I realize that this is a highly unusual video format, so some clarification may be in order. This is clearly not a real review - that isn't lost on me. My intention here is simply to generate a little buzz and intrigue since Nintendo clearly aren't going to market this re-release themselves, and as a fan looking to convey his passion for the series, I feel that Baten Kaitos is one of those games that is elevated by its unique hooks and narrative elements. All that said, I will be releasing a followup video actually discussing and explaining the game's combat mechanics very soon. I wanted to include all that information in this video, but the algorithm loves punishing me for releasing content that's longer than 10-15 minutes for some reason. So, if you were intrigued but would like to know more about the gameplay itself, please stay tuned :)
Dude I agree. This is a hidden gem that Nintendo is totally overlooking. I know it's not getting a lot of hype now, buy I know upon release it will get a lot of following as people see this game for the true wonder it is. I literally jumped out my seat when it was announced.
I’m so glad someone else feels the same way about the betrayal scene. It blew my mine in a way that I have not experienced since. AND I CAN NEVER CONVINCE ANYONE TO PLAY THESE MASTERPIECES.
I genuinely think the betrayal would be "Aerith's death scene" levels of iconic if more than 15 people on this planet had actually played Eternal Wings.
@@ThrillingDuck Sixteen. I exist. The funniest thing is I didn't like EW at first. I asked my sister to buy me Eternal Wings when she went abroad (because I saw an ad for it on the back of the manual for Tales of Symphonia lmao) and I didn't understand the game mechanics at first, so I dropped the game. Some time later I picked it up again, actually paid attention and did pretty well up till The Disc Change Boss (you know the one), at which point I got stuck and dropped the game again out of frustration. The third time was the charm, with a better understanding of the game and prep work done and oh boy, I do not regret the journey that led me to this point, the betrayal scene blew my goddamn teenage brain even with my comparative lack of literary know-how. The writer was cooking with this one and it came out six fucking stars. When Origins was released, I stumbled upon it by complete accident while window shopping at the mall (since I don't keep an ear to the ground for upcoming game releases) and I immediately asked my parents to buy it for me. Simply seeing "Baten Kaitos" on the title was an assurance of quality and I was right. I love this duology of games, they might really be the best JRPGs I've ever played in their story-gameplay intergration.
The plot twist of the first game is genuinely insane im glad you said its the best twist in fiction as i have also held that opinion since it released 20 years ago
@@MrSPW93 Yeah, that’s what I mean. It’s way bigger than Aerith imo, but it hasn’t reached “iconic” status on account of the game’s low exposure in general.
@@MrSPW93 Oh I hope so. They could still add the dub to the console versions as DLC I suppose, though I suspect they won’t for the same reason they didn’t include it in the first place…
The omission of the dub is genuinely baffling. Also I think the Origins dub is unironically great lol, but I assume ur referring to the infamous Eternal Wings dub.
these were hands down my favourite games when I was a kid - I'm so excited to get to play them again! I've been dissapointed with the lack of advertisement so this video was great to get my husband excited as well ❤
My brother and I grew up with these games and love them both to death. Ever since the dang Wii U came out we have been hoping so badly, even though we honestly felt like it had almost no chance, that one day in a Nintendo Direct that we would see that blue haired wingman in glorious HD graphics. When I saw that image with Kalas with his wings out, I actually screamed and ran to my brother’s room. Brought him to my room to see it and we both yelled and cheered it pure happiness. High fives and hugs all around. It was such a special moment. I’m so incredibly happy and grateful to Bandai for giving these games another chance and I sincerely hope that plenty of people pick it up and come to love these games the same as we do!
I screamed a little, too! I've never been able to express just how good these games are, and I still have my old GameCube JUST to play them every now and then. The remasters look incredible, I'm having so much fun!
Got the game largely because of this video. I'm a few hours into the first one and absolutely loving it. Thanks for this! I didn't watch the whole video to avoid even high level story beats, but the beginning told me everything I needed to know. I really appreciate you making this video.
I live in Britain so we never had Origins released here. Baten Kaitos 1 is my favourite game of all time so I can not describe how excited I am to play the updated version as well as the prequel I have never experienced 😭
When I replayed Baten Kaitos back in 2020 I still had Xenoblade fresh in my memory, and watching Xelha's introduction was like a parallel of Melia's, you can even see that the moment they are presented. The game was great, but playing it as a kid who didn't speak English was truly difficult, I spent like 2 weeks trying to move forward in the segment where one had to find a gear.
These are genuinely some of my favorite games of all time. I bought Eternal Wings with birthday money when I was a teenager; there weren't any other games worth buying at the time. I'm SO glad I did. I'm currently trying to beat Eternal Wings with no level ups. Just about to leave Anuenue for the first time.
Leaving a comment to help boost this in the algorithm hopefully and just wanna add: - I'm backing you up on the soundtrack, I'd pay full price just to have the OSTs rerecorded and in HD - Genuinely good voice acting from a stellar cast - One of the prettiest games ever on the GameCube, both graphically and from absolutely brilliant art direction - Potentially spoilers but need to bring up the Magnus system. Using moves that evolve and get better over time / moves combining for synergy is always great in JRPGs for a start, but having items that age into other items with a real clock and being able to mess with combos in the middle of combat like using an ice cube -> knife -> syrup to make sorbet encourages experimentation and a reason to talk to every npc looking for hints at new recipes lmao
@@ThrillingDuck it's one of the only ones I remember offhand 😂 It might have some other name, like shaved ice or something I can't honestly remember but I definitely remember the ingredients and how long it took me to actually get all three cards into the same hand lmao I also remember seeing once that there's an item that takes like a literal week passing in game for it to age, and wonder how they're gonna implement that with the new quality of life systems they've mentioned
@@ThrillingDuckI'm itching to play so badly, but since the US isn't doing a physical release and I had to import my copy, I've got to wait a few more days since I just got stateside last night 😭
I’m not happy with the quality of this remaster but feel compelled to give the series a life again so will begrudgingly support the release in the hopes it continues in some way
I'm still lamenting the loss of the English dub for sure, but when it comes to a niche franchise like this, beggars unfortunately can't be choosers. I genuinely never thought I'd see these games on an HD console, so I'll do what I must in this case.
