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Good: Story explores beginnings of Baten Kaitos universe, interesting card-based gameplay, beautifully designed game world

Bad: Lots of required grinding, heavy reliance on luck, occasional fetch quests and backtracking, some lifeless background images, annoying voice-overs

For Fans Of: Final Fantasy, Hoyle Casino

I remember when I was growing up, a lot of kids played collectible card games as an alternative to videogames. Nowadays, it seems like more and more videogames have taken that fad into consideration, and have incorporated collectible cards into their own design. The original Baten Kaitos took that philosophy to the extreme, with everything from battling to puzzle-solving utilizing cards collected throughout the game world. It was an interesting approach, and actually worked much better than other similar card-based games. In turn, many RPG fans found a new cult classic and a good reason to pick up a Gamecube. Now, Baten Kaitos returns to its, well, origins in Baten Kaitos Origins, and once again, the cards are the star.

Like any good RPG, a huge emphasis is placed on the story in Origins, and in that area, the game delivers. Serving as a prequel to the original, Origins follows the story of a young spiriter named Sagi, who has the unique ability to communicate with his spirit buddy, represented by you, the player.

In the early stages of the game, Sagi is framed for the murder of the emperor, and suddenly finds himself a fugitive on the run, along with his two friends, the robot Guillo and the young lady Milly. To avoid spoilers, I won't go into much more detail, but know that Baten Kaitos Origins delivers a great story on par with the original.

Baten Kaitos was an extremely card-driven game, and Origins is no different. Gameplay revolves around collection of various cards, called Magnus. Players can access key items and store their essence in blank Magnus in order to solve problems. Several fetch-type quests require players to collect specific Magnus essences and return them to the quest-givers. The amount of quests that fall into this category is kind of annoying, as is the sheer amount of backtracking that's sometimes necessary.

The real meat of the game lies in its battle system, which is once again card-based. It works very differently from most RPGs, and for many players it will be the real deciding factor in whether they enjoy the game or not. During battle, players are dealt a hand of cards from their deck, which they can organize in between fights. These cards are comprised of attacks cards, special ability cards, and equipment cards, among others. Which cards you are dealt is completely random, making battles largely dependent on luck, which can be irritating. There's nothing worse than fighting a tough boss and constantly being dealt cards that are completely useless for the situation.

Of course, there is some strategy to the routine. By stringing together attacks of increasing power levels, players can unleash combos for greater damage. Additionally, the organization of your deck for a given situation is very important, and with over 600 cards to choose from, the possibilities are nearly limitless. Since HP replenishes after every fight, each battle is its own self-contained challenge, affording you the ability to go all out with your resources.

Another interesting element of the card-based battle system is the way it deals with equipment. Rather than equipping your characters with weapons and armor in the traditional sense, players can put weapon and armor cards in their deck, and then use them on characters when drawn during battle. This equipment has limited durability, meaning it will disappear after a few hits. It's a very interesting twist on the traditional equipment system, although the element of luck in drawing a desired piece of equipment can once again be irritating.

Origins should take most players 40-50 hours to complete, but the wealth of sidequests should extend the game time well beyond that. Origins is actually a very open-ended game in that regard. Early on, players receive an airship, allowing them to visit the game's large variety of locations at their leisure. Players are able to take on a number of side missions right away or they can choose to push on with the main story. However, those who choose the latter might find themselves quickly overwhelmed. Origins actually requires a fair amount of grinding to overcome some of the boss fights, so players averse to that style of gameplay might want to look elsewhere.

Graphically, Origins is wonderful in terms of art direction, but occasionally disappointing on the technical end. The characters, monsters, and areas are very imaginative and well designed. The character models are fairly detailed and look exceptionally good in combat. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the 3-D combat backdrops, some of which are so basic they look like they could have been ripped straight from a PS1 RPG. Some of the game's 2-D world maps fall into the same trap, with extremely limited animation that sometimes gives them a very lifeless look.

Sound is equally hit-or-miss, with pretty good music cancelled out by sometimes unbearable voice acting. The voice-acting for Sagi in particular is often grating and childish-sounding. That's not a good thing considering you have to spend the entire game listening to him. Some of the other characters are a little better, such as Guillo, who has a chilling gender-defying robot voice that perfectly captures the character's mysterious nature.

Whether or not you'll like Baten Kaitos Origins really rests on how much you're willing to put up with the card-based gameplay. Many players were turned off by the original because of its over-reliance on luck, and Origins will do little to persuade those players otherwise. However, for fans of the original and anyone looking for a good story and an RPG that offers something a little different, you're in for a treat.

Graphics: 7.5

Sound: 7.0

First Play: 8.0

Replay Value: 8.5

Gameplay: 8.0

Overall: 8.0