I'll preface this by saying I'm extremely biased in my enjoyment for this game. With that in mind...
Is it the best game ever? Not really, no, I could name lots of games that I think would be better, especially within the broad category of "turn-based japanese role playing game." I'd say this game has a special kind of magic though, that turned it into one of my favorite games ever.
I remember I found this game at a flea market, and picked it up on a whim because I thought the cover looked cool. I hadn't really played many RPGs which give you, the player, a role in the game, no matter how small, so I thought the idea of having you be the Guardian Spirit and playing a role in the story was unique. I thought the opening scenes and the buildup they had to be pretty interesting. I got into a battle, and thought the music was pretty cool, leading up to the first boss. I made it to the serpent guarding the end magnus, that's when something clicked in my mind- I knew then I was going to be in for one hell of a ride.
I played that game whenever I could, and it turned into something of an obsession, wondering how the plot would go, wondering just what else was around the corner. It came together beautifully in the end, and I enjoyed it greatly, and it left an effect on me even 10 years after.
I do admit that there's some... peculiar choices in the game, which do get resolved in Origins (Why is there no way to dump dead cards from your hand? Why does the decision timer diminishing get so absurdly short at the end? Why do the npcs and some of your player characters have such questionable voice work?) but even then it's still a great time if you can look past it.
Thankfully, the game was brought over to the Switch in the HD Remaster, so more people can enjoy it now. I haven't put as much time as I should unfortunately, but I'm looking forward to it when my backlog is brought down to size.
Is it the best game ever? Not really, no, I could name lots of games that I think would be better, especially within the broad category of "turn-based japanese role playing game." I'd say this game has a special kind of magic though, that turned it into one of my favorite games ever.
I remember I found this game at a flea market, and picked it up on a whim because I thought the cover looked cool. I hadn't really played many RPGs which give you, the player, a role in the game, no matter how small, so I thought the idea of having you be the Guardian Spirit and playing a role in the story was unique. I thought the opening scenes and the buildup they had to be pretty interesting. I got into a battle, and thought the music was pretty cool, leading up to the first boss. I made it to the serpent guarding the end magnus, that's when something clicked in my mind- I knew then I was going to be in for one hell of a ride.
I played that game whenever I could, and it turned into something of an obsession, wondering how the plot would go, wondering just what else was around the corner. It came together beautifully in the end, and I enjoyed it greatly, and it left an effect on me even 10 years after.
I do admit that there's some... peculiar choices in the game, which do get resolved in Origins (Why is there no way to dump dead cards from your hand? Why does the decision timer diminishing get so absurdly short at the end? Why do the npcs and some of your player characters have such questionable voice work?) but even then it's still a great time if you can look past it.
Thankfully, the game was brought over to the Switch in the HD Remaster, so more people can enjoy it now. I haven't put as much time as I should unfortunately, but I'm looking forward to it when my backlog is brought down to size.
This review contains spoilers
-Ambiance poetique et esthetique de dingue ! La DA est juste somptueuse, avec les arrières plans fixes dynamiques qui sont ultra créatifs et inventifs, parfois completement decalés. On a l'impression de se ballader dans des tableaux soit impressionistes, soit expressionistes, soit surrealistes. Il y a une grosse influence Gaudi. Le chara design est top mais de manière generale toutes les représentations visuelles sont incroyables (dédicace aux moyens de locomotion et... à Mira !!!).
-La musique est sublime et accompagne parfaitement les situations : de belles mélodies qui touchent l'âme quand il le faut, du rock progressif dynamique lors des combats, ou de la musique expérimentale lors des moments chelous (merci Sakuraba pour ce plaisir auditif)
-Parcourir les villes est très plaisant car, au delà de la DA, il y a de la vie partout et chaque ville (ou ile) a sa propre culture, son ambiance, son histoire etc. On est immergé tout le temps et on se plaît à parler à tous les pnj pour en apprendre plus sur l'univers. Bref, le lore est vraiment top !
-En revanche les donjons sont peu intéressants. Certes il y a toujours une ambiance mais ce que l'on y fait est rarement inventif : on cherche son chemin jusqu'au boss en tuant les ennemis sur la route (heureusement pas de combats aléatoires et on peut essayer d'éviter les mobs)
-Il y a trop peu de séquences qui brisent la routine, comme cela pouvait être le cas dans les vieux ff, chrono trigger ou xenogears. On peut noter : le mini système de gestion lors de l'attaque de Diadem, la phase de shmup, le donjon en mode vieux jeux d'arcade, 2 combats bizarres où on ne voit pas nos cartes, 2 donjons puzzle (tour de zosma) et une séquence d'exploration dans le désert (en mode gods will be watching). C'est trop peu, trop court et pas ouf.
-Le système de combat à base de carte à jouer, tout en étant rapide, avec une gestion des dégâts élémentaires et des combos, est interessant. Avec des mini systèmes (appareil photo, nourritures qui se transforment avec le temps, creation de carte selon ce que l'on joue etc.) qui enrichissent l'ensemble. Mais cela devient très vite répétitif. Les combats contre les mobs deviennent rapidement inintéressants et GROS PROBLEME : les boss ne sont que des sacs à pv, il n'y aucune stratégie à mettre en place. Dans ce jeu on se bat seul contre notre propre deck !!!
-Autre problème des combats : l'impossibilité parfois d'attaquer ou de défendre, selon la main que l'on a. On doit jeter des cartes comme des debilos. C'est frustrant !
-(Pour remédier à ces défauts de gameplay il est possible d'activer dans le remaster des options du type : tuer en un coup les ennemis et/ou désactiver les combat)
-système de photo d'ennemis à vendre est sympa. Original pour se faire de l'argent. Dommage qu'au bout de la moitié du jeu (voir avant) l'argent devienne inutile car les magnus en magasin ne sont pas incroyables
-De maniere generale, on ne passe pas 1000 ans dans les menus et il y a peu besoin de farm. C'est positif !
-Les cartes sont aussi utilisées dans l'exploration, afin de saisir des essences d'objets qui peuvent ainsi être utilisées plus tard. Sur le papier c'est une bonne idée (notamment car cela donne une cohérence globale entre l'exploration et le système de combat, tout 2 fonctionnant avec le même principe de magnus). Dans les faits c'est pas ouf. C'est juste un système de FedEx un peu plus élaboré.
-Le système de progression est sympa, avec l'idée du temple où il faut prier afin de monter de niveau et de classe.
-La quête annexe des constellations est sympathique et ajoute au côté poétique du jeu.
-Scenario de dingue !!! La 1ere partie du jeu est complètement organisé autour du twist subversif du milieu. Il y a tout un tas de dispositifs qui amènent le twist subtilement sans qu'on ne le voit venir. Ainsi même si cette première partie est très classique dans son déroulement, cela reste plaisant à suivre car la dynamique de groupe en mode "qui est le traître ?" est prenante et conduit à la fameuse révélation.
-Il y a tout de même un petit creux à Anuenue dans la 1ere partie, entre la découverte des 2 premières îles et l'arrivée à Mira (l'île la plus chelou) où se lance la question du traître. Par ailleurs c'est à partir de ce moment que la lourdeur du gameplay commence à se faire sentir.
-Les persos sont très bien écrits (avec une vo 5 étoiles en plus), notamment Kalas qui est un véritable anti hero qui porte toute la 1ere partie du jeu. Mais les autres aussi sont intéressants. Chacun à son histoire, ses motivations complexes etc. Même les antagonistes sont très intéressants (coucou Melodia !)
-Il y une vision très optimiste de l'humanité qui se dégage de ce jeu (on est à l'opposé de xenosaga, alors que c'est le même studio qui développe au même moment les 2 séries). Les méchants ne le sont pas fondamentalement mais sont pervertis par malpercio, le dieu maudit. Mais même lui semble être animé par une volonté de disparaître, comme si son mal était causé par une abominable souffrance qu'il ne demande qu'à expier. Ainsi il n'y a pas d'êtres mauvais, mais seulement des forces qui pervertissent les etres bon à la base et qu'il faut donc purger. (Question : d'où viennent ces forces ?)
-Cette vision peut sembler naïve mais elle est bien amenée et résonne parfaitement avec l'aspect poétique du jeu. Cette résonance trouve un écho dans l'âme du joueur. C'est un beau jeu, humainement parlant !
