Tales of Graces

is an action role-playing game released for the Wii in Japan in December 2009. The game is a core product of the ''Tales'' series and was developed by Namco Tales Studio. The game was ported to the PlayStation 3 under the title and was released in Japan in December 2010. The PlayStation 3 version was localized and released in English in 2012.

The game takes place in a world known as Ephinea and follows Asbel Lhant. During his childhood, Asbel befriends an amnesiac girl and witnesses her death. Seven years later, he is reunited with the girl who retains her amnesia.

''Tales of Graces'' and ''Tales of Graces f'' both received positive reception in Japan. The Wii version sold over 100,000 copies while the PS3 version sold 200,000 copies during their week of release. The game was adapted into four manga collections, a novel series, and eight drama CDs. The English localization of ''Tales of Graces f'' received praise for the gameplay with mixed reviews for its presentation.

Gameplay

''Tales of Graces'' consists primarily of two major areas: the field map and a battle screen. The field map is a realistically scaled 3D environment traversed by foot. On the field maps, various skits between the characters can be viewed. They involve animated character portraits, subtitles, and full voice acting. Skits concern anything from character development to side details. The battle screen is a 3D representation of an area, in which the player commands the characters in battles against CPU-controlled enemies.

During battle sequences, the game uses the ''Style Shift Linear Motion Battle System''. Four characters are chosen to battle and characters not controlled by a player are controlled by artificial intelligence with instructions set by the players beforehand. The "Chain Capacity" (CC) denotes the number of skills and actions a character can perform. Usage brings the CC down and is recharged over time. During battle, the player and enemy has an "Eleth Gauge". When the Eleth Gauge is filled, the user or the enemy receive unlimited CC and become resistant to stunning. Each character has two skill systems: "Assault Artes" which are pre-determined combos and "Burst Artes" which can be mapped to specific inputs. Skill and attribute development are dependent on "Titles" and their levels. Titles are earned through story progression and completion of miscellaneous criteria during battle. Each Title has five levels which are advanced by completing battles.

Plot

The game takes place in a fictional world called Ephinea. Ephinea is divided into three countries: Windor, Strahta, and Fendel. Asbel Lhant, Hubert Lhant, and Cheria Barnes are children from Lhant, a village of Windor. One day, the three befriend an amnesiac girl from outside their village who they name Sophie.Library Synopsis (Named after a Flower): "When Asbel and Hubert returned to Lhant with the girl, they found their longtime friend Cheria waiting ..Asbel named the mysterious girl Sophie" That same day, Lhant is visited by Richard, the prince of Windor, who befriends the four of them. Richard returns to Barona, Windor's capital city, and invites them to sneak into his castle via a secret passage.Library Synopsis (The Gathering Storm): "Richard proposed a late-night tour of the castle using a secret underground passageway. Asbel readily accepted, but Richard failed to appear at the time and place he had promised." There, the four are mortally wounded by an unknown monster but are saved when Sophie sacrifices herself. Asbel regains consciousness in Lhant and is told about Sophie's death and Hubert's political adoption into the Oswell family to secure Asbel's future as the Lord of Lhant. Daunted over Sophie's death and the political events at home, Asbel runs away from home and enrolls in the Barona knight academy.Library Synopsis (Childhood's End): "The party found the secret entrance to the catacombs, and discovered Richard lying motionless within. Just then, a mysterious monster attacked, gravely wounding everyone. An enraged Sophie managed to bring the creature down, but was run through by its claws. Then, there was a flood of light, and Asbel awoke to learn that Sophie had died and Hubert had been fostered to another family. Asbel and Aston fought, and even Cheria couldn't calm him down. Determined to run away, Asbel showed up at the gates of the Knight Academy."

