It's fitting that the foundation of Tales of Graces f's story is the impact of time on the strength and loyalty of friendship. It almost directly mirrors the Tales series' life cycle -- Graces is like an old JRPG friend that's back to reclaim its place in your life.

The battle system; The JRPG charm; The burgeoning bonds

All the backtracking; That it plays it too safe; The underwhelming music

As opposed to the Final Fantasy series which is constantly reinventing itself, many of the entries in the long running Tales of series have little to distinguish them from one another. Most take place in separate universes, though the mechanics remain much the same from game to game.

Namco Bandai has a well known role playing game franchise in the form of the Tales games. The most recent release for the Playstation 3 is Tales of Graces f. Different gamers have different tastes. I find myself enjoying many of the quirks in Tales of Graces f.

After years of begging, pleading, and overrunning the Facebook page of Namco Bandai, the "White Wishes" of Tales fans have finally come true.   But what about the rest of us?  Does Tales of Graces f deliver the goods to entertain JRPG fence-sitters, or even those that have given up on the genre...

Long overdue entry in the Tales series; localization is well done; battle system is incredibly interesting; fun; and engaging

Rather generic story

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+Sticks to its well-established roots and why not? It works; +Combat shines brightly from start to finish

+Sticks to its well-established roots and why not? It works; -Wake me up 3 hours into the ride

Tales of Graces was originally released on the Nintendo Wii in 2009, in the land of the rising sun. The RPG remained a Japanese exclusive for a couple years until Namco Bandai hinted of a localization release early last year on their official Facebook page.

The Tales series has been around for many years now, spanning quite a few different gaming systems. Now, the latest saga in the story, Tales of Graces f is available on the PS3. The first thing you'll see in any game is the intro video.

A good JRPG that needs more to make it great in the West.

Nostalgic to JRPG standard; Fluid; immersive combat; Title system: phenomenally addictive

Slow; slow plot; Old style graphics; Some zones become nunecessary labyrinths

Final Verdict: Side quests and extras add even more time onto the already fifty-hour long campaign. All the wonderful parts of the game overcome the few flaws, making it a must buy for true RPG fans.

Tales of Graces f combines lush animated graphics, a dramatic storyline and an exciting real-time battle system into a sprawling epic for fans of the Tales of series and Japanese RPGs.