This underrated RPG never came to America. Now’s the time to remaster it

During Nintendo’s August 2024 Partner Direct, Bandai Namco announced that Tales of Graces f is getting a remaster for modern platforms. The RPG was originally released in Japan for the PlayStation 3 in 2010, and finally made its way to the West in 2012. Its return this coming January is no surprise. With the critical and commercial success of Tales of Arise, the Tales series has gotten more attention than it ever has before. Now, the series is celebrating its 30th anniversary and producer Yusuke Tomizawa has released a video message about Tales of Graces f and Namco’s wider Tales Remastered project, teasing that there will be more on the way.

Tales of Grace f is a great start for that project, but I hope it’s only the beginning. This is the perfect opportunity to release Tales games that never got a proper localization. And there’s one entry in the series that’s long overdue for a Western release: Tales of Rebirth.

A quiet classic

Tales of Rebirth takes place in a world where two races coexist: humans (called Huma) and beast people (Gajuma). The two races came together to form the Kingdom of Calegia. The story kicks off when the Gajuma king, Ladras Lindblum, dies. Right before his death, he unleashes his own power onto the world, bestowing Huma with elemental abilities called Force.

Rebirth tackles topics like racism as it explores the tensions between Huma and Gajuma. It reinforces its themes in several different ways. Force powers were previously only available for Gajuma to wield, but after the king’s death, Huma were able to manifest them as well. Both groups are on equal footing now.

The protagonist, Veigue Lungberg, awakens his Force of Ice. After his childhood friend, Claire, gets kidnapped by an all-Gajuma military group called the Four Stars, Veigue sets off on a journey to rescue her. Throughout his adventure, Veigue recruits allies to his side, including the leopard Gajuma and Force of Steel user Eugene, as well as the half Huma and half Gajuma Force of