What Is Baten Kaitos - And Why Is It So Great?! (NO SPOILERS) 

I really hope we get skies of Arcadia and FE ported/remastered on switch some day. Lost kingdoms would be cool too

It’s been sad how little coverage there has been on this game. I’ve been playing it here and there. I love the way you, the player, are involved in the narrative. “You’re in for a wild ride” - to be honest, knowing what I know (and love) from Xeno-series (Gears, Saga, and Blade), I’m pretty sure there’s going to be some insanely interesting twists and turns.

I thought the english voices from the GameCube version had a certain charm to it.

I would give anything for Skies of Arcadia to get a port like this. Baten Kaitos and Skies Arcadia have such a special place in my heart.

My mom took me to WalMart one Saturday after my peewee football game. She was feeling generous and let me pick out a game for our gamecube and I chose Baten Kaitos not knowing much about it. But when I saw the cover it was like it was calling out to me! I am so glad I got it then and remember playing it every day after school for like a month until I beat it. Still have that copy! and happy to see it back :)

I would give anything for Sega to bring Skies of Arcadia to modern consoles. Hopefully they have an announcement at TGS.

I bought a digital copy day 1 & am loving it so far. I was so excited about this remaster when it was 1st announced. Hopefully if this collection sells well enough, we might get other forgotten Monolithsoft games & series, like the Xenosaga trilogy.

So glad they brought these games back! Stunning visual style and the combat system is pretty fun. Don't sleep on them! Love to see Monolith make another game in the series.

I remember playing this on GameCube back in the day i never liked card battlers, but this is so well done and cannot say i ever played anything like it since. Story is so good and battle system is amazing.

I lost my mind when this remester was announced. I also followed every news update and was totally unphased by the lack of an english dub over. This game is so great, a total gem, and i can care less about the dub. The gameplay is unique and the story gripping! Im definitely picking it up and playing it!

This is the RPG I hold closest to my heart because it's the one that introduced me to the genre back in 2003 when I was 15 yo. Still can't believe I'm playing this on the Switch 20 years later. I will never forget how I literally jumped off my couch the day they announced it on that Nintendo Direct.

I'm 4 hours in and it's so fun. The visual also amazing, it's like walking in a painting.

I'm glad you are covering this game. A true gem. The OST is an absolute masterpiece. A classic!

I’ve been playing the first one on the switch the past couple days. They really are such great games. The battle system is so fun, especially when you get further in and make long straights and combos to increase damage. I’m so glad they added the speed up option too!

I was daydreaming of an rpg that had slay the spire mechanics.... and then these got announced. Glad to see niche games come back for us

I remember playing this & loving it so much back on the Gamecube. my favorite was Lyude & all his trumpet/musical themed attacks :)

I grew up playing video games with my big brother - mostly LoZ but this is one of the games I remember well too :) . I'm so happy to have the opportunity to play these games now that I'm old enough to know what's actually going on. Especially because I don't own a GameCube!

THese are wonderful games and Iam happy that a new generation of gamers can enjoy it AND also that they got rereleased. I bought my physical version on release date and it's working pretty well.

I downloaded it yesterday, loving it so far!!

Saw a video where you talk about sharing best practices. You are exactly what youtube and the world needs bro. Keep up the good work, you will grow considerably in a short period of time!

I'm so glad these games are getting another chance, they're so one-of-a-kind and cool! Definitely gonna be grabbing my copy off Play-Asia soon >:3

Thanks for covering these games. I love them. :)

Glad you have a vid about this, David! I immediately clicked on this video over the other ones when I saw it 🤗

I've been very excited about this one, just picked it up the other day! 🙏

Well David. Here I am 2 months late. One of my most anticipated releases of the year and I completely missed the drop due to other games I had my eye on (this year was jrpg overkill!) anyway, found out today that it’s been out since September and want to kick myself in the face. Had to come here while it’s downloading as I didn’t really get to play them much back in the day. You are my go to man for everything jrpg and retro rpg style. Appreciate you!

I'm happy you're talking about it. These games are pieces of art that should be cherished

Got my switch copy last wednesday. I sold my game cube versions for 190€ and paid 39,- for the Switch Collection. Because Origins was never released in germany it´s a rare gamecube title. Keep up the great work David. Greetz from Rhön, Germany.

Found you through @backlog battle Love the content 💪

I'll get it eventually (got quite a few games now fighting for my attention). Love these games to death and one thing you didn't mention is the soundtrack, which is one of the best that Motoi Sakuraba has ever output. I listen to them pretty regularly ngl.

Majority of my time on GameCube was split between a few games: Sonic Adventure DX/Battle Lost Kingdoms 1&2 Resident Evil ( All ) Baiten Kaitos Glad I am not alone in my love for the Kaitos

This was probably one of the first card based rpgs I had ever heard of, and I was really fascinated by the concept, so I'm excited to finally check it out.

