Tales of Graces

Alright, so I'm a huge Tales fan (not gonna lie, especially since I have 4 friends to play it with), so my view's a little biased. I'm about 6-7 hours into the game, and I think it's pretty good. Not the best mind you, but fun enough to keep me occupied.

The story's a bit trite, but with most tales games, that's usually the case; it's the direction they take the cliches that I find more interesting. Unfortunately I haven't really gotten that vibe from Graces; the cliches are just... cliche.

The characters fare a little better, although Asbel's an EXTREMELY flat protagonist in the Adult arc. In fact, the two characters they focus on the most, Asbel and Richard, I find kinda boring (it feels like Sophie gets better). The rest of the cast however, is pretty damn likable, Hubert being my favorite.

Voice Acting is pretty good, with a few exceptions. Richard's voice actor sounds... off; which is funny, because he did an excellent job with Jin Kisaragi in Blazblue, and I was excited he was voicing Richard, but I digress.

The CC system takes some getting used to, but overall it's more convenient to have your spellcasters recharge automatically, than coming in close to fight bosses to gain TP. Also, on the harder difficulties, battles can actually get really intense. The battle system is easily ToG's greatest strength.

So, any other Tales fans on this site? Thoughts? Opinions?

I enjoy the Tales of... games purely for their battle system. This one is taking a bit more time to get used to since it is a rather dramatic change, but I like it a lot. I'm just now getting to the part where you meet Pascal. Overall the characters aren't anything special, and the story seems pretty cliche... but they always are. In the end the sheer amount of development you can do with the characters, especially with all the titles in this game, is what draws me. Combine that with some of the best battle systems in JRPG's, and you've sold me on these games. I've almost finished my playthrough of Tales of the Abyss on my 3DS as well.

THE JACKEL

I'm only two hours in, but it's quite enjoyable.

I created a Japanese psn account last year to play the demo, so I had some time to get used to the battle system. I tend to be more forgiving towards the Tales Series's tendency towards generic characters; so long as there endearing, I won't mind them. I'm actually a little suprised I like Pascal as much as I do; I usually can't stand the hyperactive party member. I guess I like the fact that her hyperactivity is expressed in her dialect rather than a high pitched voice.