I was originally going to pass on this one. Glad you changed my mind, Im really enjoying the game so far. Not a big fan of the card thing still, but It’s not a major deal. I’m really glad this is my first experience with the game because the remaster is gorgeous, I was blown away by the backgrounds and the music. I really hope they give Xenogears a remaster, cause that games been on my list for a very long time. Anyways, thanks again.
I'm so pleased that this video actually convinced someone on the fence to give it a shot and not regret it! Thanks a lot for sharing :) And yeah, the Baten Kaitos games have gorgeous art and incredible music and atmosphere, especially for their time.
I cannot wait. I owned both of these but did not finish them. I do remember liking them, though. This was back before it was really easy to look stuff up on the internet with your console of choice two button presses away. The moment I heard about this remaster I started telling my bf that it would be an insta-buy for me. Still no luck convincing him, but that won't stop me from picking this up.
To be fair, online discourse is still extremely unsophisticated, just for different reasons. That said, the Baten Kaitos games ARE brilliant and they deserve a proper revival. I'm mad this remaster wasn't marketed for squat, because this could have been a chance to pave the way for future games in the series.
6:41 50 years? If that were the case characters like Giacomo and Gibari would all be 60+ years old at Eternal Wings lol...Origins happened only 20 years before Eternal Wings!
Good video & info, thanks! I’m interested in the games since I missed them when first released, I played Tales of Symphonia & Fire Emblem & think I would’ve liked Baten Kaitos, yet I remember reading about the card battle system & was unsure about it. The remaster games are out, but I’m not finding much content about them or even reviews. How are the remasters? Look forward to seeing more of your videos on it if you do more for these.
Figures even in the modern era of streaming they're somehow getting like no love. Definitely planning on doing at least a little more content on them :)
Thank you for making this video, I’m pushing this game on everyone I know. There’s nothing I want more than for it to do well, im not exactly hopeful for a 3rd game. However, I think support of this game *could* lead to the Xenosaga trilogy being remastered.
This video hyped me up to order the remaster. I originally got incredibly frustrated with the card battling mechanics I quit less than midway through but I remember how captivating the narrative was and regretted not finishing it
There are many things I could comment on, but the only ones I really feel like saying is, thank you for recognizing the sheer genius of the first game's twist, and the magnificence of the soundtrack. Motoi Sakuraba sometimes gets shit for the sound of his music (which is, yknow, usually by request of the game dev), but the OSTs of Baten Kaitos exist as timeless masterpieces, eternal proofs that Motoi is a goddamn legend and deserves to be remembered as such.
So excited for these Remasters. I had the originals on my GameCube and was surprised by how much I enjoyed them. I was immensely into Xenosaga and had known of these, but the idea of a card based battle system had turned me off from picking it up. I ended up, on a whim, buying Origins one day because I came across it at a big discount. I put it in and was immediately drawn in by its story and characters, it’s world and was so shocked at how fun and satisfying, intuitive, its battle system actually was. It hadn’t taken me long to see just what an under appreciated and absolute gem of a game it was. I immediately then purchased the first Baten Kaitos game as well. I never expected there to ever be a remaster of these and am excited to play these again soon. It’s given me the hope that a Xenosaga series remaster could still happen then too.
Probably getting the remaster next pay period, unless I decide to shop for a physical import. Have has this in my backlog for literally decades. Kato's writing involvement (and mentioning it in an interview a couple years ago) is a huge draw for me. Took the files out of my active emu folder to support an official release :) Thanks for the vid! I subbed the channel.
My favorite game of all time and I'm so glad someone else sees it for the gem that it is. Disappointed that the remake won't be in English, but I'm hopeful a remake means that developers will make a 3rd game to the series
That would be awesome. To be brutally honest, the lack of dub for Origins STILL hurts, but I had to show my support if a third game is ever going to happen.
Randomly picked this up last week on the eshop sale, tried to look for some info om the game as nobody of my jrpg-friends knew about this. There is not much info about the game, but glad to fins videoes like this that shows how much people love the games. I've been enjoying the game so far (arrived at festival island yesterday). The story is cool, but the main people is growing on me. Kalas is not my kinda guy, but I like that he is "not like other main guys".
Glad you covered this, its one of my favorite JRPG's of all times especially the story of the original. I will be playing origins first however, since while I have completed the first one twice, because of disc corruption I only got 1\3 of the way through origins, and without rumors of a remaster would have just watched a playthrough. So I will be doing that first.
I honestly loved these two games and consider them gems on the GC. I hope thaf we here in the NA region will be able to preorder the remaster soon, as they currently only have it set up for Europe and Asia.
