Tales of Graces ƒ |OT| Gracing the PS3 with the Best RPG Combat

I can't believe this is coming out next week. Doesn't feel like it. Always have that feeling when a game I've been wanting to play for a long time comes.

Especially considering we thought we'd never get an English version, I keep watching English gameplay cause Im afraid the game will vanish on me lol
 
Oh man, I can't wait for this to release in Europe. I'd import, but I want to support it in PAL and I'm not buying it twice.

I've been wanting this for quite a while. Might get the plat as it doesn't sound that hard to obtain.
 
I think that happened with me as well. Once I was introduced to the whole side stepping which I think happens pretty early, there wasn't any other form of motion for me. Not even the regular walking up and especially not free run. Though I guess with free run, it could just because it might require pressing certain buttons to free run (no idea, can't even remember how to free run in this game).
It's R2, iirc? (I could be wrong) You get penalized for free-running anyway, so I didn't use it much (outside of my dislike for free run in general).

Even with the Grimoire that increases movement speed, I still used around-step for everything. Regular walking up takes too much time and it makes more sense to around-step.
 
Free Run in Graces is done with holding the analog stick in a direction. I believe they tell you how to do it once you unlock it from the first title you get. Though there's really no need to ever use Free Run in this game outside of moving yourself to run away from a battle.
 
Thanks for the info. What's the big tiff with those other trophies you mentioned, Schala? Difficult or just very grindy?
 
I have no PS3 but may ask a friend to lend me hers just so I can play this (My purchase depends on her answer, obviously). I do have an account from using my PSP, I think, so can I access it so if and when I buy my own PS3, I won't have to replay again and redo all the trophies? Or how does the PS3 work with different accounts?
 
Thanks for the info. What's the big tiff with those other trophies you mentioned, Schala? Difficult or just very grindy?
Gentleman Defeated! trophy (or whatever it's called in English) was the hardest trophy for me. You need to complete all the Inn Requests. Inn Requests are basically fetch quests where you go to the inn/talk to the innkeeper, and hand in items that people request. I generally don't sell equipment or drops in RPGs, so I sorta had an advantage in that to complete some requests, you need to turn in some dualized items (which you create in your Eleth Mixer). Sometimes you need to turn in weapons... with certain natures. Some weapons have default natures, and you need to synthesize them with certain items to make the nature that the requester wants. Or sometimes you need to synthesize a higher tier weapon to get the nature you want.

Sometimes you won't have enough nature pieces to make the weapon you want to turn in, so you'll need to go grind for drops in certain places (which I had to refer to the Japanese wiki for). Equip the Mining Book, and the book that lets you find items more easily to get them.

Also some inn requests take time to show up, so it's better to just do the few you can and just move on until more pop up.

You will need to do the Zone Cage dungeon to unlock a request item and inn request.

Um. You don't really need a FAQ for this trophy in general since you're playing in English, but there's one event that you need to do before setting foot in the final dungeon in Lhant, and that's the handkerchief event. Following Kouli's guide might be a good idea since you will get all the stuff you need in order to get the trophy, but I've noticed that it's been taken down in anticipation of the English release.

Anyway, that trophy kinda sucks. Just don't sell anything that you notice to have certain natures (ex: Beautiful, Hard, Cool, Dangerous, etc) because you might need them.

9999 points in the Eleth Mixer is extremely grindy (6-10 hours). In order to increase the capacity points in your Eleth Mixer you have to keep using it. That means putting food items in there that triggers during battles in a gambit-like condition (ex: "use pizza when HP falls below 60%"), or using books that use up energy during battle/after battle/on the field (I usually equip the book that increases movement speed both in battle and on the field, for example). It takes a while for you to get to 9999 points, even into postgame (which is where I got it). If you want to do this one two playthroughs, you could.

The recommended method is:
- The book that doubles E consumption of Food Items for the Eleth Mixer)
- The book that lets you use two food items in battle
- Miso Oden or any other food that heals HP as long as it costs a lot of Eleth Points to use.
- Being close to a shop so you could refill the pot
- Having Dark Bottles on-hand to make enemies spawn quickly (enemies in this game respawn after a while when you defeat them; they seem to respawn faster on harder difficulties)

I have no PS3 but may ask a friend to lend me hers just so I can play this (My purchase depends on her answer, obviously). I do have an account from using my PSP, I think, so can I access it so if and when I buy my own PS3, I won't have to replay again and redo all the trophies? Or how does the PS3 work with different accounts?
I'm not sure but I think the trophies are PSN account-locked (if someone knows better, by all means correct me), so as long as you sync your trophies to the server, you can use the account you use with your PSP to get the trophies for this game despite not using your own PS3.

Edit: Thanks, Gekko87. I figured trophies would be disabled when moving saves and stuff.
 