Seven years later, Asbel learns from Cheria that his father died defending Lhant from an invasion by Fendel.Library Synopsis (The Envoy from Lhant): "Asbel returned to Barona to find Cheria waiting. Asbel was stunned by her news: the conflict between Lhant and Fendel was intensifying, his father had been killed in battle, and his mother had grown ill with worry. With Malik's encouragement, Asbel decided to return to Lhant with Cheria." The two return to Lhant and are saved from Fendel's army by Sophie and later Hubert with the Stratha military. Hubert reveals Stratha has been ordered by Windor to secure Lhant and assumes the position of Lord after banishing Asbel from the village.Library Synopsis (Exiled from Lhant): "Hubert explained that Windor and Strahta had forged an alliance, and that he would take responsibility for Lhant's governance. Outmaneuvered by his own brother, Asbel was banished from Lhant. Hearing rumors of Richard's death, the party investigate and find him in the castle's secret passage. Richard explains his father was killed by his uncle, Cedric, who then assumed the throne.Library Synopsis (Friends Reunited): "Shaken by a report of Richard's death from one of his pursuers, Asbel sought to verify it by traveling through the secret passage that starts at the Royal Sanctuary. Inside the catacombs he found Richard himself, wounded but alive. ..The party decided to temporarily retreat from the capital and turn to Duke Dalen of Gralesyde for help.

The three travel to meet a trusted Duke and are joined by Pascal, a prodigy from an engineering tribe known as the Amarcians.Library Synopsis (A Spirited Companion): "On the road from the catacombs to Wallbridge, a girl named Pascal joined the group after claiming to have seen an illusion of Sophie." With the Duke's army, the party overthrows Cedric and Richard regains the throne.Library Synopsis (Crowning the New King): "Determined to settle things personally, Richard joined Asbel in defeating Archduke Cedric. Once again, Richard's hatred drove him into a display of wanton cruelty. Even his appearance changed, further raising Asbel's misgivings. Nevertheless, peasants and nobles alike rejoiced at their new king, and marked the occasion with a magnificent coronation."

Richard orders an invasion of Lhant to rid it of Stratha's control, forcing the party to betray him.Library Synopsis (A Seven-Year Reunion): "Without waiting to hear the results of Asbel's negotiations, Richard launched a surprise invasion of Lhant. Richard declared that those who defied him must be shown no mercy, and when Asbel forcefully disagreed, the furious king declared him a traitor. Having reclaimed her memories from seven years earlier, Sophie was able to block Richard's attack, and after a ferocious struggle, Richard and his army withdrew." Acknowledging Hubert's efforts as Lord of Lhant, Asbel and the party, joined by Malik Caesar, travel to Stratha to negotiate with the government to formally instate Hubert as Lord. The government agrees on the pretense that Pascal fixes Stratha's valkines, a large crystal which supplies a life sustaining energy known as eleth; Pascal succeeds but Richard appears and absorbs the valkines' eleth, and flees.Library Synopsis (Quid Pro Duo): "Learning that Strahta's occupation of Lhant was due to problems with Strahta's own cryas, and that overturning the recall order would be dependent on solving that, Asbel offered to have Pascal fix Strahta's valkines. Pascal succeeded, but Richard appeared on the scene and sucked all of the power from the valkines into himself." The party learn Windor's valkines has also been absorbed and plan to intercept Richard at the final valkines in Fendel.Library Synopsis (Together Again): "The party was stunned when they heard the news that Hubert had traveled to Strahta to deliver: Richard had also absorbed the eleth from Windor's own valkines. Everyone agreed that Richard was most likely on his way to the last remaining valkines. ..From there, they planned to infiltrate Fendel, the nation that held the final valkines." Hubert joins the party as they travel to Fendel but fail to stop Richard. Deducing the Lastalia, the planet's core, is Richard's target, the party find Richard there; Richard mortally injures Sophie before sealing the entrance to the Lastalia.Library Synopsis (The Lastalia): "Asbel and his party traveled to World's Eye, an island connected to the core of the planet, in order to protect the Lastalia. When Richard appeared there, he no longer seemed to be human at all. At one point, Richard seemed to briefly regain consciousness, but when Sophie proposed another friendship pact, Richard critically wounded Sophie and triggered a powerful chain reaction."

