I started Baten Kaitos over the holiday break, and while I'm not done yet, I'm really into it. I was a little hesitant to start, as some friends of mine had warned me that they absolutely hated it. While I kind of get it, I'm getting a lot out of the game thus far. A lot of the game reminds me of Chrono Cross. It's not just the art direction and pre-rendered backgrounds, but also how it re-invents the JRPG wheel in similar ways for better or worse.
Let's just start with the mechanics first. Baten Kaitos' most prominent feature is its card-based battle system. At first it seemed like it was simplistic, slow, and overly random. Stuff that might not be able to engage me for a full game. Luckily enough they were smart about this. The game's got a bunch of timers, buffs and debuffs, elemental weaknesses and strengths, different types of combos, and contrasting elements that cancel each other out. All of this works for both attacking and defending phases, which basically keeps you involved throughout every single battle. None of that button mashing your way through combat here. You frequently find new cards too, and it's worth changing up your deck.
Something I'm less sold on, is the way it handles levelling. While you accumulate EXP normally like in other games, you can basically only cash in on that EXP at special save points. These save points warp you to an ethereal church dimension, where you can talk to someone, who'll let you choose how many levels you can "buy". The idea is cute, but after 10 hours, you'll start noticing that it's kind of slow, and cumbersome. At this point, I wish there was more to do in that church to justify itself as a physical location you can walk in, or just turn it into a simpler menu. Speaking of menus, I don't know who designed these menus, but 30+ hours in, and they still trip me up regularly. In spite of many sorting options for my cards, can never seem to find a sorting method I like, and the one I start with always seems to be the least useful one. The main menu itself is a bizarre tree-menu, where turning options on and off have their own section in the tree.
Then on to the big one… the voice acting. Aside from the card battles, this was the one other thing I knew about the game. People didn't exaggerate how bad it was. Almost all of the characters in this game are phoning it in and the audio quality even sounds like it could have been recorded over the phone. Most characters sound like they're doing a primary school play, and others sound so utterly disingenuous that they come off as complete assholes.
In spite of that though, the characters seem decent enough. A couple were ripped straight out of Final Fantasy X, like Gibari. They work well enough within the story the game is telling. At one point I thought I had the game figured out, when a character got introduced whose voice acting I recognised from previous, villain-foreshadowing scenes. While I ended up being right about that, the game went the extra mile by layering another twist on top of that, making it feel more satisfying.
Some assorted thoughts:
- Its aesthetic of clouds and stars gives the whole thing a dream-like aesthetic. It's very pleasant. I'm also noticing middle eastern influences in the game's design and naming, which is also pretty unique for video games.
- Savyna straight up Falcon Punched a toddler, what the hell.
- Mira was some trippy stuff. Every time I thought I got a handle on its graphical gimmicks, it pulled out a new one. Going full Tower of Druaga wasn't even the strangest thing somehow.
- "Gram and Leon". Maybe it's because the game put Chrono games on the brain, it made me think of Gran and Leon, the Japanese names of Masa and Mune.
- Monolith's fascination with relationship charts is also present here. Is the family tree sidequest worth doing? I don't think I even have a quarter filled in, and I talk to NPCs pretty diligently.
- What's the deal with the Great Mizuki? They seem like a Xelha-clone mechanically, so I'm not sure what they add to the roster other than splitting up Xelha's valuable magic cards.
- If you're going to play this game yourself, this is one of those games where you'll want to stagger your saves! Keep a separate save for blue save points and red save points, because I can easily see this being a game where you can trap yourself in unwinnable situations if you only use one save slot.
For those wondering how deep I am, I'm currently in the Imperial Fortress on disc 2, collecting water. I don't really hear a lot of chatter about this game, so any tips or discussion is welcome. Just try to be mindful with spoilers.
