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Good Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I think this is a very good game it has wonderful graphics and the story line is veary good.What I dont like about this game is the battle system its based on cards, but the game is still good.

The good and the bad- Baten Kaitos

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

There are good things and bad things to Baten Kaitos.

*Type- this game is a battle after battle save the world from darkness game. You level up and gain better moves and skills as the game progressing. Your standard FF game type if you enjoy that.

*Characters- The characters are developed well but the attitude of the main character sometimes gets a bit annoying. He just cares about himself for a long time when you just want him to stop whinning and save the world. The other characters are all tolerable.

*Story- The story was interesting. Some parts were a little far fetched but in the the ends mostly connected. All finally made sense. The story is complex and intriguing and will keep you guessing until the very end.

*YOU- you are a guardian spirit. You can talk to the characters. By the end their trust for you became somewhat sickening. At the end all the characters line up and wave goodbye to you which seems a little stupid.

*Battle- the battle system is definitly original. The battles are based on cards which can be used to attack, defend, and cure. Each card has one or more numbers on it. You string together cards to make a combo for bonus points. I really enjoyed trying to put together combinations to blast the enemy with lots of damage.

*Sound- the music was good. Some music was definitly annoying but mostly it was tolerable. Some music was even good enough that I paused just to hear more. When Xhelda or "The Great" Misuti attack they talk a lot. XHELA'S SPEAKING WHILE SHE ATTACKS IS ABSOLUTLY AGGREVATING to start! but after a half hour or so you can easily block it out so stick with it don't let the sound scare you away.

*Graphics- the graphics are excellent throughout the game with only a few small exceptions. Most of the time the characters are running and interacting with the world, so it is good.

*ULTIMATE LETDOWN- NO MOVIES- there is not one single movie in the entire game, don't let the intro fool you. Even when you think that there HAS to be a movie, there isn't.

*The good- graphics, story, characters, music, and battle.
*The bad- movies, and the constant tendency for your characters to always arrive just a tiny bit late, this causes extreme frustration as the watch the world spiral down to darkness.

Overall I think the game was engaging. It kept my attention and focus for about a school week before I beat it. Make no mistake it is a long story-board but once I get involved I don't stop. Even with all its faults I recomend this game for everyone over 10 because of the need to quickly come up with number combinations.

on of the greatest camecube games to date

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

so far Baten Kaitos is my absoulute favorite game, it has tons of twist in the plot and so many magnus (playing cards used in the game). the game is set in a era were land floats in the sky and the ocean and earth are all but mere legends. we join Kalas, a headstrong kid who joins up with Xhela, a girl out to stop a conspirousy to resurect a evil god. has they battle through, others join them. Gibari, a tough fisherman of Diadem. Lyude, Former Ambasoder of the Alfard Empire. Savyna, a mysterious hunter who lives in Anuanua. then Mizuti, a strange being from another world. the game play is also unique, useing a card based system but not Yu-gi-oh kind and dazzaling special effects. the one thing i didn't like and i bet all of you agree is the voice overs, i mean some sounded absolutly terrible but nontheless i didn' really care so just try to ignore it. i hope they come out with a sequel and if they do i want better voice overs, even more dazzaling sights, and even more Magnus. if all this is checked will be the first to get it. buy this great game

An Engaging Mix

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Baiyen Kaitos is the story of a young man named Kalas with a mysterious past. Waking up in a doctor's home following some strange kind of attack, the game's story begins quickly and stops only occasionally to allow the player to breathe before thrusting them into the fray once more.

Baiten Kaitos is an RPG for RPG'ers. The main play of the game takes place in the 'random' battle. The nice thing about the random battles is that you can choose to avoid them, as monsters appear on the dungeon overworld map. In battle, the game uses a turn based card battle system.

The cards of the game, called Magnus, are the main focus of just about everything. Created by drawing the 'magna essence' of various objects, ideals, and forces of nature, your character wields a deck of powerful cards that you play to creat battle effects. Sword cards attack with your sword, magic cards attack with spells, shields protect you from damage, and items heal you for HP.

