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Developer: Monolith Soft
Publisher: Namco
Genre: RPG
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 16 Nov 04
User Rating
9.7 (58 votes) -
- With RPGs a rarity on the Cube, Namco helps fill the void with a solid offering that relies more on luck than your strategy.
Overview
Before this year the Gamecube was a console that had little to no RPG action to speak of. You see this console seemed to be more into all other genres, except the role-playing game genre, until this year where we have seen some very good games make it to the Cube. Now Namco is back on the Cube teamed up with Monolith Software to bring us their very own RPG Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wing and the Lost Ocean for the Nintendo Gamecube. Is this another good RPG for the Cube or one RPG that the Cube didn't need? Read our extensive review to find out.
Gameplay
The other two consoles (PS2 and Xbox) have all had more than their fair share of great exclusive console RPG's that each have been able to brag about. Whether it was the PS2's Final Fantasy franchise or the Xbox's Morrowind and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, they have all had their own great RPG's. The Cube's best in my eyes was Tales of Symphonia, and even that wasn't perfect. So is Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wing and the Lost Ocean the Cube's RPG to brag about?
In Baten Kaitos you play as Kalas, a character who is seeking the revenge of his grandfather (like we haven't heard that before). During the young man's quest to put those men to justice, be bumps into a young lady, Xelha, who was also after the same bad guys. What separates this game from the rest is that you actually don't play as Kalas himself, but rather as his guardian spirit, which kind of twists things up in the game. You end up wanting to get you the player and Kalas on the same page, which will have a pretty large impact when you get to the heat of battles.
The story of most RPG's can really be the hit or miss for any RPG as they usually help progress their games, more so then any other genre. With that being said Baten Kaitos isn't lacking in the story department, although the story may be a bit similar to ones' done before, but the game does a good job of presenting us with a very enjoyable story.
One of the key idea behind Baten Kaitos are the magna cards or "magna essence", which are basically a cool little storage device for items. For example, you could store you weapons and armor on these magna cards, which is basically a fancy word for a memory stick that hold real physical items. What's also neat about these cards is that after time, your items can lose their usability, so you have a certain time limit for certain items. As well as some items can only be used in battle and other items can only be used outside of battle.
You see with these cards you are placed in a turn-based battle system, where you are dealt cards and then most use your brain (yes that's right the thing that's inside your skull) to decide what cards to use and when to use them. When a battle starts you are dealt a few cards from your own deck, and then choose what to do from this point. This points us to some very good upsides and some rather disturbing downsides as well. You see the bad thing about randomly being dealt cards is you really begin to play a game of luck instead of strategy. Not only does it do that but it also proves to be quite a challenge when you are dealt all the same types of cards and have to wait a few turns in order to make a specific type of move.
On the positive side though this at times can also bring a lot more strategy into the game and does start to make things a lot more interesting, because you never really know what to expect. It ends up being similar to a game of poker, you are dealt a hand and you decide what you want to do from there, and you get a whole lot of different outcomes.
And of course what RPG would be without leveling, which is definitely found in Baten Kaitos, and it works very similar to most games. You see after every battle, you are given a certain amount of experience points, and from there you can level up and advance your stats in the manner you choose.
Overall this is a solid RPG, but not a perfect one, because the battle system is more of a game of luck then skill. There is a lot of strategy still involved but it just isn't as deep or complex as we have seen in some of the better RPG's to date.
Graphics
The one thing almost all great RPG's have in common are great visuals which really make for a very unique experience, since most RPG's have their own unique looks. So does Baten Kaitos manage to bring out the best in the Cube?
By far the best parts of Baten Kaitos are the beautiful environments, which are rich with color and detail. You see the game pre-renders everything, which allows the game to really shine with all its glory. What I like most about the environments is how unique they are, in that they really don't look like any other environments I have seen before. The characters in the game sort of pales in comparison, but that's mostly because the game does so well in creating the environments that made it tough for the characters to really compare.
With all of that being said, the graphics behind Baten Kaitos won't jump out and grab you at first, but when you sit back and take them in you will see the true glory of the game, which is the great graphics.
Fun Factor
Baten Kaitos is a game that stays at a pretty consistent fun factor level from start to finish, giving you a pretty fun game. What I like about the game is that it's simple but it's not overly simple, in that the game has a lot of different things going on in the background that you may not even notice. With the combat system being the way it is, the game does suffer a bit because of the unpredictability of how being dealt your cards at random can be, but that also makes the battles a little more interesting.
Overall
Baten Kaitos is a great looking game and a pretty solid playing game as well. The game does suffer at times from being a little too random but with that comes some more variety in the battles. Overall this is not the best RPG the Cube has to offer but it is still a very good one. For those of you Cube fans who are in dire need of an RPG, this game is one that can help to fill your void.
- Gameplay
8.0 - Graphics
9.0 - Fun Factor
8.0 - Overall
8.0
