I'm almost done to beating the game...

All I can say is...this isn't your typical RPG. You basically pick cards that either attack or defend when you're in battle. It's turn based.

The story is okay. Nothing breathtaking, but it's alright.
The voice actors could easily be replaced...sorry but...yeah. The voice quality wasn't so great either. It didn't bother me though.

It's one of the few RPGs for the gamecube. If you're patient, go for it.
I'm currently on 53 hours. This is a pretty long game.

The game was good over all. I just wasn't too fond of their "twist". However I think that it was still okay.

Here goes another attempt at reviewing an old game that isn't even on the market anymore. That's what I hate about consoles... the games are so disposable, and even the true classics are forgotten, while a lot of the great classic PC and arcade games are still being sold and talked about today.

Anyway.. Baten Kaitos..

My experience with video game RPGs goes back to the NES game called Dragon Warrior. I remember that game fondly as it was the most time I'd ever spent on a game to that point, and the emphasis on exploring and customizing your character was something that really appealed to me. I've played a hell of a lot of them since then, including Chrono Cross, which was made by the same company that made this game. Chrono Cross is a great RPG and it was the sequel to my all time favorite RPG, Chrono Trigger for the SNES. So, with that in mind, I really wanted to like this one.

The thing that separates this game from the others is the lack of customization options and the really odd battle system. I will be complaining about the battle system toward the end, so stay tuned.

What's good about this game? A lot. The story is very well told, the characters are interesting (except for Lyude, who is really just annoying), and there is a lot of random humor sprinkled throughout. Humor is very important in a game like this, where you spend close to 1/3 of the game reading text and getting the story. It's nice to have a laugh once in a while what with all the cheesy sentimentality that the characters in RPGs are so fond of spewing.

There is definitely a LOT of text to scroll through in this game. I swear at one point I encountered about 15 solid minutes of cut scenes with characters just talking and talking and talking. Most of the time, I didn't mind it, because the story is interesting enough to keep you going. However, the placement in game of some of these cut scenes is a little bit on the ridiculous side, because there are sometimes very very long cut scenes right before a boss battle, which means if you lose the battle, you're going to have to sit through the cut scene again before you can retry the boss. To make it even more annoying, there are times when you have to sit through another really long cut scene (or series of cut scenes, as this game is fond of doing) before you can finally save.

All of this would be minor if not for the way the battle system works. I'm sure that if you're reading this, you know something about it. It's card based. Each member of your party can hold a certain number of cards that determine how they attack and defend in a battle. Also, for each turn in a battle, you can only use a few randomly selected cards at a time. This system is really fun and interesting in the beginning stages of the game, but very quickly starts to show its limitations as the enemies get tougher. In your attack rounds, you will very often find that you have only defensive cards available in your hand, which means you can either do nothing or discard. Discarding means you can throw off some of your active cards (which are usually healing items when you're in this position), or discard ONE of your inactive cards. As soon as you use an inactive card, your turn ends. I can't count the number of times that I've ended up with a handful of the exact wrong type of card at any given time. When this happens, it basically means you lose a turn. Alternatively, when you're being attacked, you will often find yourself with a hand full of offensive cards. Many of the melee weapons can be used defensively as well, but if you use them, you're likely to find yourself without any cards to attack with in the next round. I can tell you right now, when either of these starts happening in the middle of a tough fight, it is NOT FUN!

The card system is a great idea, but is very very flawed at its heart. It's a shame, too, because I really did enjoy playing through this game for the most part. There was one time in particular when I was in a boss battle, and was getting seriously screwed with the card shuffle. It took me 5 hours to get past it. I swear to God. Then, when I finally did get past it, I had to fight the exact same battle AGAIN because of the way the story goes. I almost threw the controller through my TV screen. Luckily, I got a better deal in the second battle, and after a 30 minute fight and another 10 minutes of cut scenes, I could finally save.

I hope I'm making myself clear here. I like the game, and it's got a great story that will ease the pain of spending hours and hours of your life fighting the same enemy, but this is for the hardcore only. Most normal people would have turned the game off halfway through and never thought of it again. I think maybe I should have done that too, but I'm I'm not ashamed of myself that I didn't.

Baten Kaitos: 3 1/2 stars. It reaches for the heavens, but it occasionally just brings back astronaut poop.