-La 2eme partie du jeu est riche en rebondissements, en flashback, en backgroung. Tout est expliqué et ce jusqu'au bout (il y a 1h de cinématiques après le combat final, avec encore des révélations)
-Refaire le jeu est cool car on y revoit toutes les interactions avec les perso de manière très différentes, et ce jusque dans le moindre détail.
-Il y a de l'émotion, surtout à la fin. Malgré un boss bonus qui troll le joueur, la fin est belle avec des frissons et (presque) des larmes. Magnifique !
-Enfin, aspect très important et qui justifie le fait que ce soit un jeu vidéo : le côté meta ! On joue notre propre rôle : un ange gardien venant d'un autre monde pour regarder ce qui se passe à travers les yeux de Kalas, ce dernier ayant conscience de notre présence. C'est important car c'est cet élément qui rend le twist imprévisible : on ne remet jamais en question Kalas car c'est à lui qu'on s'est lié et on lui fait donc confiance. Ce twist ne marcherait pas aussi bien dans un autre média que le jv car nous n'y avons pas le meme lien privilegié avec le personnage principal. Ainsi le twist permet d'interroger le lien que nous (ange gardien) entretenons avec notre avatar.
-La fin est d'autant plus belle que c'est à nous, joueur, que tous les perso du jeu disent au revoir. C'est beau putain !!
Conclusion : malgré ses défauts, c'est un chef d'oeuvre. Merci Monotith Soft pour ce bijoux !
-La musique est sublime et accompagne parfaitement les situations : de belles mélodies qui touchent l'âme quand il le faut, du rock progressif dynamique lors des combats, ou de la musique expérimentale lors des moments chelous (merci Sakuraba pour ce plaisir auditif)
-Parcourir les villes est très plaisant car, au delà de la DA, il y a de la vie partout et chaque ville (ou ile) a sa propre culture, son ambiance, son histoire etc. On est immergé tout le temps et on se plaît à parler à tous les pnj pour en apprendre plus sur l'univers. Bref, le lore est vraiment top !
-En revanche les donjons sont peu intéressants. Certes il y a toujours une ambiance mais ce que l'on y fait est rarement inventif : on cherche son chemin jusqu'au boss en tuant les ennemis sur la route (heureusement pas de combats aléatoires et on peut essayer d'éviter les mobs)
-Il y a trop peu de séquences qui brisent la routine, comme cela pouvait être le cas dans les vieux ff, chrono trigger ou xenogears. On peut noter : le mini système de gestion lors de l'attaque de Diadem, la phase de shmup, le donjon en mode vieux jeux d'arcade, 2 combats bizarres où on ne voit pas nos cartes, 2 donjons puzzle (tour de zosma) et une séquence d'exploration dans le désert (en mode gods will be watching). C'est trop peu, trop court et pas ouf.
-Le système de combat à base de carte à jouer, tout en étant rapide, avec une gestion des dégâts élémentaires et des combos, est interessant. Avec des mini systèmes (appareil photo, nourritures qui se transforment avec le temps, creation de carte selon ce que l'on joue etc.) qui enrichissent l'ensemble. Mais cela devient très vite répétitif. Les combats contre les mobs deviennent rapidement inintéressants et GROS PROBLEME : les boss ne sont que des sacs à pv, il n'y aucune stratégie à mettre en place. Dans ce jeu on se bat seul contre notre propre deck !!!
-Autre problème des combats : l'impossibilité parfois d'attaquer ou de défendre, selon la main que l'on a. On doit jeter des cartes comme des debilos. C'est frustrant !
-(Pour remédier à ces défauts de gameplay il est possible d'activer dans le remaster des options du type : tuer en un coup les ennemis et/ou désactiver les combat)
-système de photo d'ennemis à vendre est sympa. Original pour se faire de l'argent. Dommage qu'au bout de la moitié du jeu (voir avant) l'argent devienne inutile car les magnus en magasin ne sont pas incroyables
-De maniere generale, on ne passe pas 1000 ans dans les menus et il y a peu besoin de farm. C'est positif !
-Les cartes sont aussi utilisées dans l'exploration, afin de saisir des essences d'objets qui peuvent ainsi être utilisées plus tard. Sur le papier c'est une bonne idée (notamment car cela donne une cohérence globale entre l'exploration et le système de combat, tout 2 fonctionnant avec le même principe de magnus). Dans les faits c'est pas ouf. C'est juste un système de FedEx un peu plus élaboré.
-Le système de progression est sympa, avec l'idée du temple où il faut prier afin de monter de niveau et de classe.
-La quête annexe des constellations est sympathique et ajoute au côté poétique du jeu.
-Scenario de dingue !!! La 1ere partie du jeu est complètement organisé autour du twist subversif du milieu. Il y a tout un tas de dispositifs qui amènent le twist subtilement sans qu'on ne le voit venir. Ainsi même si cette première partie est très classique dans son déroulement, cela reste plaisant à suivre car la dynamique de groupe en mode "qui est le traître ?" est prenante et conduit à la fameuse révélation.
-Il y a tout de même un petit creux à Anuenue dans la 1ere partie, entre la découverte des 2 premières îles et l'arrivée à Mira (l'île la plus chelou) où se lance la question du traître. Par ailleurs c'est à partir de ce moment que la lourdeur du gameplay commence à se faire sentir.
-Les persos sont très bien écrits (avec une vo 5 étoiles en plus), notamment Kalas qui est un véritable anti hero qui porte toute la 1ere partie du jeu. Mais les autres aussi sont intéressants. Chacun à son histoire, ses motivations complexes etc. Même les antagonistes sont très intéressants (coucou Melodia !)
-Il y une vision très optimiste de l'humanité qui se dégage de ce jeu (on est à l'opposé de xenosaga, alors que c'est le même studio qui développe au même moment les 2 séries). Les méchants ne le sont pas fondamentalement mais sont pervertis par malpercio, le dieu maudit. Mais même lui semble être animé par une volonté de disparaître, comme si son mal était causé par une abominable souffrance qu'il ne demande qu'à expier. Ainsi il n'y a pas d'êtres mauvais, mais seulement des forces qui pervertissent les etres bon à la base et qu'il faut donc purger. (Question : d'où viennent ces forces ?)
-Cette vision peut sembler naïve mais elle est bien amenée et résonne parfaitement avec l'aspect poétique du jeu. Cette résonance trouve un écho dans l'âme du joueur. C'est un beau jeu, humainement parlant !
-La 2eme partie du jeu est riche en rebondissements, en flashback, en backgroung. Tout est expliqué et ce jusqu'au bout (il y a 1h de cinématiques après le combat final, avec encore des révélations)
-Refaire le jeu est cool car on y revoit toutes les interactions avec les perso de manière très différentes, et ce jusque dans le moindre détail.
-Il y a de l'émotion, surtout à la fin. Malgré un boss bonus qui troll le joueur, la fin est belle avec des frissons et (presque) des larmes. Magnifique !
-Enfin, aspect très important et qui justifie le fait que ce soit un jeu vidéo : le côté meta ! On joue notre propre rôle : un ange gardien venant d'un autre monde pour regarder ce qui se passe à travers les yeux de Kalas, ce dernier ayant conscience de notre présence. C'est important car c'est cet élément qui rend le twist imprévisible : on ne remet jamais en question Kalas car c'est à lui qu'on s'est lié et on lui fait donc confiance. Ce twist ne marcherait pas aussi bien dans un autre média que le jv car nous n'y avons pas le meme lien privilegié avec le personnage principal. Ainsi le twist permet d'interroger le lien que nous (ange gardien) entretenons avec notre avatar.
-La fin est d'autant plus belle que c'est à nous, joueur, que tous les perso du jeu disent au revoir. C'est beau putain !!
Conclusion : malgré ses défauts, c'est un chef d'oeuvre. Merci Monotith Soft pour ce bijoux !
I really wanted to like this game. I am a huge fan of Monoliths entire Xeno franchise, I love jrpgs, and even have a soft spot for deck builders. However this game is just not fun. Somehow both rushes you, and bores the hell out of you. You have very strict time limits to select your attacks and defense cards, and outside of the obvious deck builder problem of bricking and just not having anything to do in the turn, you can easily sabotage yourself since if you use attacks of opposite elements, you nerf your overall damage, and same with using defense cards of the same element as the enemy attack. Every animation takes so incredibly long every fight takes multiple minutes every playing perfectly and boss fights can take upwards of half an hour.
