Dead Prince
Banned
YES! I get to play this when i get home! unless they decide to reschedule D:.
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Tales of Graces |OT| Gracing the PS3 with the Best RPG Combat
- Thread starter kayos90
- Start date
YES! I get to play this when i get home! unless they decide to reschedule D:.
Here are some quick impressions (an hour and a half in):
Really like the art style and graphics. Everything is clean and colorful. It's just a pleasant game to look at.
Soundtrack is generic, but unobtrusive. The voice acting is really great so far. And the characters are little chatterboxes, there's always some kind of interaction, Whether it be skits or cut scenes. The characters are really well done so far, and I quite enjoy the dynamic between the four kids.
Battle system is fun and there is a lot of depth there. Overall the game is a treat so far. Everything is very refined and user friendly without being too hand holdy. Really glad this made it to the u.s.!
Really like the art style and graphics. Everything is clean and colorful. It's just a pleasant game to look at.
Soundtrack is generic, but unobtrusive. The voice acting is really great so far. And the characters are little chatterboxes, there's always some kind of interaction, Whether it be skits or cut scenes. The characters are really well done so far, and I quite enjoy the dynamic between the four kids.
Battle system is fun and there is a lot of depth there. Overall the game is a treat so far. Everything is very refined and user friendly without being too hand holdy. Really glad this made it to the u.s.!
goldlion054
Member
Hmm, Amazon is still saying "Shipping Soon" and I have release day delivery. Don't appreciate that, Amazon
popsicle_sundays
Member
My copy shipped from Amazon 
It's a lot of money, and as much as I hate his attitude, his dedication in bringing stuff out helps. This thread on GameFAQs is really pissing me off though.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/604158-tales-of-graces-f/62224582
PixyJunket
Member
I've gotten a number of "Order Shipped" notices at like two in the morning. I wouldn't worry. Too much.
distantmantra
Member
I used his guide for some of the PS3-centric stuff in Vepseria. Wow.
You don't have to buy the guide. No one is forcing you to. However, I am very disappointed at the accusations behind why people are not buying the guide. It's one thing to say "It's expensive so I'm not going to buy it." It's another to say "I'm not buying it because it's a cop-out to earn more money."
Some are missable.
PixyJunket
Member
All I need is a list of missables in regards to achievements. (¬___¬);
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
I did most of the Inn Requests at the end of the game or when I had the materials for them during the main game, and some of them don't open up towards the end. Just the subevents might be missable, but the only one you should do is the handkerchief event in Lhant prior to entering the final dungeon. A lot of the timed stuff are events that may give you titles (which help out a lot with the Get 20/50/100 Titles trophies).
Don't feel pressured to complete everything on a first playthrough, though. That's part of why Gentleman Defeated! was pretty bad for me. Just remember that as long as you got an item at some point, you can just make the Eleth Mixer create one, or go through the Arena to fight through some enemies to see if you can get a certain drop you need to synthesize something for an inn request.
Graces didn't feel as bad as Vesperia and Abyss at all with regards to timed events. If you feel like you're missing anything, you can use the Google Doc we linked in the OP or these two links for the subevents when you get the chapters (I've glanced through this particular thread and some stuff might be spoiled; I'll just spoiler tag them to make people double-check):
(Subevents from Chapter 4 onwards)
(Subevents from Chapter 8 onwards)
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Mine's still "soon" so it'll take it's sweet time bouncing from distribution center to distribution center in the midsouth and midatlantic over the course of the next week.
Hopefully not as bad as Abyss was. Vesperia too.
Edit: Thanks Schala, those should help!
mjemirzian
Banned
When people pay for a guide, they expect something like a Bradygames complete guide, with the requisite lists and carefully organized details. Or something like Futurepress with its expert level advice and strategies. If you don't have either and you're only doing a bare-bones walkthrough of an easy JRPG (or an easy difficulty setting), there's not a big incentive to buy.
My guides are useful because they detail strategies that can get through difficult sections of a game.
My guides are useful because they detail strategies that can get through difficult sections of a game.
BassForever
Member
Can I not feel both? I think it's too expensive, but I would possibly consider paying for it if it was 5 dollars. Either way I don't like the idea of him charging for what is essentially a bare bones "Get 100% without much in terms of spoilers* guide. If his guide went into an insane amount of detail with tons of detailed pictures and videos then I'd drop 10 dollars easily, but that's not what he did.
Yeah, I understand it's expensive. However, I think it's another thing to go straight up attack his character.
I believe mine got less than 10.
But with releases like this, don't GameStop stores mostly go off of preorder numbers?
BassForever
Member
Fair enough, you don't have to agree or support his decision, but flaming him for it doesn't accomplish anything.
Yup I completely agree.
goldlion054
Member
This is the internet, flaming someone is always a goal, no matter what for.
Memento_Mori15
Member
The local gamestop here has 10 copies and only 4 people pre-ordered it. For Tales of the Abyss, 5 people pre-ordered it, and they still had 3 extra copies.
I love how everyone assumes guides like that just magically materialize out of nowhere. You can tell from reading it that it took a -massive- amount of time and effort to make; $10 is nothing considering the amount of convenience it provides players, particularly completionists.
Anyway, don't want to drag this topic on any further, but yes, people who are complaining about Kouli charging for his work should probably quit whining and make their own guides.
You can tell from reading it that it took a -massive- amount of time and effort to make; $10 is nothing considering the amount of convenience it provides players, particularly completionists.Anyway, don't want to drag this topic on any further, but yes, people who are complaining about Kouli charging for his work should probably quit whining and make their own guides.
I love how everyone assumes guides like that just magically materialize out of nowhere.