David100K! Yeah English voice acting in gaming can certainly elevate the immersion. Pay the voice actors and reap the sales benefits, people |-)

Picked this out of curiosity to see what Monolith Soft was up to outside Xeno. My god is this such a polished game especially the gameplay. The first time I noticed the items changed over time was crazy. Throw green banana (small damage), yellow banana (heals) then brown banana (larger damage). 10hrs in and completely hooked.

Sticks and swords can make you hurt, but words will always kill you. I’d laugh so hard as kid as Kalas unleashes a 7-hit combo dealing massive amounts of damage and watching the enemy not die until I finish out with a voice magnus when the turn resolves. My head-cannon was that it was Kalas saying “*yawn* I wanna take a nap” was the final straw that breaks a foe’s spirit and wins the battle.😂😂😂

Baten Kaitos Orgins was a great swansong for the GameCube. Pre renendered backgrounds went out with a bang.

I skipped these back in the days because I was too busy with Xenosaga and Tales of Symphonia and probably didn't have much money either, but so far I'm loving it. I'm glad to play these now, because the 300% speed and auto-battle are helping save a lot of time. I'm also very happy with the graphical updates, as I've seen on a comparison video on youtube. The shaders are nice, some textures have been upscaled and the wings on Kalas are now glowy. 🙂

my physical copy just came in yesterday and I'm so excited to play. I owned the first one on the GameCube but only got 20 hours in because I found bosses to be too hard when I kept getting dealt crappy cards. but really want to see both games through to the end this time around.

So glad u recommended this. When I bought my GameCube the card system kinda turned me off. I bought it for switch and I am loving it.

The Baten Kaitos games were two of my favorite GameCube original games. They did fly under the radar of a lot of gamers at the time so I'm happy the HD Remaster will let those who missed them enjoy these games. I downloaded the game day one and yes I miss the English voice work and have a few other complaints. Those are all minor things as the games look amazing and play great. I do hope that they release the English voice work as DLC especially for Baten Kaitos Origins which had great voice acting.

I only had a GC for about eighteen months and never got these at the time. My Switch copy just arrived and after the intro film I was hooked! What a beautiful art style. To me I get vibes like from Tales of Phantasia. But the story is gripping already and it was the cards that put me off 20 years ago but I am loving Gloomhaven despite the cards and so I went for it and these *could* be on my GOTY shortlist.

This review was super helpful. I got the game from play Asia and wasn’t sure if it was for me tho. From your thoughts I am excited for the story. Looking forward to next video

Just bought the remaster and can't wait to get into it.

This is one that has been on my backlog for 20 years, but knowing it had a card battle system, it has never floated to the top. You are the first I've heard endorse it, so maybe I'll give it a shot finally.

The make or break for most will be the battle system. With it being card-based people will either love or hate it. Everything else about the games is great though; story, graphics, music, etc…

Ok i'm convinced to try it

I think I originally played about half of the first game when I rented it. But was never able to buy it until 6 years later. I was going to play on my odin pro but then they announced the game for the switch. I had to wait until friday to buy it. Having lots of fun playing.

Bought it digitally and also have a physical copy coming from playasia 😁 Edit: I hated when they put everyone together deck.

Can’t wait to get my physical copy. Wish it had shipped a little earlier than the actual release date but hopefully it gets here soon. Definitely won’t be doing economy shipping next time 😂

What an amazing game. I love the story, the characters (Xelha is my favorite), and Eternal Wings has one of the best soundtracks of any video game I've ever played. I'm super bummed that they didn't keep the English voice dub. the script was a bit wonky, but the performances were all unique and all the characters sounded great and distinct. Anyone who hasn't played this should give these games a shot, you won't be disappointed.

I've been playing the first game for a couple days and I vaguely remember playing it on my Gamecube. I don't think I ever finished it back then. But I'm enjoying my time with it now. If I had to complain about anything, it's a bit choppy at times. It stutters when fading in and out of scenes and fights. And with no markers for the prerendered backgrounds, sometimes I find myself bumping along the edges of everything looking for openings, or trying to enter every dark spot I see just in case. More so in handheld mode. I know markers make it less immersive (like used in the PS version of FF7) but they are nice to be able to toggle on and off. I have the Asia physical version and it's hard crashed on me once so far, and I had to take out the card and put it back in, but it autosaves so frequently I only lost a couple minutes of progress.

I've never played Baten Kaitos before. I can't wait to get the physical! Thanks for the review, I'm not much for deck building either but I really want to play it. Too bad I won't experience the dub. But, well what can one do?