The party is unable to heal Sophie with magic or medicine, so Pascal suggests the party travel to Fodra, a nearby planet that Sophie originates from, to find a cure.Library Synopsis (For Sophie): "Richard's attack blinded Sophie, and even the strongest of medicines could not cure her condition. This, combined with the fact that Richard had called her Protos Heis, led Pascal to conclude that Sophie might not actually be human. If that were the case, Pascal figured they may be able to save her by going to the Fodra place mentioned in the Archive of Wisdom." After finding a space shuttle left by Pascal's ancestors, the party travel to Fodra where they meet Emeraude, the last remaining human on the desolated planet.Library Synopsis (Fodra, the Other World): "Having finally reached Fodra, the party discovered a city where a woman named Emeraude had been asleep for 1,000 years. There they learned that Sophie was an artificial humanoid soldier, and that they would need to go to a special facility to repair her." Using advanced machinery, Sophie is healed and regains her memories, revealing she is a biological humanoid engineered to defeat Lambda, the monster that attacked them in their childhood and is currently possessing Richard.Library Synopsis (Welcome Back, Sophie): "Asbel's party learned that Richard was infected by a life form known as Lambda, and that Sophie was a humanoid that had been created to destroy it." Emeraude helps the party bypass the barrier on the Lastalia where they confront and defeat Richard. Emeraude betrays the party and attempts to absorb Lambda's power but dies in the process.Library Synopsis (The Wages of Ambition): "The shuttle landed within the cocoon that Richard had created. Sophie was determined to destroy Richard when she encountered him; Emeraude had given her the power to sacrifice herself in order to eradicate Lambda, and she had planned to use it. But Emeraude stopped her in hopes of instead using Lambda's power to restore life to Fodra. Lambda rejected her and, once again, left for the Lastalia with Richard." Lambda begins to fuse with the Lastalia, causing the party to see his memories and learn about his suffering caused by humanity.Library Synopsis (The Story of Lambda): "In the Lastalia, glimpses of Lambda's memories revealed his tragic past. As a new life form, he was made into a test subject on Fodra, and was marked for termination when his natural abilities were deemed too dangerous. Cornell, who treated Lambda like a person and even made him smile, ultimately sacrificed his own life to save Lambda. That experience instilled within Lambda a fierce will to survive, and an empathy for the young Richard he would later find teetering at the brink of death." The party defeats the materialized Lambda; since Lambda can not be killed by normal means, Sophie intends to sacrifice herself to kill him. Instead, Asbel absorbs and convinces Lambda to let him show humanity's worth. Lambda agrees before falling into a deep sleep.Library Synopsis (The Battle's End): "Asbel allowed Lambda into himself to see his true intentions. Witnessing the strength of Asbel's resolve, Lambda decided to remain within Asbel, and fell into a deep sleep. And thus, peace returned to the world. Asbel and his companions each returned to the places where they belonged, to fulfill their individual destinies."

In the after-story ''Lineage and Legacies'', the monster population has become an epidemic, forcing Asbel and his friends to reunite and investigate the cause.Library Synopsis (Barona, Six Months Later): "Upon arriving in Barona, Asbel reunited with Richard, Cheria, Malik, and Hubert. ..Hubert and Malik confirmed that the increase in monster attacks was not confined to Windor." Hypothesizing that the eleth from Fodra is influencing the monsters, the party travel there and discover Fodra's core has reactivated. They learn the core is sentient and wants revenge on the humans for Fodra's environmental decay. The party defeats Fodra's soldiers, the Little Queens, and have the reawakened Lambda absorb Fodra's consciousness. In doing so, Lambda returns to his deep sleep in order to dissuade Fodra's hatred. The party separates and returns to their daily life, concluding with Asbel proposing to Cheria. In the distant future, Sophie shares the story of the party's adventure with Asbel and Cheria's great-great-grandson.

Main characters

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Asbel is the eldest son and successor to Aston Lhant, the Lord of the village Lhant. After Sophie's death and Hubert's adoption into the Oswell family, Asbel leaves for Barona where he trains to be a knight in order to atone for his failure to protect Sophie.Asbel: "You know, it's because of you that I wanted to be strong in the first place." /Sophie?: "Me? .. /Asbel: "Sorry. I guess I think of you as Sophie, you know?" After the events of ''Tales of Graces'', he assumes the position as Lord. In ''Lineage and Legacies'', he marries Cheria and adopts Sophie into the Lhant family. Since his debut, Asbel has ranked third in the ''Tales'' character popularity polls.

