Ramblings of a Crowe

September 25th

Baten Kaitos: Origins will be released at the end of September. For fans of the series, this is the end of a long, painful wait.

Origins is a prequel to the first game, Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean. It takes place 20 years before the story of Kalas and Xelha. The main character is an Empire goon named Sagi, who is asked to investigate some mysterious happenings. Later, he and his group are hired to kill the Emperor, but before they can carry out their job, the Emperor is killed by someone else.

Familiar faces will pop up in this game, though they will be 20 years younger (Kalas has not yet been born). Unlike the first game, you will only have three playable characters instead of six (bummer). Also, the battle system is a bit different. It still uses that oh so frustratingly fun card system, except that this time around all three characters use the same deck. I'm not sure how I feel about this...On one hand, it's a relief not to have to manage six decks, but on the other, it seems like it might be an even bigger pain in the ass to have three characters tied to one deck. I don't know, but I guess I'll find out.

The game setting appears to be a colorful and rich as the first--one of the biggest charms of Baten Kaitos. Beautiful backgrounds, beautiful character designs, the first game was breathtakingly imaginative and creative. And from what I understand, those of us who love side-quests won't be disappointed with this installment. Dozens of side quests are available to play--no doubt many of them sending you roaming all across the various settings searching for things to capture in those rare blank Magnus cards.

I'm really looking forward to this game. I made the mistake of owning the first one for almost a year before I sat down and played it. I thought a card based battled system would be kind of pokemonish and stupid--but I was very, very wrong. When I sat down to play it, I quickly realized that the game was more like poker than pokemon. Be quick, but be smart, and learn to work with the hand your dealt made for fun, but often times eye gouging game play. "What! No healing items? WTF is this?" was a common shout of anguish from my cave as I played. Cards are shuffled randomly. As you play cards, new cards appear until the deck is empty and the system reshuffles. It sucks when your facing a huge ass boss and no armor cards show up in your hand to block attacks. Of course, you can use weapon cards to take out the sting, but then when it comes your turn to attack...well, you get the picture.

Also, many cards change over time. Yes, they change. Healing items like milk eventually become cheese, which becomes yogurt, and so on until it rots. Rotting healing items are bad for you, but you can use them to maybe poison an enemy. Putting cards such as ice (which will melt quickly) next to perishable cards helps them stay fresh longer (no, I'm not kidding). Other cards might become minor weapons. Bamboo shoots eventually become primitive spears, which then become--fishing poles. I never figured out what the fishing poles were used for, except to throw at enemies. Moral of the story, manage your deck.

Anyway, Baten Kaitos was a brilliant game--a nice break from the standard RPGs out there. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a solid game play, amazing story, and beautiful graphics. Very solid RPG, IMO.

Here's to hoping that number 2 will be the same!

Posted by Zoso at August 27, 2006 09:14 AM