Seamless and Proportional Map



One vast interconnected world.
» What sets apart Graces from all the other Tales games is its use of a seamless map. The game will no longer make use of a world map with the on-screen character being as big as a town/dungeon. Instead, all towns, dungeons and fields will have seamless transitions between each, creating one vast interconnected world. As seen from the screenshots above, all areas will be properly proportioned with the on-screen character.


Arles Pot



Create items and food in battle at the cost of energy.
» The Arles Pot will let you set three food/item recipes to it in order of priority. You can then cook or create those items when in battle automatically, depending on the priority. The Arles Pot has a set number of Energy Points that it will need to cook or generate items, so it's best to keep an eye on it before engaging in tough battles. The Arles Pot is based on Tales of Destiny PS1's "Food Sack" system, but the main difference is that you can also allot item recipes aside from food recipes to it.


Titles



Learn skills from Titles.
» The Titles this time around will have a set of skills amd effects alloted to them. Each title will have five stars symbolizing mastery of it, and each star will have a set of skills and/or effects with them. When you have the title equipped, all skills and effects will be available to you. Removing the title or replacing it with a new one will result in also losing those skills and effects. To counter this, you gain Skill Points (SP) to master the title. With the use of SP gained from winning battles, you can earn the SP required to master each star that has a skill and/or effect. Once mastered, the skills and/or effects alloted to a star will be available to you even with the title unequipped. Mastery Skills are the skills that will still be available to you even if you remove the title, as long as said skill has been mastered. Equip Effects are effects of the title that will only be available if the title is equipped. They will become unavailable if you remove the title that holds them, even if you mastered the star corresponding it with your SP.


Duarise



Make items with Duarise.
» Duarise is the term used to regard to the game's Item Synthesis system. Duarise can be accessed from all item, weapon and armor shops in the game. Using two items and a minimal Gald fee, you will be able to create a new item. With Duarise, consumable items, food and cash items can be created.


Strengthen weapons with Duarise.
» You can also use Duarise to strengthen weapons. Using your chosen weapon and a raw material in Duarise, you can strengthen your weapon and give it added effects. Also done for a minimal Gald fee.

SS-LMBS



Style Shift Linear Motion Battle System
» Presenting the latest LMBS of the series, the Style Shift Linear Motion Battle System, or the SS-LMBS for short. The main feature of this LMBS is the ability of the characters to switch between the two styles available to them using the A and B buttons of the WiiMote/controller. Each style will have a specific set of artes available to them. Using the screenshots above as an example, we see Asbel switching between his two available styles: the Drawn Sword style where he mainly uses his equipped sword to fight and the Sheathed Sword style where he fights mainly with kicks and his sword in its sheath. The SS-LMBS also does not use the popular Free-Run system where you can freely run around anywhere in the battle field. Instead, it uses the new Around Step system (read below).


Chain Capacity (CC)



Chain Capacity.
» The Chain Capacity (CC) system is originally from Tales of Destiny PS2, replacing the usual TP system in most of the other games. Performing attacks and artes in this game correspond to the consumption of a specific number of CC points which are seen below a character's face portrait in battle, expressed in numbers. The system allows a long chain of attacks in a row, as long as there are still CC points left. Various activities will help replenish the CC gauge, such as successfully dodging and countering an enemy attack.


Around Step



Perform effective combos with Around Step.
» The Around Step system is a feature of the SS-LMBS that will let the character move in a 360-degree angle around the enemy. Using it properly will help you avoid enemy attacks and successfully counter them, earning you some CC points in the process.


Character Change



Change characters with the directional buttons.
» Using the directional buttons, you can change the character you are controlling with any one of those in battle with you. Each direction on the directional pad corresponds to one character, and pressing a direction will let you control that character instead. This is useful in saving your other party members who are in a pinch, or in performing very effective combos against enemies. This is the Character Change system.

Kamenin Merchant


» Kamenin Merchant is a DS mini-game that will come from Tales of Graces itself. It can be downloaded to your DS via DS Download Play, and up to four players can join in via wireless play. The game is pretty much a dungeon crawler where you control creatures called Kamenin (Turtlemen). Each dungeon is randomly generated, where the main goal is obtain Treasure Items and stock up on them.

The game will consist of a total of ten stages, with each stage unlockable as you progress through your Tales of Graces game. Each stage has random monsters and a final boss you need to defeat. The game has an Attack Mode and Burst Attacks to help you on that. Defeating monsters earns your Turtleman some experience points which can level him up. Various weapons and equipment that the Turtlemen can put on are also available to be discovered around the dungeons. Using these, plus some skills and magic, the Turtlemen are prepared to explore the dangerous dungeons.

Upon defeating a boss, you clear the stage and obtain a Treasure Item. You can then transfer your play results to your Graces game to unlock rare items in it.

Kamenin Merchant will be released as a DSiWare application in the future.