I absolutely love these games and just learned about the remaster today. The story is awesome the characters in both, main and side included, are unforgettable. Playing the second one after the first, then replaying the first just brings tears to your eyes during scenes that hit so much different when you know the history behind a character's actions. I can't wait to buy them and replay both. It's nice to see the second game be more affordable that 200 plus dollars a disk.
I played both games when they first released, back when I was first getting into gaming. I have yet to play another game with such a unique and fun combat system. The games are beautiful, with varied atmospheres and great stories. So far these remasters look and sound even better (the originals were slightly blurry and tinny for a reason, but I always thought it wasnt a good reason so I'm glad they've fixed that) which makes them pretty close to perfect. I can't agree enough or recommend them enough!!!
Great video. I played the 1st one on the gamecube, but the 2nd one never came out in Australia. So I am so happy I can finally play it after all these years.
I’m way excited for these games, loved them on GameCube and I’m sure I’ll love them even more on Switch! Here’s hoping that in spite of the lack of marketing, these games do well enough to get a third installment.
Im trying to buy this physically and digitally. I love this series so much. I hope it does well and maybe we could get that third one. I loved the first system combat more but still miss this
I… didn’t even know they were porting this to switch lol. I’ll def pick it up when it comes out, I never got to play it back in the day and it looks like a weird ass but fun game- can definitely say I haven’t seen many games like it, but maybe I’m living in a bubble hahah
Definitely not - it's really unusual :) And that you didn't even know it was getting a port is a huge part of the problem with the total lack of marketing lol.
I think it's an important hook, and honestly, even knowing to look for it it's basically impossible to figure out on one's own due to purposely but tastefully and ingeniously withheld information.
@@ThrillingDuck I really cannot argue that because I haven't play them yet (looking forward to doing so), but I'll take it Nice video btw, I'm sure you will convince some people to play it :)
@@nesi9190 Oh, thank you! I really think you'll enjoy it. And I really will be VERY impressed if you figure out the traitor's identity and motive before the reveal haha.
I remember making it something like halfway through the game, then dropping it for whatever reason. When I came back to it years later, my disc would become unreadable after one or two battles. I kept thinking about ordering a new copy of the game, but then they announced the remaster.
Way ahead of you. I had the first one for Gamecube when I met me now wife, and I put it aside for awhile and never got around to beating it. So I bought them on Switch and went through the first one and took a break, now I'm playing the second one.
It's nice they added easy/ign mode for people that don't have time to invest in combat (work, family) so we can enjoy the story anyway. I bought the collection on switch and enjoys it a lot. I do remember the gamecube trailer from back in the days. Nostalgic 😊
I discovered Baten Kaitos through Tales of Symphonia. Back in the early 2000s, at my local KMart I'd always seen Tales of Symphonia and Baten Kaitos next to each other, and their cover art always caught my eye. I'd ended up getting Tales first due to its anime art style and to my surprise, an ad for Baten Kaitos was placed in back of the game manual. That was the sign I'd needed to own both games. And to this day, they've maintained the top spots for my all time favorite JRPGs. A MUST PLAY for any fans of the genre.
@ThrillingDuck Agreed. It's only now that Baten Kaitos has received any attention, and even then I feel like it was minimal. Though we did get this remaster, there was no collectors edition (which I would have greatly appreciated) and they didn't have the English dubbing, which although terrible, I was fond of 😅 Needless to say, I'm still glad we at least got something.
It really is too bad we finally have the game now but they aren't going to make it English dub or even simply take the original voices and transfer them. I think that would've really brought in a lot of newcomers to the series itself
I agree, it's a massive shame about the loss of the dub - especially for Origins. That one was genuinely unironic quality imo. But frankly, I think the severe lack of marketing and $50 price tag combo is gonna kill this release far more than the lack of english voice acting :/ Oh yeah, and lack of physical release in the US isn't helping it either...
I was gonna check the remasters out until they announced no English dub and numerous censorship changes. I’ll prob just check the originals out at some point.
I plan to. Completely overlooked these when they came out. And it's not because they're deck building RPGs. They just completely slipped under my radar. Waiting for these remasters now to try them. In fact I'm making a big list of all the games I overlooked So I can check them out. Taking note of which port is the best for each one. Which ones to wait for because they have remasters coming. Which ones I should use ROM hacks for. And which ones I just need to suck it up in play vanilla.
Let's hold out hope. If Atlus and Square Enix are smart enough to release free alternate language DLC for their games, someone at Monolith will follow suit.
I hope so... I know it's bad... But not THAT bad... And only Kalas and Melodia has poor acting... Lyude and Gibari for example has damn good Voice acting... (And The Origins Voice acting it's not bad at all)
Im in total anticipation to play through these games again. They were so beloved to me and i thought theyd be lost forever behind the impossiblitily lf huntinf down a gamecubes and affordable copies. Even though theyll only be voiced in Japanese, ill gladly take it so i can play them again. In addition, i totally agree that the twist of lost ocean is soooo good. I never saw it coming and yet it made so much sense in retrospect. I havent seen so well an executed twist since. Plus, the story of origins is so compelling because it adds onto what you already know from Lost Wings. Ive always told people to play Lost wings first and then origins as well because it hinges so much on having the knowledge of playing the former first. Even the cameos of previous chracters hold more weight because of it. Lastly, i was under the impression the gap was only 20 years, no 50. Especially since a certain chracter was just a kid in orgins and only an adult, no middle aged, in Lost Wings.
