Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean

"A good hand"

It's difficult playing Baten Kaitos with any foreknowledge of Chrono Cross. The two games share many similarities, so much so that you could call this "Chrono Cross for Gamecube" and probably get away with it. But don't think this is a cheap knock-off designed to keep Gamecube owners from whining about a lack of RPGs. This one's good.

Baten Kaitos won't win you over with a compelling story, though. What you see here, you've likely been through many times before. It's the classic story of an unlikely hero and an evil god awakening for the first time in 1,000 years. There are some plot twists and amusing lead characters, but it isn't until you get into the second disc that it starts to be even remotely interesting. So if you play 40-hour RPGs for story alone, Baten Kaitos may not be for you. The reason why this game is fun is because of its Magnus card system.

Whoa, wait a minute. Cards?! I know, I know. It sounds ridiculous, and it's really something you just have to do to fully appreciate it. Magnus cards are basically what make the "world go 'round." Cards can be anything from a fire spell to a bag of rice to a shield. In battle, you are randomly dealt a hand of cards (based on what you put in a character's deck), then choose which ones to play on offense and defense. An important thing to note is that all cards come in types. Neutral cards do exist, but most cards are paired up in light/dark, fire/water, and wind/time classes. Some enemies are weaker against certain elements, but playing opposites in the same hand will cancel each other out. Each card also has 1-4 numbers on it. This allows you to play cards in either straights or pairs for added bonuses. Attacking with a 3, 4, 5, and 6 may increase the damage by 40% over what you would have originally gotten. Bonuses are very useful but require a bit of strategy; sometimes you'll need to throw in a worthless card or hold off on a final attack to get that extra boost. There are also secret combinations of cards that create temporary bonus cards as well as cards that can only be played after certain card types. Needless to say, there's a lot of experimentation that goes on.

Another interesting aspect of cards is that they change over time. A "green banana" is essentially worthless, but it will eventually ripen and turn into a yellow banana. At this point, the banana can be used to heal 90 HP. But even this changes, and you will eventually end up with a blackened banana that deals quite a bit of damage (before becoming rotten and useless hours later). Because of this, you will always want to periodically check your cards and make necessary changes. It sounds like it would be a hassle, but managing cards is actually kind of fun. New cards are easy to find, and you can hold over 1,000 in your inventory. Give and take is still involved, though, in deciding which cards to assign to a character and if they should have more offense or defense cards and what element should be their focus.

Then there's the bad that comes with playing with cards. The deck isn't always shuffled in your favor, and sometimes you'll be put at a huge disadvantage. It's common to be stuck with all defense cards when it's your turn to attack. Enemies can sense when you're stuck, too, because they tend to attack the character with no defense cards or refuse to attack the character with all defense cards. Battles can't be fled so easily, either. There is no absolute "flee" command. You have to draw the escape card, and that sometimes doesn't pop up until late in the battle. By then, you've invested too much time into fighting to just run away. It's an annoying feature, to be sure.

Outside of battle, the game is still very non-traditional. It's not always about crawling through dungeons and fighting bosses. There are puzzles, fetch quests, and a great space-shooter sequence. As well, there are no random battles and no inns with hefty rates (instead, you sleep in the store). You don't even level up immediately. You have to take your experience points to a church and pray before the altar. Don't worry; it's not as bad as it sounds. Nor are you required to spend hours leveling up your team. If you fight at least half of the monsters on your way to every new place, you should be okay. And although only three of your six party members can be in battle at a time, experience points are still passed down the line. So those characters who you hardly use get something just for being there.

Baten Kaitos is very linear, though. It isn't until halfway through the game that you have the option to backtrack and visit any of the places you've been to previously. There aren't any major alternative paths. There are, however, some elaborate side quests, including hunting down a dying man's family members and collecting animals for someone else. They're nice additions that extend an already long game, but Baten Kaitos does go overboard a bit. At the halfway point, you end up spending several hours running around the world map and redoing old dungeons, having to fight monsters that aren't worth even 20 experience points anymore. It just seems like a pointless section of the adventure.

Baten Kaitos is full of beautifully-painted, pre-rendered backgrounds similar to those in Chrono Cross (though a big step above PS1 graphics). The battle animations are great without becoming long-winded and boring. Baten Kaitos also features one of the best RPG soundtracks since... well... Chrono Cross. There isn't a lot of variety in the score, but it feels well-crafted and epic. A lot of voice acting is prevalent, too, but there's little good to say about this. It's worse than Star Fox Assault, worse than Elebits, worse than Bomberman Generation! Not only do the actors sound like office workers reading the script for the first time, the quality of the recording itself is quite poor. They must have been recording in an empty fallout bunker, because all the voices are hollow and echoey. Trust me when I say it's bad.

Final Comments:
Nintendo fans may be pleased to know that Baten Kaitos is better than Final Fantasy. You heard it right. The story isn't as interesting, and the production value isn't as high, but its card system is incredibly fun and addictive. It makes battles more interactive and makes exploring the overworld more rewarding. Baten Kaitos does a lot of things outside of the usual RPG convention, however, and that may turn some hardcore players away. I won't lie to you when I say this game has a fair share of frustrating and tedious moments. But when you score a 110% bonus for a three-pair card combo, you'll be hooked. And you'll be glad you played it.

Points:
+ Lengthy and amusing adventure
+ Non-traditional elements work
+ Cards make battles more interesting
+ And are surprisingly fun to collect
-- Deck shuffling can be extremely unfair
-- Mid-game tediousness
-- Terrible, terrible voice acting

Score: 8.5

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/05/07