In 2003, Monolith Soft and tri-Crescendo collaborated to create Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean for the Nintendo GameCube, which was then published by Bandai Namco’s predecessor Namco. An evil cast of characters are trying to awaken a bad god and usher in a period of chaos in a world of sky islands floating far above a polluted earth. You take on the role of the guardian spirit of a man named Kalas who is out for vengeance. She is joined by a young woman named Xelha who has much bigger goals. Origins, the prequel, features a completely new cast of characters who are on their own quests and similar but improved systems from the original game.
The main character graphics and user interface of the remastered collection appear to have been updated, the framerate has been stabilized, and new features like the ability to disable encounters, auto-battle, skip cutscenes, and autosaving have been added. The English voice acting of Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean was one of the main criticisms of it at the time, yet the voiceover languages listed only appear to include Japanese for the time being.
The card battle and deck system in Baten Kaitos allows cards to alter based on interactions with other cards as well as other factors like playtime. We praised it as “one of the finer experiences on the GameCube” when it first released, and we also really enjoyed Baten Kaitos Origins. It’s wonderful to hear that this legendary RPG series is making a comeback after all these years.