If you’re a Switch owner with a passion for RPGs, you’re spoilt for choice. A handful release every month, which is a remarkably different situation to the GameCube era. When Nintendo’s purple cube had its plug pulled, it had only a dozen to its name – some of which never made it to Europe, including Baten Kaitos Origins, present here on this two-game collection. The question is, were these RPGs actually good, or did we enjoy them because of the lack of options?
To answer this, let’s take a step back. Baten Kaitos is set in a sky world, comprised of various floating islands called ‘Whales’. We follow Kalas, an adventurer who uses ‘Magnus’ – magic cards that can be used in both battle and the overworld as he attempts to fix a big old mess he creates.
Kalas isn’t a hugely likeable fellow. In one of the first big battles, he helps a young woman fight a monster but shows absolutely no regard for the fact that her friends have just died, only stopping to go through their possessions. Cold. Luckily, you don’t technically play as Kalas, but as a spirit guiding him. I called my spirit ‘Bumface’. I don’t recommend you do this. Being referred to as ‘Bumface’ undercuts some of the pathos that develops later in the story when the narrative gets a little heavier.
Things develop in your usual RPG fashion. You visit towns, complete quests for people, and battle monsters.
Baten Kaitos II (known as Baten Kaitos Origins on GameCube in the US) is a prequel, with a much more likeable set of protagonists trying to uncover a conspiracy, and featuring a lot of recycled scenery. You don’t technically need to play Baten Kaitos to enjoy Baten Kaitos II, but you also kind of do. Both are very similar in structure, so we’ll be mainly talking about the original here, with a few notes about the prequel dotted in.
Let’s talk about the battles first, as it’s where you’ll spend a decent amount of your time. Each is split into rounds with two distinct phases: an attacking phase and a defensive phase. In each phase, you’ll draw cards from your deck and use them to either attack or defend. I love a bit of deck-building and card play. I play a lot of board games with similar mechanics, but I never felt that Baten Kaitos hit the mark with its combat.
Firstly, it’s frustrating to draw a hand with either all defensive or all attacking cards. Sometimes this means you simply have no good cards to play, which never feels satisfying. Secondly, the game works on an active-time system. This means that you only have so long to play your cards before it’s the enemy’s turn, and in the enemy’s turn you have only a few seconds to pick a defensive card to play against their attacks. It all feels rather rushed. Sometimes it feels like the strategy part of the game and the action part of the game are butting heads, rather than complimenting each other.
There are strategies, too. Each card has a number, and you can play cards with the same number, or run of numbers to unleash a combo and dish out a little more damage. The game isn’t always amazing at explaining the effects of these combos, though, and what difference playing straights and doubles has.
The sequel fixes some of this. Defensive cards and actions are simplified massively, which helps the flow of the game a lot, and there are fewer elemental weapons to worry about. In fact, Baten Kaitos II makes a really good case for ‘less is more’. It’s a case where stripping things back helps reveal the fun, and the added systems and actions of Baten Kaitos help obfuscate it.
Luckily, there are some features of the remaster that help the experience. People play RPGs in different ways, and there’s a pause menu that allows you to tailor your adventure. After getting a feel for the battle system for this review, I turned auto-battle on, as I like to play RPGs for the characters and feel of the thing. Just be careful with bosses, as the auto battler isn’t quite Skynet levels of AI. If you enjoy battling but want things to be quicker, you can ramp up the speed (which is a good option, as Kalas walks at the speed of a tortoise). And if you don’t want any encounters at all, feel free. All of these options help things feel more player-friendly. What they can’t account for, however, is the old school design. There’s a lot of backtracking, and whilst modern games can sometimes feel a bit too hand-holdy, there’s a lot of randomly running around towns, talking to every possible NPC, and feeling a little stuck on where to go or who to talk to in order to progress.
It’s a shame really, as Baten Kaitos has lots of things going for it. Whilst sky islands were a bit overdone, even in the GameCube era, the world looks beautiful, and the remastering work has been handled carefully. Baten Kaitos and its sequel use pre-rendered backdrops, and the integration between them and the 3D models has been done in a way that makes everything feel cohesive. The Arabic influences on the art and the world are also something you don’t see in games often enough, which leads to Baten Kaitos carving out a sense of place that feels distinct and unique. I wish there was more of an Arabic influence on the music, though, just to tie everything together.
There’s something else disappointing to address: both Baten Kaitos and its sequel have had their English dubs removed. Presumably, this is a rights issue, and it feels like a missed opportunity to give fans a complete experience.
I never got around to playing Baten Kaitos when I owned a GameCube, so as a fan of RPGs of this era, I was excited when I had the opportunity to review this collection. However, time is a difficult beast. Nearly 20 years on from the original releases, and with a huge number of other experiences to play, Baten Kaitos is stuck in a difficult place. It isn’t fun enough to shake off the feeling that it doesn’t respect your time. But if you love RPGs, and are happy playing with an online guide by your side, there are some classic flavours to sample here.
Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster is out now on Switch. Published by Bandai-Namco.