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[Enduin]

Really really love this series. Would kill any number of you for a sequel, even if it was only on the 3DS. But yeah definitely go play BKO now.

Also I had the sole privilege of being surprised as hell when we learned of Fee because I had named my guardian spirit Fee as it is my nickname so that made things all the more profound.

 

[Ultratech]

I tried to play through this game like 6 months ago.

Not sure what happened, but I just kinda stopped playing.

I might pick it back up though soon.

 

[Byronic Hero]

Lol @ the random difficulty spike. Giacomo and his henchmen beat me twice. The first time I had died in 20 hrs.

I'm hoping the quality of the voice acting doesn't take away from the surprise of some of the twists......

 

[Soriku]

I prefer Eternal Wings than Origins. A lot of people enjoy the faster and revamped card battle system... I did not. It was supposed to be easier but not for me. Also the endgame if Origins was just so... Meh. Didn't feel epic. Also couldn't understand why they changed up elementals.

Eternal Wings and BKO spoilers

Spoiler

Meh I thought the endgame in BKO was way better. Especially after the big plot twist, Sagi got so angry and the party starting wrecking fools. You even had the option to make Sagi stab everyone after you beat them, lol. In Eternal Wings the end was just typical JRPG, you go through the last dungeon to beat the evil god. OK. BKO was pretty different in that regard, and better.

Lol @ the random difficulty spike. Giacomo and his henchmen beat me twice. The first time I had died in 20 hrs.

I'm hoping the quality of the voice acting doesn't take away from the surprise of some of the twists......

BKO has something similar. All I will say is, make an extra save before switching to disc 2 in BKO.

 

[yami4ct]

This thread reminded me I've owned this game since it came out, but only got like 1/2 way through. Maybe I should pull out the discs and try getting them working in Dolphin.

 

[ohlawd]

BKO has something similar. All I will say is, make an extra save before switching to disc 2 in BKO.

I will definitely remember this for my future run of BKO :3

 

[Lumpy Onion]

Lol @ the random difficulty spike. Giacomo and his henchmen beat me twice. The first time I had died in 20 hrs.

I'm hoping the quality of the voice acting doesn't take away from the surprise of some of the twists......

One of the most stressful battles I've ever faced in a JRPG. Especially because of that song.

Nah, I am sure you will be shocked the twists regardless of the quality of the VA. I am actually considering a replay because my first playthru was fragmented across two years. Some of the pre-rendered backgrounds make me want to revisit it so bad.

 

[Byronic Hero]

I....uh...I think I just got to the supposed "twist".

Is....is that it? Cause if so, that's a huge disappointment. I mean, I expected as much from the box art. Please tell me that that was just the set up for things to come.

 

[Byronic Hero]

Come on, somebody tell me. Coupled with the bad voice acting and the looming reality that the battles are getting mundane, I am seriously finding it hard to want to continue.

That couldn't have been it......It just couldn't be...

 

[Bladenic]

Come on, somebody tell me. Coupled with the bad voice acting and the looming reality that the battles are getting mundane, I am seriously finding it hard to want to continue.

That couldn't have been it......It just couldn't be...

Why don't you state what "it" is?

Anyway, never played Origins and never beat 1 either. Fought the final boss but he killed me so I didn't feel like trying again. Oh well. Twist was cool though.

 

[SiDCrAzY]

One my favorite games on the Gamecube, of that entire gen really.

 

[Byronic Hero]

Why don't you state what "it" is?

Anyway, never played Origins and never beat 1 either. Fought the final boss but he killed me so I didn't feel like trying again. Oh well. Twist was cool though.

Spoiler

Kalas betrays everybody and was working for the bad guys the whole time.

I ended up going, "Yeah, I figured as much, what else ya got?"

 

[Bladenic]

Spoiler

Kalas betrays everybody and was working for the bad guys the whole time.

I ended up going, "Yeah, I figured as much, what else ya got?"

Oh then yes. Sorry it disappointed you. I didn't see it coming at all, there were very few hints to it (unless I remember wrong).

 

[Soriku]

Spoiler

Kalas betrays everybody and was working for the bad guys the whole time.

I ended up going, "Yeah, I figured as much, what else ya got?"

I actually wasn't too impressed by it either, I liked the one in Origins much better. Still though the story for both games as a whole is good rather than pinpointing everything at the twists.