SUECA JRPG
9/10.
É esperava dar 10, infelizmente não ocorreu.
Antes de mais nada, eu gostaria de deixar claro que esse jogo é muito bom.
Sistema de batalha bem produzido e coordenado, a mecânica é muito bem realizada, montar os decks é viciante, o sistema de acessórios é bem simples mas funciona.
Mecanicamente esse jogo pra mim é muito primoroso, na versão de remaster com o game speed esse jogo brilhou na minha mente, a experiência foi agradável por 95% do tempo.
A estética desse jogo é ótima, alguns cenários são muito belos, o mundo desse jogo respira fantasia e isso é transposto em muitos momentos e aumenta a imersão.
(A cidade de mintaka e de celbarai são exemplos bons a se trazer, embora existem melhores.)
A trilha sonora desse jogo é perfeita, ela casa tão perfeito com a estética e com o flow do jogo, transmitindo muitas emoções e sentimentos, em alguns momentos se torna numa diegética musical ótima. Motoi sakuraba que mais tarde irá compor dark souls 1, fez um ótimo trabalho aqui.
Exemplos:
https://youtu.be/fa9W7gCsc9Y?feature=shared
https://youtu.be/JIAnkWRfJDE?feature=shared
https://youtu.be/O4FdfaRX8EM?feature=shared
https://youtu.be/_B64f48ewdo?feature=shared
https://youtu.be/jg70ufvtOAo?feature=shared
Antes de mais nada, eu gostaria de ressaltar que o combate desse jogo é um dos maiores pontos aqui, mas como daria um texto me aprofundar e explicar algumas mecânicas, deixo a outra oportunidade....
As dungeons merecem ser aplausos, ou então áreas foda se, o level design brilha bastante em 3 dungeons, a dos espelhos, a do jardim e a final, essas foram uma delícia e tiraram um sorriso do meu rosto ( e raiva tbm).
Falando de leve gostaria de dizer que a progressão em termos grind, cartas pra recupera vida, dinheiro e etc é bizarramente boa, tipo você n precisa farmar.... é um jogo muito bem conduzido.
Narrativa e história são muito boa, infelizmente não achei ótima, somente o kalas e xelha tem um desenvolvimento que presta, tirando eles todos são bem apresentados e interagem de forma quase orgânica no grupo, infelizmente ficou devendo nos personagens, savyna mesmo faltou bastante e o lyude tinha um potencial,mas faltou.
Engraçado como masato kato melhorou na sua escrita, mas ainda se mantém limitado em desenvolvimento de personagens, porém eu acho que todo o entorno funciona, eu diria que é tipo a party de xenoblade 1 só que tem mais carismas alguns bonecos, então não sei dizer se é bom ou ruim.
Um dos melhores momentos da trama é o twist que existe após a luta contra o geldoblame e aquele reta final, parabéns.
E ainda tem o final, que final lindo!!!!!!!!!!
Em suma foi uma experiência ótima, chorei no final e não me esquecerei daquele final tão cedo, com isso irei a baten kaitos origins e espero pode lá comentar mais sobre, por que essa duologia merece mais atenção!
É esperava dar 10, infelizmente não ocorreu.
Antes de mais nada, eu gostaria de deixar claro que esse jogo é muito bom.
Sistema de batalha bem produzido e coordenado, a mecânica é muito bem realizada, montar os decks é viciante, o sistema de acessórios é bem simples mas funciona.
Mecanicamente esse jogo pra mim é muito primoroso, na versão de remaster com o game speed esse jogo brilhou na minha mente, a experiência foi agradável por 95% do tempo.
A estética desse jogo é ótima, alguns cenários são muito belos, o mundo desse jogo respira fantasia e isso é transposto em muitos momentos e aumenta a imersão.
(A cidade de mintaka e de celbarai são exemplos bons a se trazer, embora existem melhores.)
A trilha sonora desse jogo é perfeita, ela casa tão perfeito com a estética e com o flow do jogo, transmitindo muitas emoções e sentimentos, em alguns momentos se torna numa diegética musical ótima. Motoi sakuraba que mais tarde irá compor dark souls 1, fez um ótimo trabalho aqui.
Exemplos:
https://youtu.be/fa9W7gCsc9Y?feature=shared
https://youtu.be/JIAnkWRfJDE?feature=shared
https://youtu.be/O4FdfaRX8EM?feature=shared
https://youtu.be/_B64f48ewdo?feature=shared
https://youtu.be/jg70ufvtOAo?feature=shared
Antes de mais nada, eu gostaria de ressaltar que o combate desse jogo é um dos maiores pontos aqui, mas como daria um texto me aprofundar e explicar algumas mecânicas, deixo a outra oportunidade....
As dungeons merecem ser aplausos, ou então áreas foda se, o level design brilha bastante em 3 dungeons, a dos espelhos, a do jardim e a final, essas foram uma delícia e tiraram um sorriso do meu rosto ( e raiva tbm).
Falando de leve gostaria de dizer que a progressão em termos grind, cartas pra recupera vida, dinheiro e etc é bizarramente boa, tipo você n precisa farmar.... é um jogo muito bem conduzido.
Narrativa e história são muito boa, infelizmente não achei ótima, somente o kalas e xelha tem um desenvolvimento que presta, tirando eles todos são bem apresentados e interagem de forma quase orgânica no grupo, infelizmente ficou devendo nos personagens, savyna mesmo faltou bastante e o lyude tinha um potencial,mas faltou.
Engraçado como masato kato melhorou na sua escrita, mas ainda se mantém limitado em desenvolvimento de personagens, porém eu acho que todo o entorno funciona, eu diria que é tipo a party de xenoblade 1 só que tem mais carismas alguns bonecos, então não sei dizer se é bom ou ruim.
Um dos melhores momentos da trama é o twist que existe após a luta contra o geldoblame e aquele reta final, parabéns.
E ainda tem o final, que final lindo!!!!!!!!!!
Em suma foi uma experiência ótima, chorei no final e não me esquecerei daquele final tão cedo, com isso irei a baten kaitos origins e espero pode lá comentar mais sobre, por que essa duologia merece mais atenção!
A truly great rpg with beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds, great ost, a fantastic battle system and a nice story. Highly recommended.
Baten Kaitos parece un juego perdido en una distorsión temporal de esas que tanto gusta a su guionista Masato Kato, anclado a una época en el que los fondos pre-renderizados y los sistemas de juego no convencionales eran la comidilla del ávido jugador. Es un RPG poco accesible de partida, con un desarrollo que requiere de mucho sosiego (las primeras ~10h son realmente aburridas) y unas mecánicas de combate sólo en apariencia simples, pero malamente explicadas en clásica tradición de Monolith Soft. No es fácil encontrar qué tiene de contar este juego más allá de su bucólica presentación y el setting por encima de las nubes, en un mundo que llama a la armonía y romantiza la naturaleza con composiciones poco orgánicas y convencionales. Pero Baten Kaitos se sabe especial a medida que la narrativa va in crescendo y el sistema de combate permite hacer más de un par de ataques mal contados.
El aspecto en el que más brilla, no obstante, es el vínculo que firma con el jugador (convertido en un espíritu protector de los protagonistas del juego) y la relación de (des)confianza que construye en el proceso. Baten Kaitos te hace partícipe de la aventura y pregunta habitualmente por qué decisión deberían tomar sus actores en escena, pero en ningún momento te da la batuta de la situación como si manejases al típico protagonista inconsciente de un RPG, que no tiene ni idea de lo que se cuece en la trastienda. Los protagonistas tienen sus propias motivaciones y no siempre estarán abiertos a confesarte por mucho tiempo que paséis juntos. Baten Kaitos juega con las falsas apariencias y ejecuta a la perfección varios giros argumentales que elevan la historia a otro nivel vista desde otra perspectiva. Si bien la motivación ulterior no es nada reseñable (¡oh no, tenemos que salvar al mundo de un dios infernal!), es la forma de presentar el conflicto y la unidad del grupo lo que lo convierte en una experiencia destacable.
