by Venus » Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:51 am
While I was thinking about writing a long drawn out review but I can't really be bothered since I'll just state some of the problems I had with it and some of the positive aspects that I enjoyed.
+ The Good
By far the best aspect of Tales of Graces F is the tweaking of the battle system. The magic system as been completely replaced with a new system called the CC system (Chain capacity). Instead consuming magic moves consume chain capacity points. You can replenish chain capacity points by not taking action or guarding. This allows you to battle your way through long dungeons without having to worry about running out of magic.
- The Bad
Like most Tales games the story is painfully trite and predictable.
The characters are bland and uninteresting and while the early hours of the game helps to make the characters at least some what interesting I found myself being mostly indifferent to most of the characters save for the central characters you play as in the early hours.
Tales of Graces F trades the world map feature prominent in pretty much every Tales game for linear paths that lead from area to area. It's confining and really takes away the feeling that you're exploring a vast world.
Graphically there isn't a whole lot to write home about either. Tales of Graces F was originally a Wii game and it definitely shows.
The soundtrack was largely forgettable.
The difficulty is schizophrenic at times. Ranging from bosses that are ridiculously impossible to beat to bosses that ridiculously easy to beat.
While the idea of accruing skills and status bonuses through titles seems like a good idea in hindsight it eventually leads to an excessive feeling that one needs to grind for hours to gain skills. But this isn't half the problem I have with this system. There maybe stretches where you may go a time without acquiring titles causing a character to waste skill points.
Overall Tales of Graces F doesn't take any chances but despite all it's problems it still manages to be fairly enjoyable and you'll probably care enough about it play all the way through it but not enough to play it again. It's not a terrible game but it is okay and it should appease your JRPG needs.
Overall: 7/10


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