Outlaw

I haven't seen a thread on this game yet, but this game looks awesome. It's an rpg being developed by Monolith Soft (same team that made Xenogears) along with members of Tri-Ace (Star Ocean 1-3). The in-game visual art style is amazing. The battle system involves a real-time card based system, but don't let that turn you away from the game, I've seen some of the movies and the battles are fast paced. Basically you can choose different moves and techniques in succession and unleash some killer combos (similar to Xenogears multi-hit battle system, which isn't surprising considering its made by the same developers). The game will be fully voiced and from what I have heard in the movies, the music is shaping up to be great as well. Anyone else excited about this title?


edit: err.. seems like no sites these days let you link them freely, lets try that again. pictures here:

http://www.rpgfan.com/pics/batenkaitos/index3.html

Galanthas

It looks cool but the card battle system turns me off big time. I'm looking forward to ToS more than this. It is nice seeing more RPG's in any form on the Gamecube though.

CreatureX

I'm very excited about this game. The screens and movies look amazing.

Outlaw

yeah I was a little skeptical too when I heard about the cards, but after watching this video my worries went away and I'm really looking forward to it now , they actually use them in a pretty cool way, the battles seem to play out like Final Fantasy style but still have a unique battle system. Unlike the upcoming PSO III: Card battle, this game is completely real time and action oriented. This game is going to be fairly large, its going to span across 2 discs.

http://movies.rpgamer.com/other/gamecube/bk/bk001.mpeg

Nice music in this video

Outlaw

Quote:

"January 31, 2004

Baten Kaitos will be coming state-side before year's end.

Though an exact release has yet to be announced, Baten Kaitos has been confirmed to be coming to the U.S. before the end of 2004. "

Sweet! Namco finally confirmed that they will be bringing this game to the U.S. Apparently the game's CG scenes mouth movements were already timed to english voice acting (in the japanese version) so it looks like they had a NA release in mind when they made the game. I've heard nothing but good things about this game from people who own the import version, and has moved up on my most anticipated list .

btw, this game has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard.

PixyJunket

My friend should be getting the import of this soon.

Monolith = Xenocaca = Bad.
Tri-Ace = Star Ocean & Tales of Phantasia = GREATNESS.

I really want the bonus disc they gave away in Japan for this game.

William Wallace

I can't see a card based battle system being anything but frustrating.

Too bad everything else about the game looks great.

Outlaw

Watch the movie I posted up above. This seems to be a misconception a lot of people have about this game. But once you see the game in action it is anything but frusterating. The battle system is one of the most praised aspects of the game, due to the fact that it actually works and more importantly, its actually fun . In other words, this is card battling done right.

darkside

The release date for this game is closing in. While most people will be playing Halo 2 and Metroid Prime 2 in November this is the game I'm looking forward to.

The Cube is having a great little RPG renaissance right now. First Tales of Symponia turns out to be one of the best RPGs I've ever played and now we get Paper Mario 2 in October and this game in November.

The only downside I've heard about Baten Kaitos is you won't be able to marry other men like in Fable. Other than that it looks solid. You will be able to marry Luigi in Paper Mario 2 though so that should be a great RPG.

Outlaw

Your right! I hadn't forgotten about this game but I didn't realize it was coming out so soon. End of this month.

I have the soundtrack for this game, and I think it is one of Sakuraba's best ever. The game is worth it alone for the beautiful score .

thats is an interesting observation darkside, I guess I didn't realize it at first either, but the Gamecube is getting a suprising amount of really good rpgs, I've already got Paper Mario 2 paid off .

edit: oh wait, the game IS coming out in November, not this month.

Gizmo

Oh NO! Why NOT!!!! I am sure parents and children EVERYWHERE will be dissapointed!

Outlaw

Gamespot has there review up for this game as it's coming out next week. The doubters can finally be put to rest.

All in all, the game is a little longer than what is normal for the genre--the two-disc adventure tops out at around 50 hours. Like in many RPGs, there's a wealth of side quests you can choose to engage in that will require some magnus hunting and some leisurely strolling around, among other things. There are far worse things than leisurely strolling around the detailed and mystical lands of Baten Kaitos, and if you're willing to put the time in to wrap your hands and your mind around the card-battle craziness, you'll be rewarded with a unique adventure.

8.5


Looks like its a solid title. I'll be picking it up soon.

Joe Molotov

So did anyone ever get/play/beat this game? I got it for Christmas, played it for about 7.5 hours and then got distracted by other things. My attention span is such that if I ever do that with an RPG, there's a good chance I'll never come back and play it again, but I finally did pick it back up yesterday and I've put another 2.5 hours into it. The graphics and audio in this game are still amazing. I made it to Anuenue, and just the lush background animations and dazzling colors at the village were they're having the flower festival is jawdropping.

The card system worked alot better than I thought it would too. I thought it would be annoying, but it's actually pretty cool. I wasn't sure if I'd remember how it worked, after not playing it for several months, but after a minute or two, I was right back in the thick of it.

You know, the reason I actually started playing this game again after a few months, was seeing it on sale for $33 at Target. It reminded me that I still needed to finish it. I thought I'd bring it up because If you have a GameCube, like RPGs, but haven't played this game yet, you should pick it up while it's on sale. It's worth it.

fujishig

I bought the game on sale at Target... but I'm still only on the first disk of Tales of Phantasia, and I'd like to finish that first... man, I hate being in an RPG backlog.