If all you have isa Gamecube and like RPGs, check this one out. You may like it.
Cons: voice acting can definitely use work, no real cutscenes, can’t fly even though you have wings.
Well, let’s see. Where to start? Let’s just start off by saying that Baten Kaitos is a very unique/original game. The worlds and battle system are very unique. In this game, you take control of the blue-haired, sword-wielding, and ummm….winged Kalas. And well, he sets off on journey. You, the player, get to be a Guardian Spirit. Your bond with Kalas can enable special attacks during battle if you two have a good bond. How often these special attacks come also depends on your bond. Anyway, Kalas meets a girl named Xelha and they set out to find these cards called the End Magnus. The End Magnus hold the power of an evil god. Oooh…Scary. So, you end up going to the different nations to find all of the End Magnus. Of course, the bad guys want the same thing as the good guys, right? So, it’ll end up being a race to see who gets all the End Magnus first. Besides Kalas and Xelha, you’ll meet four other characters who join your party along the way. Your final party will include Gibari (a fisherman who for some reason looks kind of like Wakka from FFX), Lyude (an ambassador who I seriously thought was a girl at first), Mizuti (a kid who wears a mask which makes it look like a clown), and Savyna (a former soldier who is nicknamed “Lady Death” and you will see why). What would an RPG be without a guy who looks like a girl? Anyway, each character has a different set of wings which is supposed to help define them. Strangely enough, even though they all have wings, you can’t fly around the map. That was a bit of a disappointment but nothing major. Another downside is that there are no real cutscenes. There is one before the title screen, but that’s it. And I have to say, that one cutscene was lovely. It’s too bad they couldn’t put some in the actually game. That was probably by biggest complaint other than the voice acting. On the upside, I have to give credit to the world designs. The worlds are simply beautiful. They almost made me want to live in them. Also, for me anyway, the card based battle system was creative and fun. You’ll eventually get to use up to nine cards in a combo. Each card has anywhere from 1-4 numbers on it. So, you can get a small or big heal or damage bonus by either ordering the numbers (i.e. 1,2,3…or 9,8,7…) or by getting pokers certain hands (i.e. 4,4,55 or 6,6,6 or 2,2,7,7,7). You’ll discover these number combinations as you play. Sometimes, you’ll also have to rely on special attributes like fire and light to do extra damage to an enemy. After each battle, you’ll gain experience, obviously. The only way you can level up is to go to a church that you can warp to from save points. Sometimes, you’ll get items to upgrade your class. That means you’ll be able to add more cards to your deck. You can do this at the church as well. Now, since Baten Kaitos is a Namco game, you’ll see references to other games like Pac-man and Xenosaga. All in all, Baten Kaitos is a pretty fun game. You’ll get your cliché RPG twists and stuff. Get ready for around 80 hours of gameplay. I can’t think of anything else to say, so we’ll leave it at that. Of course, if you think of a question, you can ask me.