Baten Kaitos Origins [GC]

In fact, nearly every element of Baten Kaitos Origins needs to be handled on a player-to-player basis, as the game is so incredibly niche. You'll either love it or hate it, and the game won't make apologies for what it is. Battles can be amazingly simplistic or entirely ruthless depending on what cards come up, and a good player could take as much time customizing his deck as he does actually exploring the overworld to gain experience. One factor that has definitely helped the formula, however, is the sheer amount of side quests available in the game. We can count over a dozen instances where mini quests were offered in just the opening hours of the game. Some of them we took, and others we didn't. The game is extremely open-ended in comparison to the original, as players can use an air ship to move from world to world, take on fetch quests or "beat the boss" missions to gain new magnus and experience, or simply force their way though the game as fast as possible. Be warned, however, as the game will expect you to do at least a fair amount of nonlinear exploration in order to beef up for fights, and there are a few areas where we regretted skipping over "boring" fetch quests, taking dozens of attempts to beat bosses that, quite frankly, were out of our league. Baten Kaitos is a game that demands coherent players, and has no problem kicking ass when it wants to.

When stacking up to other RPG's on both the visual and audio scale, Origins is again somewhat of a mixed bag, offering some beautiful visuals with some outstanding effects, coupled with a strong musical line-up and boarder-line painful voice acting. On the graphical front, Origins trumps its original inspiration, presenting a beautiful world both in battle and out. It's still far from perfect, as characters still work around scripted movement that looks more robotic than we'd like (walk, pause, turn, walk, stop), but the good far outweighs the bad, as Origins is still visually stunning overall. On the audio front, Origins offers some beautiful symphonic tunes, coupled with the occasional electric guitar riff for boss battles. The mix of classical/modern music could stand to be as hit and miss as the card element itself, but we found ourselves enjoying it on the whole.

The voice acting, however, isn't anything to brag about, and much like the original Baten Kaitos we can see players turning off the speech altogether after a few hours. It has a few great moments, and many of the voice actors deliver solid contributions to the experience at one point or another, but a few of the key players such as Sagi and Milly are a bit too immature in their presentation, making the protagonist players feel more like bickering kids than unlikely heroes. In addition, a two-layered recording is used for Guillo (a humanoid robo-buddy of Sagi), having both a male and female voice talking simultaneously. While some of the lines work well, giving Guillo a haunting sound, the dialogue phases at times, making the character irritating to listen to when the two voices don't quite line up.

Closing Comments
So as with every game we cover, it comes down to the bottom line. Is Baten Kaitos Origins worth the cash you’d be shelling out? Well, we’re leaving that decision to you. The game is visually stunning and holds true to the original, though you’ll either love it or hate it based on the battle mechanic. Origins, like its predecessor, is a card battle game, and it comes with all the ups and downs of mechanic. Fights will feel a bit detached and random at times, while the collection and customization aspects are heightened greatly because of it. This is a game that doesn’t come down to a simple “buy it/don’t buy it” conclusion, as it is entirely dependant on what type of player you are. Traditional RPG fans may not get as much out of this one as they would if it was more conventional, while veterans to the series (or newcomers that love the battle mechanic) will defend it to the bitter end. When comparing it to its predecessor, Origins does the series justice. The adventure is just as difficult, has a better overall story, and delivers more gameplay than the original with 60+ hours of play (factoring in every sub-mission). Battles require serious strategy with a hint of luck, and the deck customization – while cut back a bit from the original game – is deep and involving. A rental may be in order for newcomers that aren’t sure if it’s their cup-o-tea. As for Baten Kaitos veterans; jump on in.

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