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Which is better; Tales of Xillia or Tales of Graces F?

S

SatelliteOfLove

Member
I'd actually say they're dead even.

People in good faith put X above Gf due to Gf's more segregated highs and lows, but X is arguably just as much black and white, it's just these are mixed thoroughly in all aspects.

  • Some of the music is fantastic, then some is pure subservient cinematic.
  • Some of the combat mechanics like Artes Ball and MILLA AERIAL RAVE is wonderful, but then, bosses having elements completely counter to battle mechanics.
  • The art direction on towns is amazing, yet those fields...
  • Chracterization goes dark with some subtlety most won't deem fit to notice, but they then go to the well too much hobbling some of these characters (ALVIN!!!!)
  • Gf's story is poo, but X has so much legacy Tales stuff put behind paywalls.
 
D

Dark_castle

Junior Member
Considering the story/characters in both are weak anyway, gameplay is where it's at. And Graces f is simply better, hands down.
 
S

ShockingAlberto

Member
Tales of Graces had an awful story and awful characters but a great battle system.

Xillia does the story and characters better and the battle system worse, but none of these factors are grand enough to really differentiate itself as "This is a really good Tales game." The cheap production holds it back a lot and it has far less environmentally variety than Graces does.

entrement said:
I wonder when we'll get another Vesperia level Tales. Vesperia was just so good.
Click to expand...

When Microsoft pays for another one. Namco isn't going to start shoving another $10 million up the series' butt for no reason.
 
B

bobohoro

Member
Heyt said:
The thing is that I liked Xillia 2 more than Graces f, but you have to go through Xillia 1 to get a grasp on the plot. I would blast through Xillia 1 first, take my time with Xillia 2 and then play Graces. But if you're not interested in going for Xillia 2 because it's not on sale I would just play Graces for now and then wait for a future sale, pick both Xillias and play them in quick succession.
Click to expand...

This here. Xillia 1 is a pretty average Tales, with some bad, some good and a whole lot of inbetween. Good thing is, you can blow through it in some 25 odd hours and get the story to play Xillia 2, which is a vastly superior game and would be one of my favourites, if it didn't have to inherit some of the more flawed things from its prequel, most prominently the generic fields/dungeons.

If you only plan to play one Tales game, try Graces F. Even though its lows are more extreme, so are its positives. The battle system is fun, fast and makes you improve yourself along your characters. The progression subsystems are well implemented and the difficulty settings reward you for taking on harder challenges. Story and characters are pretty terrible for the most part, Pascal/Malik save some face and the skits are pretty nice as well. The game is pretty meaty too.

Quick overview:
Battle systems: Xillia 2 = Graces f > Xillia 1
Additional gameplay systems: Graces f > Xillia 2 > Xillia 1
Content: Graces f > Xillia 2 > Xillia 1
Story: Xillia 2 > Xillia 1 > Graces f
Characters & Skits: Xillia 2 > Graces f = Xillia 1

Xillia wins in the graphics and design department (well, PS3 vs. Wii port and stuff), especially 2 has some pretty slick character designs. In terms of OST, all three games are rather forgetable, with few standout tracks.
 
G

GKSilKamina

Member
Graces f is garbage.

...expect for the battle system, which is one of the best (if not THE best) that I've played.

My vote goes for Xillia. Graces has more fun combat, but Xillia was better overall in every other department.
 
S

sörine

Banned
entrement said:
I wonder when we'll get another Vesperia level Tales. Vesperia was just so good.
Click to expand...
Wasn't Vesperia the last pure "Team Symphonia" game? I thought after that they consolidated the Symphonia and Destiny teams, and they've further consoldated Tales Studio into Bandai Namco Studio since then?

I really liked Symphonia, Abyss and Vesperia but all the Tales since then have really left me disinterested.
 
T

Taruranto

Member
I'm not sure people realize there is more of a game than "battle system and the story/character" when they say "everything else is crap".
 
F

Fou-Lu

Member
People think Xillia has a better story and characters? Hah. Some of the worst voice casting in the series and a storyline where it feels like next to nothing happens. I honestly prefer Graces in every way.
 
S

ShockingAlberto

Member
Taruranto said:
I'm not sure people realize there is more of a game than "battle system and the story/character" when they say "everything else is crap".
Click to expand...

Well, nothing else is really worth mentioning. Both have terrible dungeon design, but Graces' is a bit worse. Both have bad graphics, but Graces was a Wii port, so it's really hard to compare. Neither one has an overworld, but Graces' lack of one is better than Xillia's attempt to duct-tape one together. Graces is a more complete story but also goes on way too long, Xillia cuts off before a logical point but also has a sequel.

Basically, in most other factors, it's not really worth comparing the two.
 
D

Dark_castle

Junior Member
Taruranto said:
I'm not sure people realize there is more of a game than "battle system and the story/character" when they say "everything else is crap".
Click to expand...

