I love RPGs and I'm just about done with Tales of Symphonia, so I'll be looking for another RPG to play. I have some reservations about the card battle aspect of these, but I've only seen a few videos so maybe it's not as bad as it might seem. Should I be looking to get these games, or should I just save up my money and get a PS2/3 and get old PS2 RPGs (I've played a lot of PS2 RPGs, but I dont think I've played much if anything that came out after X-2).
How are the Baten Kaitos games?
- Thread starter Ryukahn
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Allnatural
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I thought the card system was great, and like you I had some reservations about it. Unfortunately it doesn't really come into its own until late in the game, when you start acquiring cards with 3-4 spirit numbers. Stringing together combos becomes easier and more fun. First impressions aren't exactly inspiring though, and the lackluster story, bland characters, and trully awful voice acting (yes, it really is as bad as you've read) doesn't help. I haven't gotten around to the second game yet, but it looks to be an improvement in almost every way.
You might (eventually) enjoy it like I did, but buying a PS2 would give you access to much more.
You might (eventually) enjoy it like I did, but buying a PS2 would give you access to much more.
Card battles actually are appealing to me, but what I want to know is, is it another RPG where you can't see your ememies until you are in a battle and thus have random battles? If so I'll skip it. I'd also like to know what Gamecube and/or PS2 RPGs don't have random battles and do let you see (and avoid) enemies? Aside from Paper Mario (which I loved.)
dude if you don't like random battles you're limiting yourself to about 1/10th of the rpgs out there, and about 1/8th of the good ones
edit: sorry not trying to be harsh just trying to get the truth across. Btw, Baten kaitos is a good game, but the card battling system can be very frustrating at times. Oh yeah, and big problem with the second game, everyone shares the same deck (okay that's not a completely bad thing (less cards to get) but still I want my decks customized to each character.
edit: sorry not trying to be harsh just trying to get the truth across. Btw, Baten kaitos is a good game, but the card battling system can be very frustrating at times. Oh yeah, and big problem with the second game, everyone shares the same deck (okay that's not a completely bad thing (less cards to get) but still I want my decks customized to each character.
I enjoyed the original Baten Kaitos game and agree with others that the card system gets much better late game once you get cards with multiple numbers. I'm also about half way through Baten Kaitos Origins and so far don't like it nearly as much as the first one. Having only one deck really limits some of the combo's you can pull off since many of the cards can only be used by one party member. And yes, for both games you can see the enemies on the screen when you're walking around so it's not a random battles kinda game. However, they make up for this by having fairly narrow paths in a lot of places so you can't just run past all of the enemies. To summarize, I'd recommend Baten Kaitos, but might consider skipping Origins.
Lone_Prodigy
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I have Origins and from asking people on those boards, they seem to recommend that game over Eternal Wings. I think if I asked on EW boards they'd say the opposite. 
Lone_Prodigy
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[quote name='Ryukahn']Which game would you recommend playing first? Origins is a prequel if I read it right, so should I start with that one, or does it spoil stuff found in EW (unlikely since EW takes place after Origins)?[/quote]
Found it.
http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=929928&topic=40854293
Found it.
http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=929928&topic=40854293
The current GS coupon (25% off GC/PS2/XB games) makes this a good time to see if I can find a used copy of either of these games.
As far as avoiding random battle type games limiting my choices... well, obviously. Similarly I don't like fighting games and that limits my choice of games in general too. The point is that I don't like random battles/not seeing the enemies as I find that really annoying, so if an RPG with random battles is the best RPG ever for you and others, it's probably not going to be for me. I'd be a fool to buy a fighting game when I don't like fighting games, and similarly for random battle rpg games.
As far as avoiding random battle type games limiting my choices... well, obviously. Similarly I don't like fighting games and that limits my choice of games in general too. The point is that I don't like random battles/not seeing the enemies as I find that really annoying, so if an RPG with random battles is the best RPG ever for you and others, it's probably not going to be for me. I'd be a fool to buy a fighting game when I don't like fighting games, and similarly for random battle rpg games.
[quote name='crunchewy']The current GS coupon (25% off GC/PS2/XB games) makes this a good time to see if I can find a used copy of either of these games.
