Great vid! I loved this game as a kid because of the whole flashback mystery. Unfortunately I never "solved" the combat and couldn't get past that disc change boss.
Baten Kaitos Origins might be the most underappreciated game ever. The story and main characters are great, the soundtrack is fantastic and the combat system is among my favourites ever. By the way, BKO takes place 20 years before BK1, not 30, which is why Savyna is only 5 years old here instead of... "-5" Anyway, really great video!
The Switch remaster bundle is on my To Play list. Thanks for the in-depth review! I’ve found a fair bit of coverage on the first game but not as much for the prequel.
I managed to stumble upon this review a bit late, but I have a lot of things to say about Baten Kaitos Origins. As someone who's neighbors were gifted Baten Kaitos 1 as kids, seeing my brother buy the prequel years later was such a treat, and has become one of those Cult Classics we often experience and discuss between my circle of relatives. Playing it for myself made it into one of my favorite Gamecube games, despite some short-comings, like the Deck System and the obtuse progression. What I love about the battle system is its heavy inspirations from fighting games. From the Combo System where you chain Light, Heavy and Special Attacks, the MP System, the stun mechanic when unleashing devastating combos, the Relay Combos seemingly reminiscent of Team Combos from Marvel vs. Capcom and Skullgirls, the announcer that plays off at the start and end of each battle, when executing combos and performing the oh-so sweet MP Burst, the presentation elevates the battle system tenfold, and combined with how flashy and cinematic the character animations are, makes for an incredibly satisfying battle system that keeps me coming back to. Also, slight tangent but I noticed a lot of weird graphical glitches in the HD Remaster, especially that weird wall of text you get from EX Combo bonuses.
Regarding how much damage you can dish out in Origins near the endgame, it mainly revolves arounding chaining a lot of strong specials with endgame weapons. You need a good relationship with Marno to ensure frequent strings and relays, so its an effort built up over the game. Additionally, enemies are often hitting back just as hard relative to your HP. Sure, you can kill most enemies in one or two big combos, but they can easily tear you a new one if you get careless, with several of the stronger bosses able to deal absurd amounts of damage when they get turns (the Black Dragon King and Guillo are particularly outstanding examples, hitting so hard they can kill you with just one string of normal attacks). That's also why revival items are given to you from the start of the game and are never quite out of your reach in battle. The experience is intended to keep you on your toes but never outright impossible to deal with. The fact the game works on a pseudo-ATB system with free heal between battles, but high damage output on both sides with free revival mid-battle points to the game working off the engagement of making constant small decisions on the fly and never taking your eyes off what's going on. (Also, most of the boss-nuking combos in Origins are EX Combos only usable before the final stretch which are obviously overpowered and which you have to figure out yourself. In Eternal Wings, you simply have to build your deck right to achieve a similar effect. It's very possible to also nuke final Malpercio fight in a handful of turns with correct number picking. The damage you can output with an endgame party doing a 1-9 hand is absurd and is effectively identical to Origins in practice but way less flashy and fun imo)
I got to play Origins and the 1st game through the remaster and overall ended up being my favorite games of 2023. I did sorta fall in the pittrap of more cards in a deck so maybe the 2nd playthrough I'd go less next time but still was a fun time even if the 2nd half of the game gave me trouble even when I got the most busted combo in Sagi some enemies were a pain. But loved this game and the story of it giving me some context to the wicked god and some characters within the 1st game that was both good and a little sad with said context with Lyude and Gibari.
I love the game but apparently completionists are in for disappointment. There's one achievement (Read all letters) that just doesn't unlock, thus blocking the last achievement. Plus other glitches (Coliseum letters, Pac Man duplication) that were not fixed in the remaster. Great video though. Liked, subscribed.
You know, despite I probably wont play a Baiten Kaitos game anytime soon, the battle system is very interesting, so I liked what I saw from your review. If you want to tackle other Monolith Soft games in the future that arent Xenoblade, maybe reviewing Soma Bringer and the Project X Zone games would be cool to see.
Origins battle did take a long time to get used to for me, but once I figured out how the system worked and built a deck that leaned into my playstyle (with the help of a friend who had finished the game), it became a lot easier. One of the biggest differences I've noticed is that, in Eternal Wings, you really want/need to fill your entire deck, but in Origins, it's more than fine having a deck at 40-42 cards (of the 60 max).
![[Live] : ONE 169 วันนี้!! "อนาโตลี vs อูมาร์"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IK3YZVWuFJg/mqdefault.jpg)
![[안방1열 직캠4K] 베이비몬스터 치키타 'DRIP' (BABYMONSTER CHIQUITA FanCam) @SBS Inkigayo 241110](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tnlxo79cAqY/mqdefault.jpg)
The fantano reference caught me off guard
Great vid! I loved this game as a kid because of the whole flashback mystery. Unfortunately I never "solved" the combat and couldn't get past that disc change boss.