Can I access it so if and when I buy my own PS3, I won't have to replay again and redo all the trophies? Or how does the PS3 work with different accounts?
As long as you sync your trophies on PSN when you get them, they'll stay on your account. As for your save data, unless you have Playstation Plus, your kinda screwed since trophies are usually disabled in games when moving save data to another ps3 using a memory cards.

I have my own question ask you guys, do you guys think this will be hard to find after launch?

I'm thinking of cancelling my pre-order to get SFxT instead cause I have like 2 JRPGs in my backlog (Neptunia is taking forever!). At the same time though I don't want to give it up because I pre-ordered it when it was $40 on Amazon and I want to support it too.
 
As long as you sync your trophies on PSN when you get them, they'll stay on your account. As for your save data, unless you have Playstation Plus, your kinda screwed since trophies are usually disabled in games when moving save data to another ps3 using a memory cards.

I have my own question ask you guys, do you guys think this will be hard to find after launch?

I'm thinking of cancelling my pre-order to get SFxT instead cause I have like 2 JRPGs in my backlog (Neptunia is taking forever!). At the same time though I don't want to give it up because I pre-ordered it when it was $40 on Amazon and I want to support it too.

It shouldn't be hard to find online, but it very likely will be hard to find in-store. Tales of the Abyss 3DS is still in stock at the EBgames here, though. Amazon,ca only has 1 left in stock, and .com has 5. So, it shouldn't be too bad to get Graces maybe a month or so after release, but I'd try and get it ASAP.
 
Gekko87 said:
I have my own question ask you guys, do you guys think this will be hard to find after launch?

I'm thinking of cancelling my pre-order to get SFxT instead cause I have like 2 JRPGs in my backlog (Neptunia is taking forever!). At the same time though I don't want to give it up because I pre-ordered it when it was $40 on Amazon and I want to support it too.
I'm not even sure anymore, tbh. A lot of people were taking cues from Tales of the Abyss's print run, which was small. I'm not sure if Namco will treat Graces in the same manner.

Though I wonder if SFxT will have an SSFxT soon. It almost seems inevitable, but if you play online a lot, I could see you wanting to get the first iteration to practice with. Not sure.
 
Though I wonder if SFxT will have an SSFxT soon. It almost seems inevitable, but if you play online a lot, I could see you wanting to get the first iteration to practice with. Not sure.

Of course, with Street Fighter X Tekken, you only need to buy this one disc to enjoy the game for a long time. We’re not going to sell another disc version of the game, so if we do any kind of updates or patches, it’ll all be done properly through DLC. We don’t want users to be afraid to accept these kinds of new changes. We want them to be as open-minded as possible when it comes to new features like these.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/egm-interview-street-fighter-x-tekken-producer-yoshinori-ono/



And get Tales of Graces f. As much as I love SFxTK, ToGf needs the support and is much more likely to be harder to find later on than SFxTK.
 
I've never played a Tales game, but I've always been meaning to start one. Should I start off with this?

Also, not a big fan of JRPG's anymore (their stories get too predictable and their combat tends to get repetitive/grindy), but from what I hear, Tales combat system is more like a fighting game, which appeals to me.

Plus, last two games I bought have been Dark Souls and SCV, so I'm thinking I might as well continue on the Namco train.
 
I've never played a Tales game, but I've always been meaning to start one. Should I start off with this?

Also, not a big fan of JRPG's anymore (their stories get too predictable and their combat tends to get repetitive/grindy), but from what I hear, Tales combat system is more like a fighting game, which appeals to me.

Plus, last two games I bought have been Dark Souls and SCV, so I'm thinking I might as well continue on the Namco train.

I can't really speak for Graces, since I haven't played it, but it looks like as good a starting point as any. Vesperia and Abyss would be good ones, too. Abyss is on the 3DS, and doesn't have the awful loadtimes, and frame rate issues on the field that plagued the PS2 version.

Personally, I'd use (and have) Abyss to introduce anyone to the series.

Someone more knowledgeable about Graces can answer for it.
 
Damn, Gamestop just called me today and told me that I can pick up my copy of ToGf when they open on Tuesday at 10AM, giving me the impression that they already have it. I'm hurting for this game right now lol
 
Is this game do-able from hardest on the get-go?

Well it depends on what you means by 'hardest'. You can start off on Hard and unlock Evil after 200 battles, then Chaos after 200 battles on Evil. I personally started on Hard and switched to Evil as soon as I unlocked it, but never ventured into Chaos cause that would've been crazy.
 
Boy it's been a long time since I've been here. Apparently I have Internet Agoraphobia.
Edit: Or rather forum agoraphobia...

BUT ALAS, I HAVE A QUESTION!