Asbel is a playable character in '' Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3'', '' Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave'' and is a character class in '' Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X''. He also makes a cameo in '' .hack//Link''s pre-order DVD. The game's producer, Hideo Baba, wanted Asbel's story to portray the need to conform to social guidelines and expectations as one grows up. Through Asbel's conflict on succeeding his father's Lordship or following his dreams as a Knight, Baba wanted the players to understand the importance in protecting what is important to them and to follow through with their own path and dreams.

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Sophie is an amnesiac girl Asbel, Hubert, Cheria, and Richard befriend. She is seemingly killed after protecting them from Lambda. She reappears seven years later when Asbel and Cheria were in danger. Sophie is revealed to be Protos Heis, a humanoid made of tiny particles acting in concert with each other. Her death seven years ago is explained as Sophie breaking up into particles residing inside Asbel, Hubert, and Cheria to heal their wounds and is the reason the three possess mystical powers.Emeraude: "Protos Heis is composed of individual particles that act in concert with each other. These particles, tinier than a grain of sand, come together to form a human shape. And while they act as one, the particles also possess the ability to separate from each other, which is what you see happening now. ..It's the result of a process called "distriputive preservation". Your friends must be completely synchronized with Protos Heis' particles. ..When Protos Heis suffers heavy damage, it usually splits into individual particles, shuts down all functionality, and begins the process of reconstruction. This is known as "particle preservation". Distributive preservation, on the other hand, allows Protos Heis to implant its particles into one or more separate vessels. .. Pascal: "Would her particles have any kind of effect on the vessels that they went into?" /Emeraude:"Yes. In fact, while the particles prepare for reconstruction, they would repair any damaged areas of the vessels as well." /Pascal: "So Sophie split herself into three parts and then used those parts to save Asbel, Cheria, and Little Bro! .. /Hubert: "I see. Then this would explain why we possess some of the same power she has." During the events of ''Lineage and Legacies'', Sophie expresses her fears of life after the death of her friends due to her immortality.Sophie: "I want to be human. ..Asbel... Cheria... Hubert... Richard... Pascal... Captain Malik... You're all going to die someday...But not me. If I were a human you couldn't leave me alone when you die. Help me, Asbel. How do I become human? ..No matter how sad I get, I can't even cry like you." To lessen her fears, Asbel formally adopts her into the Lhant family.Asbel: "I've given this some thought, and if you want a family, I think we should give you one. From now on, your name shall be Sophie Lhant and I'll be your father." After fusing with a Little Queen, Sophie ages to an adult and is able to express a greater variety of emotions. Since her debut, Sophie has ranked on the ''Tales'' character popularity polls. Sophie is a playable character in ''Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3''.

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Hubert is Asbel's younger brother. He is fostered into the Oswell family to secure Asbel's succession to Lord.Aston: "Hubert is a bright and tenacious boy who can accomplish great things under Sir Oswell's tutelage. I want him to be proud of the man he will become. And above all else, I want him to avoid having to fight for my title. The very same fight that ruined my brother and I." Hubert resents Asbel for deserting Lhant, perceiving the act as spiting his sacrifice, and his parents for abandoning him.Hubert: "I spent the last seven years studying and training. I've sacrificed everything to achieve what I've become. I'm not you. I didn't forget my home and my people so I could go gallivanting around the countryside."Hubert: "Because of pride. You miss them at first but in time that pain turns to anger. Soon, you feel as if you can never forgive them. ..You hate him. You want to get back at him. You want to ask why he did it. ..But that only lasts as long as he's still around. Once he's gone, you'll finally understand how meaningless it all was." He overcomes his anger when he reunites with his family seven years later. Due to his capabilities, he is appointed the lieutenant of the Strahta military. Hubert ranked on the fifth ''Tales'' character popularity poll and fell from the rankings afterwards. He makes a cameo in ''Tales of Hearts R'' dressed as the Sony mascot Kuro.

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Cheria is the granddaughter of Lhant's family butler. She was sickly as a child but is healed due to Sophie's powers. She harbors a crush on Asbel but treats him coldly after he leaves Lhant. She later reveals her sorrow in having Asbel abandon her and reconciles with him.Asbel: "You know, you've been treating me like crap ever since I came back here." /Cheria: "Well that's your fault. In fact, all this is your fault! Seven years ago, you walked out of my life. You never came back, I don't know if I'd ever see you again." She also becomes Asbel's wife. Since her debut, Cheria has ranked on the ''Tales'' character popularity polls. Game Informer listed Cheria as one of the best characters in the ''Tales'' series. Cheria is a playable character in ''Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3'' and ''Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave''.