Baten Kaitos funciona mediante combates "por turnos activos" empleando Magnus (cartas), que deben amontonarse según cumplan su función de ataque o defensa. A primera instancia no se entienden las imposiciones de tiempo y el obligarte a lanzar las cartas en un timing específico, pero a medida que gana profundidad y empiezas a pensar en exprimir fortalezas/debilidades, la lucha se convierte en un ejercicio de realizar matemáticas al vuelo y adaptarse a los azares del mazo. Según se añaden cartas a la mano debes pensar y ejecutar y/o adaptar tu estrategia al vuelo: ¿debería concentrar mi ataques con un elemento específico? ¿Desperdiciar cartas endebles que no harían cosquillas al enemigo, con tal de recibir después otras más favorables? ¿Me recupero ahora o lo dejo para más tarde? Cuanto más quieras exprimir el sistema, el juego será más exigente con los tiempos y te obligará a tomar decisiones precipitadas. Si un RPG tradicional puedes armar tu estrategia con antelación, la premura de Baten Kaitos añade un punto de tensión indeseada que se agradece para añadirle pimienta a los habituales encuentros con monstruos por el camino. No es particularmente grindy que digamos, ya que la progresión únicamente la marcan las cartas que obtienes tras un combate y la dificultad es relativamente baja, aunque hay algunos jefes concretos que ponen muy cuesta arriba la lucha y forzará a maximizar el farmeo en busca de cartas más poderosas.
El bucle de jugabilidad normalmente lleva a encontrarte una ciudad, sucesiva a una mazmorra con 2-3 pantallas sueltas y un jefe al final del recorrido. Rinse and repeat, con una variedad de enemigos bastante baja para lo que suele ser un RPG (se nota la falta de presupuesto). Sin embargo, pese la estructura lineal del juego, rara vez se sabe monótona al estar constantemente experimentando con el sistema y modificar el mazo de cartas de cada personaje. No obstante, hay algunas decisiones de diseño bastante cuestionables que lastran el producto en general. El uso de "Magnus de campo" para generar puzles es molesto por la constante transmutación de estos, el limitado número que puedes llevar en el inventario, y lo lento y tedioso que resulta el proceso de obtener uno de ellos. Algunas mazmorras usan este concepto y se convierten en una pesadilla de navegación, mención especial a la horrorosa Torre de Zosma, que no contentos con los pésimos controles en su interior, ¡es necesario volver a ella una segunda vez! ¡Y la repetición de algunos jefes como si fuesen el Durmiente de Skyward Sword (bodrio)! ¡Y que en ciertos puntos de guardado no puedas subir de nivel, pudiendo quedarte bloqueado sin poder mejorar stats frente un jefe duro de pelar!
Baten Kaitos puede no ser perfecto o estar hecho con dos duros, pero es un ejercicio magnífico de creatividad anclado a una consola que, tristemente, no recibió muchos RPGs durante su existencia. Enternecedor en su pintoresca puesta a escena y cañero con su banda sonora, compuesta por el extremadamente prolífico Motoi Sakuraba (que de 60 temazos siempre dejará 10-20 pestiños por el camino). Miren las caras feas de sus personajes y la representación de su obscena gestualidad, cuyos trazos dan la sensación de haber sufrido penurias en el procedimento. No son sinó el ejemplo de una expresión artística superior a lo establecido, algo que jamás aprenderá una IA por desdeñar estos puntos huecos en los que se esconde el alma de su creador.
PD: el port de Switch tiene el mérito de rendir peor que el original de GameCube y ofrecer serios problemas de stuttering en áreas específicas de la partida (acrecentados por un memory leak que empeora el rendimiento con el tiempo), pero así es Bandai Namco con sus propuestas en Switch. Les encanta seguir la Ley del Mínimo Común Múltiple, o volcar el mínimo esfuerzo posible en algo que tampoco requiere maravillas para hacerlo realidad. Esta versión de Switch también incluye la traducción al español hecha por Nintendo, con interfaz de combate en inglés (cortesía de Bandai Namco) y doblaje en japonés (al eliminar el inglés de las versiones HD, también cortesía de Bandai Namco).
El aspecto en el que más brilla, no obstante, es el vínculo que firma con el jugador (convertido en un espíritu protector de los protagonistas del juego) y la relación de (des)confianza que construye en el proceso. Baten Kaitos te hace partícipe de la aventura y pregunta habitualmente por qué decisión deberían tomar sus actores en escena, pero en ningún momento te da la batuta de la situación como si manejases al típico protagonista inconsciente de un RPG, que no tiene ni idea de lo que se cuece en la trastienda. Los protagonistas tienen sus propias motivaciones y no siempre estarán abiertos a confesarte por mucho tiempo que paséis juntos. Baten Kaitos juega con las falsas apariencias y ejecuta a la perfección varios giros argumentales que elevan la historia a otro nivel vista desde otra perspectiva. Si bien la motivación ulterior no es nada reseñable (¡oh no, tenemos que salvar al mundo de un dios infernal!), es la forma de presentar el conflicto y la unidad del grupo lo que lo convierte en una experiencia destacable.
Baten Kaitos funciona mediante combates "por turnos activos" empleando Magnus (cartas), que deben amontonarse según cumplan su función de ataque o defensa. A primera instancia no se entienden las imposiciones de tiempo y el obligarte a lanzar las cartas en un timing específico, pero a medida que gana profundidad y empiezas a pensar en exprimir fortalezas/debilidades, la lucha se convierte en un ejercicio de realizar matemáticas al vuelo y adaptarse a los azares del mazo. Según se añaden cartas a la mano debes pensar y ejecutar y/o adaptar tu estrategia al vuelo: ¿debería concentrar mi ataques con un elemento específico? ¿Desperdiciar cartas endebles que no harían cosquillas al enemigo, con tal de recibir después otras más favorables? ¿Me recupero ahora o lo dejo para más tarde? Cuanto más quieras exprimir el sistema, el juego será más exigente con los tiempos y te obligará a tomar decisiones precipitadas. Si un RPG tradicional puedes armar tu estrategia con antelación, la premura de Baten Kaitos añade un punto de tensión indeseada que se agradece para añadirle pimienta a los habituales encuentros con monstruos por el camino. No es particularmente grindy que digamos, ya que la progresión únicamente la marcan las cartas que obtienes tras un combate y la dificultad es relativamente baja, aunque hay algunos jefes concretos que ponen muy cuesta arriba la lucha y forzará a maximizar el farmeo en busca de cartas más poderosas.
El bucle de jugabilidad normalmente lleva a encontrarte una ciudad, sucesiva a una mazmorra con 2-3 pantallas sueltas y un jefe al final del recorrido. Rinse and repeat, con una variedad de enemigos bastante baja para lo que suele ser un RPG (se nota la falta de presupuesto). Sin embargo, pese la estructura lineal del juego, rara vez se sabe monótona al estar constantemente experimentando con el sistema y modificar el mazo de cartas de cada personaje. No obstante, hay algunas decisiones de diseño bastante cuestionables que lastran el producto en general. El uso de "Magnus de campo" para generar puzles es molesto por la constante transmutación de estos, el limitado número que puedes llevar en el inventario, y lo lento y tedioso que resulta el proceso de obtener uno de ellos. Algunas mazmorras usan este concepto y se convierten en una pesadilla de navegación, mención especial a la horrorosa Torre de Zosma, que no contentos con los pésimos controles en su interior, ¡es necesario volver a ella una segunda vez! ¡Y la repetición de algunos jefes como si fuesen el Durmiente de Skyward Sword (bodrio)! ¡Y que en ciertos puntos de guardado no puedas subir de nivel, pudiendo quedarte bloqueado sin poder mejorar stats frente un jefe duro de pelar!
Baten Kaitos puede no ser perfecto o estar hecho con dos duros, pero es un ejercicio magnífico de creatividad anclado a una consola que, tristemente, no recibió muchos RPGs durante su existencia. Enternecedor en su pintoresca puesta a escena y cañero con su banda sonora, compuesta por el extremadamente prolífico Motoi Sakuraba (que de 60 temazos siempre dejará 10-20 pestiños por el camino). Miren las caras feas de sus personajes y la representación de su obscena gestualidad, cuyos trazos dan la sensación de haber sufrido penurias en el procedimento. No son sinó el ejemplo de una expresión artística superior a lo establecido, algo que jamás aprenderá una IA por desdeñar estos puntos huecos en los que se esconde el alma de su creador.
