Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Namco Masterpiece, 11 April 2005
IMPORTANT-This review is based on having played 20 hours of the game-it has not yet been completed, but there aren't many reviews to it! A further review will be posted on completion!This is the most difficult game i have ever had to review, allow me to tell you why. The story is fantastic. You follow Kalas, a young man you unwillingly ends up in a fight to obtain these "End Magnus" magical cards which hold the power of Malpercio, an ancient and evil God who once drank the entire sea! There is a fight to obtain these cards before the empire, however i will say no more so that nothing else is given away! The locations and graphics are fantastic. The locations are set in CG (very good graphics, like video) and are so incredibly varied and exotic. One of my favourites is the rainbow nation, with its constant celebrations, however, the clouds and the smoke create an atmosphere i have never seen in any game before! The magic looks absolutely incredible and every attack reminds you of a summon from FF7. Now here is the difficult bit. The battle system is based on cards (hear me out on this) I fear it will alienate many good RPG players because it is so unlike any battle system ever seen before. Basically cards are broken down into three types, attack, defense and heal. You assign a number of these cards to each player before battle. They are then randomly selected and you can either attack, defend of heal depending on the cards. The further into the game you get, the more powerfull the cards. The same applies to defense. There are numbers in the corner, and if you match numbers or flush them (1,2,3 etc) then you get end of battle bonuses resulting in better, flashier cards. Describing this system is hard, but if you keep going, it really grows on you and it flows like a dream, effortlessly, and imaginatively. The only downside to this game is this really. What if by strange misfortune, you dont get any attack cards on an attack go? It happens, and that can really annoy you as you waste a go and a card just trying to get an attack card. THAT IS ONE OF THE MOST IRRITATING CIRCUMSTANCES KNOWN TO MAN OR BEAST! However, this game is still fantastic and easily the second best RPG that the gamecube has to offer (i would still pick tales of symphonia) Great game.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
AN OVERLOOKED GEM, 17 Jun 2005
An amazing game - brilliantly put together, presented & layed out. The battle system is unlike anything I have previously come across in an RPG, being card-based. Don't let this put you off as it soon becomes second-nature, and can be very rewarding. It also creates very fast-paced battles, and by pulling off different combos with your cards (i.e. pairs, straights, etc) results in greater attack / defense percentages. This is handy when encountering boss battles, some of which on the second disc can be very challenging. It's also a long game. I finished it in around 65 hours, possibly longer. The story is your typical hero save the world from destruction stuff, and bring along a party of mates to help you. But, as you progress there are some really good back stories to each character, and good side-quests to follow. This is of course good for levelling-up aswell! I would highly reccommend this game, and it's nice to see a cube exclusive with this amount of high production value for a change.
5/Jan 2009 - Just want to add a review for Baten Kaitos Origins. It never came out PAL region as Gamecube was dead over here by the end of 2006, but I imported it with a Freeloader & this is even better than Eternal Wings! I never thought I would say that, but it is. The battle system is again card based, but action is real-time in this game & is much, much faster. There are only three characters this time around, and they all share the same deck rather than each have one, so very careful planning is required in order to get the best combos out of your characters. These are called ex-combos, and when performed they can have beneficial effects to your party, such as heal you, increase your speed, or knock down your opponent giving you time to prepare your next move without any come back first. You can also chain attacks together between characters, called relay attacks, which if pulled off with special attacks can be absolutely devastating. Some of the special attacks are enough on their own however. The original BK was challenging, but this is merciless. I was stuck on the same boss on the second disk for an unbelievable length of time, and was very close to giving up, but with persistence and a new strategy I got past it and the game is so worth finishing its not true! Absolutely brilliant and one of my favourite games of all time. The story is gradually explained very well & reveals a lot to the first one. Go and import it, its cheap and worth the effort. 5 stars.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good Gamecube RPG for once, 25 April 2005
Ok of you've read the other reviews on this game by other Amazon customers then you should know that this is a brilliant game even if it has a card-based battle system. Don't get me wrong I do prefer the non-card RPGs such as Skys of Arcadia, Tales of Symphonia, Final Fantasy, oh and star ocean 3, but this game really pulls off the card-based system.Once your used to the cards (doesn't take long) battles begin to flow and you really appriciate the system. There is a lot of strategy involved in this RPG in and out of battles. Its all down to what cards (a.k.a "Magnus") you put in your deck (your deck consists of the card you use in battle) before battles and bosses. Choose the wrong element and ur gonna have a hard time. You have to plan ahead. I usually fight one enemy in a new area with all different elements and use the results screen to decide what elements to use. The battles also rely heavily on you pulling off combos. One thing that is a tad annoying is the fact that in order to level up from your experience from battle you have to use a special save point in cities and towns to go to a church and pray. This is also how you must go about increaseing your combo capabilities. The voices sound like the voice actors have colds or just a crap recording equipment but its nothing unusual in games at the moment. The music is quite good but still no match for Final Fantasy. Most importantly there are different versions of battle music and boss music so it isn't a repetative as you think. This game uses 2d pre-rendered backgrounds (remember FFVII), but nearly all of them are drawn excellently and animated. The backgrounds are very vivid and immersive. The story can be predictable at times, but its a good story and steadily progressed. So overall i'd give this game 8.5/10
if your looking for a good RPG for the gamecube then look no further! But if your really against card-based games get tales of symphonia! another excellent gamecube RPG!
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