Baten Kaitos
Game Info:
| Platform: | Gamecube |
| Developer: | Monolith Soft |
| Publisher: | Namco |
| Players: | 1 |
| Format: | 2 DVDs |
| Gallery: |
Editor review
Card games aren't only for Yugi-Oh fans
|
Gamecube-owners can rejoice, for another RPG has come to the Gamecube, and to make things even better Baten Kaitos is an original RPG, only for the Gamecube. So no port, like the first RPG's for the Gamecube, for example Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II, or Skies of Arcadia Legends. This game has taken its rightful place in the list of better RPG's at the moment. The story of Baten Kaitos, meaning 'belly of the whale', takes place in a time where people have built homes on floating islands in the sky. A legend goes that once the world had been taken over by a foul being called Malpercio, who dried up the oceans and made the people flee to the floating islands in the sky. He was eventually sealed away by heroes, using special cards, so-called 'Magnus cards', and peace returned. But like every RPG, a slumbering evil waits to get its revenge on humankind and shows up to destroy the world; is stopped by heroes who don't really want to have the fate of the world resting on their shoulders; while plot twists and turns show up during the progress of the story. And guess what- this game has all of these elements packed in one. Fortunately, the lack of originality is made up by the development of the characters' personalities and individuality. The game's visuals are great to look at. The characters' models don't look too bad, thanks to 3D models. Though most buildings and bushes look pretty static, the world's animations look fluid, with much eye for detail and originality. One time, you'll be walking through grassy environment with butterflies flying around and clouds moving slowly at the background, and another time you'll be fighting an enormous plant-like beast in a dark forest, while a dangerously looking sky floats above your head and a light breeze makes the grass stir. The environments really look dreamy, giving you the feeling of walking through a fantasy land, where almost anything is possible. The sounds are really great in this game. I didn't expect it to have such an incredible soundtrack, since this game isn't what you could call-popular. There are many different battle- and townthemes, making walking through towns and dungeons, or fighting never get boring. The only, huge, flaw this game has is its voice acting. It's, simply said, horrible. Many of the voices don't really fit the characters and, on top of it all, they aren't done well. The only voices that are nice to listen to are the ones of the main character and, sadly, only one of his companions. An RPG using card based battles? Well, not for me! This is how most gamers react when they hear about these kind of RPG's. And I can't blame them, really. Games like Pokemon TCG or the Yugi-oh! games mainly spoiled it for most gamers. But Baten Kaitos is nothing like other games if it comes to the battles. In battles you make use of Magnus cards: items, armor, weapons or other edible things that are stored into cards and can be kept for some time. One of the somewhat more peculiar aspects of the game, is that most of these items change over a period of time. Say, you're holding on to a Magnus card with a fish stored in it, it will eventually become rotten. It is as if you're holding a miniature sized refrigerator. Other Magnus cards can only be used in battle, functioning as an attack. These can be either magic spells, traps or physical attacks, using a variety of weapons. You could use a physical attack during your offense phase (makes sense, right?) attacking with a fire based sword and in the same turn also with a fire based lance, the attacks power each other up, inflicting some serious damage. This all works well enough, except for the fact that sometimes the battles can get rather awkward. At the beginning of a battle, you are handed a set amount of cards, which are randomly picked. So you could begin a battle with only items or armor in your hand, giving you next to no opportunity to help other characters that are in trouble. Beside that, there also isn't a good way to see your stats, especially regarding your HP during battles. You get to see meter, at the start of your attack phase, in which you also have to pay attention to what cards you are going to attack with. Time is involved here, so after a few seconds you are unable to choose any more cards to use during that turn. So in short, you'll have to choose the cards you are going to attack with, look at all your characters health meters, choose the items you want to use for needed healing and do all this within the set time limit. This can get really irritating, especially later on in the game, as the time to choose your cards decreases as you progress through the game. | |||||||||
Reviewed by Toma-kunJanuary 03, 2009 #1 Reviewer View all my reviews Report this review |
User reviews
|
There are no user reviews for this listing. To write a review please register or login. |
Comments (6)
Subscribe to this comment's feedWrite comment
Show/Hide comment form