I mean, it's not like Xillia and Graces f has great graphics/art style or music to boast (they're painfully average). Level design (towns, dungeons) are also pretty poor, repetitive and lacks any sort of interesting puzzles. Graces f does have more content than a typical Tales, while Xillia, not so much.

I don't know about Xillia 2, have the game with me, but I'm not feeling it right now, especially after learning about the debt system.
 
F

Fou-Lu

Member
Taruranto said:
I'm not sure people realize there is more of a game than "battle system and the story/character" when they say "everything else is crap".
Click to expand...

IMO Graces wins in gameplay (by a lot), content (also by a lot), dungeon design, overworld design, music (by a lot again), art direction, voice acting (barely) and story/characters (barely)
 
D

demidar

Member
Taruranto said:
I'm not sure people realize there is more of a game than "battle system and the story/character" when they say "everything else is crap".
Click to expand...

The combat single-handedly upgraded Graces f from a "plain crap" to "pretty good". Of course, this depends on how much you like combat systems and I love them a hell of a lot.
 
S

Stulaw

Member
I preferred Graces F a lot more than Xillia, both gameplay and story, although story wise, neither was spectacular. Going to replay Graces F again when I have the time (and because I missed the future part of the game because I accidentally save NG+ over it).
 
R

ryan13ts

Member
Alright, sounds like Graces F is the winner. In the end, I'd rather have better gameplay than story/characters. I just hope the story isn't as bad as everyone is making it out to be.
 
Terra_Ex

Terra_Ex

Member
Well, I completed Graces F and enjoyed it through till the end, I've shelved Xillia due to several issues - sloppy battle system, Millia's poor VO quality and the field maps chief among them... I'd personally go with graces first, the internet and GAF make out that Graces characters and story are some major affront to gaming, but they're really not, it's pretty standard Tales stuff.
 
D

demidar

Member
Ganondorfo said:
Is it true that Motoi Sakuraba has been mediocre since Tales of Vesperia?
Click to expand...

Sakuraba can only do as much as the time and money he is given. Unfortunately he gets none of both when it comes to Tales of games. He did good work on Dark Souls and Kid Icarus: Uprising you know.
 
G

Ganondorfo

Junior Member
demidar said:
Sakuraba can only do as much as the time and money he is given. Unfortunately he gets none of both when it comes to Tales of games. He did good work on Dark Souls and Kid Icarus: Uprising you know.
Click to expand...

Yeah, his Baten Kaitos work is Chrono Cross Mitsuda level, but then his Tales of work sounds like he made the music in a day without any creative enjoyment.
 
3

3Kaze

Member
To be fair, while Graces F has a better overworld (but a really small one), it has fucking terrible dungeons. Everything looks the same in wallbridge, the castle or the dungeon with flying platforms etc.
 
H

HawthorneKitty

Sgt. 2nd Class in the Creep Battalion, Waifu Wars
Xillia killed my love for the series. Characters were dumb as shit in relation to the plot and I usually enjoy anime tropes. The dungeons and overworld sucked too.
 
P

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
Graces made me contemplate what I was doing with my life. Xillia has some serious issues but it was still much better to me. Xilla 2 I liked more than the first one, though I wouldn't recommend playing it without going through the first game.

Vesperia is still reigning champion.
 
K

KingJolly

Banned
Graces F had a way better combat where Xillia has a way better cast and story. Other than Malik and Sophie every other character in graces were just so cheesy. Friendship!!!!

So imo pick Xillia first.

In the end Symphonia is still the best in the series
 
K

Kasumin

Member
Graces F. It's the last Tales game to really have a "soul," in my opinion.

Xillia was rushed and had a ton of content cut out, then the features that game was supposed to originally have were shoved into a sequel with a story that the devs pulled out of their asses and taped onto the first game's story awkwardly to justify re-using assets. Similar to the FFXIII-2 situation, but way worse IMO because Square Enix at least had more of an excuse.

We'll never get another Vesperia because Namco has realized that they can keep cutting corners on games and dedicated fans will keep buying them regardless. And as ShockingAlberto pointed out earlier, one of the reasons Vesperia was so good is because of Microsoft's support. I don't think any other Tales game had a budget that big.
 
D

Dark_castle

Junior Member
By the way, what's really stopping Namco Bandai from bringing Tales to PC/Steam? Like, not even one is there. Not port begging, just curious about things.
 
T

t26

Member
Liferebooted said:
Tales of Grace wins in combat system.
Tales of Xillia wins at everything else.
Click to expand...

Did we played the same game? Xillia was extremely barebone with barely anything to do. Pascal was also a more enjoyable comic relief than anything in Xillia. Don't even get me started on dungeon design in Xillia. The only downside about Graces is the somewhat slow childhood arc.
 
entremet

entremet

Member
ShockingAlberto said:
Tales of Graces had an awful story and awful characters but a great battle system.

Xillia does the story and characters better and the battle system worse, but none of these factors are grand enough to really differentiate itself as "This is a really good Tales game." The cheap production holds it back a lot and it has far less environmentally variety than Graces does.