 

[Byronic Hero]

I actually wasn't too impressed by it either, I liked the one in Origins much better. Still though the story for both games as a whole is good rather than pinpointing everything at the twists.

Alright, I guess I'll keep going. Since Origin's voice acting is better (hopefully) along with the fact that the battles being faster, maybe I'll enjoy it a bit more.

But just as I figured, the expectation of a twist will ruin it every time.

 

[SnakeswithLasers]

BK:O is god tier for me. Never played the original. Is there anything like this out or in the pipes?

 

[Mumei]

I played this for the first time this year. I think it's a really hit-and-miss game overall (Miss: voice acting that was done inside a tin can!) but I still recommend you play Baten Kaitos Origins no matter how you end up feeling about this. Everything is improved - a more cohesive cast of playable characters, a much more fun battle system (especially as you get further), a better story, better pacing, better voice acting, better movement (you don't feel like your character is running through molasses), more likable characters, better music... I think just about everything is better except for maybe the fact that BK's battle system does have more depth if you're one of those nutty people who wring everything they can out of it.

 

[faridmon]

I love this thread. One of my favourite memories of playing game. PLaying this game everyday when I got back from school was just amazing. Fantastic game with a bloody good twist.

Loved it.

 

[daemonic]

I played Eternal Wings to the end and thought it was fantastic.. until Origins came out which was infinitely better. I did prefer the characters in EW though.

After Origins I attempted to replay EW but I just couldn't do it. Everything seemed so unintuitive all of a sudden. I do love the CG opening though.. shame Origins was absolutely terrible.

 

[Soriku]

Alright, I guess I'll keep going. Since Origin's voice acting is better (hopefully) along with the fact that the battles being faster, maybe I'll enjoy it a bit more.

But just as I figured, the expectation of a twist will ruin it every time.

Well, usually every JRPG has some big twist(s) right?

I played Eternal Wings to the end and thought it was fantastic.. until Origins came out which was infinitely better. I did prefer the characters in EW though.

After Origins I attempted to replay EW but I just couldn't do it. Everything seemed so unintuitive all of a sudden. I do love the CG opening though.. shame Origins was absolutely terrible.

Umm...what lol? Are you just talking about the opening scene? I like the one in Origins a lot better.

 

[Videoneon]

Can someone explain to me the battle system please? It would seem to me to be one of this series' most prominent selling points. It's clearly not a traditional RPG turn-based type thing. Does it have random influences/are the card draws random? Are there timing or execution factors?

The game's battle system has always sounded intriguing, I do hope that the teased Monolith Soft project for 3DS from a long time ago turns out to be Baten Kaitos 3DS.

 

[Byronic Hero]

Can someone explain to me the battle system please? It would seem to me to be one of this series' most prominent selling points. It's clearly not a traditional RPG turn-based type thing. Does it have random influences/are the card draws random? Are there timing or execution factors?

The game's battle system has always sounded intriguing, I do hope that the teased Monolith Soft project for 3DS from a long time ago turns out to be Baten Kaitos 3DS.

If you've played Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, it's a bit like that except for the fact that it is turn-based. You set up your deck with attack cards, magic cards, healing cards, ect. and over the course of the battle, they are given to you in a random manner. Similar to drawing cards from a shuffled deck.

You can just use them to attack, but you can line up the numbers on the cards to do extra damage. (1,2,3,4 or 1,1,1,1 or Elemental, elemental, elemental, elemental with them all being the same.)

You only have a few seconds to pick the cards you want to use on an y given turn so trying to set up a "combo" can be kind of hard if you don't specifically set up your deck to do so. The same goes for defending. Similar to KH: CoM, you can defend enemy cards with attack or defense cards of your own to lessen the damage done to your character.

 

[dacuk]

An up-rezzed compilation of 1+2 would make me buy the console it would be released for.

 

[Videoneon]

If you've played Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, it's a bit like that except for the fact that it is turn-based. You set up your deck with attack cards, magic cards, healing cards, ect. and over the course of the battle, they are given to you in a random manner. Similar to drawing cards from a shuffled deck.

You can just use them to attack, but you can line up the numbers on the cards to do extra damage. (1,2,3,4 or 1,1,1,1 or Elemental, elemental, elemental, elemental with them all being the same.)

You only have a few seconds to pick the cards you want to use on an y given turn so trying to set up a "combo" can be kind of hard if you don't specifically set up your deck to do so. The same goes for defending. Similar to KH: CoM, you can defend enemy cards with attack or defense cards of your own to lessen the damage done to your character.