PD: el port de Switch tiene el mérito de rendir peor que el original de GameCube y ofrecer serios problemas de stuttering en áreas específicas de la partida (acrecentados por un memory leak que empeora el rendimiento con el tiempo), pero así es Bandai Namco con sus propuestas en Switch. Les encanta seguir la Ley del Mínimo Común Múltiple, o volcar el mínimo esfuerzo posible en algo que tampoco requiere maravillas para hacerlo realidad. Esta versión de Switch también incluye la traducción al español hecha por Nintendo, con interfaz de combate en inglés (cortesía de Bandai Namco) y doblaje en japonés (al eliminar el inglés de las versiones HD, también cortesía de Bandai Namco).
Baten Kaitos is a great game that has beautiful and very creative pre-rendered backgrounds. The card-based battle system is very interesting, and I fairly liked it. Overall, this is a fantastic RPG from Monolithsoft.
The characters were quite nice, I especially loved Xelha and Kalas. Regarding the other party members, I think they were fairly good, but nothing too special. Not bad, but also not outstanding.
The story was also wonderful, I at least had a great time with it. Foreshadowing is definitely a strength of this game.
The pre-rendered backgrounds are totally beautiful, though I think the navigation on these can become a bit confusing. With that, I mean that sometimes it can be quite hard to see where you can walk and where you have to go.
Personally, I prefer whole 3D games because I think the experience isn't that immersive with pre-rendered backgrounds, but I think with the power of a Gamecube it worked pretty well in this game.
I'm glad to have experienced and played this game, and I'm really looking forward to playing Baten Kaitos Origins. As far as I can tell from this game, Baten Kaitos is another great Monolithsoft game series.
The characters were quite nice, I especially loved Xelha and Kalas. Regarding the other party members, I think they were fairly good, but nothing too special. Not bad, but also not outstanding.
The story was also wonderful, I at least had a great time with it. Foreshadowing is definitely a strength of this game.
The pre-rendered backgrounds are totally beautiful, though I think the navigation on these can become a bit confusing. With that, I mean that sometimes it can be quite hard to see where you can walk and where you have to go.
Personally, I prefer whole 3D games because I think the experience isn't that immersive with pre-rendered backgrounds, but I think with the power of a Gamecube it worked pretty well in this game.
I'm glad to have experienced and played this game, and I'm really looking forward to playing Baten Kaitos Origins. As far as I can tell from this game, Baten Kaitos is another great Monolithsoft game series.
I've played through the entirety of this game multiple times. Some of that is definitely nostalgia, but I do think this is just an excellent title that blends deck builder and RPG epic seamlessly. The way the deckbuilding system and party systems interact, as well as the combos you can do is just excellent.
I can't talk about this game without mentioning the story though. This game has a hell of a story that I won't get into much detail about since it is very spoilable. That said, it starts looking like a typical JRPG story that is full of crazy twists and turns I never saw coming. The voice acting is decent too, and quite funny at times, especially with some of the names people and places have.
This is admittedly not a perfect game though. There are a few places where it can be hard to tell where you're supposed to be going, which led to me accidentally grinding in the wrong area to try and get through then being overleveled for the area I was actually supposed to be in.
There is also one dungeon in particular, the Spirit Tower, which is just miserable. While level design is mostly a hit through this game, that one dungeon occupies the same space in my mind as the Ocarina of Time Water Temple, Mt Moon in pokemon R/B and Tower of the Gods in Wind Waker.
Overall though, outside of that one dungeon, this game is a criminally under-rated gem from the Gamecube era, and I look forward to the remake.
I can't talk about this game without mentioning the story though. This game has a hell of a story that I won't get into much detail about since it is very spoilable. That said, it starts looking like a typical JRPG story that is full of crazy twists and turns I never saw coming. The voice acting is decent too, and quite funny at times, especially with some of the names people and places have.
This is admittedly not a perfect game though. There are a few places where it can be hard to tell where you're supposed to be going, which led to me accidentally grinding in the wrong area to try and get through then being overleveled for the area I was actually supposed to be in.
There is also one dungeon in particular, the Spirit Tower, which is just miserable. While level design is mostly a hit through this game, that one dungeon occupies the same space in my mind as the Ocarina of Time Water Temple, Mt Moon in pokemon R/B and Tower of the Gods in Wind Waker.
Overall though, outside of that one dungeon, this game is a criminally under-rated gem from the Gamecube era, and I look forward to the remake.
I truly truly disliked this game
Sometime around 2017 (I think), I had stumbled with a playlist called "Top 100 Best JRPG Musics of All Time", or something like that, and the top #1 of that list was "Le Ali del Principio". I got really hooked with that song, so much so that it made me interested in this franchise.
But it was only last year that I got myself to play this game, and boy, I was definitely not expecting this.
Let's start with the mechanics, which it was something I wasn't expecting and was a delight to play with. I was longing for some kind of TCG-like game for a while, and this one was a godsend (side note, I played Inscryption, but it was not enough to scratch this particular itch).
The combo mechanic took a while to get used to it, but who nice it is to play a 123456789 combo and deal something close to 10k damage in a single turn. Incredibly satisfactory.
A somewhat anoying, but also engaging mechanic is the aging magnus. The food spoiling in your inventary and then using them as a healing items during combat was something I had to learn quick to not to do. But even then, spoiled food was not a completly useless item, as you can also use to deal damage to your enemies.
That being said, the game sometimes slows down to a crawl, more so if you backtrack to past areas, as you still have to battle weak enemies that you can kill with a single blow.
Another nice thing about the magnus system, is that items used during combat are not deleted from your inventary, making resting for healing just some extra for your convenience.
Storywise, the game is nothing more than your run-of-the-mill JRPG: level 1, save a kitten; level 100, kill god; and there's the evil empire somewhere out there.
But in its own circle, BK's narrative is compelling. Of course, there's some hiccups here and there, but nothing that I found particularly bad. And, occasionaly, someone drops one or another line of dialogue that hits really hard. Without spoiling anything, there's one that feels like one of the best lines in videogame I've ever heard, and it is said by this particular girl in Celestial Alps, fyi.
Adjacent to the story, I guess, the game also presents us with some incredible voice acting, and by "incredible" I mean "bad". Apart from the protagonist(s), the majority of dubbed lines sounds as it they were recorded in a bathroom of something in the likes, as almost everyone have this weird echo or muffle to their voices. And let's not get started with the vibrant emotions, or lack thereof, present in their voicelines.
The game don't present much in classical cutscenes (like, say, Final Fantasy X), but it its 3D models in everything the game has to offer. The only downside I noticed is that it can sometimes be a bit clonky in the controls, mainly during the sections in which you rely in depth perception, like in Zosma Tower.
Overall, I really like the game, and I'm glad I stumbled with that playlist that many years ago. Even though I have many reservations to the game, it was an incredible experience, and, with the rumors of a remake for switch, I'm excited for more people to discover this gem (that being said, I don't think I would replay this game, at least not in the forseeable future, as I clocked 60 or so hours and I'm not even close of 100% it, but that's a "me" problem).
Also, shampoo can SUCK MY SHINY HAIRY A**!
PS: I forgot about the music. Although the random battles always uses the same song (even some bosses uses a more guitar-y version of the music), I found the score really enjoyable. It was always a pleasure to enter a new area and bask a little in their respective theme songs, like the festive vibes of Komo-mai's theme, the oppressively feeling of Alfard's theme, or the mystique in Mira's theme. Everything such a gorgeous bop.
If anything, I think the game's OST will really stay with me, circling us back to the beginning, where I found this game for its soundtrack.
PPS: fyi, Baten Kaitos is apparently the arabic name of the constellation Cetus (Whale in english). Now I love this game even more. <3
TL;DR: nice game with a few hiccups. Simple, but compelling story. TCG-mechanics are nice.
But it was only last year that I got myself to play this game, and boy, I was definitely not expecting this.
Let's start with the mechanics, which it was something I wasn't expecting and was a delight to play with. I was longing for some kind of TCG-like game for a while, and this one was a godsend (side note, I played Inscryption, but it was not enough to scratch this particular itch).
The combo mechanic took a while to get used to it, but who nice it is to play a 123456789 combo and deal something close to 10k damage in a single turn. Incredibly satisfactory.