As far as avoiding random battle type games limiting my choices... well, obviously. Similarly I don't like fighting games and that limits my choice of games in general too. The point is that I don't like random battles/not seeing the enemies as I find that really annoying, so if an RPG with random battles is the best RPG ever for you and others, it's probably not going to be for me. I'd be a fool to buy a fighting game when I don't like fighting games, and similarly for random battle rpg games.[/QUOTE]
This is a well-timed thread, since I finally just got around to playing it. My opinions:
The card battling element is the best part of the game, frankly. Some of the character/world designs are quite good as well, but outside of that, it's really a very traditional JRPG, and your enjoyment of the game hinges on how much you can sit through a ton of the same old genre conventions again. That's not a knock on the game per se -- it's just that the card system is really one of the few fresh elements in an otherwise typical game of the type.
And yes, you can see enemies on the map before you fight them.
As far as avoiding random battle type games limiting my choices... well, obviously. Similarly I don't like fighting games and that limits my choice of games in general too. The point is that I don't like random battles/not seeing the enemies as I find that really annoying, so if an RPG with random battles is the best RPG ever for you and others, it's probably not going to be for me. I'd be a fool to buy a fighting game when I don't like fighting games, and similarly for random battle rpg games.[/QUOTE]
This is a well-timed thread, since I finally just got around to playing it. My opinions:
The card battling element is the best part of the game, frankly. Some of the character/world designs are quite good as well, but outside of that, it's really a very traditional JRPG, and your enjoyment of the game hinges on how much you can sit through a ton of the same old genre conventions again. That's not a knock on the game per se -- it's just that the card system is really one of the few fresh elements in an otherwise typical game of the type.
And yes, you can see enemies on the map before you fight them.
Will D Thrill
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I've only played the original BK and it is one of my favorite GC games. They make the game longer than it needs to towards the end but it's still great. The music and atmosphere will make this game an instant classic for anyone. Sure it has its problems but I highly recommend it, the first one that is. I'm not even an RPG fan and I enjoyed this game. It's the first card based RPG I have played and while I don't like the random shuffling of the deck it was still enjoyable.
EDIT:
Thinking back here is a list of likes and dislikes of the game.
-Dislikes-
-Deck getting randomly shuffled per battle. Sometimes you just can't win with the hand you are dealt. It gets mostly annoying in tough battles that can last up to 20 minutes.
-Not being able to create a custom deck per character. A lot of time is wasted switching cards around between different characters for different battles. Would have been much better to be able to have some kind of deck save mode for each character in multiple scenarios.
-Should be allowed to choose more than one card at a time during battle and line them up in a row. With the option of switching out any card as long as you do it before the timer runs out. There's too much wasted time just having to do one card at a time and then wait and then do your next card. If I know what series of cards I want to use I can just line them up and then press a button to execute them all.
-Typical JRPG character and plot scenarios.
-Battles that last a long time that you have to do over a lot. Especially towards the end with some redundant battles that should have just been removed.
-Likes-
-The music score is one that I hold up with the best of all time.
-The worlds that were created will never leave your memory. So beautiful and different from each other.
-The cards are dynamic and change over time. Milk can spoil and take away energy instead of give energy then it can turn into a fine cheese and give even more energy than the original milk card ever could have. The combining of certain cards in combination with each other to achieve amazing attacks or healing is a great system.
-A very robust deck with many combinations and features.
I'm sure I have more but that's just off the top of my head for now. Haven't played this game since it came out. I seem to be on the opposite end of you, have only started Tales of Symphonia. Maybe I should play through that while you play through BK:EW.
EDIT:
Thinking back here is a list of likes and dislikes of the game.
-Dislikes-
-Deck getting randomly shuffled per battle. Sometimes you just can't win with the hand you are dealt. It gets mostly annoying in tough battles that can last up to 20 minutes.
-Not being able to create a custom deck per character. A lot of time is wasted switching cards around between different characters for different battles. Would have been much better to be able to have some kind of deck save mode for each character in multiple scenarios.
