- Publisher: Bandai Namco Games
- Release Date: Sep 14, 2023
- Also On: PC
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Sep 24, 2023RPGs don’t always age well. Things like combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving can change drastically in a handful of years. The Baten Kaitos games hold up pretty well, all things considered. The visuals are great and the combat is excellent. The Remaster also does a great job of smoothing over certain rough patches. There’s a generous autosave system in place, for one thing. The modern combat upgrades also go a long way to making those slow battles feel faster. On the other hand, the story feels very by-the-numbers. I felt like I was running down a checklist of tropes within a few hours of the first game. But if card-based battle systems are your thing, this collection is a godsend. If nothing else, Baten Kaitos I&II provides a fascinating snapshot of a lost era of GameCube RPGs.
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Oct 6, 2023The Baten Kaitos Collection is a duology remaster that's full of contrasts, demonstrating perfectly the highs and lows that come with bringing decades old games to new consoles. The two games are great little JRPGs from yesteryear, however given the weird nature of the first and the generic nature of the second, it’s difficult to recommend to any but those wanting the nostalgia trip or die-hard fans of the genre.
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Sep 29, 2023The Baten Kaitos games deserve better than this remaster gives them, but for new and returning players alike, it is still a great addition to any RPG fan’s Switch library. Hopefully, this collection isn’t the last we see of the Magnus-slinging series and is instead the beginning of a bright future ahead for the series.
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Sep 22, 2023Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster is a worthwhile release, though it feels like a bit of a mixed bag. Despite some cool ideas here, both games epitomize the ‘flawed masterpiece’ while the changes and updates made for this remaster are minimal at best (though obviously welcome). This package is easy to recommend to any fans who want to venture further into Monolith’s back catalog and are looking for something a little unconventional to scratch that RPG itch. Just recognize that this isn’t something that you need to rush and play immediately and that both games are very much products of their time, with design elements that feel outdated in a modern context.
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Oct 25, 2023Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster brilliantly showcases Monolith Soft’s signature worldbuilding and storytelling abilities, but exhausting battles and overworld exploration also expose the originals’ age. The remaster’s improvements – despite their lackadaisical implementation – manage to at least make some of this duology’s worst aspects passable.
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Apr 15, 2025Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster is frustrating because it is so close to being great and is only undermined by its utterly perplexing choices put into the boosters. The meta of resisting the boosters is too distracting for the experience, and succumbing turns these games into walking sims with some visual novel elements. The new UI elements have an air of "mobile game" about them, but thankfully the in-game visuals still look hot, and the QOL feature to speed up combat is a worthwhile addition. Baten Kaitos I & II are not the best from Monolith Soft, but they are both still way better than Xenosaga: Episode II and are roughly on the same level as Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Even without the boosters, there are better retro JPRGs out there, but few of them will look as nice as these.
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Apr 26, 2024Opening the time capsule that is Baten Kaitos reveals a hodgepodge of gameplay ideas, story beats, and even visual styles from island to island that reaches for the stars but doesn’t land among the clouds. Instead, it crashes back into the earth with the rest of the mortals. Although it is more fallen angel than god, there are definitely parts that shine, such as Mizuti meeting with her family—but they would have shone even brighter if they weren’t lost amidst the game’s weaknesses.
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Nov 23, 2023This pair of games has not aged with full honor.
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