You're probably right about the time gap lol. And yeah, moments like Shanath's dying utterance would've just been like "um... okay?" if I hadn't played Eternal Wings first haha
Admittedly, I failed to get through a full playthrough as a kid, mainly because I didn't understand the major benefits of early grinding and got stuck because I also didn't save multiple slots, but once I was older and had mastered a few of the strats I was able to beat the first game. For some reason, did not get into the second game much, but once the remaster comes out, I'm determined to play through both. I only have one complaint for the first game, and that's what they did with Xelha at the end of the series. It feels like the final scenes she's in ruins the emotional impact of previous scenes. I don't want to say anymore because of spoilers. I will end my comment by saying how much I love The Great Mizuti! The voice is amazing and having this character gives you access to an alternative spellcaster to Xelha.
I'm so excited and I hope that we see the option to turn the VA off for people who want that option. I will be getting it because the first game is very special to me. It kept me company while I was very sick at age 11. Please, pick up this series
10:09 OH MY GOD! Hahaha I actually did that! Yep I named Kala's guardian spirit "Daimon" after finishing Origins xD Yep, makes a lot of sense to me, too.
Yoooooo that's awesome! SPOILERS BELOW I just love the idea of Daimon having terrible judgement of character and a habit of picking...questionable partners.
I don't really like card battle games, but I loved Baten Kaitos when I played it on Gamecube. I was so excited when this collection was announced (especially since I lent my copies of both games and they were never returned; big mistake, I know.) The only thing I miss is the so bad it's good English dub, but I'm excited to play through the first game again and hopefully finish Origins this time.
Thanks! I’m planning to make a combat tutorial video, since the games themselves have none and there’s a distressing amount of Eternal Wings footage on RUclips posted by people who clearly don’t know how it works lol.
@@ThrillingDuck Thanks. Something about the game just click with me. The remaster got delivered today and I will be playing it this weekend. Keep up the great content. 👍
@@ThrillingDuckLooking forward to it. Hope you get your copy soon. I live in the UK and the physical addition was released here in limited quantities. Not sure why North America got skipped.
I realize that this is a highly unusual video format, so some clarification may be in order. This is clearly not a real review - that isn't lost on me. My intention here is simply to generate a little buzz and intrigue since Nintendo clearly aren't going to market this re-release themselves, and as a fan looking to convey his passion for the series, I feel that Baten Kaitos is one of those games that is elevated by its unique hooks and narrative elements.
All that said, I will be releasing a followup video actually discussing and explaining the game's combat mechanics very soon. I wanted to include all that information in this video, but the algorithm loves punishing me for releasing content that's longer than 10-15 minutes for some reason. So, if you were intrigued but would like to know more about the gameplay itself, please stay tuned :)
"The algorithm" is a load of horse dung. Your rants deserve ninety minutes.
Dude I agree. This is a hidden gem that Nintendo is totally overlooking. I know it's not getting a lot of hype now, buy I know upon release it will get a lot of following as people see this game for the true wonder it is. I literally jumped out my seat when it was announced.
I’m so glad someone else feels the same way about the betrayal scene. It blew my mine in a way that I have not experienced since. AND I CAN NEVER CONVINCE ANYONE TO PLAY THESE MASTERPIECES.
I genuinely think the betrayal would be "Aerith's death scene" levels of iconic if more than 15 people on this planet had actually played Eternal Wings.
I hate how little people know this game. This is THE game of my childhood. The betrayal scene is insanely iconic.
@@ThrillingDuck Sixteen. I exist.
The funniest thing is I didn't like EW at first. I asked my sister to buy me Eternal Wings when she went abroad (because I saw an ad for it on the back of the manual for Tales of Symphonia lmao) and I didn't understand the game mechanics at first, so I dropped the game. Some time later I picked it up again, actually paid attention and did pretty well up till The Disc Change Boss (you know the one), at which point I got stuck and dropped the game again out of frustration.
The third time was the charm, with a better understanding of the game and prep work done and oh boy, I do not regret the journey that led me to this point, the betrayal scene blew my goddamn teenage brain even with my comparative lack of literary know-how. The writer was cooking with this one and it came out six fucking stars.
When Origins was released, I stumbled upon it by complete accident while window shopping at the mall (since I don't keep an ear to the ground for upcoming game releases) and I immediately asked my parents to buy it for me. Simply seeing "Baten Kaitos" on the title was an assurance of quality and I was right. I love this duology of games, they might really be the best JRPGs I've ever played in their story-gameplay intergration.
Huge fan of the series, would have liked to see a sequel to the original but a remaster will hopefully put them back into the spotlight.
The plot twist of the first game is genuinely insane im glad you said its the best twist in fiction as i have also held that opinion since it released 20 years ago
It absolutely deserves to be as iconic as like, Aerith’s death in FF7 imo
@@ThrillingDuck if the game had as much exposure as FF7 it would be. I think it's a bigger shock than the FF7 twist
@@MrSPW93 Yeah, that’s what I mean. It’s way bigger than Aerith imo, but it hasn’t reached “iconic” status on account of the game’s low exposure in general.
@@ThrillingDuck there's a rumour going around that the game is coming to PC also? May be am easy task for someone to mod in the English dub? 🤷♂️
@@MrSPW93 Oh I hope so. They could still add the dub to the console versions as DLC I suppose, though I suspect they won’t for the same reason they didn’t include it in the first place…
Not without the crappy english voice acting! It was a huge part of the charm
The omission of the dub is genuinely baffling. Also I think the Origins dub is unironically great lol, but I assume ur referring to the infamous Eternal Wings dub.