-Should be allowed to choose more than one card at a time during battle and line them up in a row. With the option of switching out any card as long as you do it before the timer runs out. There's too much wasted time just having to do one card at a time and then wait and then do your next card. If I know what series of cards I want to use I can just line them up and then press a button to execute them all.
-Typical JRPG character and plot scenarios.
-Battles that last a long time that you have to do over a lot. Especially towards the end with some redundant battles that should have just been removed.
-Likes-
-The music score is one that I hold up with the best of all time.
-The worlds that were created will never leave your memory. So beautiful and different from each other.
-The cards are dynamic and change over time. Milk can spoil and take away energy instead of give energy then it can turn into a fine cheese and give even more energy than the original milk card ever could have. The combining of certain cards in combination with each other to achieve amazing attacks or healing is a great system.
-A very robust deck with many combinations and features.
I'm sure I have more but that's just off the top of my head for now. Haven't played this game since it came out. I seem to be on the opposite end of you, have only started Tales of Symphonia. Maybe I should play through that while you play through BK:EW.
Allnatural
CAGiversary!
[quote name='Will D Thrill']
-Dislikes-
-Deck getting randomly shuffled per battle. Sometimes you just can't win with the hand you are dealt. It gets mostly annoying in tough battles that can last up to 20 minutes.
[/quote]
No kidding. They could have fixed that by letting you sacrifice your turn to shuffle the deck, rather than waiting until you've burned through most of your cards.
-Dislikes-
-Deck getting randomly shuffled per battle. Sometimes you just can't win with the hand you are dealt. It gets mostly annoying in tough battles that can last up to 20 minutes.
[/quote]
No kidding. They could have fixed that by letting you sacrifice your turn to shuffle the deck, rather than waiting until you've burned through most of your cards.
I think I'm gonna give these games a shot this week. I finished XIII yesterday and gave Killer7 a second chance today (I hated it after playing it for about 30 minutes a few months ago and have shelved it since). If I don't like the first one, I'll be selling them through my list here.
I think I'm gonna give these games a shot this week. I finished XIII yesterday and gave Killer7 a second chance today (I hated it after playing it for about 30 minutes a few months ago and have shelved it since). If I don't like the first one, I'll be selling them through my list here.
i was scared of the card battles as well but it turns out to not be so bad.
The voice acting does sound like they recorded thru tin cans but my exgirlfriend (who accidentally deleted my 20+ hour gamesave when she created her own) finished the game and she told me that it gets better half way thru the game. I don't know what that means because I haven't had the heart to start over again yet. The game is fun though.
[quote name='Will D Thrill']I've only played the original BK and it is one of my favorite GC games.
-Dislikes-
-Not being able to create a custom deck per character. A lot of time is wasted switching cards around between different characters for different battles. Would have been much better to be able to have some kind of deck save mode for each character in multiple scenarios.
[/quote]
Since BK does have custom decks per character. I'll assume you only played the second game (Prequel)
The voice acting does sound like they recorded thru tin cans but my exgirlfriend (who accidentally deleted my 20+ hour gamesave when she created her own) finished the game and she told me that it gets better half way thru the game. I don't know what that means because I haven't had the heart to start over again yet. The game is fun though.
[quote name='Will D Thrill']I've only played the original BK and it is one of my favorite GC games.
-Dislikes-
-Not being able to create a custom deck per character. A lot of time is wasted switching cards around between different characters for different battles. Would have been much better to be able to have some kind of deck save mode for each character in multiple scenarios.
[/quote]
Since BK does have custom decks per character. I'll assume you only played the second game (Prequel)
I'm still on the fence on what to do lol. On one side, I'm not really sure I want to invest in a PS2/3 due to limited play time and budget, even though I'd like to play some of the games (probably wouldn't play many non RPGs though). On the other side, I keep telling myself that instead of spending ~$40 on games I'm not sure I'd like, I could be putting that towards a PS2/3 with games that I know I would like.
Do these games offer any kind of New Game+ like Tales of Symphonia has? If they do it would really help with the replay value and probably appease me enough until the new ToS comes out on Wii.
Do these games offer any kind of New Game+ like Tales of Symphonia has? If they do it would really help with the replay value and probably appease me enough until the new ToS comes out on Wii.
bread's done