Full Review

The RPG genre has faced a big problem this generation, one that began to escalate with the use of high storage capacity gaming mediums. This generation, most high profile RPGs were mainly geared toward being interactive movies, some were so bad that at times the player would actually be in control for only fifteen minutes for every hour of cinematics. This is why I was very skeptical when Namco announced that one of their development teams, Monolith Soft (developers of Xenosaga), were in development with an original RPG for Gamecube. Now this particular game maker has been one of the more notorious developers of overly cinematic role playing games, and so it's only natural to assume that this was their intent with Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean. Once videos and screens started leaking, I decided that when the game was released I'd give it a chance upon release. Well the game was released almost a year ago, and you may be wondering, did Baten Kaitos turn out to be more than just an interactive movie? Read on to find out.

I'd like to state for the record that I may have misjudged the developer. Baten Kaitos has turned out to be quite an original title, but it's based around an element that has turned away many an RPG fan. It's not Baten Kaitos' fault, but in modern times, with such Card based games/anime series as Yu-Gi-Oh and Duel Masters, most gamers have been turned away from anything having to do with cards. With that said, Baten Kaitos' entire battle system is based around cards. What could have made this game a stinker though, has turned out to be it's best hand. This system is where most of Baten Kaitos' original ideas come into play. Sure, it's a bit overwhelming at first, but to truly reap the rewards of one kick @ss RPG, you'll need to give Baten Kaitos some time.

Story
To truly understand the world of Baten Kaitos, a bit of history is necessary. Many years ago an evil god entered the world and attempted to wipe out mankind. It's first accomplishment was draining the ocean of it's water, thus forcing humans to make a new home in the sky on floating islands. Thanks a band of heroes however, the god was sealed away with the use of five magical cards. Man evolved to have what are referred to as "wings of the heart". These wings vary from within each character. One boy is born with only one wing, but with his grandfather's help he manifests a mechanical wing to function as his missing one. This boy is Kalas, and he is the main character in Baten Kaitos.

The basic premise of the story involves Kalas journey about revenge, for the deaths of both his grandfather, and his little brother. Of course, the story encompasses to involve much more than just this theme. What's interesting is the fact that you, the player, actually have a role within the game instead of just playing as Kalas. Basically the storyline counts you as Kalas' guardian spirit who has joined forces with the protagonist. At certain points in the game, Kalas will speak with you, and will sometimes ask you questions. This is a really cool feature, as I can't think of any RPGs that have successfully pulled something like this off. I just wish the various dialogue options played more of a role in the game, as they don't seem to have a real overall effect.

There are six characters total that join your quest. Some of them fit rather nicely into common cliches, but revelations in the plot (especially on disc 2) will lead you to shatter your previous expectations. Firstly, we have Kalas. He's your typical stubborn and cocky, yet reluctant main hero who you can't help but like. Next we have Xelha, the naive heroine who wants nothing more than to save the world. The supporting cast encompasses a mysterious masked sorcerer named Mizuti, a retired knight turned fisherman, and more. Though seeming shallow at first, the later parts of the game open up huge dimensions to each character, some much unexpected.

Gameplay
The most bare bones description that can be given to Baten Kaitos is through calling it a mere turn based RPG. The gameplay just encompasses so much more than may be percieved at first. The first thing you should do is accept that you will be using a LOT of cards in the game, for many different angles. Firstly, all items are stored on blank magnus cards. You only have a certain number of blank cards, thus limiting the amount of items you can carry with you. By activating the card on which the item is stored, you in turn activate whichever item corresponds with it. This may seem a bit weird at first, and honestly it's unlike anything else I've seen in this genre. It becomes a bit strategic in which items to carry on the cards because of the limitations. Items are not the only thing which are stored on the cards, which now brings me to...

The battle system is the main reason people have opted to overlook Baten Kaitos, because of it's involvement with cards. Battles are first activated by touching an enemy in the game. What this means is that the battles do not occur in the all too common random encounter fashion. This method gives you the option of avoiding conflict, which is always nice given the fact that no RPG is without repetition. The basics of combat are based around each character having a deck of cards, and you get the time consuming task of composing each of them. These cards are what you must use in order to do anything in battle. Some cards unleash attacks, some make your character defend, while others provide aid to your teammates. The cards each invoke different powers, and thus you can unleash heavy combos on enemies if you know what you are doing.

There are two phases to every complete turn; the offensive and the defensive. As you can probably guess, the offensive phase is where you get your attacks in, and the defensive is where you take hits from enemies, while trying to reduce damage. Defensive cards may be used much like attack cards, only these work to reduce the amount of damage your character takes from enemy attacks. Defensive and Offensive cards in your deck can at times, come at the wrong times. It's not too uncommon of an occurrance to have a ton of one type of card, and not nearly enough for the other. This can lead to some idle time inside of battles, which can be a bit tedious.