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Richard is the prince of Windor who befriends Asbel and Sophie after his visit to Lhant. Before meeting Asbel, Richard has a strong distrust in others due to others using his status for their own gain and his uncle Cedric's attempts to murder him.Richard: "You're only pretending to like me so you can use me later. It's always the same. People are only nice to me when they want something for themselves." When Cedric poisoned and left him to die in the underground passage, Lambda saves his life by fusing with him. Seven years later, Lambda's influence causes Richard to become violent and urges him to destroy humanity by fusing with the Lastalia. After separating from Lambda, Richard is determined to atone for his crimes which causes his popularity to soar in all three countries.Asbel: "I've been hearing your about your work from travelers. Everyone says you're doing a great job!" /Hubert: "In Stratha, King Richard is even more popular than even our president. You can even buy trading cards with his picture on them!" /Malik: "In Fendel, his popularity rivals that from the chancellor. I'm not sure who is more famous." /Richard: Please believe me: I don't lead these monster hunts out of some mad desire for fame. My earlier actions dealt a considerable amount of economic damage to both Fendel and Stratha. To make restitution for those deeds, Windor has taken on massive amounts of debt. Since his debut, Richard has ranked on the ''Tales'' character popularity polls.

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Malik is Asbel's instructor at the knight academy. His maturity and gentlemanly demeanor makes him popular with women. In the past, he was a revolutionist of Fendel who wanted more for the lower class. After the events of the game, Malik becomes Fendel's ambassador. He is voiced by Hiroki Touchi. Malik ranked on the fifth ''Tales'' character popularity poll and fell from the rankings since then. He makes a cameo in .hack//Link's pre-order DVD.

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Pascal is an Amarcian prodigy, a tribe of engineers. She has a hyperactive personality and is fascinated in mysterious technology and in Sophie's origins. Since her debut, Pascal has ranked on the ''Tales'' character popularity polls. She makes a cameo in ''Tales of Hearts R'' dressed as the Sony mascot Toro Inoue.

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Lambda is an advanced lifeform created on Fodra. His mistreatment by humans fueled his hatred towards them. During the party's childhood, he resides inside Richard after he was injured by Sophie and as a result, saved Richard's life. Seven years later, Lambda is reawakened when Richard receives a fatal wound. Lambda empowers Richard and manipulates him to achieve his goals of destroying humanity. After he is defeated by the party, Lambda is absorbed by Asbel who convinces him to give humans a chance. In ''Lineage and Legacies'', he absorbs Fodra's consciousness to dissuade her hatred as Asbel did for him.Lambda: "I will start dreaming together with Fodra. In that dream, I hope that eventually we may form a kind of common understanding. Just as this man did for me."

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Fodra is a sentient desolated planet. A thousand years ago, Fodra started annihilating humanity with its personal army, the , to preserve its environment.Scientist 1: "So it's as if Fodra is trying to rid itself of a virus." /Scientist 2: "And in this scenario, the virus is..." /Scientist 1: "The Little Queen's target is none other than... humanity itself." Fodra's scientists were able to shut down Fodra's core and relocate the surviving humans to Ephinea. In ''Lineage and Legacies'', Fodra is reactivated and resumes its genocide. It is confronted by the party, forcing it to merge the remaining Little Queens to form which is defeated by the party. Fodra's consciousness is then absorbed by Lambda who intends to dissuade its hatred. As the last Little Queen nears death, Sophie accepts her request to merge and watch over Fodra.Little Queen: "Will you... take what's... left of me... with you... please? Take my feelings.. and my hopes.. for this world."