Unlike other card-RPG's such as Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, your deck order means nothing. Your hand is randomly determined from your total deck. Thus, balancing out your deck with attack cards, healing items, and defensive items is key to your survival in the game. Even the most balanced deck, however, will sometimes come up with an all defense hand on an attack round, or an all attack hand on a defensive round. Fortunatly, healing items are plentiful and varied.

The other aspect that plays a signigicant role in the game is the passage of time. Just about every card in the game is affected by time passing. Milk will turn into yogurt, yogurt will turn into cheese, cheese will turn into mold. The passage of time happens even during battle, so, unfortunatly, a healing apple may help you one round and then on the next time through your deck will transform into a rotten apple attack card. The player must always be on the lookout for fresh healing items to be used.

Overall, this game can be incredibly challenging. Because different 'poker' hands will create more powerful combinations (pairs, threes of a kind, straights) you need a certain degree of luck to deal serious damage to bosses. Even the minor enemies in this game can be very tought if you aren't updating your offensive and defensive cards.

This game definatly qualifies as a keeper, clocking in at about 50 hours of playtime.

Baton Katios

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Possibly the most beautiful game ever! This could be the best RPG game of all time. Beautiful senes throughout a world were the land is in the clouds and the sky is in the oceon. Such an imaginative and compelling world of fantasy this is at the top of the list of great games! Use magical cards and attacks to fight through the game. This is more traditional RPG than a card game. Excellent roleplay! Catioun!: This is no ordanary RPG game!

What could have been

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Almost every aspect of this game is fantastic! The story is compelling, the battle system is inventive, it is compleatley Goregeous(for gamecube). But there is one bad thing. this may be the worst voice acting i have EVER heard. the actors show no emotion, or the wrong emotion at the wrong time. lucily it is written and you can turn it off. i really wanted this game to be superb. it almost was

the worst part is it ends

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am not an RPG fan, traditionally, but Baten Kaitos won me over. Part of the fun was trying to string together combos in limited time and the element system. Just be sure to turn off the voices.

One of the better GCN RPGs - try it!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'm still playing this game - just picked it up a few days ago.

I really only wanted to comment on a few previous arguments against the game:

1) The Sound: For those of you who think the audio sounds terrible (like it is coming through a tin can) - change the settings to 'Surround' rather than 'Stereo'. Even if your system doesn't support it! The game does some wacky in-engine mixing of the audio to get it down to 2-channels, and in doing so there is a substatial amount of phasing going on. This results in craptastic sound for the voiceover in stereo. This issue is completely resolved by switching to surround mode.

2) The voice acting: Okay, it isn't very good. It isn't awful - certainly not as bad as some make it out to be. I think the biggest problem I have with it is that I'm a fast reader, and there is no way to speed up the dialog boxes. You're forced to read through each one, click the button, read, click. At least in Namco's other offering (Tales of Symphonia) you can control the speed of the dialogs. So - turn off the voices, they aren't very good. And just enjoy reading the dialog - you've got plenty of time.

Overall, I'm finding this more enjoyable than Tales of Symphonia. The storyline (thus far) doesn't seem as convoluted, and the characters aren't all children. The graphics and effects are exceptional, and the music is FAR better than in Tales.

This game is going cheap now, and with the second installment coming soon, I wanted to see what it was all about. So far, I'm really enjoying it and would recommend it to any RPG fan. The card-based system is well implemented, a nice change from either semi-real-time or typical turn-based RPG's (though not without its shortcomings as mentioned in other reviews).

not a bad rpg........

