Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster

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Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster is a single player tactical role playing game with fantasy and anime themes. It was developed by logicalbeat Co., Ltd. and was released on June 17, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Two RPG masterpieces return. Originally released for the Nintendo GameCube, Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean and Baten Kaitos Origins are back with improved graphics and new features to aid game progression, making them even more accessible for new players.

Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster screenshot

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76%

Audience ScoreBased on 222 reviews

story34 positive mentions

grinding9 negative mentions

Unique and innovative card-based battle system that offers strategic depth and combo mechanics, appreciated by fans of deckbuilding and JRPGs.
Beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds and art style with excellent soundtrack by Motoi Sakuraba, creating an immersive and memorable atmosphere.
Includes two games with extensive content, multiple side quests, plot twists, and quality-of-life improvements like speed-up options, auto-battle, and ability to disable encounters.

Removal of the original English voice acting dub, replaced solely with Japanese voice acting, disappointing many fans who enjoyed or relied on the English audio.
Technical and gameplay issues including slow and sometimes clunky combat, UI/UX deficiencies, inconsistent or poor remaster quality, and bugs such as deleted save files after updates.
Certain design choices have aged poorly: tedious side quests, repetitive or slow combat pacing, censorship and altered script affecting original tone, and lack of controller or input customization may frustrate modern players.