The english VA for xeilla cant emote for shit @@ThrillingDuck
these were hands down my favourite games when I was a kid - I'm so excited to get to play them again! I've been dissapointed with the lack of advertisement so this video was great to get my husband excited as well ❤
I'm so glad!
My brother and I grew up with these games and love them both to death. Ever since the dang Wii U came out we have been hoping so badly, even though we honestly felt like it had almost no chance, that one day in a Nintendo Direct that we would see that blue haired wingman in glorious HD graphics. When I saw that image with Kalas with his wings out, I actually screamed and ran to my brother’s room. Brought him to my room to see it and we both yelled and cheered it pure happiness. High fives and hugs all around. It was such a special moment. I’m so incredibly happy and grateful to Bandai for giving these games another chance and I sincerely hope that plenty of people pick it up and come to love these games the same as we do!
I can corroborate this story, as his brother
I screamed a little, too! I've never been able to express just how good these games are, and I still have my old GameCube JUST to play them every now and then. The remasters look incredible, I'm having so much fun!
Got it day one and wanted to find a video that recommended a play order for the games. I'll take your word for it and name the guardian spirit Daimon.
Can't wait for this. Especially since Origins was never released in my region.
A series I was never able to experience. Despite ravenously wanting to, and it's finally time.
Had a hard time beating these games as a kid, but I’m glad I stuck with them. They are some of my favorite jrpgs. That Holoholo Bird was brutal.
I literally fell into the infamous Holoholo Bird softlock as a kid and had to restart Origins, and I STILL love that game lol.
I beat Baten Kaitos Origins back in the day but the Holoholo bird softlock caused me to not play it for a decade and a half.
I'm importing a damn physical edition, I can't wait
Got the game largely because of this video. I'm a few hours into the first one and absolutely loving it. Thanks for this!
I didn't watch the whole video to avoid even high level story beats, but the beginning told me everything I needed to know. I really appreciate you making this video.
Awesome, I’m so glad to hear it!
This is my favorite series of all time. I'm so excited.
It’s criminally underrated.
I live in Britain so we never had Origins released here. Baten Kaitos 1 is my favourite game of all time so I can not describe how excited I am to play the updated version as well as the prequel I have never experienced 😭
@@MrSPW93 You’re in for such a treat! Origins is excellent as well :)
@@ThrillingDuck I have always heard excellent things this is like a dream come true
Wow Origins sounds so cool! The party's set up alone is a big hook for me
I'm so glad! It's awesome man :)
When I replayed Baten Kaitos back in 2020 I still had Xenoblade fresh in my memory, and watching Xelha's introduction was like a parallel of Melia's, you can even see that the moment they are presented.
The game was great, but playing it as a kid who didn't speak English was truly difficult, I spent like 2 weeks trying to move forward in the segment where one had to find a gear.
I haven't played this since I was a child and had a gamecube, but DAMN I will happily buy a whole Nintendo switch just to play the remastered games.
I play this when i was 10,but i still remember ever spoken dialogue. That just illustrated how good the writing of this game is.
These are genuinely some of my favorite games of all time. I bought Eternal Wings with birthday money when I was a teenager; there weren't any other games worth buying at the time. I'm SO glad I did. I'm currently trying to beat Eternal Wings with no level ups. Just about to leave Anuenue for the first time.
Leaving a comment to help boost this in the algorithm hopefully and just wanna add:
- I'm backing you up on the soundtrack, I'd pay full price just to have the OSTs rerecorded and in HD
- Genuinely good voice acting from a stellar cast
- One of the prettiest games ever on the GameCube, both graphically and from absolutely brilliant art direction
- Potentially spoilers but need to bring up the Magnus system. Using moves that evolve and get better over time / moves combining for synergy is always great in JRPGs for a start, but having items that age into other items with a real clock and being able to mess with combos in the middle of combat like using an ice cube -> knife -> syrup to make sorbet encourages experimentation and a reason to talk to every npc looking for hints at new recipes lmao
I legit didn’t even know about things like the sorbet combo! I knew about item aging of course, but damn. Thanks for the comment!
@@ThrillingDuck it's one of the only ones I remember offhand 😂 It might have some other name, like shaved ice or something I can't honestly remember but I definitely remember the ingredients and how long it took me to actually get all three cards into the same hand lmao
I also remember seeing once that there's an item that takes like a literal week passing in game for it to age, and wonder how they're gonna implement that with the new quality of life systems they've mentioned
@@ThrillingDuckI'm itching to play so badly, but since the US isn't doing a physical release and I had to import my copy, I've got to wait a few more days since I just got stateside last night 😭
I never would have expected a Baten Kaitos remaster. Maybe .Hack IMOQ will find a way too..
Omg that would be amazing
I’m not happy with the quality of this remaster but feel compelled to give the series a life again so will begrudgingly support the release in the hopes it continues in some way
I'm still lamenting the loss of the English dub for sure, but when it comes to a niche franchise like this, beggars unfortunately can't be choosers. I genuinely never thought I'd see these games on an HD console, so I'll do what I must in this case.
Thanks for this! I started a sub-channel on Discord to try and get people to play these gems.
Hype straight from the heart. This is true gamer love.
i can't wait to play through this game again. so excited
Same!
I was originally going to pass on this one. Glad you changed my mind, Im really enjoying the game so far. Not a big fan of the card thing still, but It’s not a major deal. I’m really glad this is my first experience with the game because the remaster is gorgeous, I was blown away by the backgrounds and the music. I really hope they give Xenogears a remaster, cause that games been on my list for a very long time.