I'm very curious, after watching a trailer or two I've become rather interested in whether skits are handled the same way as in previous Tales games? Is it small boxes and conversation on bottom, or do they do it differently? Also, does anyone know if they'll be voiced or just text? =O
 
I'm very curious, after watching a trailer or two I've become rather interested in whether skits are handled the same way as in previous Tales games? Is it small boxes and conversation on bottom, or do they do it differently? Also, does anyone know if they'll be voiced or just text? =O

it is like other team destiny game (more like visual novel) half body character pic instead of box picture
 
it is like other team destiny game (more like visual novel) half body character pic instead of box picture

Oooooh, that's sweet. I don't think I've played a Team Destiny game yet then. All I've played are Abyss, Symphonia, and Vesperia. I'm so excited for Graces though. Cannot wait.

Well thanks for the info. =D
 
Boy it's been a long time since I've been here. Apparently I have Internet Agoraphobia.
Edit: Or rather forum agoraphobia...

BUT ALAS, I HAVE A QUESTION!

I'm very curious, after watching a trailer or two I've become rather interested in whether skits are handled the same way as in previous Tales games? Is it small boxes and conversation on bottom, or do they do it differently? Also, does anyone know if they'll be voiced or just text? =O

They're voiced, yes.

And skits in Team Destiny games are busts instead of boxes. Like this
 
Gosh dammit that stream pissed me off. Twitch doesn't allow streaming for a game that hasn't been released yet unless it's acknowledged by the devs over email? What the fuck.
 
2-3 more days. Kinda giddy coz this is our first Team Destiny game in English.
 
I can't really speak for Graces, since I haven't played it, but it looks like as good a starting point as any. Vesperia and Abyss would be good ones, too. Abyss is on the 3DS, and doesn't have the awful loadtimes, and frame rate issues on the field that plagued the PS2 version.

Personally, I'd use (and have) Abyss to introduce anyone to the series.

Someone more knowledgeable about Graces can answer for it.

I generally use Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube as my "entry into the series" for someone. ToS is very by the numbers which makes it easy to enjoy/understand unlike Abyss which throws out tons of jargon (fomicry, fonon, sephiroth, etc) which can confused and overwhelm people.
 
So.. Is this gonna be another Vesperia where, if I don't get it around launch, I'm destined to pay more for it later on? I didn't want to buy it yet because it's Yakuza day, but I'll buy it day 1 if it means it'll be more in a month.
 
So.. Is this gonna be another Vesperia where, if I don't get it around launch, I'm destined to pay more for it later on? I didn't want to buy it yet because it's Yakuza day, but I'll buy it day 1 if it means it'll be more in a month.

It's a Tales game, in the US a week after launch they become like the holy grail.
 
So.. Is this gonna be another Vesperia where, if I don't get it around launch, I'm destined to pay more for it later on? I didn't want to buy it yet because it's Yakuza day, but I'll buy it day 1 if it means it'll be more in a month.

It's pretty much guaranteed to get a limited shipment. I'd advise getting it as soon as possible.
 
Well it depends on what you means by 'hardest'. You can start off on Hard and unlock Evil after 200 battles, then Chaos after 200 battles on Evil. I personally started on Hard and switched to Evil as soon as I unlocked it, but never ventured into Chaos cause that would've been crazy.
I'm... I'm not... crazy...

2-3 more days. Kinda giddy coz this is our first Team Destiny game in English.
I'm giddy cuz you guys finally get to play it! :)

Oh good. So I don't have to feel hesitant to buy it. I felt pretty burned after buying MvC3.
 
Are the characters and story in this game any good? I've played ToV for maybe 10 hours and only Rita really ever clicked with me, well two if I get to count the dog. Probably the reason I put the game down and haven't really had an urge to go back to it.

And how different is the combat from ToV?
 
Are the characters and story in this game any good? I've played ToV for maybe 10 hours and only Rita really ever clicked with me, well two if I get to count the dog. Probably the reason I put the game down and haven't really had an urge to go back to it.

And how different is the combat from ToV?

The combat is quite different from Vesperia. The game doesn't have any TP, and it also doesn't have regular attacks, and you're penalized for free running. I explained it in this post if you want some more detail.
 
Story is not as good as Vesperia so if you didn't like Vesperia then chances are low that you'll like Graces' story.
 
Story is not as good as Vesperia so if you didn't like Vesperia then chances are low that you'll like Graces' story.

That kind of concerns me cause I thought Vesperia's story was mostly okay with a few bright moments
The second act of the story where Alexei is the villain and Yuri is doing his vigilante justice is the best, only to be ruined by 'lol find the summon spirits' in the final act
. Though I guess as long as it isn't as boring as Dawn of the new World's plot or as contrived/infuriating as Legendia's I'll be happy.
 