Thanks for the crash course. If you don't mind me asking, how do you like the battle system? Do you enjoy it?

 

[Byronic Hero]

Thanks for the crash course. If you don't mind me asking, how do you like the battle system? Do you enjoy it?

Yes, it's one of the things I instantly liked about the game. Although the battles can drag on a bit, especially if you are fighting 3 monsters at once when you are trying to get somewhere in a hurry.

If I were to rate the game based on its gameplay alone, and ignore everything else, it'd easily be a 8.

 

[kubus]

Aqua Burst!
Wind Blow!
Is that all you got?!
Is that all you got?!


Only stuff I remember from this game.

 

[wrowa]

In a strange twist of things Origins' somehow is one of the best voice acted JRPGs period.

I've never been a huge fan of Baten Kaitos' gameplay, but it's art is just so damn beautiful, it's a real pleasure to look at. It also has a nice variety of different looking and different feeling locations. Ah, how much I wish for a sequel, even if just in spiritual nature. Origins is easily one of my favorite RPGs ever, I really loved that one. I hope Honne's team is working on something like it...

 

[Majukun]

never finished the game..it bored me after a while...there were good ideas but not perfectly executed.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

Alright, I guess I'll keep going. Since Origin's voice acting is better (hopefully) along with the fact that the battles being faster, maybe I'll enjoy it a bit more.

But just as I figured, the expectation of a twist will ruin it every time.

I think the twist was effective for a lot of people because it was the first time

Spoiler

the player character intentionally became/was a villain, and not only from a story perspective but a gameplay one as well.

It's not really that effective when you go in expecting a crazy twist. Pretty much all JRPGs have twists of some sort, but they rarely let the gameplay in on the action as well.

 

[Byronic Hero]

I think the twist was effective for a lot of people because it was the first time

Spoiler

the player character intentionally became/was a villain, and not only from a story perspective but a gameplay one as well.

It's not really that effective when you go in expecting a crazy twist. Pretty much all JRPGs have twists of some sort, but they rarely let the gameplay in on the action as well.

I just realized that I made

Spoiler

Kalas

much stronger than everyone else in my party. I really hope that doesn't come back to bite me.

 

[djtiesto]

I played this for the first time this year. I think it's a really hit-and-miss game overall (Miss: voice acting that was done inside a tin can!) but I still recommend you play Baten Kaitos Origins no matter how you end up feeling about this. Everything is improved - a more cohesive cast of playable characters, a much more fun battle system (especially as you get further), a better story, better pacing, better voice acting, better movement (you don't feel like your character is running through molasses), more likable characters, better music... I think just about everything is better except for maybe the fact that BK's battle system does have more depth if you're one of those nutty people who wring everything they can out of it.

Yeah, when I played BK there was a lot I disliked but I saw tons of promise - hidden behind the sluggishness, slow-moving story, and bad voice acting... - Origins was the fulfillment of that promise and made me finally pay attention to Monolith as an RPG developer (didn't particularly care for Xenosaga)... they even managed to succeed Origins with Xenoblade, hence why X is my most hyped game right now.

 

[Chake]

I'm 2 hours in the first one. Seems alright, though the character art seems iffy. Also, I figured out a way to get around that bad VAs

Spoiler

Mute

.

Could someone clarify if the story is ruined for me

Spoiler

Kalas betrays you, or something like that. Am not sure how or why

.

And which game has a better twist, the first or the second?

 

[Soriku]

I'm 2 hours in the first one. Seems alright, though the character art seems iffy. Also, I figured out a way to get around that bad VAs

Spoiler

Mute

.

Could someone clarify if the story is ruined for me

Spoiler

Kalas betrays you, or something like that. Am not sure how or why

.

And which game has a better twist, the first or the second?

There's more to the story than the twist but sucks that you know about it.

I like BKO's twist better, others like Eternal Wing's. Depends. BKO has a stronger story with more impact than Eternal Wings though.

 

[Unlucky]

Ah, I've been playing this on and off for a while and really enjoy it, especially the card-based battle system. I also like how the Magnus change/age over time, and how you can create new ones. The voice acting bothered me at first but now it's just another quirk of the game to me. Lyude's VA is worse than Xelha's or Mizuti's, imo. I'm almost finished with the game.

