This interview has been edited for clarity.
Mention two simple words, “Tales of”, to any fan of Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPG) and chances are that they’ll immediately recognise the series in question, and for good reason. The Tales franchise, published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formally known as Namco), traces its roots back to 1995 with its original title, Tales of Phantasia, for the Super Famicom and since then, it has grown into a massive franchise in Japan (although still rather niche in English-speaking regions), with 17 main entries along with multiple spin-off titles, making it one of the longest-running JRPG franchises in history.
With a series as expansive as this, it comes as no surprise that many of the earlier games in the series have received refreshes over the years, to bring them up to more modern standards, and proudly joining this line-up is Tales of Graces f Remastered, developed by TOSE, that offers a revamp of the twelfth main instalment of the series. This particular title was initially released exclusively for the Japanese market in 2009 for the Wii as Tales of Graces, and subsequently ported to the PlayStation 3 in 2010 for Japan with the added f to the title, before seeing a worldwide English release in 2012.
If you’re wondering how popular the game was, the Wii version sold 100,000 copies, and another 200,000 were snapped up for the PS3 version during their first week of release. Since then, the game has been adapted into a manga series, a series of novels and even a dramatic audio series.
Via a preview and interview session for the game, Geek Culture had the opportunity to not only check out the upcoming remaster, but also have a chat with game producer Yuki Ishikawa, along with general producer of the Tales series, Yusuke Tomizawa, to uncover how the team undertook the journey to adapt the beloved title for the modern audience.
But before anyone can understand and appreciate how the team revitalised the title, gamers must first understand why, and as it turns out, this remaster has been a long time coming. For general producer Tomizawa, it all began with a special 10th-anniversary event in Japan for Tales of Graces.
“The participants who attended the event mentioned to us that they really, really wanted to see a remastered version of this game.” he recalls, “And that was when we knew that we had to make this decision, to give all the original players what they wanted and move forward with the development of the remaster.”
Of course, this decision was not made lightly and simply at the fans’ request. In fact, a lot of thought was also put into determining which title amongst the series’ long-standing history had the most potential to benefit from the remaster treatment, and to the surprise of no one, Graces emerged the champion.
“It’s actually not always just simple as converting the original titles from the 90s and 2000s into remastered versions, as some of them may have been not satisfactory when it comes to graphics, gameplay and music,” explains Tomizawa.
“Graces was the optimal solution when it comes to ensuring that the graphics can still be maintained from a remastering standpoint.”
“The Tales series is known for its character development and interactions, but also its combat, so when we were thinking of all of these different options to choose from, Graces itself had the most appealing points when it came to these criteria, making the team lean towards the title,” he adds.
Tomizawa’s reasonings are certainly justified, as the Tales series is well-regarded for its story themes, which usually revolve around the co-existence between different races and recurring topics of Justice and Faith, alongside its action-based fighting systems. Tales of Graces, specifically, explores the notions of friendship, reunion, and redemption, introducing characters such as protagonists Asbel and Cheria alongside antagonist Richard, all known among fans as some of the best in the franchise.
Since this was planned as a remaster, the team could have simply just ported the game with upscaled resolution and called it a day, but they went several steps further, providing players with brand-new quality-of-life additions to ensure it could be enjoyed by fans and newcomers alike.
“[In the early stages of development], there were multiple discussions within the team to come up with ways to make it easier for players to enjoy the game, as well as living up to the standards of other RPG games,” explained game producer Ishikawa.
The final result? An addition of a feature ever-prominent in games today, which makes it immediately noticeable upon its absence – objective waypoints.
While it might seem like a no-brainer to include such a staple feature (at least by today’s standards), not having a marker to inform players of their next objective was seen as a selling point of older JRPGs. “[Initially], the whole point and the premise of an RPG game is so that players can get lost in the game, and some might want to figure things out by themselves, rather than the game giving hints,” Ishikawa notes.
“We added this feature to accommodate different types of players, with them being able to turn it on or off depending on their playstyle.”
Arguably, a more prominent new addition, and one that the producers themselves highly recommend players check out, is the inclusion of the Grade Shop from the get-go. Previously, this feature was only available through New Game Plus, after players completed the main campaign once. This option allowed players to purchase end-game bonuses, including damage buffs and experience multipliers, using Grade points earned upon completion of the game.
With the shop now available from the first playthrough, Ishikawa explains that a sufficient amount of Grade points will already be rewarded to the player from the start, allowing them to play around with items on offer, and make their characters as overpowered as desired.
So what’s stopping players from then breezing through their first playthrough with all the purchased buffs? Nothing, according to Ishikawa, and that’s precisely the intention.
“In the end, it’s entirely up to the players to choose whether they want to use it or not. We do provide disclaimers beforehand for new players, but ultimately they still have the flexibility to choose and make their experience as fun as they wish.”
The team clearly prioritised tailoring the player experience to be more accessible and fun, a refreshing take that’s sure to be appreciated by both fans and newcomers.
Other smaller features and extra content have been bundled into the remaster as well, such as the ability to toggle off basic enemy encounters entirely (further cementing their dedication towards accessibility and player choice), along with cosmetic outfits from other games in the series, and the inclusion of English-dubbed skits, mini visual novel styled cutscenes meant to add to the lore of the story, some of which was previously exclusive to the Japanese version.
Apart from adding new features, one final point the team had to consider was how to best bring the title up to the same standards set by its modern contemporaries, such as 2021’s Tales of Arise, the franchise’s more recent chapter. To this end, one of their key priorities was to adapt the title to not only next-generation consoles, but PC as well.
“In any gaming industry or gaming company, it is important to ensure quality and mirror the standards from console to PC,” notes Ishikawa.
“We ensured that this title can maintain 120 frames-per-second (FPS) on the PC, and added control options using a mouse and keyboard. These small but important qualities make sure that generations can enjoy the game regardless of platform.”
As a core fan of the series himself, the fact that many gamers around the world have played the original title, and are excited to experience the upcoming remaster, is really heartening for Ishikawa.
“Personally, I really loved the original Tales of Graces, and played it back when I was a high school student,” recalls Ishikawa. “Now, after so many years, I’m able to contribute and develop Tales of Graces f Remastered and serve fans all around the world who were once just like me. I’d like to thank all the fans for their continued support, and I hope they will enjoy the game.”
Tales of Graces f Remastered will be released on 16 January 2025 for the PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and on 17 January 2025 on PC.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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