I found this channel from the Mario and Luigi hype but I am here to stay
Baten Kaitos Origins might be the most underappreciated game ever. The story and main characters are great, the soundtrack is fantastic and the combat system is among my favourites ever.
By the way, BKO takes place 20 years before BK1, not 30, which is why Savyna is only 5 years old here instead of... "-5"
Anyway, really great video!
The Switch remaster bundle is on my To Play list. Thanks for the in-depth review! I’ve found a fair bit of coverage on the first game but not as much for the prequel.
I managed to stumble upon this review a bit late, but I have a lot of things to say about Baten Kaitos Origins.
As someone who's neighbors were gifted Baten Kaitos 1 as kids, seeing my brother buy the prequel years later was such a treat, and has become one of those Cult Classics we often experience and discuss between my circle of relatives. Playing it for myself made it into one of my favorite Gamecube games, despite some short-comings, like the Deck System and the obtuse progression.
What I love about the battle system is its heavy inspirations from fighting games. From the Combo System where you chain Light, Heavy and Special Attacks, the MP System, the stun mechanic when unleashing devastating combos, the Relay Combos seemingly reminiscent of Team Combos from Marvel vs. Capcom and Skullgirls, the announcer that plays off at the start and end of each battle, when executing combos and performing the oh-so sweet MP Burst, the presentation elevates the battle system tenfold, and combined with how flashy and cinematic the character animations are, makes for an incredibly satisfying battle system that keeps me coming back to.
Also, slight tangent but I noticed a lot of weird graphical glitches in the HD Remaster, especially that weird wall of text you get from EX Combo bonuses.
Regarding how much damage you can dish out in Origins near the endgame, it mainly revolves arounding chaining a lot of strong specials with endgame weapons. You need a good relationship with Marno to ensure frequent strings and relays, so its an effort built up over the game. Additionally, enemies are often hitting back just as hard relative to your HP. Sure, you can kill most enemies in one or two big combos, but they can easily tear you a new one if you get careless, with several of the stronger bosses able to deal absurd amounts of damage when they get turns (the Black Dragon King and Guillo are particularly outstanding examples, hitting so hard they can kill you with just one string of normal attacks). That's also why revival items are given to you from the start of the game and are never quite out of your reach in battle. The experience is intended to keep you on your toes but never outright impossible to deal with. The fact the game works on a pseudo-ATB system with free heal between battles, but high damage output on both sides with free revival mid-battle points to the game working off the engagement of making constant small decisions on the fly and never taking your eyes off what's going on.
(Also, most of the boss-nuking combos in Origins are EX Combos only usable before the final stretch which are obviously overpowered and which you have to figure out yourself. In Eternal Wings, you simply have to build your deck right to achieve a similar effect. It's very possible to also nuke final Malpercio fight in a handful of turns with correct number picking. The damage you can output with an endgame party doing a 1-9 hand is absurd and is effectively identical to Origins in practice but way less flashy and fun imo)
I got to play Origins and the 1st game through the remaster and overall ended up being my favorite games of 2023. I did sorta fall in the pittrap of more cards in a deck so maybe the 2nd playthrough I'd go less next time but still was a fun time even if the 2nd half of the game gave me trouble even when I got the most busted combo in Sagi some enemies were a pain. But loved this game and the story of it giving me some context to the wicked god and some characters within the 1st game that was both good and a little sad with said context with Lyude and Gibari.
I love the game but apparently completionists are in for disappointment. There's one achievement (Read all letters) that just doesn't unlock, thus blocking the last achievement. Plus other glitches (Coliseum letters, Pac Man duplication) that were not fixed in the remaster.
Great video though. Liked, subscribed.
Okay, I have to hand it to you - "Geldoblame was a cartoon villain who was manipulated by an anime villain" describes Baten Kaitos so well
You know, despite I probably wont play a Baiten Kaitos game anytime soon, the battle system is very interesting, so I liked what I saw from your review. If you want to tackle other Monolith Soft games in the future that arent Xenoblade, maybe reviewing Soma Bringer and the Project X Zone games would be cool to see.
I found BKO first, loved it and thought Eternal Wings was the sequel, a really really bad sequel that went in a bad direction,
a prefer the firth baten kaitos i think origin action battle it too hard for me
Origins battle did take a long time to get used to for me, but once I figured out how the system worked and built a deck that leaned into my playstyle (with the help of a friend who had finished the game), it became a lot easier. One of the biggest differences I've noticed is that, in Eternal Wings, you really want/need to fill your entire deck, but in Origins, it's more than fine having a deck at 40-42 cards (of the 60 max).