A somewhat anoying, but also engaging mechanic is the aging magnus. The food spoiling in your inventary and then using them as a healing items during combat was something I had to learn quick to not to do. But even then, spoiled food was not a completly useless item, as you can also use to deal damage to your enemies.
That being said, the game sometimes slows down to a crawl, more so if you backtrack to past areas, as you still have to battle weak enemies that you can kill with a single blow.
Another nice thing about the magnus system, is that items used during combat are not deleted from your inventary, making resting for healing just some extra for your convenience.
Storywise, the game is nothing more than your run-of-the-mill JRPG: level 1, save a kitten; level 100, kill god; and there's the evil empire somewhere out there.
But in its own circle, BK's narrative is compelling. Of course, there's some hiccups here and there, but nothing that I found particularly bad. And, occasionaly, someone drops one or another line of dialogue that hits really hard. Without spoiling anything, there's one that feels like one of the best lines in videogame I've ever heard, and it is said by this particular girl in Celestial Alps, fyi.
Adjacent to the story, I guess, the game also presents us with some incredible voice acting, and by "incredible" I mean "bad". Apart from the protagonist(s), the majority of dubbed lines sounds as it they were recorded in a bathroom of something in the likes, as almost everyone have this weird echo or muffle to their voices. And let's not get started with the vibrant emotions, or lack thereof, present in their voicelines.
The game don't present much in classical cutscenes (like, say, Final Fantasy X), but it its 3D models in everything the game has to offer. The only downside I noticed is that it can sometimes be a bit clonky in the controls, mainly during the sections in which you rely in depth perception, like in Zosma Tower.
Overall, I really like the game, and I'm glad I stumbled with that playlist that many years ago. Even though I have many reservations to the game, it was an incredible experience, and, with the rumors of a remake for switch, I'm excited for more people to discover this gem (that being said, I don't think I would replay this game, at least not in the forseeable future, as I clocked 60 or so hours and I'm not even close of 100% it, but that's a "me" problem).
Also, shampoo can SUCK MY SHINY HAIRY A**!
PS: I forgot about the music. Although the random battles always uses the same song (even some bosses uses a more guitar-y version of the music), I found the score really enjoyable. It was always a pleasure to enter a new area and bask a little in their respective theme songs, like the festive vibes of Komo-mai's theme, the oppressively feeling of Alfard's theme, or the mystique in Mira's theme. Everything such a gorgeous bop.
If anything, I think the game's OST will really stay with me, circling us back to the beginning, where I found this game for its soundtrack.
PPS: fyi, Baten Kaitos is apparently the arabic name of the constellation Cetus (Whale in english). Now I love this game even more. <3
TL;DR: nice game with a few hiccups. Simple, but compelling story. TCG-mechanics are nice.
Enjoyable enough, until the end the story is a little too simple and the combat is a little bland. I'm interested in playing the sequel though which I've heard is better in pretty much every department.
Póker, Japón
Absolutely love this gem. The battlesystem is addictive and basically plays like poker, the pre rendered environment are a sight to behold, amazing music from Motoi Sakuraba, and a story with some of the coolest twists. It starts slow, but gets really good. The english va is some of the worst I've heard, but thankfully you can turn it off.. The translation and writing however is top notch material. An alltime favourite!
Incredibly gorgeous game and horrifically overlooked ona console not exactly known for its vast library of JRPGs. 😭
Probably the poster child for cult classic. Flew pretty under the radar when it first came out, but had an incredibly creative battle system and world. To people who say that Monolith Soft only has one plot, you're... not wrong, but the story is still incredibly good, and the twists feel surprising when they happen. Also has one of the absolute top tier soundtracks and is the immediate answer to anyone who claims Motoi Sakuraba can only write same-y uninspired tracks. Yes, the voice acting is not great, but honestly it didn't bother me that much and the rest of the game is so good that it makes up for it.
If you love cheesy voice acting and fun card-based battle system gameplay, this is the game for you. The story is surprisingly good and plays with traditional JRPG tropes in very creative ways.
When this game came out, and I saw an ad on TV, I was like "WTF is this".
When we finally got the game I was like "wow this is so cool !".
Such an innovative gameplay, I really loved it. And we are once more blessed by Motoi Sakuraba with amazing soundtracks.
For sure the english dub is probably not that good, but it has its charm ! I was so in love with the MC back then, and the story is real good fr.
When we finally got the game I was like "wow this is so cool !".
Such an innovative gameplay, I really loved it. And we are once more blessed by Motoi Sakuraba with amazing soundtracks.
For sure the english dub is probably not that good, but it has its charm ! I was so in love with the MC back then, and the story is real good fr.
ohhhhhhhhhhhh man.
this is a title from my childhood i found myself revisiting several times because i remembered how fuckin sick "the true mirror" was yet again for the nth time in a row. its So good.
i absolutely want to revisit this at some point when im able to, im so fond of the weird card mechanics in this damn thing.
this is a title from my childhood i found myself revisiting several times because i remembered how fuckin sick "the true mirror" was yet again for the nth time in a row. its So good.
i absolutely want to revisit this at some point when im able to, im so fond of the weird card mechanics in this damn thing.
Tiene muy buenos elementos como lo serian el mundo, la historia y casi todo lo relacionado al sistema de los magnus (Exceptuando su adquisición) en donde creo que mas flaquea es en la lentitud de algunos combates debido a las animaciones ademas de en su apartado de personajes en donde los que mas destacan son Kalas y Xelha
Monolith Soft is always the GOAT. The card battle system is amazing, the characters were good, and the story was a fun time as well. This is definitely worth for the combat system at least, it's really good.
I played through this on Switch with the HD remaster and I can see why it's beloved to so many.
Baten Kaitos is an RPG created by the joint efforts of Tri-Crescendo and Monolith Soft, one clearly under budget restraints and hardware restraints (the game required two GameCube discs due to the limited size of that media) and as such the scope and ambition of the story is held back by these restraints. Outside of the opening movie there are no FMV cutscenes and the world itself is made up of 2D jpeg artwork with the characters being 3D models that move on those. Even camera work is restricted with the final scene being egregiously noticeable as instead of zooming out it continuously cuts and loads a further out picture. These things don't ruin the game but you can feel the pushback against the ambition throughout and there's a feeling of what could've been when you're aware of what Monolith Soft have accomplished with cutscene direction throughout their history.
Where Baten Kaitos shines is its story. Set in the sky after a war against a god ravaged the earth, people now live on a smattering of sky islands with toxic clouds below them to prevent them reaching the earth's surface. People also now have wings to help them get around and it is in general a really cool world setting with an interesting history that is full of surprises as you learn more and more.
Our set up for the game sees the empire trying to revive the sealed god Malpercio in an attempt to claim its power for themselves. They go around the islands in hopes of awakening the five end magnus (in Baten Kaitos all essences can be captured in cards called magnus and used later) and it's up to our party to put a stop to their plans.
Our party consists of protagonist Kalas, whose journey consists of seeking revenge against those who killed his grandfather and brother and he quite frankly couldn't care less about the wider conflict or any side quest distractions and it's actually really quite refreshing to have a protagonist like that. He is guided by a guardian spirit who is essentially the player themselves looking into the game world and we can use dialogue options to try and help push Kalas in the right direction. I believe the dialogue options affect bonuses in battle but I also think making the player themselves a guardian spirit is a really cool way to bridge the player into the game without making the protagonist a silent character.
As Kalas goes through his journey he's met by Xelha, a girl who has escaped the empire with an important pendant and he soons finds himself being dragged into the wider conflict at play. As our main heroine of the game, Xelha makes a fantastic counterpart to Kalas as she wants to help people and stop the empire's plans. The two balance each other pretty well and as the party continues to grow you end up with a pretty diverse and interesting cast of likeable characters with their own motivations and backstories.
The basis of the plot is great enough but where it really gets its hooks into you is through its many twists and turns it takes with revelations that are bound to catch you off guard and make for a memorable journey. It's not perfect, there's a lot of stuff unpacked in the last couple of scenes that feel like they could've explored earlier but when they hit, they hit strong.