I’m Buzzing mine came yesterday when I put it in it updated then the start movie was in English I thought omg the update must of been a English update haha but no! still loving every minute tho takes me back to being a kid so epic 😊

Hi David yeah, I am loving it so much .

Thanks for the recap

I have my copy coming from play Asia and I got the digital day one I'm 20 hours in I love these games so much and I still have my GameCube versions also

Already bought my physical copy, was at the store 10 minutes after opening.

Thanks for this. You are the best

love both of them. but ill stick to my Gamecube versions... the "modern changes" can go F right off. yes that includes one shotting things at no expense of the player.

I'm eagerly awaiting my copy to arrive from playasia

The Baten Kaitos games have to be my favorite JRPGs of all time. When I heard they were getting remastered I was ecstatic! Now that they’re out I’m having a ton of fun reliving them again despite the fact there aren’t English dubs, which despite not being very good, I enjoyed them as they gave a level of charm to the game. The Japanese dubs however are still really good. Now for Skies of Arcadia! 😁

How the hell did I miss these back in the day?? I was begging for turn based rpgs on consoles back then! ... Ah well, gonna get it now

I ordered physical from playasia and I am sadly still waiting for it but i think itll be worth it.

I am most excited for unicorn overlord. I don’t know why I love games with stupid names but I do.

Thumbs up for Lost Kingdoms! LOVED that series!

I think I only ever saw the first game in Nintendo Power. The only thing I know about the first game is how the 100% speedrun for it takes over 300 hours.

Just ordered my physical copy 🤓.

They look great! Does anyone know if the games are dpad friendly?

At first I thought about skipping it because I don’t like Card based combat ( Thanks to Kingdom Hearts CoM ) but a friend convinced me and now I’m waiting for my physical copy of Baten Kaitos

Skies of Arcadia is one of my fav games. However, nothing beats FE for me. Baten Kaitos was okay back when it first came out but right now I can't bring myself to play combat with cards. I recall it drove me mad even when I was much younger. It makes me sad because the story was actually awesome.

Appreciate the lowdown as someone that knew basically nothing about it!

Thank you play asia!

I just recently tried the first game on the switch and I dont remember the framerates being bad at all on gamecube. I remember a very smooth experience. Only the voice acting sounded off. This remaster doesnt even look smooth out. I'm sure if I hooked up my GCN, it would look the same on a hdmi. I didnt even try origins but if it's anything like the first game on switch, it's a choppy mess. Is it just me that felt the game doesnt run as well as the GCN version or even look any better?

Haven't played a lot of card based rpgs, but I really enjoyed Grandia: Parallel Trippers

Lost Kingdoms. Good man.

both 2 baten kaitos games are great

Im on vacation in the Philippines and got the physical for this for only P1700 or $30.

I'm sorry I quite didn't get it are you saying no English voice acting at all in the game even though there was in the GameCube ?

I enjoyed the deck building aspect of the first game more than the second, though I can see why they'd get rid of it. I like both deck building card games and rpgs. That probably doesn't hold true for a lot of people.

Yes

I'd love to pick them up, but considering both games seem to take 50+ hours to beat, and I already have a mountain of RPGs to climb...

I hope to come to pc

Did you check out the SO2R demo?

Shame on everyone for ragging on the voice acting when the original came out. Most of the actors did a great job and gave life to the characters. I couldn’t imagine Kalas, Ghibari, Savyna or Mizuti without their original voices.

Is it true that these games were made by the same people who made Chrono Cross? Also let me know if you think Playasia is the way to go if you want a physical version.

is it exclusive for switch?

I feel like playing the prequel before the first one.

I'll get it but not out of the gate. I got too much to play at the moment.

Does the switch version run okay?

only the opening movies are in english. then when i got into the game it translated to japanese audio 😢

Sup david!

I'm enjoying the remaster but i do wish they kept the English voices

It's a shame that this game is exclusive to the Switch... I played the original versions when they came out, loved every one of the 500 hours I poured into them... then I thought how many people passed on them because the Game Cube wasn't "popular nor powerful enough"... and this time, the story is repeating again... :(

is baten kaitos in the legend of legaia tier of jrpg?

Is it me or is the remaster easier? I'm not using cheats. Either way, I love it.

I wish we'd finally get an end to the Golden Sun series.

❤

It’s strange.. I’ve played every Xeno game and love all of them . I didn’t own a GameCube so I missed these games. The combat has always pushed me back from playing this. Maybe I’ll give it a try now.

Arrived for me yesterday but it's gone straight on the backlog. Working my way through one piece odyssey first. It's a biiiiiiigggg game

as a kid, when I realized that everyone in Origins shared a deck, I quit in a rage 😂

Its pretty weird with the voice acting, because the intro sequence of part 1 is in english but the rest is japanese then.