. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a745 (2009-07-15). "New Scans for Tales of Graces and Tales of VS". Abyssal Chronicles. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a745 (2009-07-15). "New Scans for Tales of Graces and Tales of VS". Abyssal Chronicles. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b a745 (2009-09-16). "Two New Tales of Graces characters Revealed". Abyssal Chronicles. Retrieved 2009-08-27.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a745 (2009-09-16). "New Tales of Graces Scan - New Character + Downloadable Mini-Game". Abyssal Chronicles. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ NAMCO Bandai Games (2011). "Tales of Graces f". NAMCO Bandai Games.
- ^ a b Anoop Gantayat (August 3, 2010). "Namco Bandai Outlines Tales Plans". Andriasang. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ Anoop Gantayat (August 12, 2010). "Namco Bandai Confirms New Tales Games". Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ a745 (July 29, 2010). "Tales of Graces f and Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3 Revealed". Abyssal Chronicles. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a745 (November 1, 2010). "New Tales of Graces f Costumes Include a Code Geass Set + Narikiri Dolls". Abyssal Chronicles. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a745 (OCtober 27, 2010). "Tales of Graces f - Pascal Gets a Sony Entertainment's Mascot Toro Costume". Abyssal Chronicles. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Spencer (January 25, 2011). "Maybe…Just Maybe…There's A Tales Game Announcement Coming". Siliconera. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
- ^ http://playstationlifestyle.net/2011/01/27/could-tales-of-graces-f-finally-make-it-outside-japan/
- ^ "Tales of Graces f Gets US Release Date, Europe Left Waiting". GamingUnion.net. 2011-12-15. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
- ^ Gpara (2008-07-07). "DS『テイルズ オブ ハーツ』発表『テイルズ』'08年度ラインナップ発表会". Gpara. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
- ^ 佐伯憲司 (2008-10-02). "「任天堂カンファレンス 2008.秋」レポートその2 ソフトウェア編". Game Watch. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
- ^ Gpara (2008-12-20). "次期マザーシップタイトル『Next Tales of(仮)』来春、大きく動くか". Gpara. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
- ^ "Tales of Graces Tops 100,000 in First Day Sales". andriasang. 2009-12-11. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
- ^ "Tales of Graces f Famitsu Score Nets Higher Score Than Predecessors". talesunion.com. 2010-11-23.
- ^ http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/09/media_create_sales/
- ^ "Tales of Graces Recalled in Japan". IGN. 2010-02-23. Retrieved 2010-04-08.