Battle wise is where Baten Kaitos truly shines in its uniqueness. It's core is a turn based rpg system but battles are handled through a card system where you have a deck you've built to include attack, defence, and healing cards. Each card has its own numbers on it so you try and build combos with what you've drawn by using straights (1-2-3 etc) or pairs and the bigger combo you pull off, the better bonus damage you get and the potential for a unique combo special. Defence cards can be used to reduce damage from an opponent's attacks while healing cards do what they say on the tin. As you level up you'll be able to increase your deck size, hand size, and combo limit allowing you to pull off even mightier strikes. It's an incredibly fun battle system once you get used to it but it does come with a few drawbacks. 1. You're reliant on the draw of the cards so you can often be stuck with no attack cards or no defence cards when you need them. 2. Each character uses their own unique deck which means you'll be organising and optimising up to 6 decks and that's extremely time consuming. 3. Food cards expire with time so you'll be left with rotten cards and need to constantly swap in fresh ones which is a pain.
These drawbacks are frustrating but it doesn't stop this being an incredibly fun and unique battle system to experiment with. The HD remaster also comes with the option of turning one hit KOs on so if you do tire from it you can simplify things to push on for a bit (which I ended up doing for most standard encounters)
The card system is also used for puzzles in the overworld where you can use blank magnus to store the essence of stuff like fire or water and use them to solve puzzles you come across. There's some cool stuff like storing milk and holding onto it long for it to become cheese and yogurt which is really interesting to see.
The HD remaster includes a few new options on top of the updated visuals. Mentioned before is the one hit KO option to speed through battles and there's an option to turn off standard encounters. On top of that you can increase game speed and battle speed. These are done through menus and I'd rather have them be a button toggle because I only want to speed up animations or certain portions and going in and out of menus to do it constantly is a bit annoying.
One other area the game truly peaks at is its soundtrack. The area and town themes all provide great background music with Mira bringing a really strong bass hook. The battle themes all go really hard with electric guitars hitting some fire riffs while the Chaotic Dance boss music is all sorts of wonderfully funky. One of the last boss fights in the game has to be one of my all time favourite boss songs as it hits some incredible headbanging moments.
Baten Kaitos is a great RPG that just misses out on its potential with its ambition being held back by its budget. If you can get on board with its unique battle system then there's a great time to be had here with lovely characters and a story full of twists and turns but unfortunately it is a bit of a learning curve that may put people off.
Baten Kaitos is an RPG created by the joint efforts of Tri-Crescendo and Monolith Soft, one clearly under budget restraints and hardware restraints (the game required two GameCube discs due to the limited size of that media) and as such the scope and ambition of the story is held back by these restraints. Outside of the opening movie there are no FMV cutscenes and the world itself is made up of 2D jpeg artwork with the characters being 3D models that move on those. Even camera work is restricted with the final scene being egregiously noticeable as instead of zooming out it continuously cuts and loads a further out picture. These things don't ruin the game but you can feel the pushback against the ambition throughout and there's a feeling of what could've been when you're aware of what Monolith Soft have accomplished with cutscene direction throughout their history.
Where Baten Kaitos shines is its story. Set in the sky after a war against a god ravaged the earth, people now live on a smattering of sky islands with toxic clouds below them to prevent them reaching the earth's surface. People also now have wings to help them get around and it is in general a really cool world setting with an interesting history that is full of surprises as you learn more and more.
Our set up for the game sees the empire trying to revive the sealed god Malpercio in an attempt to claim its power for themselves. They go around the islands in hopes of awakening the five end magnus (in Baten Kaitos all essences can be captured in cards called magnus and used later) and it's up to our party to put a stop to their plans.
Our party consists of protagonist Kalas, whose journey consists of seeking revenge against those who killed his grandfather and brother and he quite frankly couldn't care less about the wider conflict or any side quest distractions and it's actually really quite refreshing to have a protagonist like that. He is guided by a guardian spirit who is essentially the player themselves looking into the game world and we can use dialogue options to try and help push Kalas in the right direction. I believe the dialogue options affect bonuses in battle but I also think making the player themselves a guardian spirit is a really cool way to bridge the player into the game without making the protagonist a silent character.
As Kalas goes through his journey he's met by Xelha, a girl who has escaped the empire with an important pendant and he soons finds himself being dragged into the wider conflict at play. As our main heroine of the game, Xelha makes a fantastic counterpart to Kalas as she wants to help people and stop the empire's plans. The two balance each other pretty well and as the party continues to grow you end up with a pretty diverse and interesting cast of likeable characters with their own motivations and backstories.
The basis of the plot is great enough but where it really gets its hooks into you is through its many twists and turns it takes with revelations that are bound to catch you off guard and make for a memorable journey. It's not perfect, there's a lot of stuff unpacked in the last couple of scenes that feel like they could've explored earlier but when they hit, they hit strong.
Battle wise is where Baten Kaitos truly shines in its uniqueness. It's core is a turn based rpg system but battles are handled through a card system where you have a deck you've built to include attack, defence, and healing cards. Each card has its own numbers on it so you try and build combos with what you've drawn by using straights (1-2-3 etc) or pairs and the bigger combo you pull off, the better bonus damage you get and the potential for a unique combo special. Defence cards can be used to reduce damage from an opponent's attacks while healing cards do what they say on the tin. As you level up you'll be able to increase your deck size, hand size, and combo limit allowing you to pull off even mightier strikes. It's an incredibly fun battle system once you get used to it but it does come with a few drawbacks. 1. You're reliant on the draw of the cards so you can often be stuck with no attack cards or no defence cards when you need them. 2. Each character uses their own unique deck which means you'll be organising and optimising up to 6 decks and that's extremely time consuming. 3. Food cards expire with time so you'll be left with rotten cards and need to constantly swap in fresh ones which is a pain.
These drawbacks are frustrating but it doesn't stop this being an incredibly fun and unique battle system to experiment with. The HD remaster also comes with the option of turning one hit KOs on so if you do tire from it you can simplify things to push on for a bit (which I ended up doing for most standard encounters)
The card system is also used for puzzles in the overworld where you can use blank magnus to store the essence of stuff like fire or water and use them to solve puzzles you come across. There's some cool stuff like storing milk and holding onto it long for it to become cheese and yogurt which is really interesting to see.
The HD remaster includes a few new options on top of the updated visuals. Mentioned before is the one hit KO option to speed through battles and there's an option to turn off standard encounters. On top of that you can increase game speed and battle speed. These are done through menus and I'd rather have them be a button toggle because I only want to speed up animations or certain portions and going in and out of menus to do it constantly is a bit annoying.
One other area the game truly peaks at is its soundtrack. The area and town themes all provide great background music with Mira bringing a really strong bass hook. The battle themes all go really hard with electric guitars hitting some fire riffs while the Chaotic Dance boss music is all sorts of wonderfully funky. One of the last boss fights in the game has to be one of my all time favourite boss songs as it hits some incredible headbanging moments.
Baten Kaitos is a great RPG that just misses out on its potential with its ambition being held back by its budget. If you can get on board with its unique battle system then there's a great time to be had here with lovely characters and a story full of twists and turns but unfortunately it is a bit of a learning curve that may put people off.
This review contains spoilers
Remember that you're not who you see on the screen
Underrated gem, it's too bad that the prequel went and changed everything that was cool and unique about it. The story may be a bit generic at points, but the characterization is very solid, and the gameplay is amazing. Glad I can finally recommend a remaster to my switch owning friends now.
Pretty solid RPG. Story and writing were decent, and there were some interesting twists throughout the game. I definitely didn't like everything that happened, but it was a neat game regardless.
I think my two biggest issues are with the battle system and the aging magnus mechanic. The battle system was interesting and pretty unique, but so much of it comes down to luck. I often times found myself unable to do anything because all my cards were defense or healing cards. And making significant combos was completely luck based until the end of the game, where it was at least possible, but still kinda rare.
And then the aging magnus gets kinda frustrating. I frequently didn't know how I got certain items cause a different one would evolve, or I would find my party members with a lot of useless healing magnus because they had expired. I was constantly having to shuffle around a lot of different decks, and it got kinda tiring by the end.
I was able to look past both of those, since neither really ruined the game or anything. Mostly just gripes I had with it since I'm not too fond of deck building games. But overall, it's a pretty neat game. With an absolute banger of a soundtrack and some pretty nice visuals. I would recommend this if you like deck builders.
I think my two biggest issues are with the battle system and the aging magnus mechanic. The battle system was interesting and pretty unique, but so much of it comes down to luck. I often times found myself unable to do anything because all my cards were defense or healing cards. And making significant combos was completely luck based until the end of the game, where it was at least possible, but still kinda rare.
