Review: Tales of Graces f Remastered

Originally released as a Nintendo Wii exclusive in 2009—and only in Japan—Tales of Graces was eventually remastered and brought to the Western audience on the PlayStation 3 in the form of Tales of Graces f in 2012. Now, almost 13 years later, the JRPG has been remastered once again and made available on pretty much every modern platform with Tales of Graces f Remastered.

Nowadays remastered can mean a lot of things when it comes to games, anywhere from basic ports to a more modern system to a complete remake like Final Fantasy 7 Remake. In the case of Tales of Graces f Remastered, it means updated graphics to look better on modern displays, alongside a plethora of quality-of-life additions ranging from small to huge.

Most of the additions simply make this over two-decade old JRPG more accessible and fun to play, while keeping most of the experience authentic and true to the original. Which, I’m not afraid to admit, is one of my favorites in the ‘Tales of’ franchise.

Tales of Graces f Remastered (PC, PS5[reviewed], PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)
Developer: TOSE Co. LTD
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Released: January 16, 2025
MSRP: $39.99

Yup, you heard that right. If I had to pick an absolute favorite, it would probably be the most recently released Tales of Arise. But before then, I’d put Tales of Graces f up there alongside Tales of the Abyss as my favorite, mostly because of its fun high-speed battle system that was a standout in the series. Thankfully, developer TOSE Co. LTD has left the battle system fully intact from the original.

The story of Tales of Graces f Remastered takes place in the fantastical world of Ephinea, a world divided into three different countries: Windor, Strahta, and Fendel. At the start of the game, the main protagonist, Asbel, and his younger brother Hubert find a peculiar purple-haired girl named Sophie near their town. Sophie is suffering from amnesia and has no idea who she is or why she is there. Asbel and Hubert take Sophie back to their village, only to encounter Prince Richard, the future king of one of the other three kingdoms. The four become friends before an unexpected tragedy results in the group all going their separate ways.

From here, Tales of Graces f Remastered jumps forward seven years to a time when the three kingdoms that were all previously at peace are now under the threat of war due to a series of events that transpired over that period of time, resulting in the childhood friends reuniting during rather trying times as the three kingdoms are under the threat of an all-out war.

Like most JRPGs, the story of Tales of Graces f Remastered is an important part of the game. I think the reason I enjoy the story of Graces so much is due to the constant tension brought on by the element of political intrigue, something often absent in JRPGs and, more specifically, in the ‘Tales of’ series. It’s not without its faults—it certainly suffers from some of the usual JRPG cliches, especially with its characters—but the constant twisting and turning of the story due to backstabbing and politicking sets it apart from other entries in the series.

While I enjoy the story, it’s important to highlight that I very much recommend you play through the optional ‘Lineage and Legacies’ after completing the main story. It was originally a DLC that actually serves as the ending to Tales of Graces, resolving a lot of ongoing subplots and overall puts a nice finishing touch on the main story as well. The Lineage and Legacies DLC, as well as all the other DLC that was released for Tales of Graces f other than a few pieces of license-restricted cosmetics, are included in the remastered version.

Tales of Graces f Remastered utilizes an action combat system where running into enemies on the world map will send you into a real-time battle against the enemy. You can run around the battle map as well as block or dodge attacks, all while attacking your foes with a variety of attacks, including A Artes (physical special attacks) and B Artes (magical special attacks. Using a system called Chain Capacity (often referred to as CC), you can combo Artes together to deal massive damage. As you progress through Tales of Graces f Remastered, accomplishing various achievements will unlock Titles for each of your characters that also grant new Artes.

I remember trying to get the platinum trophy for Tales of Graces f which required you to get 100 Titles for each of the playable characters. This was a huge time sink, as many titles simply required you to grind them out mindlessly. With Tales of Graces f Remastered, you get full access to the Grade Shop, a special shop that allows you to enable and disable certain systematic changes to the game on the fly, such as Double Item Drop chances, increased experience and currency gains, and more. Believe me when I say some of these will really cut down on the grind, especially if you’re looking to get all the Titles. In the original, you could only access the Grade Shop after completing the game. For those who have played previously and are looking to have a less grindy experience, this is a very welcome quality-of-life addition. And for those who don’t want it, you can simply choose not to enable any of the buffs from the Grade Shop.

Alongside the Grade Shop, here are some of the other quality-of-life additions in Tales of Graces f Remastered. On the overworld map, you can toggle your run button into a dash button to more quickly traverse the world. You can also toggle enemy encounters on or off via a simple setting in the options menu, so if you want to avoid battles and just progress the story for a bit, you can do so. All cutscenes and dialogue skits are skippable (thank god) and destination icons for your next main story quest destination have been added when on the overworld map.

At the end of the day, Tales of Graces f Remastered is everything a remaster should be: graphical upgrades that make an old game look better on modern platforms, a trove of quality-of-life additions that make the game better while staying true to the original version, and inclusion of all the DLC for the complete package. It’s really solid value, especially for those who have yet to play Tales of Graces in either of its previous two forms, since this is essentially the ultimate version. Now I just hope Tales of Xillia 1 and 2 or maybe even Tales of the Abyss are next!

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}