story
86 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
54%
6%
The story across the games is praised for its immersive worldbuilding, intriguing plot twists, and memorable characters, especially in the sequel which introduces deeper political intrigue. However, some find the narrative predictable, melodramatic, or padded with tedious side quests and pacing issues. Overall, fans appreciate the unique storytelling style and emotional moments despite occasional flaws and dated elements.
- “The immersive storytelling, unexpected plot twists, countless side quests, humor, and strategy-based gameplay all come together to make this game an ideal escape.”
- “The story is incredible, the graphics are stunning, the characters are memorable, there is some player choice which can dramatically affect the ending of the game with multiple endings, as well as diversions through the story based on an affinity system between the player and the main character.”
- “• the plot twist is one of the best I've ever seen in storytelling.”
- “A predictable, overused story.”
- “The main story is often padded with pointless objectives that should have been side content or removed entirely.”
- “But the plot is the typical melodramatic JRPG fare, with various story beats thrown together in a somewhat haphazard fashion (there's an hour of story content after beating the final boss, to give just one example).”
gameplay
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
59%
8%
The gameplay is praised for its unique and innovative card-based battle system, strategic depth, and engaging deckbuilding mechanics, though some find the card aging mechanic frustrating and combat pacing slow. It offers a rich RPG experience with many side quests, tactical elements, and improvements in the remaster like speed-up and auto-battle options, making it enjoyable for fans despite occasional jankiness and UI messiness. Overall, it's a distinctive and memorable gameplay that has held up well over time.
- “The immersive storytelling, unexpected plot twists, countless side quests, humor, and strategy-based gameplay all come together to make this game an ideal escape.”
- “This is an outstanding game with interesting and unique gameplay mechanics that stand up surprisingly well 15 or so years from its release.”
- “And again some very unique gameplay elements including the magnus card system, a durability/time decay system, leveling progression, as well as interesting sidequests and puzzles that aren't just 'go fetch this' and line up these statues in a certain way.”
- “Slow gameplay, especially the combat.”
- “The magnus aging mechanic is one of the worst game mechanics I've ever experienced, and the baffling fact this remaster doesn't let you speed it up (when it lets you speed up everything else) is insane.”
- “Gameplay-wise, Baten Kaitos Origins does a lot to fix and polish the flaws of the original, but in the process adds a number of new ones.”
graphics
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
50%
9%
The graphics are generally praised for their unique, colorful, and timeless art style featuring beautifully detailed pre-rendered backgrounds reminiscent of classic RPGs like Final Fantasy IX and Chrono Cross. While the HD remaster enhances clarity and maintains the original's charm with a distinctive mix of 3D renderings and 2D elements, some users note rough AI upscaling, limited graphical settings, and occasional quality drops compared to the original. Overall, the visuals strongly contribute to the game's memorable and immersive aesthetic experience.
- “The visuals are still amazing to behold - all beautifully detailed pre-rendered backgrounds from the GameCube era that make exploring the world fun and mesmerising and transitions to its sequel.”
- “Made fresh again with enhanced graphics and sound, the game was absolutely beautiful back on the GameCube and the new HD visuals certainly aren't Unreal Engine level beauty but a distinctive and beautiful style that mixes 3D renderings, 2D backgrounds, and animations with brilliant lighting effects.”
- “Art direction and visuals are textured and unique, these games are famous for some very avant-garde character and setting designs.”
- “The visuals look worse in a very specific way, and the AI upscaling on the pre-rendered backgrounds looks rough, with that fake-sharp smeared detail everywhere, so it feels like a lazy filter pass instead of a proper remaster.”
- “Whatever graphical gloss they put on the original to make it sparkle seems sorely lacking in the second game, so in comparison, playing it feels like a step down.”
- “Not a fan of the character art style, especially the 2D character portraits look awful.”
music
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
65%
31%
4%
The music, predominantly composed by Motoi Sakuraba, is consistently praised as a standout feature, with an exceptional and diverse soundtrack blending orchestral, prog, and melodic elements that greatly enhance the game's atmosphere. While some note a limited number of tracks leading to repetition, overall the soundtrack is considered one of the best in video games and a major highlight alongside the visuals.
- “Soundtrack is by Motoi Sakuraba (of Dark Souls and Golden Sun fame) and is a treasure.”
- “We never did see anything like it after... it also features hands-down the best soundtrack that Motoi Sakuraba (of Star Ocean and Dark Souls fame) has ever and probably will ever write, with a mix of epic orchestral and operatic songs, rocking prog-tunes and melancholy plin-plin-plonular piano melodies.”
- “These two games feature an amazingly fun and unique turn-based battle system (Baten Kaitos) and ATB-style system (Origins) combined with a card battler, have an amazing soundtrack composed by Motoi Sakuraba (also known for doing soundtracks for the "Tales of" games and "Dark Souls"), and beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds.”
grinding
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is often described as tedious and repetitive, especially due to the slow, card-based combat and reliance on enemy drops for attack power. While the remaster adds options to speed up these parts, managing decks and overcoming elemental weaknesses can still make progression feel like a grind. However, the engaging story and puzzles help balance the experience despite the grinding elements.
- “The card-based combat system was interesting at first, but quickly became tedious and overstayed its welcome.”
- “Sometimes the combat feels grindy due to reliance on enemy drops for attack magnus, area resistances, and opposing elemental weaknesses which bloats the learning curve.”
- “Babysitting decks for all the characters can get quite tedious.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
33%
50%
The optimization of the game is mixed, with the Switch version appearing poorly optimized compared to others. While performance on the Steam Deck is stable at 90 fps without major stuttering, some PC players report issues. Patches have improved performance, but certain areas still need refinement, and performance may degrade over time during extended play.
- “I give the GameCube originals 7.8 and 8.4 out of 10, respectively, due to them including the original dub, the better script, and better performance without the need of a patch.”
- “It would seem they just dumped the Switch version on Steam without any sort of optimization, and called it a day!”
- “I played the first game for around 20 hours, and the performance gets worse the further you progress.”
- “The patch addresses most of the performance issues, but some areas could still use some improvement here and there.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is praised for its charm and wit, blending unexpected comedic moments with immersive storytelling and quirky side quests. Players find the humor adds a lighthearted, authentic touch, highlighting family dynamics and providing amusing battle interactions. Overall, the humor enhances the game's engaging and enjoyable experience.
- “The immersive storytelling, unexpected plot twists, countless side quests, humor, and strategy-based gameplay all come together to make this game an ideal escape.”
- “I actually recommend modding the game to put humor back in (there's a mod online that works very well, with only a few occasions of mismatched lines), because it's kind of hilarious in places and gives a more authentic experience of the game.”
- “Far from being sombre, what follows is a charming, funny series of encounters running parallel to the game's main quest, showcasing the dysfunctional nature of families and the bonds of blood, both trivial and occasionally significant.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game runs smoothly and maintains a stable 120 FPS performance, though minor visual glitches in the menu are present. However, a broken achievement prevents players from fully completing the game, and this issue remains unaddressed, affecting overall stability in terms of completion.
- “Runs great at 120 fps.”
- “There are a few visual glitches involving the menu screen, and there's a broken achievement that has yet to be fixed. I am not hopeful it will be addressed any time soon, which prevents us from legitimately 100% completing the game.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
Character development is generally praised for its focus on a smaller cast of three main characters, allowing for deeper development, though opinions on character design are mixed, with some finding them detailed and unique, while others criticize certain designs as unattractive.
- “Unique, detailed character design.”
- “Overall, the character development is better because there are only three main characters.”
- “While the presentation is mostly good, one glaring flaw is how ugly many of the character designs are.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users appreciate the port for enhancing the game's atmosphere by adding rich textures, contributing to a more immersive experience.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization is widely criticized as exploitative and driven by greed, with users feeling the game is a disappointing cash grab unworthy of their money.

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75%Critics’ scoreBased on 9 critic reviews

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30h Median play time

30h Average play time

30-30h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster is a tactical role playing game with fantasy and anime themes.

Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Steam Deck and Windows.

On average players spend around 30 hours playing Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster.

Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster was released on June 17, 2024.

Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster was developed by logicalbeat Co., Ltd..

Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster is a single player game.

Similar games include Dragon Quest Builders, LEGO Harry Potter Collection, Vampires Dawn 3: The Crimson Realm, CHRONO CROSS: THE RADICAL DREAMERS EDITION, Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster and others.

Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster

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