Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean Review

There is no doubt in the mind of any Nintendo fan that there has been a solid lack of RPGs for the GameCube. The PS2 has been the absolute dominant platform for the genre this generation. But even so, that doesn’t mean the GameCube hasn’t had its share of quality. Whether it be Fire Emblem: PoR, Paper Mario: TTYD, the X-Men Legends games, Tales of Symphonia and a good number of others, the GameCube has quality RPG titles. Final Fantasy is without a doubt one of the most if not the most well-known RPG franchise in existence. It started off with Nintendo and jumped ship to Sony, but is slowly returning to us again. However, Crystal Chronicles hardly did well in sales, which begs some of us to believe that Nintendo is searching for something else to call their own ‘Final Fantasy’. With the makers of the Xenosaga franchise behind Nintendo, did we get something that truly rivals other big RPG franchises?

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean is a RPG filled with truly bizarre characters and atmosphere along with a rather cheap plot. The bad part about the plot is it can take up to 20 hours just for it to finally become interesting. It is so slow at the beginning you may find yourself falling asleep at times. Nevertheless, the game as a whole is actually great, and something Nintendo RPG fanatics have to delve themselves into. One unique thing Baten Kaitos does is not actually have you take on the role of a particular character. The main character happens to be a young 19 year old man named Kalas. But instead of actually ‘being him’, you guide him as a Guardian Spirit. You do actually control Kalas yourself in the game, but when it comes to making decisions and doing battle, you are simply there to ‘guide’ him. It might seem cheesy, but it adds some nice depth to the plot.

The main story seems to surround Kalas and a girl by the name of Xelha. Sadly, mystery takes a hold of the history and intent of both characters until the very ending of the game. But their mission is rather simple. The world of Baten Kaitos is terrorized by the Alfard Empire. It is led by Emperor Geldoblame and his deadly cohorts Ayme, Giacomo and Folon. Without knowing how at first, you find out that Xelha uncovered a sinister plot courtesy of Geldoblame to uncover a truly evil power that can allow him control of the world. Apparently there is a force known as the End Magnus which holds the power of a once corrupt and evil god by the name Malpercio, who is currently in slumber. The worlds in Baten Kaitos actually happen to be islands floating in the sky, as it is said that Malpercio was responsible for sucking up the entire Ocean. This was during a war between a number of gods and ancient magicians, and in the end, the magicians ended up floating the five worlds you have original access to.

Speaking of Magnus, that is actually what the entire gameplay engine is encompassed by. Magnus are cards that can contain virtually anything to be frank. They can be weapons, armor, healing items, voice clips, spells and even food. Everything in the world of Baten Kaitos has a ‘Magnus essence’. If you happen to have any blank ones handy while examining something that can be extracted, you capture the Magnus essence of that particular item. Not all Magnus has to be gained this way though, as most of it will actually either be won, found or bought. This is what makes the battle engine in Baten Kaitos so unique. It has its pros and cons, but the positives definitely outweigh the negatives.

Depending on what number class a character is (up to six), they can use anywhere from two to nine Magnus at once in battle. You actually customize a character’s deck completely to your liking, with taking into account what will suit what battles the best. There are six different elements in this system. They are fire, aqua, wind, light, dark and chronos. With the numerous different cards also come the numbers etched on them. On the actual face of the card, it is possible for it to have a number in each of its corners. Most don’t have four numbers until the end of the game, as the main stash you have will contain two or three. These numbers are what actually allow you to achieve combos in battle. You can actually select these Magnus with both the A button and the C Stick. However, the numbers etched on the cards won’t be taken into account if you use the A button, so getting used to using the C Stick is wise.

Depending on the position of the particular number, that’s actually the direction of the C Stick you tilt. So if you want to use a number in the upper left, you tilt the stick in that direction, simple enough. These numbers range from one to nine, and you can create a combo of two or more Magnus. These can range from pairs, sets of three or four, as well as straights of numbers. Utilizing these number combos will actually net you nice bonuses upon offense and defense, since you have to use Magnus dedicated to both. This can either boost the ending attack damage by a certain percentage, or reduce the same done to you. The better the combos you get, the more bonus percentage you get. It’s very nice when you can string a combo with only originally 200 damage, and get 400 at the end upon doubling it. It gets even better when you end the combo with a powerful ending attack by a character. Each have around eight powerful Finisher Magnus, and they are neat to see as well. The weaknesses and strengths of enemies also come into account here. If you use an element that an enemy is weak to, it will add additional bonuses. However, if they are stronger against your element, your damage will be reduced a certain amount, even if you manage to string a combo together. This system is very intuitive, and definitely appeals to the active battle style fan.