Tales of Graces
Encyclopedia
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. Its characteristic genre name is . The opening theme is by BoA
. The game was originally released exclusively for the Wii in Japan on December 10, 2009.
Tales of Graces F is a PlayStation 3 port of the game containing more content than its Wii counterpart. The game was released in Japan on December 2, 2010.
. Each dungeon, town and other locale is connected with detailed location geometry instead of a traditional world map.
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.
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.
Age: 18
Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai
(Japanese, Present Age) Yuki Kaida
(Japanese, 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.
Age: N/A
Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa
(Japanese)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Age: 19
Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa
(Japanese, Present Age) Yuko Sanpei
(Japanese, 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
and was released on December 2, 2010. The letter "F" 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, http://ataleoftworichards.com, showed a deformed image that resembled the Tales of Graces F 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 F, coming soon to North America". Namco Bandai has confirmed a European release for 2012.
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.
The PS3 version of the game scored one point higher, resulting in a 37/40 (10/9/9/9). This marked the highest score that a Tales series title had received from Famitsu magazine until Tales of Xillia which received a near-perfect score of 39. The game sold 215,187 in its first week 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.
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
and PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. It follows lead character Asbel Lhant, who desires to obtain greater strength. Its characteristic genre name is . The opening theme is by BoA
BoA
Boa Kwon , commonly stylized and known by her stage name BoA, which is a backronym for Beat of Angel, is a Korean singer, active in South Korea, Japan, and the United States and sometimes referred to as the "Queen of Korean Pop Music"....
. The game was originally released exclusively for the Wii in Japan on December 10, 2009.
Tales of Graces F is a PlayStation 3 port of the game containing more content than its Wii counterpart. The game was released in Japan on December 2, 2010.
Gameplay
Tales of Graces features a seamlessly traversable overworld, similar to Tales of HeartsTales of Hearts
is the eleventh mothership title in the Tales series exclusively for the Nintendo DS, which was released on December 18, 2008 in Japan. Tales of Hearts characteristic genre name is...
. 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)
Tales of Destiny (PS2)
is a video game remake in the RPG genre published for the PlayStation 2 console by Namco Bandai Games on November 30, 2006 in Japan.It is a remake of the second game in the Tales series, the original PlayStation Tales of Destiny, which was released on December 23, 1997.Tales of Destiny 's...
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)
Tales of Destiny (PS2)
is a video game remake in the RPG genre published for the PlayStation 2 console by Namco Bandai Games on November 30, 2006 in Japan.It is a remake of the second game in the Tales series, the original PlayStation Tales of Destiny, which was released on December 23, 1997.Tales of Destiny 's...
remake. The free run maneuver which originated in Tales of the Abyss
Tales of the Abyss
is a console role-playing game developed by Namco Tales Studio and published by Namco in Japan and Namco Bandai Games in North America. Tales of the Abyss's characteristic genre name is The Meaning Of Birth RPG . It is the eighth mothership title in the Tales series, and was released for the...
is renewed in this game, but it is limited by Chain Capacity points.
Plot
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.
Characters
Age: 18
Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai
Takahiro Sakurai
is a voice actor who was born in Aichi. He is a member of 81 Produce; his height is .Many of his roles are handsome men. However, he has also voiced reluctant heroes as well as the occasional villain...
(Japanese, Present Age) Yuki Kaida
Yuki Kaida
is a voice actress and radio personality from Tokyo, Japan. Although she has an extensive vocal range, voicing a large variety of characters throughout her career, she is commonly typecasted as young males, achieving mainstream success as her roles in Hunter × Hunter as Kurapika, The Prince of...
(Japanese, 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.
Age: N/A
Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa
Kana Hanazawa
a voice actress represented by Office Osawa talent agency. She is notable for voice acting leading roles for a number of anime television shows and other anime-related media in Japan.-Anime voice roles:Leading roles in bold2003...
(Japanese)
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.
Age: 17
Voiced by: Takahiro Mizushima
Takahiro Mizushima
is a Japanese seiyū. He is affiliated with Production baobab. When voicing adult games, he is known as .-TV Anime:Lead roles in bold.* Adam * Amezo * Billy * Bob...
(Japanese, Present Age) Mikako Takahashi
Mikako Takahashi
is a seiyū and J-pop singer born May 29, 1980 in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Under the alias Mikako Hyatt, she forms one half of the Excel Saga seiyū duo The Excel Girls . She is employed by I'm Enterprise...
(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.
Age: 18
Voiced by: Shiho Kawaragi
Shiho Kawaragi
, is a Japanese voice actor who works for Kenyu-Office.-Notable voice roles:Note: Main character role in bold letters.*Aisling in The Secret of Kells*Aki Aoi in Aki Sora*Barou Esharotto in Law of Ueki...
(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.
Age: 22
Voiced by: Kana Ueda
Kana Ueda
is a Japanese Seiyū employed by I'm Enterprise. She is best known as the voices of Yumi Fukuzawa in Maria-sama ga Miteru, Rin Tohsaka in Fate/Stay Night and Hayate Yagami in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's and Strikers...
(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.
Age: 40
Voiced by: Hiroki Touchi
Hiroki Touchi
is a Japanese voice actor. He has frequently appeared in many anime and appeared in some video games mainly created by tri-Ace.-Games:* Aluze in Valkyrie Profile, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, & Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria...
(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
Age: 19
Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa
Daisuke Namikawa
is a Japanese voice actor who is affiliated with Across Entertainment.He started acting in 1984. He is sometimes mistaken for fellow voice actor Daisuke Hirakawa, as their names only differ by one character when written in kanji. Despite his wide range of voice casting, he is usually cast as young,...
(Japanese, Present Age) Yuko Sanpei
Yuko Sanpei
is a female Japanese voice actress currently affiliated with Production Baobab.-TV Anime:2000:*Daa! Daa! Daa! '2001:*Ojarumaru 2002:...
(Japanese, 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
Tales of Graces F
, styled Tales of Graces ƒ, is an enhanced port of Tales of Graces for the PlayStation 3PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and was released on December 2, 2010. The letter "F" 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
Toro (cartoon character)
, real name , also known as the Sony Cat, is a fictional character created by Sony Computer Entertainment.Toro's family name originated from a debugger called Toro 'Inoue'.-Character design:...
costume for Pascal and a Hatsune Miku
Hatsune Miku
is a singing synthesizer application with a female persona, developed by Crypton Future Media. It uses Yamaha Corporation's Vocaloid 2 synthesizing technology. The name of the character comes from a fusion of the Japanese for , and future , referring to her position as the first of Crypton's...
costume for Sophie.
Starting on January 12, 2011, an English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
localization had been strongly hinted at by Namco Bandai. On the company's official Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page, Namco Bandai gave users who followed them a puzzle image that, when solved, gave a URL to a site. The site, http://ataleoftworichards.com, showed a deformed image that resembled the Tales of Graces F 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 F, coming soon to North America". Namco Bandai has confirmed a European release for 2012.
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 HeartsTales of Hearts
is the eleventh mothership title in the Tales series exclusively for the Nintendo DS, which was released on December 18, 2008 in Japan. Tales of Hearts characteristic genre name is...
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
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
, 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.The PS3 version of the game scored one point higher, resulting in a 37/40 (10/9/9/9). This marked the highest score that a Tales series title had received from Famitsu magazine until Tales of Xillia which received a near-perfect score of 39. The game sold 215,187 in its first week 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.