How do you pun 'Baten Kaitos'?
| Platform | Presentation |
Controls |
Variety |
Audio |
Depth |
Value & Fun | OVERALL |
| GameCube | 9.80 |
8.00 |
8.50 |
7.50 |
6.00 |
8.50 | 8.14 |
| Presentation |
9.80 |
|
Outstanding graphics and a frame rate that's always high. The hand drawn backgrounds with subtle animated effects are my absolute favourite graphical look I have ever seen. The only slight drawback is that it can be a little hard to see where to go exactly, and that the character models aren't as awe-inspiring as the worlds.
|
| Controls |
8.00 |
|
It's hard to say how good the controls are, because there isn't a whole lot of controlling. In battle, you use the C-stick to choose which number on the card you want to play in order to play it. You use the numbers that are on the corners of the cards to set up combos such as repeated numbers or numbers in order. Status effects can cause the numbers to move around or switch positions, and this is where there is a problem. With the status effect Confusion, the numbers move around the card, but you can only select a number when it's in a corner or in the middle of a flat side. This leads to some time where you can't select a card, and you only have so much time each turn. Another problem with controls is that you build up so many cards, and the sorting features don't seem adaquate. Keep in mind these complaints are minor and controls are still solid.
|
| Variety |
8.50 |
|
It's difficult to point out the variety because of how the game plays. There are plenty of cards, and using certain combos create new cards, and there are plenty of places to visit. But the many cards are just normal weapons most of the time, and there aren't a whole lot of special combinations. Time changing the cards is more annoying than anything special because that pretty much removes any point of using any fruit because it rots. The many worlds and areas are unique and memorable, though, and there are a lot of characters to work with as well.
|
| Audio |
7.50 |
|
The sound is a tough one to peg. The music is outstanding, some of the best I've heard this generation, yet the voice-acting is extremely spotty and includes the absolute worst piece of voice-acting I've ever heard (it's from an old woman in the fishing village). I didn't find the voice acting as bad as some seem to, though, and there are spots where it actually begins to get stronger, if only for a little while. I settled for 7.5 from the 5 in voice acting and the 10 in music.
|
| Depth |
6.00 |
|
There isn't a lot of depth to the battling, which appears to have been the goal to avoid in the game by using the card system. It isn't to say you aren't always in the action or that it's not fun, but the cards seem to tell you how to build your deck. You have your strongest cards, and they go in your deck. It's not that tricky. I had one healer on my team, so that was a customization, but it still didn't feel that deep. There's also an annoying function of the game, which is the Camera Card. You use the Camera to take pictures of your enemies to sell to merchants. The problem is that this takes up a spot in your deck and a turn in battle, and boss battles are the battles that get you worthwhile money. That and you can only take one item away from battle, and there's often something better than the camera anyway. The game also got easier as it went on and seemed to peak in difficulty in the middle of the adventure.
|
| Value & Fun |
8.50 |
|
I was somewhat hung up on the replay value. I went with a fairly high score because not only is it a lengthy game (46 hours for me), but it felt like it'd be even better playing it a second time. Many times that isn't the case with a game, so I'm putting that to Baten Kaitos' credit. What detracts from the game is the depth in battle, and I'll explain that in the Depth section.
|
| Overall |
8.14 |
|
Baten Kaitos can only be described as beautiful. The story is in-depth and heart-felt, and the worlds breathtaking. It's only a shame that the battle system wasn't better flushed out. I enjoyed the game, and am certainly on board for a sequal.
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Posted by Ellyoda Thu, 25 Aug 2005 00:00:00
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