Development and release

On July 7, 2008, Namco Bandai Games announced the next core product of the ''Tales'' series is developed for the Wii. A trailer for the game was shown in October 2008 during the Nintendo Autumn 2008 Conference. During Jump Festa 2009, the game was given the code name and is revealed to have been in development for the past two years. In the first week of April's Weekly Shōnen Jump, the game's name was revealed to be ''Tales of Graces''; the name was trademarked by Namco Bandai Games a month prior. That same week, the developers were revealed to the same developers from ''Tales of Destiny''. In the same month, the game's theme was revealed to be . During the September Tokyo Game Show, the game's theme song was revealed to be Mamoritai (White Wishes) by BoA, which marks the second time a theme song in the ''Tales'' series has had both an English version and a Japanese version. The game was released on December 10, 2009, and was also available as a bundle with a new Wii system. The game included , a minigame for the Nintendo DS. ''Kamenin Merchant!'' was released for the Nintendo DSi on December 2, 2009. To promote the game, Namco Bandai Games and House Foods collaborated on packaged mabo curry. In March 2010, Namco Bandai Games began to recall ''Tales of Graces'' due to software bugs. Namco allowed customers to exchange their game with an updated version until July 2011.

The PlayStation 3 port, ''Tales of Graces f'', was first revealed on July 28, 2010's Weekly Shonen Jump and officially announced by Namco on August 2, 2010. The producer, Hideo Baba, explained the port was decided in February 2010 due to fan demand. The port adds an "Accelerate Mode" to the gameplay and an after-story entitled Lineage & Legacies. Preorderers received a DVD which contains a video of the game's protagonists meeting with characters from ''Tales of Destiny 2''. A demo was released on October 7, 2010, and the game was released on December 2, 2010. A limited edition of the game included a letter set. Namco and House Foods restarted the packaged mabo curry to promote the game. ''Tales of Graces f'' was later re-released with a 15th anniversary cover art edition on August 4, 2011, and with PlayStation 3 The Best label on August 2, 2012.

A North American localization was hinted on Namco Bandai Games' Facebook page by a puzzle on January 24, 2011. When solved, the puzzle reveals a URL to a distorted image which was restored on February 2, 2011, and reveals ''Tales of Graces f''s localization for North America. On May 11, 2011, Namco officially announced the North American, EMEA and Asia-Pacific localization of ''Tales of Graces f''. The text was translated by 8-4 while Cup of Tea Productions produced the dubbing. The North American localization was released on March 13, 2012. The EMEA and Asia-Pacific localization released on August 31, 2012, along with a day one special edition. The game was made available on the North American and European PlayStation Network in March 2013.

Downloadable content

''Tales of Graces'' offers costumes for the playable characters as downloadable content. Pre-orderers received codes which give Asbel, Sophie, and Cheria costumes from ''Tales of Vesperia''. Costumes based on ''The Idolmaster Dearly Stars'' for Sophie, Cheria, and Pascal were released on December 16, 2009. On December 23, 2009, a Hatsune Miku costume for Sophie and a suit set for Asbel, Hubert, and Malik were released. Between January and March 2010, a set of unique costumes designed by Mutsumi Inomata were released for each character. In addition to the costumes, challenge battles were also added as downloadable content.

''Tales of Graces f'' received similar content as its Wii predecessor. Pre-orderers received a code which gives Asbel, Sophie, and Richard costumes from ''Tales of Destiny 2''. On the release date, ''Code Geass'' costumes, a Toro costume for Pascal, and Sophie's Hatsune Miku costume were made available to download. On December 9, 2010, the Idolmaster set, suit set, school uniform set, and a Haseo costume for Asbel were released. The unique costumes designed by Inomata were released on December 22, 2010. In January 2011, various costumes were released to make the characters resemble other characters from the ''Tales'' series.

In North America, all ''Tales of Graces f''s DLC, excluding cameo costumes from other franchises, was localized and released between March 13, 2012, and April 10, 2012. Europe received the same DLC which were released between August 29, 2012, and September 26, 2012. For the ''Tales of Destiny 2'' preorder costumes, North American preorders from GameStop received a code for them; in Europe, the code was included with the day one special edition.

