28th December 2004, 8:51 PM
Baten Kaitos is fun game. The battle system that Monolithsoft came up with is quite a bit different than any I've seen before. Basically, you use cards to perform various tasks. It sounds like Yu-Gi-Oh all over again BUT it isn't. Depending on your class level you can use a certain amount of cards to use during on turn. You're given 3 random cards from your deck and when you select one from the 3 another is added. You can string together combos for greater damage. Also, you can use defense cards during the enemy's turn to reduce damage.
Another high point of Baten Kaitos is the graphics. It uses water-color style, 2D backgrounds and 3D characters, somewhat reminiscent of Chrono Cross. The backgrounds are highly detailed and are mostly of high resolution. Basically, it looks really good. The music is decent as well, nothing out-standing like Grandia of Final Fantasy, but it's certainly not bad and it isn't annoying.
But, Baten Kaitos is also a flawed game, a fact which is forced into your face during the opening movie and the first 20 minutes. BK has terrible voice acting and there's plenty of it, fortunately you can turn off the voice and doing so instantly makes the game 10X better. It sounds like the actors recorded the lines in a metal box. Seriously. The opening movie has a bunch of unrelated CG clips strung together, which wouldn't be that bad accept the voice acting is terrible and the dialogue greates on the ears. But the dialogue for the rest of the game is at least tolerable. As well, the story isn't exactly new and original, something about an ancient evil or some such and there's tons of bad guys that beat you up and kidnap members of your group. But it's not so cliche that it ruins the game, like Arc the Lad on the PS2. *shudders*
In short, Baten Kaitos is a good RPG that has a few flaws, but at least you can fix the voices. It's definitely worth playing.
Another high point of Baten Kaitos is the graphics. It uses water-color style, 2D backgrounds and 3D characters, somewhat reminiscent of Chrono Cross. The backgrounds are highly detailed and are mostly of high resolution. Basically, it looks really good. The music is decent as well, nothing out-standing like Grandia of Final Fantasy, but it's certainly not bad and it isn't annoying.
But, Baten Kaitos is also a flawed game, a fact which is forced into your face during the opening movie and the first 20 minutes. BK has terrible voice acting and there's plenty of it, fortunately you can turn off the voice and doing so instantly makes the game 10X better. It sounds like the actors recorded the lines in a metal box. Seriously. The opening movie has a bunch of unrelated CG clips strung together, which wouldn't be that bad accept the voice acting is terrible and the dialogue greates on the ears. But the dialogue for the rest of the game is at least tolerable. As well, the story isn't exactly new and original, something about an ancient evil or some such and there's tons of bad guys that beat you up and kidnap members of your group. But it's not so cliche that it ruins the game, like Arc the Lad on the PS2. *shudders*
In short, Baten Kaitos is a good RPG that has a few flaws, but at least you can fix the voices. It's definitely worth playing.
Sometimes you get the scorpion.
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