Anyways, thanks again.
I'm so pleased that this video actually convinced someone on the fence to give it a shot and not regret it! Thanks a lot for sharing :) And yeah, the Baten Kaitos games have gorgeous art and incredible music and atmosphere, especially for their time.
These are my 2 favorite JRPGs of all time
I'm doing my part!
**starts staring at a picture of yogurt to turn it into cheese**
I prefer letting my yogurt curdle as I adventure lol
I cannot wait. I owned both of these but did not finish them. I do remember liking them, though. This was back before it was really easy to look stuff up on the internet with your console of choice two button presses away. The moment I heard about this remaster I started telling my bf that it would be an insta-buy for me. Still no luck convincing him, but that won't stop me from picking this up.
We need a new push for people to play these now that they are on Steam!!
Couldn’t agree more!
To be fair, online discourse is still extremely unsophisticated, just for different reasons.
That said, the Baten Kaitos games ARE brilliant and they deserve a proper revival. I'm mad this remaster wasn't marketed for squat, because this could have been a chance to pave the way for future games in the series.
I was so annoyed at how dead on arrival it was :(
I’m so glad you made this video so many people missed out on these games.
6:41 50 years? If that were the case characters like Giacomo and Gibari would all be 60+ years old at Eternal Wings lol...Origins happened only 20 years before Eternal Wings!
You're right, I didn't think too hard and I'm terrible with numbers lol. It's 20ish years, yeah, my bad.
Will buy physical edition from play Asia when I get the chance, never played it before
Good video & info, thanks! I’m interested in the games since I missed them when first released, I played Tales of Symphonia & Fire Emblem & think I would’ve liked Baten Kaitos, yet I remember reading about the card battle system & was unsure about it.
The remaster games are out, but I’m not finding much content about them or even reviews. How are the remasters? Look forward to seeing more of your videos on it if you do more for these.
Figures even in the modern era of streaming they're somehow getting like no love. Definitely planning on doing at least a little more content on them :)
Thank you for making this video, I’m pushing this game on everyone I know. There’s nothing I want more than for it to do well, im not exactly hopeful for a 3rd game. However, I think support of this game *could* lead to the Xenosaga trilogy being remastered.
That would be awesome.
This video hyped me up to order the remaster. I originally got incredibly frustrated with the card battling mechanics I quit less than midway through but I remember how captivating the narrative was and regretted not finishing it
No worries mate. I bought a switch early this year just for this game. Rest assured I'll be there day 1.
There are many things I could comment on, but the only ones I really feel like saying is, thank you for recognizing the sheer genius of the first game's twist, and the magnificence of the soundtrack. Motoi Sakuraba sometimes gets shit for the sound of his music (which is, yknow, usually by request of the game dev), but the OSTs of Baten Kaitos exist as timeless masterpieces, eternal proofs that Motoi is a goddamn legend and deserves to be remembered as such.
So excited for these Remasters. I had the originals on my GameCube and was surprised by how much I enjoyed them. I was immensely into Xenosaga and had known of these, but the idea of a card based battle system had turned me off from picking it up. I ended up, on a whim, buying Origins one day because I came across it at a big discount. I put it in and was immediately drawn in by its story and characters, it’s world and was so shocked at how fun and satisfying, intuitive, its battle system actually was. It hadn’t taken me long to see just what an under appreciated and absolute gem of a game it was. I immediately then purchased the first Baten Kaitos game as well. I never expected there to ever be a remaster of these and am excited to play these again soon. It’s given me the hope that a Xenosaga series remaster could still happen then too.
Probably getting the remaster next pay period, unless I decide to shop for a physical import. Have has this in my backlog for literally decades. Kato's writing involvement (and mentioning it in an interview a couple years ago) is a huge draw for me. Took the files out of my active emu folder to support an official release :)
Thanks for the vid! I subbed the channel.
My favorite game of all time and I'm so glad someone else sees it for the gem that it is. Disappointed that the remake won't be in English, but I'm hopeful a remake means that developers will make a 3rd game to the series
That would be awesome. To be brutally honest, the lack of dub for Origins STILL hurts, but I had to show my support if a third game is ever going to happen.
Aight, nobody calls me a coward 😠
excellent video, super hyped for this!
Thank you, and same!
I HATE that every RPG remaster forces instant death cheats
Lol it’s dumb, but it’s just an option.
Randomly picked this up last week on the eshop sale, tried to look for some info om the game as nobody of my jrpg-friends knew about this. There is not much info about the game, but glad to fins videoes like this that shows how much people love the games.
I've been enjoying the game so far (arrived at festival island yesterday). The story is cool, but the main people is growing on me. Kalas is not my kinda guy, but I like that he is "not like other main guys".
Glad you covered this, its one of my favorite JRPG's of all times especially the story of the original.
I will be playing origins first however, since while I have completed the first one twice, because of disc corruption I only got 1\3 of the way through origins, and without rumors of a remaster would have just watched a playthrough. So I will be doing that first.
Well that makes sense - you’ve already played the original. You’re not really playing Origins first, just first on the remaster lol. And thanks!
Don't worry, you are not alone. I am also promoting the games whenever I can. I haven't given up hope yet that Baten Kaitos 3 is possible.
Man, I'd be all over that.
We never got Origins in Australia, so I'm very much looking forward to playing, and Baten Kaitos is one of my favourite games ever!