Media adaptions

Manga

''Tales of Graces'' spawned four manga adaptations after its release: Three anthology collections, and a traditional manga series. The first anthology collection, consists of three volumes by Ichijinsha. The second anthology collection, , consists of a single volume by Ichijinsha and was released on March 25, 2011. The third anthology collection is was serialized in ASCII Media Works's ''Viva Tales of Magazine'' Volume 8, 2011 to Volume 10, 2012 issues. The individual chapters were then collected and released in a single volume on November 27, 2012, under the Dengeki Comics imprint. A traditional manga series titled ''Tales of Graces f'' is written and authored by . It began serialization in ''Viva Tales of Magazine'' beginning in its Volume 2, 2011 issue and is currently ongoing. ASCII Media Works collected the chapters and released the first volume on October 27, 2011.

Books

''Tales of Graces'' spun off a novel series titled . The first volume is subtitled and the second . They were released by Enterbrain in February and May 2011. by Namco Bandai Games was released by Yamashita Books on June 4, 2012. It details the game's plot and fictional world. ''Tales of Graces'' has received six strategy guides in total: three for the Wii and three for the PS3. Shueisha, Namco Bandai Games, and Enterbrain were the publishers.

Audio CDs

Ten drama CDs, produced by Frontier Works, and an original soundtrack by Avex Group were created based on the game. 1 to 4 are side stories that take place during the game's plot. They were released between May 26, 2010, and August 25, 2010. , , , , , and are side stories after the events of the ''Tales of Graces''. was released on February 10, 2010, and contains four discs. It ranked 128th on Oricon's charts.

Reception

''Tales of Graces'' sold 113,000 copies on its initial launch date, and sales reached 216,000 within its first year. The game was re-released under the Nintendo Selects label on March 24, 2011. Famitsu praised the depth of the gameplay but criticized the loading time. The game was listed on Famitsu's "Greatest Games of All-Time" in 2010. ''Tales of Graces f'' sold over 200,000 copies in Japan during its first week and reached over 300,000 a year later. ''Tales of Graces f'' was later re-released under PlayStation 3 The Best label on August 2, 2012. Famitsu repeated their praise of the gameplay and lauded the graphical upgrades. A survey by ASCII Media Works's Dengeki Online in 2011 revealed ''Tales of Graces'' is ranked seventh on games readers would want to be adapted into an anime.

For the English localization of ''Tales of Graces f'', critics praised the gameplay while the presentation received mixed reviews. IGN described the battle system as "a beautiful ebb and flow to each confrontation" while GameSpot considered it to be the most technical and robust system of the ''Tales'' series. Electronic Gaming Monthly and Joystiq praised the depth with the latter calling it "an actual challenge instead of mindless button-pressing". Meanwhile, Game Informer considered the combat to be simple but fun. Critics have also commented on the game's alchemy system, with IGN calling it "an approachable pursuit" and Joystiq describing it as "unwieldy" due to the number of collectibles. IGN, Game Informer, GamesRadar, and GameTrailers all criticized the backtracking needed in the game. GameInformer, GameSpot, and GameTrailers commented on the small world, with GameTrailers panning the linear pathways and "invisible walls" which prevent exploration along with the "cut and paste" dungeons.

The plot, graphics, and audio have received mixed reviews. The plot and characters have been called cliché by Game Informer, GameSpot, and GamesRadar. Game Informer called the childhood prologue monotonous but commented on the improving story after the time skip. GameSpot agreed, calling the prologue the "weakest part of the story on its own" but "crucial point of reference" which adds depth and eventually breaks away from the cliché. GamesRadar shared the same opinion as GameSpot and praised Richard's transformation into a villain. As for the graphics, IGN considered them outdated while Joystiq described it as washed-out with jerky movements. For the audio, IGN, Game Informer, and GamesRadar, considered the music underwhelming and the voice acting acceptable. IGN describes the voice acting "works" but some parts suffer from weak script. Game Informer compared the voices to a well-produced anime and GamesRadar considered them fitting for the characters. Meanwhile, GameTrailers criticized the presentation completely, citing the plot as predictable, the characters unengaging, the lightings flat, animations stiff, lipsyncing off, forgettable music, and the voice acting as dry.

Notes and references

;Notes

;References

;Primary references

External links

Official ''Tales of Graces'' website


Official ''Tales of Graces f'' website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tales Of Graces
2009 video games
Cooperative video games
PlayStation 3 games
Role-playing video games
Action role-playing video games
Graces, Tales of
Video games developed in Japan
Video games scored by Motoi Sakuraba
Video games with downloadable content
Wii games