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

baten kaitos is a great game put down by voice acting ok it is terrible {especialy xelha} but the game i think is good enough to the point you just ignore it it plays well looks great whats not to like except the voice acting.player embark on an adventure with six heroes to stop an evil god being resurected ok the story sounds cliched {a flaw far more commen in rpg's even among the more uniqueones} but suprisingly its not at all the characters are much more complex than you think at the beginning. baten kaitos is a great game and if you have a game cube buy it its very enjoyable but if you have ps2 as well buy final fantasyx thats still the king of all rpg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Baten Kaitos...is a great new addition to...quality RPGs

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Baten Kaitos for the Nintendo Gamecube is a great new addition to Namco's list of quality RPGs. With a compelling storyline, in depth character development, and a story line that will leave you satisfied, Baten Kaitos is perfect for any RPG fan looking for that certain satisfaction.

Baten Kaitos follows Kalas, a young mysterious character who is apparently out for revenge. At the start of the game you take the role of Kalas' Guardian Spirit and throughout the game Kalas and his friends speak directly to you. They refer to you by your name and asking you where you want to go and what you want to do next. This element adds a new twist on a familiar genre that is already intended to immerse you in a new world.

Not long after you and Kalas unite, the two of you are out on your own battling the forces of nature. While the two of you investigate a nearby forest rumored to be dangerous you run into a girl under attack by a strange creature. You quickly find that she isn't as innocent as first she appears. After you, Kalas and the girl defeat the creatures threatening your life the girl introduces herself as Xelha. She then proceeds to tell you that she is looking for something in the forest. Her goal seems to overlap with that of Kalas' for revenge so he decides to go along with Xelha. What appears to be a simple storyline quickly becomes complex, involving lots of different characters, all searching for themselves on the same path.

The world of Baten Kaitos is one of sheer wonderment. There are several different continents that all float in the sky and below them are clouds that are said to be extremely poisonous. The history behind the world this game takes place in has been thought out a great deal. Each continent is unique in its own way; so much so that you may feel that you are switching planets each time you and Kalas travel from one place to another. Each of the characters that join your cause through out the game comes from different continents and they bring their own unique touch to your team.

While the characters may be unique, their spirit and storylines have little effect on the battle system of Baten Kaitos. Battles are based around card called Magnus. Each Magnus is the essence of a real object trapped in a card for easy transportation. What makes this battle system so unique is that it that not only requires strategy but also a great deal of skill, timing and quick reflexes. Each game you are dealt a hand of Magnus cards. Each card has numbers located on the corner. The objective in battle is to create pairs of like numbers or straights. This is no easy task however, because as you are carefully studying your cards there is a timer counter down till the end of your turn. Luckily the game starts you off easy by giving you few cards with few numbers and plenty of time to figure out what the best course of action to take. Towards the end the game your time is cut down to just seconds to keep you on your toes.

This battle system of Baten Kaitos may frustrate some traditional RPG fans that are used to the slow turn-based system of many games in the genre. Another element that might be frustrating is learning how to play your cards correctly. Most of the tutorials in the game are from NPC characters through out the world and while it is impossible to miss them, it's not impossible to just not talk to them.

On the topic of talking, the voice acting in Baten Kaitos, as with any translated game, is under par. Luckily if the voices bother you there is an option to turn them off. The voices in battle can not be turned off, but they actually don't sound half bad, even for a translated game.

When it comes to graphics in this next generation era, Baten Kaitos is nothing special. For a Gamecube game released in 2004 however, it's what is expected and then some. The game is extremely colorful and uses pre-rendered backdrops, coated with animations to take away from the static feel that plagues pre-rendered backdrops. In-game, in-battle, and the game's cut scenes are all done with in-game graphics. This may be a turn off for some gamers who like pre-rendered CG cut scenes, but keeping everything true to the game graphics makes the world feel more immersive.

Baten Kaitos does have its share of hiccups along the way, like a 2D inspired puzzle that kills the classic fantasy feel, but it has so much to offer that its slight problems can be overlooked. The story line is crisp and obviously well thought out, making a full circle in the end which brings everything to a close. The battle system stays fresh and fast paced throughout. If you are an RPG fan, own a Gamecube, and want to be part of an interesting and face paced game, you need to check out Baten Kaitos.

My game time - 45 hours

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