Baten Kaitos features an elemental system that is slightly similar to that found in Crono Cross, except this one is much more in depth. There are seven elements in Baten Kaitos; Neutral, Fire, Water, Wind, Chronos, Dark, and Light. Basically your attacks have neutral and elemental damage that they perform on an enemy, but each has their strong point and their weakness. If you mix elementals in your series of attacks in a turn, than you run the risk of the different elements cancelling out the elemental damage from the cards. This means that a lot of the time you'll want to stick with the same element in a series of attacks, but enemies also have their own elements so you'll have to keep that in mind. Some areas in the game that you travel to will have enemies of certain elements, and so it is wise to adjust your deck to accommodate their weakness.

Baten Kaitos has also made a system adding rewards to certain card combinations. The attack and defense bonuses you reap are known as 'prize', and are completely determined by the spirit numbers that you associate with each card. By stringing together spirit numbers poker style (for example, you can get pairs or straights) you can gain bonuses in your attack or defense, depending on which phase the battle is in. This is a rather cool feature, and added a bit more strategy into play. It's original ideas like this that add a lot of character to Baten Kaitos.

The method for earning money is very unorthodox, as you make money through selling photos of monsters you have destroyed. This is a far cry for RPG veterans, as monsters have always simply just dropped gold, no questions asked. Levelling up is also a bit different. Characters still gain experience points, but you cannot level up through gaining it alone. You must travel through specific save points to a church, and from there your character must pray. It is a tad bit inconvenient, but this does give you quite a bit of control over just how difficult Baten Kaitos will be in the end. Even more odd, is the thought of classing up your characters with items. As you class up, you can use more cards in the various character decks. Be aware, once you reach class three you will only have a specific amount of time to select your cards in battle, and the time only decreases from there once you reach new class levels.

One cool, yet small element worth mentioning is the aging system. If you keep your items for long enough, they will age, and what they do will evolve into something new. For example, milk will curdle into yogurt, and then cheese. Some food will rot, and become damaging when used against enemies. These changes can be both good, and bad, depending on the item and how long it ages. This system requires a fair amount of experimenting with in order to learn how to properly manipulate it in a manner that will help your party, but the effort is well worth it in the end.

Graphics, Sound, Controls, and Replay Value
In one word Baten Kaitos is... beautiful. Everything from the pre-rendered backgrounds, to the character and enemy models, to the art style just screams of awesomeness. I particularly dig the art, and it's colorization. Though the game may not equal up to FFX on a technical level, I would go so far as to say that Baten Kaitos is the most visually appealing RPG of this generation. The pre-rendered backdrops don't stand out as being annoying or fixed, which is quite nice. The attention to detail is quite great, with a lot of subtleties in the characters, and even in the backgrounds; you'll see wildlife move about, lighting effects, and just generally beautiful scenery. Baten Kaitos is truly a feast for the eyes.

The soundtrack is also quite fantastic, with full blown orchestrations, and epic medleys found in every nook of the game. The voice overs however, are not so great. I'm not sure if this was an intentional effect or not, but all the voices sound a little distorted. Also the voice actors do a good job of blatantly overacting, and this can be a bit trivial at times, even distracting from the overall mood of the adventure. Thankfully the option to turn off voice overs was included in the game, and so you won't have to put up with it for very long. Sound effects are decent enough, with various slashes and whatnot filling the void. Effects are never spotlighted, so it's not worth it to go much into detail here.

Control really isn't much of a problem here. Outside of battle things are quite simple, as you'll find yourself mainly just running about and interacting with NPC characters. Deck customization takes a little getting used to, but all you really need is experience with the system to master it. Inside of battle things get slightly cluttered and may seem confusing at first, with selecting cards and the like. Really though, once you get used to it it's like second nature.

Though Baten Kaitos doesn't offer much in the form of open incentive to play through more than once, I certainly plan on doing so. The game is quite a long one, as I clocked in at about 70 hours in the game, and didn't even do much for side quests. The world just seems to draw you in, with it's fantastic visuals, exciting story (when it takes off, anyway), it's likeable characters, and it's combat system.

Final Recommendation
If you love RPGs and own a Gamecube, then chances are the only reason you haven't picked up this one yet is because you fear the card system. You're making a big mistake, and judging a book by it's cover. Baten Kaitos is easily one of the greatest RPGs from this generation, and comes highly recommended by yours truly.

Overall Rating: 9.4