I do this thing sometimes with RPGs where I get to right before the final boss battle, and then I put it off and find a million other things to do first because I don't want the game to end. I go re-exploring old places to see if there's anything I missed, talk to all NPC's again to see if they say anything different, (sometimes) level up to max, etc. So right now I'm trying to create all the leveled-up Yells because I never bothered with them and they're one of the few things I need to complete my Gathering to 99%. Unfortunately, I will not be able to get 100% on this playthrough because I picked up and discarded the Thunderfish Bone early on, and you need that to finish the Museum sidequest late in the game.

 

[jwj442]

I'm a fan of the first Baten Kaitos, but it does have a lot of problems. For some (including me), the quirky and unique gameplay mechanics, great soundtrack, and beautiful environments are enough to win them over. For others, the bad voice acting (switching to surround fixes the tin-can quality, but not the actual acting), sluggish and mostly mediocre story, and other issues ruin the experience. Which is understandable. The story does have a pretty good ending that ties things together well though - well, besides one strange bit.

Origins is a big improvement in almost every way. I slightly prefer the first game's music but that's about it, really. Battle system is debatable because they're really completely different, but Origins' is so fast and fluid and fun that having maybe slightly less depth hardly matters. And even the depth part is debatable - deckbuilding is simpler and it's unfortunate that defense cards are mostly useless, but Origins requires a lot of quick thinking and planning. The battle animations are excellent too.

Lots of gameplay improvements outside the battles too - you can use your wings to move faster, upgrade magnus, carry a whole lot more quest magnus at once and do more things with them, and more.

The story, while still a little slow at times on the first disc, is a lot more interesting from the start and not so reliant on a single twist - though it does have some good twists, especially if you've played the first game. In fact, it makes the first game's story a little more interesting in retrospect. And the characters, both playable and NPCs, are much better. Unlike most JRPGs, you only have three playable characters and will have a full party within two hours, which works really well because they're all likable and important and developed. The voice acting and dialogue not only improves on the first game, but is actually one of the best JRPG localizations out there!

Unfortunately it came out a couple of months before the Wii and it both bombed saleswise and got mediocre or worse reviews (and the first game reviewed pretty well) - I think a lot of them never bothered to give it much of a chance in the midst of all the next-gen hype. I know there's not much competition here, but it's the best Gamecube RPG except maybe Paper Mario.

 

[clay_ghost]

Nintendo really should have a HD remake of these two games for the wiiu. They should also recast the voices of every one in bk1.

More people should experience the series.

 

[Byronic Hero]

Okay, I started playing this again after the disappointing "twist" and I am not pleased. I just got done with another random difficulty spike

Spoiler

the one right before you fight Kalas

and I'm honestly getting sick of it. The boss powered himself up to OP status. He had triple attack power and got to attack twice in one turn. Was that even remotely necessary?

I had to rely on pure luck to beat him. Because thankfully, he didn't power himself up until about 60% through the fight and thankfully he was already staggered and about to die.

Another thing

Spoiler

Kalas is back. Just like that? That's boring, I thought he was gone for good. At this point, that "twist" can't even be considered as such.

Bioshock 1 spoilers

Spoiler

That's like having Atlus from Bioshock betray you only to reconcile with you a couple of hours later.

It completely ruined any lasting impact his actions could have had.

I think I'm about 65% done with the story and I am not even going to spend any time doing any of the quests, because at this point, I've completely stopped caring. I even went through with turning the voices off. I really have no expectations for Origins (even though I'm still going to play it eventually) but it better not be any worse than this.

 

[Byronic Hero]

Yeah, I officially hate this game now. If I hadn't spent 30+ hours on it already, I would quit this very moment.

The story is terrible, the battles are repetitive, too long and downright boring. The bosses are either a pushover or overpowered, there is no middle ground. The leveling system is broken because no matter if you just spent hours grinding in one dungeon, you essentially have to leave and go to the nearest town to level up.

Usually I don't curse when talking about video games because they normally don't piss me off as much as other things can, but seriously, fuck this game.

 

[FateBreaker]

Baten Kaitos and Baten Kaitos Origins are Motoi Sakuraba's supreme masterpieces. The music is stunning.

I couldn't get into the first one that much, but I loved Origins' robust battle system.

 

[Byronic Hero]

Baten Kaitos and Baten Kaitos Origins are Motoi Sakuraba's supreme masterpieces. The music is stunning.

I couldn't get into the first one that much, but I loved Origins' robust battle system.

The music is this game's one redeeming quality.