And then the aging magnus gets kinda frustrating. I frequently didn't know how I got certain items cause a different one would evolve, or I would find my party members with a lot of useless healing magnus because they had expired. I was constantly having to shuffle around a lot of different decks, and it got kinda tiring by the end.
I was able to look past both of those, since neither really ruined the game or anything. Mostly just gripes I had with it since I'm not too fond of deck building games. But overall, it's a pretty neat game. With an absolute banger of a soundtrack and some pretty nice visuals. I would recommend this if you like deck builders.
Baten Kaitos, the project of Xenosaga's developer Monolith Soft and tri-Ace's sound designer tri-Crescendo, was unique in pairing the collection, strategy and customization of TCG's with JRPG combat. By themselves, the cards are not particularly inspired. Limited to simply replicating battle actions, it's the interactions between their properties that form the core of the battle experience, with bits of active gameplay (each turn, players choose a number of cards within a time limit) and a set of powerful, unlockable special moves that somewhat recall the element-driven combos of Persona 2 & Breath of Fire IV. But that influence reveals another problem: Combat's card game integration consists of a few poker mechanics and little else. It's undoubtedly an interesting fusion, but one that's only half-realized.
They fare better in the non-combat areas. Best of all is how JRPG traditions are repurposed to revolve around their card-centric program, from shops to equipment, to enemy loot and hidden collectibles. Also of note are some truly original concepts like temporary cards (that may transform over time) and blank cards - key items that can mimic parts of the environment to complete objectives. On the downside, Monolith Soft leans too much towards the lengthy, slow-burn format once more, repeating the same mistakes that detracted from Xenosaga: Everything from cutscenes (although not as extreme) to battles, animations and movement border on plodding. If that largely remained the same, the writing couldn't be more different. The addition of Masato Kato (script writer for many Square titles, including Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII) marked a newfound penchant for weird scenarios, locations and humor; alongside effective story moments and a mishmash of aesthetics (part steampunk RPG, part stylized medieval-fantasy a la Fire Emblem, part Chrono Cross-ian naturalistic fantasy). Sadly, much of that talent is wasted on a rather tedious second half.
They fare better in the non-combat areas. Best of all is how JRPG traditions are repurposed to revolve around their card-centric program, from shops to equipment, to enemy loot and hidden collectibles. Also of note are some truly original concepts like temporary cards (that may transform over time) and blank cards - key items that can mimic parts of the environment to complete objectives. On the downside, Monolith Soft leans too much towards the lengthy, slow-burn format once more, repeating the same mistakes that detracted from Xenosaga: Everything from cutscenes (although not as extreme) to battles, animations and movement border on plodding. If that largely remained the same, the writing couldn't be more different. The addition of Masato Kato (script writer for many Square titles, including Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII) marked a newfound penchant for weird scenarios, locations and humor; alongside effective story moments and a mishmash of aesthetics (part steampunk RPG, part stylized medieval-fantasy a la Fire Emblem, part Chrono Cross-ian naturalistic fantasy). Sadly, much of that talent is wasted on a rather tedious second half.
I adore so many of the things this game has going for it, but I just can't cope with the drudgery. Wedged in between all interactions with Baten Kaitos are pregnant pauses - forced to wait repeated five-second intervals for things like a character to slide onto their mark and grace you with their dishwater dialogue box, exploring the world map or going through the combat. It's just too slow & it breaks my heart because the meat n potatoes here is really cool.
At BK's core is a deckbuilding rpg ordeal with the devil in its details. I really enjoyed my time with the half of Disk 1 I could feasibly play before becoming comatose, because every few screens served some kind of insane revelation as to how the game actually works. Not only do you need to negotiate with a limited deck size to allot your battle abilities - weapons, spells, items etc., you're also limited in how many quest items you can carry. Quite literally everything in the game you can pick up becomes entrapped within a card you have to shuffle and thumb through, it's a fun obfuscation of the normal menu system! Where things get really devious is the point where you realise the milk quest item you stored at an earlier point has curdled into yogurt because you took too long travelling between locations - your ice blades have thawed and are now a useless basic dagger. There is a combo system in which certain cards used in specific orders trigger special effects, and this is extended to seemingly(??) mundane objects, like spending a turn mid battle to use a knife to trim a bonsai tree you found. It's all very satisfyingly scrappy, I desperately wish it wouldn't take days out of my life to simply experiment with the toys it has given me. I thought Monolith Soft were openly hostile to completionists with the deluge of sidequests in Xenoblade, but this game reads like a ransom note to anyone with OCD. I looked it up and Oh My God there are so many fucking evil missables and one-offs.
The presentation is particularly beguiling, the similarities to FF9 are hard for me to ignore. Gorgeous mist-laiden high fantasy setting with surprisingly good monster and character designs. The backgrounds are all pieces of pre-rendered or sketched artwork with noticeable variation in quality. Sometimes you'd be looking at painterly postcard chic and one screen transition over you're in Hyrule Town. It becomes a juggernaut of beauty whenever the environment calls for some kind of cloudy sheen, honestly some of the most sublime 2d effect work I've ever seen, my jaw repeatedly hit the floor at all things waterfall. I'd share a million screenshots, but they don't do justice to what looks unparalleled in motion.
Really want to say stuff about the story but it'd mostly just be speculation, I'll probably never finish this. We're heavily leaning on angel wings in our theming here and I can't help but gobble that stuff up.
At BK's core is a deckbuilding rpg ordeal with the devil in its details. I really enjoyed my time with the half of Disk 1 I could feasibly play before becoming comatose, because every few screens served some kind of insane revelation as to how the game actually works. Not only do you need to negotiate with a limited deck size to allot your battle abilities - weapons, spells, items etc., you're also limited in how many quest items you can carry. Quite literally everything in the game you can pick up becomes entrapped within a card you have to shuffle and thumb through, it's a fun obfuscation of the normal menu system! Where things get really devious is the point where you realise the milk quest item you stored at an earlier point has curdled into yogurt because you took too long travelling between locations - your ice blades have thawed and are now a useless basic dagger. There is a combo system in which certain cards used in specific orders trigger special effects, and this is extended to seemingly(??) mundane objects, like spending a turn mid battle to use a knife to trim a bonsai tree you found. It's all very satisfyingly scrappy, I desperately wish it wouldn't take days out of my life to simply experiment with the toys it has given me. I thought Monolith Soft were openly hostile to completionists with the deluge of sidequests in Xenoblade, but this game reads like a ransom note to anyone with OCD. I looked it up and Oh My God there are so many fucking evil missables and one-offs.
The presentation is particularly beguiling, the similarities to FF9 are hard for me to ignore. Gorgeous mist-laiden high fantasy setting with surprisingly good monster and character designs. The backgrounds are all pieces of pre-rendered or sketched artwork with noticeable variation in quality. Sometimes you'd be looking at painterly postcard chic and one screen transition over you're in Hyrule Town. It becomes a juggernaut of beauty whenever the environment calls for some kind of cloudy sheen, honestly some of the most sublime 2d effect work I've ever seen, my jaw repeatedly hit the floor at all things waterfall. I'd share a million screenshots, but they don't do justice to what looks unparalleled in motion.
Really want to say stuff about the story but it'd mostly just be speculation, I'll probably never finish this. We're heavily leaning on angel wings in our theming here and I can't help but gobble that stuff up.
The story is a little slow at first but it picks up a lot and the combat is really unique. Definitely a underrated Game Cube gem. Would recommend especially if you're into other Monolithsoft games like the Xeno series.
This amazing RPG goes to show that a game or series doesn't have to follow the tired old medium of other games. The graphics are beautiful and the music is very good for not being SE or Atlus. The story is completely unique as well as the combat. While the game is long it is very much worth the ride and provides great amounts of content and challenge. The only fault the game has is the lackluster voice acting which is tolerable but you never really get use to it. A must play for RPG lovers.
The fact that I'm rating this game so highly even though I was one of those unlucky people that had to restart their entire game because I saved on the Goldoba battleship with an underlevelled team shows how much I love everything this game sets out to do. This game is the nadir of sixth generation JRPGs to me and it's a shame that so many people don't give this game a chance because of the card battle system (which is way more intuitive than it looks, even if RNG will screw you over sometimes) or the voice acting (which, yes, sucks ass) turning them away.