When Microsoft pays for another one. Namco isn't going to start shoving another $10 million up the series' butt for no reason.
Click to expand...

So that's the reason the production values were so good compared to the recent consoles ones?

Interesting.
 
A

Augemitbutter

Member
graces has a good battle sys with everything else bad. one of the worst dungeons in the past 10 years for me. the final dungeon is utter shit. don't give the dungeon designers more work.

xillia had fun battles. everything else was okayish. i prefer medicore maps and dungeons over graces torture.
 
O

Okamid3n

Member
I prefer Xillia 2 to both. Graces F's battle system and progression system still stomps all over it though.

Xillia 2>Graces>Xillia is my order.

Zestiria seems to be taking a lot of elements from Graces' battle system, which is great. Please also have a good story/world. Please.
 
R

ryan13ts

Member
Went with Graces F and I'm enjoying it so far but there's one weird thing about the combat system I'm kind of iffy on in comparison to other Tales games; Is the attack button essentially the artes button as well?

If I remember correctly in other Tales games, you had a normal attack and then a button to use artes, in combination with pressing different directions to use different artes. From what I can tell so far, the attack button is the artes button, so you're basically always using artes and there's no standard attack. If that's correct, I'm not sure how I feel about this, although I'm not seeing traditional TP usage either when using artes so that might compensate for it.
 
M

Mauricio_Magus

Banned
ryan13ts said:
Went with Graces F and I'm enjoying it so far but there's one weird thing about the combat system I'm kind of iffy on in comparison to other Tales games; Is the attack button essentially the artes button as well?

If I remember correctly in other Tales games, you had a normal attack and then a button to use artes, in combination with pressing different directions to use different artes. From what I can tell so far, the attack button is the artes button, so you're basically always using artes and there's no standard attack. If that's correct, I'm not sure how I feel about this, although I'm not seeing traditional TP usage either when using artes so that might compensate for it.
Click to expand...

Believe me, it's better than TP skills.
 
B

Bladenic

Member
ryan13ts said:
Went with Graces F and I'm enjoying it so far but there's one weird thing about the combat system I'm kind of iffy on in comparison to other Tales games; Is the attack button essentially the artes button as well?

If I remember correctly in other Tales games, you had a normal attack and then a button to use artes, in combination with pressing different directions to use different artes. From what I can tell so far, the attack button is the artes button, so you're basically always using artes and there's no standard attack. If that's correct, I'm not sure how I feel about this, although I'm not seeing traditional TP usage either when using artes so that might compensate for it.
Click to expand...

There are two type of artes. The traditional arte button is still used for B artes, while the attack button is used for A artes which you can still use the directional button to change (once you get more, you'll see).
 
A

Asharakk

Member
Tales of Xillia, Tales of Graces F is the worst Tales game of them all.

I just despise Asbel, going on and on about saving everyone.
 
D

Dragon1893

Member
sörine;135845014 said:
Vesperia
Click to expand...

That's really helpful for the OP. Why even bother replying at all?

For me Xillia wins by a country mile, when it comes to the cast and story it's not even a contest, Graces will make you roll your eyes until they fall out of your skull, personally I don't have the patience for that stuff but your mileage may vary. Even if Graces' battle system is superior, Xillia's is still a lot of fun. Xillia 2 is even better. Play the Xillia duology OP, it's great.
 
H

Hyunkel6

Member
Xillia. I can't even remember a single character's name in Graces except Asbel and Richard, and couldn't even tell you wth the story was about. I do remember that ATROCIOUS last dungeon though. I never want to go through that again.

Xillia has the better story and cast, but the world felt lifeless and empty in general. I'm actually replaying it atm with the Devil Arms before jumping in Xillia 2. I'm actually enjoying the story a lot more on the second playthrough.
 
W

Why would you do that?

Member
ryan13ts said:
Went with Graces F and I'm enjoying it so far but there's one weird thing about the combat system I'm kind of iffy on in comparison to other Tales games; Is the attack button essentially the artes button as well?

If I remember correctly in other Tales games, you had a normal attack and then a button to use artes, in combination with pressing different directions to use different artes. From what I can tell so far, the attack button is the artes button, so you're basically always using artes and there's no standard attack. If that's correct, I'm not sure how I feel about this, although I'm not seeing traditional TP usage either when using artes so that might compensate for it.
Click to expand...

If you are at the beginning of the game, you only start out with A artes. Then, a little later, you get B artes, the "magical" ones you are referring to that you can set to different directions.

However, both A artes and B artes take CC points.

That said...

Mauricio_Magus said:
Believe me, it's better than TP skills.
Click to expand...

I am echoing this. I too was really iffy about it at first, too. But eventually I realized that it was super hard to go back to playing Tales the "normal" way with TP.

You will soon learn how to get back CC more efficiently in the middle of a battle, such as by dodging attacks.
 
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