No way! I had no idea Origins wasn’t in all regions that got Eternal Wings. It’s a real gem, I’m sure you’re gonna enjoy it :)
I'm ready to buy it day one, had a blast with these.
I honestly loved these two games and consider them gems on the GC. I hope thaf we here in the NA region will be able to preorder the remaster soon, as they currently only have it set up for Europe and Asia.
glad to see praises begin sang for both games, and deserved rightly so as you’ve pointed out!
Dude I loved Baten Kaitos Origins as a kid and still do! I never got to play Eternal Wings, but now with the remaster I definitely will.
I absolutely love these games and just learned about the remaster today. The story is awesome the characters in both, main and side included, are unforgettable. Playing the second one after the first, then replaying the first just brings tears to your eyes during scenes that hit so much different when you know the history behind a character's actions. I can't wait to buy them and replay both. It's nice to see the second game be more affordable that 200 plus dollars a disk.
I played both games when they first released, back when I was first getting into gaming. I have yet to play another game with such a unique and fun combat system. The games are beautiful, with varied atmospheres and great stories. So far these remasters look and sound even better (the originals were slightly blurry and tinny for a reason, but I always thought it wasnt a good reason so I'm glad they've fixed that) which makes them pretty close to perfect. I can't agree enough or recommend them enough!!!
Great video. I played the 1st one on the gamecube, but the 2nd one never came out in Australia. So I am so happy I can finally play it after all these years.
I’m way excited for these games, loved them on GameCube and I’m sure I’ll love them even more on Switch!
Here’s hoping that in spite of the lack of marketing, these games do well enough to get a third installment.
Planning on it. Just... ya know, let me finish some other stuff first.
Im trying to buy this physically and digitally. I love this series so much. I hope it does well and maybe we could get that third one. I loved the first system combat more but still miss this
I… didn’t even know they were porting this to switch lol. I’ll def pick it up when it comes out, I never got to play it back in the day and it looks like a weird ass but fun game- can definitely say I haven’t seen many games like it, but maybe I’m living in a bubble hahah
Definitely not - it's really unusual :) And that you didn't even know it was getting a port is a huge part of the problem with the total lack of marketing lol.
5:09 has me interested. That's pretty high praise.
I'll definitely give it a look.
I think you shouldn't have given away the betrayal thing, in my opinion it ruins it because the player will be looking for it throughout the game
I think it's an important hook, and honestly, even knowing to look for it it's basically impossible to figure out on one's own due to purposely but tastefully and ingeniously withheld information.
@@ThrillingDuck I really cannot argue that because I haven't play them yet (looking forward to doing so), but I'll take it
Nice video btw, I'm sure you will convince some people to play it :)
@@nesi9190 Oh, thank you! I really think you'll enjoy it. And I really will be VERY impressed if you figure out the traitor's identity and motive before the reveal haha.
Definitely my favorite game on the game cube with the nostalgia that comes back when playing, at least eternal wings, on the switch.
Baten Kaitos, Tales of the Abyss and Star Ocean 3 had some of the craziest twists back in the day.
I remember making it something like halfway through the game, then dropping it for whatever reason. When I came back to it years later, my disc would become unreadable after one or two battles. I kept thinking about ordering a new copy of the game, but then they announced the remaster.
Interesting concept, i'm very likely to pick up this game someday
Finally get to play this game after two decades. Was a HUGE fan - I mean obsessed - of Xenosaga, and I wanted to play BK, but I never had a Gamecube.
As someone who just finished recording the entirety of the first game, this is sound advice for everyone. Play this game.
I love both of these games! Was so pleased to see them bring it back to Switch! I even have my prima strategy guide for the first game.
Way ahead of you. I had the first one for Gamecube when I met me now wife, and I put it aside for awhile and never got around to beating it. So I bought them on Switch and went through the first one and took a break, now I'm playing the second one.
It's nice they added easy/ign mode for people that don't have time to invest in combat (work, family) so we can enjoy the story anyway. I bought the collection on switch and enjoys it a lot. I do remember the gamecube trailer from back in the days. Nostalgic 😊
I discovered Baten Kaitos through Tales of Symphonia. Back in the early 2000s, at my local KMart I'd always seen Tales of Symphonia and Baten Kaitos next to each other, and their cover art always caught my eye. I'd ended up getting Tales first due to its anime art style and to my surprise, an ad for Baten Kaitos was placed in back of the game manual. That was the sign I'd needed to own both games. And to this day, they've maintained the top spots for my all time favorite JRPGs. A MUST PLAY for any fans of the genre.
@@Polarjeff29 Both absolute classics of their era, but only Symphonia got the widespread recognition it deserved, unfortunately.
@ThrillingDuck Agreed. It's only now that Baten Kaitos has received any attention, and even then I feel like it was minimal. Though we did get this remaster, there was no collectors edition (which I would have greatly appreciated) and they didn't have the English dubbing, which although terrible, I was fond of 😅 Needless to say, I'm still glad we at least got something.
Importing the physical copy from Play-Asia; was only $50 too!!❤
I love baten kaitos so much i remember as a kid getting on the gamecube playing baten kaitos and gauntlet dark legacy and more
It really is too bad we finally have the game now but they aren't going to make it English dub or even simply take the original voices and transfer them. I think that would've really brought in a lot of newcomers to the series itself
I agree, it's a massive shame about the loss of the dub - especially for Origins. That one was genuinely unironic quality imo. But frankly, I think the severe lack of marketing and $50 price tag combo is gonna kill this release far more than the lack of english voice acting :/ Oh yeah, and lack of physical release in the US isn't helping it either...
