Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean

With your help, Kalas and Xelha must struggle to reveal the mystery of the lost ocean and destroy the corruption that threatens their world.

JP release: 5th December 2003
NA release: 16th November 2004
EU release: 1st April 2005
Developer: Monolith Soft, tri-Crescendo
Publisher: Namco
NGC Magazine Score: 83%
Mods Used: None

Other than being one of the big RPGs on the GameCube, the only thing I really knew about Baten Kaitos was that the voice acting was considered so bad that it was excluded in the remaster (also because of a few minor changes that they could have worked around), so I was surprised to discover that the voice acting for Baten Kaitos was… fine for the era of games it was released in. There’s a few pretty bad minor NPCs but I had no issue with the main cast. In fact, I grew to love them all.

The game is set on a world that consists of some floating island nations, each with its own sense of identity. Humans defeated their gods, but lost the surface of the planet in the process, with it hidden under poisonous clouds. This led to the individual islands forming their own cultures, although transportation between them is all quite simple (for the most part) and isn’t a huge focus like, for example, Skies of Arcadia.

These places all look absolutely gorgeous. The game uses a mixture of wonderfully drawn 2D backdrops, animated elements and 3D objects to create a living, breathing world. It really creates an illusion that the characters are moving around a 3D space. Each area is varied even within itself, making the entire game a visual treat from start to finish – it really helps suck you into the game’s story, which is full of wonderful twists and revelations. Screenshots for this game really don’t do it justice – you have to see it in motion.

I also felt like each area felt different in how you progress – only one section felt like a traditional “dungeon” and areas had unique mechanics in terms of how you make your way forward, keeping the overworld stuff fresh. The best part for this is Mira, the City of Illusion, which has multiple visual styles and a rather unique maze level that was lovely to figure out. That said, the game does fail at basic signposting every now and then.

Sometimes, the way forward won’t be open until you talk to some very specific people. You just have to wander around and speak to everyone you find. Quite often, these conversations will have nothing to do with what is blocking your progression, just that the thing blocking you will just vanish. I get that it’s so you don’t miss important lore, but it just feels artificial. There was one point where I even had to look up where in a city I could sleep as it was a required step. What made this worse is that you’re in the home of one of the main characters, but the bed just contains a hidden item (and the text box is actually a major spoiler). Luckily, this isn’t a huge issue, it’s just something that could have been handled better – it’s always annoying when you’re stuck finding the way forward when it isn’t even supposed to be a puzzle.

The combat system uses cards, but these are cards that are well integrated into the game’s world and story. These cards can hold the essence of items and then released. You can even turn other objects into cards for use in puzzles. Big RPG fans seem to have issues with the combat, but I personally enjoyed how quick and snappy it is. You can attack multiple times in one turn, although only against one target, and if you’re not careful you can use your healing items against them. As you get used to the combat, the game also introduces short time limits so you have to think on your feet.

While I still wouldn’t say RPGs are my kind of game due to the battle systems (I did end up using cheats to make it through like other turn based RPGs), if the world is enthralling enough, I can end up getting sucked into them and absolutely loving them. Baten Kaitos is one of those games, and I’m very glad I played it.

Great

It’s a card-based battle system, you see. We know for a fact that this system is considered dirt in certain circles – conjuring up images of Yu-Gi-Oh, PSOIII and Magic the Gathering – but before you all go running for the hills, you might like to know that Baten Kaitos manages to inject far more action into card battling than you’d previously thought possible.
Geraint Evans, NGC Magazine #71

Remake or remaster?

This game has a remaster that is mostly well made, but lacks an English dub. There is a fan-made patch to fix this

Official Ways to get the game

The remaster is available on Switch and PC