Tales of Graces F

[Bytor]

way to rub it in Dice, rub it in, lol

[Spoony Mage]

Got the game early from Indie game seller who don't know what a "street date" is. :D

I love it so far, and ta-hell with opinions and modern standards, this game's graphics are beautiful in their own right (the motion capture really helps too of course, Abyss, Vesperia and Symphonia had probably some of the most retarded looking cut scenes for that).  Scenery is gorgeous.

Sadly, most of the music, though pleasant enough, is pretty forgettable and blandly melodic.

The battle system... hell, just about everything is pretty unique to the series.  I'm still kind of confused about how Skills work with Artes and with Titles. @_@  I accidently skipped through some of the dialogue on it...

I think this "kids" chapter is lasting a bit long too, I've skipped a few cutscenes here and there for going long and already making their "point".  But I'm sure it'll work out for whatever idea they're going to get at in the end.

Anyways, I'm pretty damn happy. :)

Nice, Dice!  I'm happy for you.  I agree that it's always good to hear nice things be said about a tales game.  Especially a localized version.  Makes all the waiting a bit less painful.

[Yoda]

My copy is on the way!

So happy!

[Andrew]

My copy is on the way!

So happy!

[Cyril]

Me three! Yay for Prime free release-day shipping.

Now if only there was more time in a day; I've no idea how to balance it between ME3 and this.  I still wanted to 100% Amalur, too.

[jello44]

Picking up my copy tomorrow.

..I'll probably sell the DLC code, depending on how much they go for.

[ZeronHitaro]

Just got my copy and am about to play it as soon as I get the DLC codes in. So far I'm actually preemptively wincing from the back of the box.

'Bonds of Friendship are Eternal'

Ugh, damn it JRPGs; Sailor Moon and Yu-Gi-Oh filled the love and friendship theme quota for the next three decades when they came out. If I want a story like this I'd play something like...My Little Pony Friendship is Magic the RPG. (Granted I will be anyway when they finish the darn thing...but that's totally beside the point.)

Here's hoping it's not gag-a-riffic in its presentation of that. XP

Edit: Ow, cringe reflex proved true. Just plugged it in and got hit with a crappy English generic pop 'love' song. >.<

[Klyde Chroma]

Just got my copy and am about to play it as soon as I get the DLC codes in. So far I'm actually preemptively wincing from the back of the box.

'Bonds of Friendship are Eternal'

Ugh, damn it JRPGs; Sailor Moon and Yu-Gi-Oh filled the love and friendship theme quota for the next three decades when they came out. If I want a story like this I'd play something like...My Little Pony Friendship is Magic the RPG. (Granted I will be anyway when they finish the darn thing...but that's totally beside the point.)

Here's hoping it's not gag-a-riffic in its presentation of that. XP

Edit: Ow, cringe reflex proved true. Just plugged it in and got hit with a crappy English generic pop 'love' song. >.<

Hey now!...... I love Sailor Moon.....

On my way to go pick up my copy of Graces now! I'll be back on this afternoon with first impressions :)

*starts singing on the way out the door* Playing Tales by Moonlight, Handheld Mana by Daylight, never running from a rabite! He is the one called Klyde Chroma, dada-dada

[ZeronHitaro]

I like the show too, even the live action version, but I'll be darned if Love and Friendship isn't as overdone in Japan as 'shoot everything' is here. XP

At least so far the game's quite enjoyable. Kinda irked there's nothing in the box, the intro, or the plot so far to even give an inkling of where the story is supposed to go. But the dialog's charming enough to be getting a laugh or two.

Code:

'So she's either from the circus, or an assassin...'
'Really?'

[Tomara]

Here's hoping it's not gag-a-riffic in its presentation of that. XP

Edit: Ow, cringe reflex proved true. Just plugged it in and got hit with a crappy English generic pop 'love' song. >.<

Glad I'm not the only one. I can take a lot from JRPG's. Lunar is probably my favourite title! I sing songs from Rhapsody when I take a shower! But this just made me want to barf.

Oh well, maybe it'll get better. I just need one character who shares my opinion. That's what got me through Star Ocean 3!

(Oh yeah, the night before my copy arrived I had this really creepy Star Ocean 3 dream. Sophia's eyes were eating her face! I wonder if that means something...)

[Dice]

Beat the first "big boss" in a dungeon.  Whooped my ass the first time.  Hint hint: get poison charms.

I love the game['s battle system] the more it goes on.  I gotta say, the 7 year gap....really makes the story a hard tale to take in... kinda full of pissy characters and sad situations. :(
C'mon guys!!  Let's all go pursue love 'n friendship 'n shit.

[Yggdrasil]

I am the only one that is surprised to see a guy that is 40 years in a JRPG? That's what I call a step in the right direction.

[Ashton]

Argh, the opening cinematic's music made me want to vomit. Seriously, BoA has no business singing in English, it sounds terrible.

[Tomara]

I am the only one that is surprised to see a guy that is 40 years in a JRPG? That's what I call a step in the right direction.

Max from Tales of Eternia is 38, IIRC. Jade is 35, Raven too.

If you're in a Tales game and you're over 30, you're probably awesome, so I have high expectations for this new guy I haven't met yet.

BTW I bet the opening song sounds bad in Japanese too, but I guess it's worse when you can actually understand the lyrics...

[Ashton]

The lyrics are completely different in Japanese. In Japanese they are about protecting someone. In English, well... you can hear them yourself.

Additionally, the music was created for Japanese. It is interchangeable (potentially) with other east Asian languages, but try to fit English into it and it sounds ridiculous, because the emphasis are on the wrong syllables. I'm no music artist, but I know enough to know that you just don't do that shit. It takes a lot of skill, or a lot of luck.

They're tolerable, even pretty decent in Japanese. But in English they violate everything about music that I've come to love.