Anyway, don't want to drag this topic on any further, but yes, people who are complaining about Kouli charging for his work should probably quit whining and make their own guides.
Ok, I want you to compare Koulis guides to Prima or Brady guides. (both of which tend to be not much more expensive). See the difference and if you think $10 is worth it compared to the amount of work the latter two have in their guides then I honestly don't know what I can tell you.
As for free guides, check any Absolute Steve or Split infinity or ALEX guides on gamefaqs and you see some actual quality that is worth $10+
edit: I also know that there is no official guide out for Graces f but not long after the game is out, there will be far better free guides up on gamefaqs. That much is for certain tbh.
We got far less when Vesperia came out. Who knows though. We had 6 reserves
I love how everyone assumes guides like that just magically materialize out of nowhere.
Anyway, don't want to drag this topic on any further, but yes, people who are complaining about Kouli charging for his work should probably quit whining and make their own guides.
As much as I think that there are people out there who make really good FAQs that rival or exceed published guides, it doesn't look particularly... good on Kouli's part to suddenly pull a bait and switch mere days before the US release.
Apparently Graces isn't that bad when it comes to missable content. Abyss, on the other hand, was notorious for having asinine and sometimes ludicrous time-constraints on several items, skills, skits, etc, etc.
I love how everyone assumes guides like that just magically materialize out of nowhere.
Anyway, don't want to drag this topic on any further, but yes, people who are complaining about Kouli charging for his work should probably quit whining and make their own guides.
Kouli sounds familiar as far as gamefaqs go. Didn't know he/she started charging for his guides.
I never use guides.
EDIT: I'm not a completionist. And I don't care at all about trophies.
Not really, if you need any help, you can always ask on forums or look up a free guide on gfaqs but even then, it isn't really needed unless you're a completionist
goldlion054
Member
To get through the game, no. To get everything, pretty much. There is alot of sidequest, missables, and secrets in Tales games and I believe this one is no different. Sometimes you have to do things in a strict timeframe and you'll have no idea until its too late. Even with a guide, you might miss some things in a Tales game.
Essentially, if you just want to enjoy the main story, no need. If you want to really delve into the game, I highly recommend guides for the Tales games
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Depends on what sort of player you are. Games like Vesperia and Abyss sometimes had missable quests and you would have never known they existed unless you referred to a guide. To get through the game in general, you didn't need it. If you are a completionist, you might want to refer to one every now and then.
With Graces, you don't really need it unless you want to plat the game in one playthrough. You can transfer certain things (artes, arte usage, titles, etc) using the Grade Shop on a New Game+ and start anew there with certain bonuses to get through the game faster if you choose them in the Grade Shop (ex: 10x damage, XP multipliers, etc).
If you have any questions, you could always ask. Generally, guides aren't really needed outside of subevent triggers or obtaining high level hi-ougis (for this game). But if you just want to enjoy the game, you don't need a guide at all.
Really? Wow.Aeana said:
First I've heard of this, if he claimed to be the guide writer when he wasn't then it is unethical even before this. (as I said, first I've heard of this).
edit: Yeah, do you have a link? I'm just very curious about this now, Seems very.... odd that no one has mentioned this whenever Kouli is mentioned until now.
If that's the case then yes, that's not even pretty unethical. It's unethical period.
I wasn't aware of that part; if true, that's...unfortunate. It's still a crazy useful guide though. (I know; I used it the second time I played through TOGf.)
The only Tales game I've played that needed a guide is Abyss. That game has a ton of side events that are only available for limited times that you need a guide to know when they're available.
I love how everyone assumes guides like that just magically materialize out of nowhere.
Anyway, don't want to drag this topic on any further, but yes, people who are complaining about Kouli charging for his work should probably quit whining and make their own guides.
A lot of people do, and they don't charge for their guides either.
Anyway, I planned on using a guide to try and platinuming on one playthrough. However, since I'm playing co-op with my roommate, I think I might just make the first playthrough a regular playthrough through the story otherwise he might get bored. I usually do 2 playthroughs anyway.
Cool, thanks for the responses. Permanently missable stuff always bums me out (especially quests!) and I am a bit of a completionist, but I don't like to use guides for my first time through a game. So, I think I'll wing it and bug GAF up for pointers or if I end up lost and have a bunch of questions.
Well, I'm not making any accusations about this guide, since I haven't seen it; it's just something I've noticed with his past work. Japanese guide sites are incredibly thorough. Just take a look at this one for ToGf.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
That wiki's really great. I used it to unlock titles.
I used this site for help with the Gentleman Defeated trophy, just because I liked the way the synthesis stuff was laid out a little more than the above linked wiki: http://wiki.mmo-station.com/wiki/ps3togf/.
And for anyone playing through Xillia, this wiki site is awesome cuz the maps are pretty accurate: http://gameclear.org/tox/.
I used this site for help with the Gentleman Defeated trophy, just because I liked the way the synthesis stuff was laid out a little more than the above linked wiki: http://wiki.mmo-station.com/wiki/ps3togf/.
And for anyone playing through Xillia, this wiki site is awesome cuz the maps are pretty accurate: http://gameclear.org/tox/.
Looks like I won't be getting my copy until 8:00 pm tomorrow.
Guess I won't have much time to really dig into it until later this week then. :/
As for the guide, it's fine if he found this content himself and decided to do a write-up of it all, but if a lot of it's just ripped and translated from the Official Complete Guides or Japanese wikis, then that's a really sleazy move.
Guess I won't have much time to really dig into it until later this week then. :/
As for the guide, it's fine if he found this content himself and decided to do a write-up of it all, but if a lot of it's just ripped and translated from the Official Complete Guides or Japanese wikis, then that's a really sleazy move.