radicaldreamer's Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean review

I wouldn't say Baten Kaitos's story is necessarily bad, but the problem is that it's hopelessly generic and at the same time takes itself very seriously, as if the writers really thought they had something sensational on their hands. I wouldn't have been nearly as bothered by the plot if the game didn't consistently waste so much time on it.

I honestly love Baten Kaitos, and in fact I found the combat so phenomenal that I was able to pretty much ignore the game's shortcomings, which also includes the voiceovers (which you could turn off, except in battle -- RRRGH). I can sympathize with anyone in your position, though. It's not an easy game to enjoy, and it really takes a commitment to get into the battle system... and even then you've got to contend with the plot.

Anyway, good review.

Thanks. I don't want to say too much about how I think I could have done better here since the judges still have to read, but I just wish I had started a little earlier so I could have figured out how I want to say things better. Your point that it takes itself seriously and that they thought they had something really sensational is actually right on the money. I think the other important thing that I kind of express in my review is that they go to the lengths to create an original world, but then everything else is so typical of the genre. And I still really dislike the characters. Kalas is one of the biggest douches in a JRPG, but I don't like using that type of language in a review.

I haven't played the game in like three or four years. In general, when I look back at it, I mainly tend to remember how nice the environments and artworks were, the excellent music composed by Motoi Sakuraba, and the combat system which I was able to get into and genuinely enjoy. For the most part I just forget the story.

Oh, except for that ONE plot twist. Like, holy fuck. Baten Kaitos was nowhere near FF7 big (and I played it like a couple of months after its release) so I didn't get it spoiled for me, so when I came to the scene, that was pretty much what I was doing the whole time; going 'holy fuck, holy fuck, holy fuck'

I agree, actually. That I did not see coming.

This reminds me I want to play this again - I borrowed it some time ago, got maybe 5 hours in or so and just couldn't get into it. I'd turned off the atrocious voice acting some time before that. But I want to give it another go - if only to see the famous plot twist which, indeed, has not been spoiled for me yet (a rarity!) - so I'd better get to it.

It's not worth playing Baten Kaitos just for the twist, especially since it takes at least 30 hours to get there. I would encourage you to give the game a chance, though, if only for how the combat evolves the more you progress into the game. Once it "clicks," it's a thing of beauty.

I haven't played the second Baten Kaitos yet, but originally I was expecting the combat to be the same as the first, just because it looked like they reused a lot of the same graphics. I watched a few videos and it looks totally different.

Yeah, the combat in Origins was far more immediately accessible and moved at a zippier pace, but at the expense of depth, since all three of your characters shared from the same deck, and most of the time you were just sequencing universal "attack" cards. They did some cool stuff with it, like two-person simultaneous combos and character-specific equipment cards and stuff, but it didn't have nearly the same staying power.

On the other hand, the plot and voice acting were marginally better. Not that you'll actually give a shit but it's at least tolerable.

Sounds like everyone had the exact same experience with this game. I played until the plot twist, got momentarily interested and then quickly stopped playing. Like you said, Rad, the characters are just not maintainable. There's nothing interesting or likeable about them. I never beat the game, though I hear there's ANOTHER great plot twist at the end.

It also has a city made of candy. That's win.