Though I wonder if SFxT will have an SSFxT soon. It almost seems inevitable, but if you play online a lot, I could see you wanting to get the first iteration to practice with. Not sure.
Nah I just want to play it :P, I love fighting games but I never get good at any of them (I guess I'm better then the average person). Which is fine cause its still fun to me.

JohnLacke said:
I'd try and get it ASAP

FSLink said:
And get Tales of Graces f. As much as I love SFxTK, ToGf needs the support and is much more likely to be harder to find later on than SFxTK.
Yeah this what I needed to hear, thanks guys.

It's only because of my backlog I've been second guessing buying Tales. SFxT I would open the minute I get it but Tales I want to wait till I beat Neptunia. But yeah I feel safer picking up Graces, haven't played a Tales game since Legendia so I'm looking forward to playing it!
 
That kind of concerns me cause I thought Vesperia's story was mostly okay with a few bright moments
The second act of the story where Alexei is the villain and Yuri is doing his vigilante justice is the best, only to be ruined by 'lol find the summon spirits' in the final act
. Though I guess as long as it isn't as boring as Dawn of the new World's plot or as contrived/infuriating as Legendia's I'll be happy.

Well, we've tried to stress that Graces's strong point is notttt in its story. It just isn't. It's not bad, but the star of Graces is the combat and auxiliary systems.
 
Well, we've tried to stress that Graces's strong point is notttt in its story. It just isn't. It's not bad, but the star of Graces is the combat and auxiliary systems.

Oh don't get me wrong, that's why I play this series lol I just appreciate a good story is all. I didn't play all the way though DotnW or Legendia because I enjoyed the characters/story <_< Tales games are just that much fun to play, especially with friends
 
Oh don't get me wrong, that's why I play this series lol I just appreciate a good story is all. I didn't play all the way though DotnW or Legendia because I enjoyed the characters/story <_< Tales games are just that much fun to play, especially with friends

The ending for the main arc is really good. I enjoyed it a lot.
 
I generally use Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube as my "entry into the series" for someone. ToS is very by the numbers which makes it easy to enjoy/understand unlike Abyss which throws out tons of jargon (fomicry, fonon, sephiroth, etc) which can confused and overwhelm people.

I suppose it would depend on the person, but generally somebody looking to get into a niche series (at least in the West) like Tales would already be a fan of RPGs/JRPGs, so such concepts wouldn't be particularly overwhelming. I enjoyed Symphonia quite a bit, but personally I don't think it's a very strong offering in the Tales franchise. The characters were not very memorable, at all.


The story works, and it's a nice adhesive to hold everything together, imo. It isn't outstanding, but it works.

That's completely fine with me. As long as the story is halfway decent, I can deal with it. My favourite aspect is the characters, anyway. As long as they are likeable, the quality of the overall plot is not a big concern of mine. Granted, if it's overly bad, then I doubt I'd have any motivation to continue.
 
The ending for the main arc is really good. I enjoyed it a lot.
Agreed, however I think that the f side ending is somehow even better. It just did so much right and I felt really great after it while thinking "oh god no it's over for real ;_;"

I'm... I'm not... crazy...
You most certainly are! There were some bosses that were driving me insane on Evil until I just resorted to grinding to sort them out.
 
I'm... I'm not... crazy...

If it makes you feel any better, I'll probably do Chaos for my first run if the unlock is just a 400 battle count (200 Hard -> 200 Evil).

Well, we've tried to stress that Graces's strong point is notttt in its story. It just isn't. It's not bad, but the star of Graces is the combat and auxiliary systems.

I hear this a lot so is it more a case of the story is forgettable or just that the rest of Graces is so much better that it doesn't really matter? Generally speaking, my story requirement in games is just having one so I'm just curious.
 
If it makes you feel any better, I'll probably do Chaos for my first run if the unlock is just a 400 battle count (200 Hard -> 200 Evil).



I hear this a lot so is it more a case of the story is forgettable or just that the rest of Graces is so much better that it doesn't really matter? Generally speaking, my story requirement in games is just having one so I'm just curious.

Story is just typical Tales story. Characters are good and story is okay. It's just average which is why we're saying it's alright.
 
Sadly there's no way that I'll be getting this game anytime soon.

March and April are going to be overloaded for me, not sure about May though...oh wait that's catch-up month probably.

Gonna take a chance on the aftermarket then.
 
Story is just typical Tales story. Characters are good and story is okay. It's just average which is why we're saying it's alright.

That's kind of what I figured it would be. Tales being Tales sort of thing. I don't think I've really been disappointed with a Tales story (short of Innocence ... for some reason; I blame the fact I hated too many of the characters).
 
I'm about to finish Xenoblade, I should get Tales of Graces by the end of the week. Hope I won't be disappointed. :)
 
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