A Graceful Ending

So, I went ahead and beat the main questline of Tales of Graces f.  After a bit of dilly-dallying, I went ahead and decided to put the game down for the moment, leaving the extra chapter/post-game for another time.


It proved to be a pretty satisfying experience, overall.  The combat was solid, with a few rough edges (though that could be partially attributed to a player not quite knowing what he was doing half the time).  It got kinda button-mashey after a while; this could be a problem to some, but I really don't mind, plus I have some dexterity issues that negates some of the subtleties of combo-driven combat anyway.  The story and characters wound up being fairly enjoyable, with some twists and subversions on the usual RPG clichés every player knows (Tales is good for that).  I enjoyed all the little shout-outs and nods that were put in here and there.  When it tried to be serious, it worked.  When it tried to be funny, it usually worked.  The sidequests and skits were a good source of zany antics in particular. 


The crafting was fun, and a huge step in the right direction that the Tales series needed to go.  Legendia was really just screwing around while making an Atelier reference that nobody got, Abyss had a system that was too obtuse to be enjoyable, and Vesperia...well, it was much better than the other two, but abtracted away a lot of questions (oh, and the lore for a lot of gear that half the craftables claimed they could be duplicated or copied, so yeah).  Graces went for an "a plus b equals c" approach, and actually made a bit of logical sense most of the time.  The tempering part was particularly welcome, allowing for customization and constant improvement for your gear, while also providing a steady supply of stat-boosting accessories.  Throw in the Eleth Mixer, a mana-fueled Star Trek-style replicator, and you can have it rain goodies.  The Harvest Has Triumphed, and rarely has it been handed showers of shiny, shiny materials to play with!


I'm still a bit undecided on what to play next.  I've been doing a bit of a la carte Final Fantasy to see what pops up, but I'm also considering trying out my copy of Mana Khemia since I now have that crafting itch again.  We shall see.