I was gonna check the remasters out until they announced no English dub and numerous censorship changes. I’ll prob just check the originals out at some point.
I get that. But def check out the originals!
I clowned on the original release of first game in my LP.
I plan to. Completely overlooked these when they came out. And it's not because they're deck building RPGs. They just completely slipped under my radar. Waiting for these remasters now to try them. In fact I'm making a big list of all the games I overlooked So I can check them out. Taking note of which port is the best for each one. Which ones to wait for because they have remasters coming. Which ones I should use ROM hacks for. And which ones I just need to suck it up in play vanilla.
Well it seems that will be easier to do in the recent future 😅
The english Voice acting will return, right?... RIGHT?!
:(
Let's hold out hope. If Atlus and Square Enix are smart enough to release free alternate language DLC for their games, someone at Monolith will follow suit.
I hope so... I know it's bad... But not THAT bad... And only Kalas and Melodia has poor acting... Lyude and Gibari for example has damn good Voice acting... (And The Origins Voice acting it's not bad at all)
YES. Origins was one of my first and favorite JRPGs of all time. Such an amazing game!
Im in total anticipation to play through these games again. They were so beloved to me and i thought theyd be lost forever behind the impossiblitily lf huntinf down a gamecubes and affordable copies. Even though theyll only be voiced in Japanese, ill gladly take it so i can play them again.
In addition, i totally agree that the twist of lost ocean is soooo good. I never saw it coming and yet it made so much sense in retrospect. I havent seen so well an executed twist since.
Plus, the story of origins is so compelling because it adds onto what you already know from Lost Wings. Ive always told people to play Lost wings first and then origins as well because it hinges so much on having the knowledge of playing the former first. Even the cameos of previous chracters hold more weight because of it.
Lastly, i was under the impression the gap was only 20 years, no 50. Especially since a certain chracter was just a kid in orgins and only an adult, no middle aged, in Lost Wings.
You're probably right about the time gap lol. And yeah, moments like Shanath's dying utterance would've just been like "um... okay?" if I hadn't played Eternal Wings first haha
@@ThrillingDuck Exactly! And the ending of visiting diadem had me in tears. They have the best friendship in the game imo.
Just bought the remaster of these games today. I hope I can get into them as much as you seem to be
Looking forward to seeing more BK vids!
"Home of the best work of Motoi Sakuraba"
THANK YOU
IVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR 20 YEARS
The OSTs of both BKs slap unreasonably hard for games this obscure!
Admittedly, I failed to get through a full playthrough as a kid, mainly because I didn't understand the major benefits of early grinding and got stuck because I also didn't save multiple slots, but once I was older and had mastered a few of the strats I was able to beat the first game. For some reason, did not get into the second game much, but once the remaster comes out, I'm determined to play through both. I only have one complaint for the first game, and that's what they did with Xelha at the end of the series. It feels like the final scenes she's in ruins the emotional impact of previous scenes. I don't want to say anymore because of spoilers. I will end my comment by saying how much I love The Great Mizuti! The voice is amazing and having this character gives you access to an alternative spellcaster to Xelha.
Orgins is awesome. Art work was way ahead of its time.
I expected a remake ngl but this will do
I definitely did not expect a remake lol, but I will definitely take the port
I just got these for my Switch. Can’t wait to start playing
Games seem pretty unique
I love this games whimsical art style.
I'm so excited and I hope that we see the option to turn the VA off for people who want that option. I will be getting it because the first game is very special to me. It kept me company while I was very sick at age 11. Please, pick up this series
Love the video. Thank you for spreading the gospel of these games. BKO remains my #3 game of all time.
Love BKO so so much. That trio is as iconic as Sora Donald and Goofy as far as I’m concerned.
Can’t wait to play on my switch! Just wish English dub was possible
More than happy to play Baten Kaitos. Just needs to release on PC and I will.
10:09 OH MY GOD! Hahaha I actually did that! Yep I named Kala's guardian spirit "Daimon" after finishing Origins xD
Yep, makes a lot of sense to me, too.
Yoooooo that's awesome! SPOILERS BELOW
I just love the idea of Daimon having terrible judgement of character and a habit of picking...questionable partners.
@@ThrillingDuck Me too 😁😁😁
I don't really like card battle games, but I loved Baten Kaitos when I played it on Gamecube. I was so excited when this collection was announced (especially since I lent my copies of both games and they were never returned; big mistake, I know.) The only thing I miss is the so bad it's good English dub, but I'm excited to play through the first game again and hopefully finish Origins this time.
The Origins dub is genuinely excellent - it’s by far what I most miss in this collection
Great video! I love these games so much and I'm excited to get my hands on the remaster. Now that it's out, will you be making a video about it?
Thanks! I’m planning to make a combat tutorial video, since the games themselves have none and there’s a distressing amount of Eternal Wings footage on RUclips posted by people who clearly don’t know how it works lol.
I love this game so much. So much I've bought two copies.
That's some dedication right there. The Great Mizuti approves.
@@ThrillingDuck Thanks. Something about the game just click with me. The remaster got delivered today and I will be playing it this weekend. Keep up the great content. 👍
@@elvisg2410 Thanks a lot! Planning to release at least a little more on this, once my copy arrives. From Europe -_-
@@ThrillingDuckLooking forward to it. Hope you get your copy soon. I live in the UK and the physical addition was released here in limited quantities. Not sure why North America got skipped.
I played the original releases and loved them so I ordered the import physical copy of it.