Grace Under Fire

So, I finally had a chance to play Tales of Graces F.  It's actually been pretty fun so far.  I have to say that this game has the distinction of making the characters look like total badasses right out of the gate.


Most games, especially RPGs, have a tendency to make you slog through techniques like "Slash The Sword Once,"  "Slash Your Sword A Few Times," and "Chug A Potion" for a good five or ten hours before giving the flashy death moves out.  Not so with Tales of Graces F!  While most of the Tales series has a habit of giving you at least a few flashy--and useful--moves and spells early on, this one has decided to double down and hand you monster-mulchers even earlier, enough so that I'm a bit concerned to see what this game's idea of high-end power looks like.


The crafting system is a bit of a fresh air two.  The system relies on two separate, but intimately linked, mechanics.  The first is Dualize, which is a variation on the "Item A plus Item B equals Item C" crafting tradition, with the added wrinkle that there are quite a few combinations and recipe chains to be found, plus this is where the equipment customization that traditional Tales cooking lives.  The second is the Eleth Mixer, which is effectively a magitek equivalent of a Star Trek replicator.  You charge it Eleth (aka mana) and it randomly produces items.  The more items the Mixer creates, the bigger a charge it can hold, and the more items you can program in at the same time.  It's really useful for duplicating materials for Dualizing, and (making the Star Trek parallels even stronger) especially for popping out meals for instant healing and effects in mid-combat.


The only real gripe I have thus far is much less about the game itself than a related decision.  Some luminous soul at Namco did not see fit to release--or license--an official strategy guide.  It wouldn't be such a hassle if there wasn't just so many little bits and details everywhere to deal with, especially with the title system (which is where you get your abilities and moves) and crafting.  I'm not much fond of playing an RPG completely blind (especially a modern JRPG), and I have the extra nerdy habit of reading them at work during break times.  There always seem to be little tidbits to be found about the world-building and item lore in a good guide, and I miss that.


Oh, well, Release The Harvest anyway!