Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster Review - An Overlooked JRPG

Thank you for watching,
please subscribe if you like our content.
Also, leave a comment and let us know your opinion.
Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster are memorable JRPGs that can finally fully spread their wings in this remastered package. While the systems might cause early confusion no matter which entry you're playing, they both develop into a masterful adventure. The added quality-of-life features made these titles approachable for any who wish to casually revisit the narrative or experience it for the first time. I'm glad these classics have graced a modern platform for fans, both new and old.
● Read the full review here: noisypixel.net...
A review copy was purchased by the outlet.
● Noisy Pixel Patreon
/ noisypixel
● Closing Theme: Alex Valles
/ planeptunian
● Background Music
app.soundstrip...
● Noisy Pixel Discord
/ discord
● Website
www.noisypixel...
● Social Media:
/ noisypixelnews
/ noisypixelnews
/ noisypixelnews
● Listen to our Podcasts:
Unqualified Game Chat: open.spotify.c...
Pixel Perfect: (coming soon!)
#batenkaitos #gamereview #noisypixel

[@likealaddertothesun]

It's a major bummer they removed the cheesy english voice acting. I'm going to miss it. I hope this does well and we can get a new BK game someday tho

[@wazzer912]

I think it's sold well so far considering Playasia ran out of stock is waiting for a restock on Thursday

[@mcm426]

I'm playing it for the first time and was bummed when I heard they removed it, and then I looked up clips and my god it's awful 💀

[@StewNWT]

it's so lazy

[@-lord1754]

Idk how good of an indicator this is but i hope you are right@@wazzer912

[@azoth7756]

@@mcm426 Yep of course, that's why they didn't include English voice audio.

[@Zuntenshi]

Oh. Someone finally covering the release! Bandai dropped the ball by not sending review codes (and basically not even promoting the game). While i've only played a few hours of the first game so far, I can definitely feel the story of that game holding up, similar to what the review mentions!

[@t.j.9226]

It’s almost like they want it to fail so they don’t have to allow Honne et al to get back to Baten Kaitos III 😅

[@ElNeekoo]

I know right. I’ve been trying to find content to watch as I play

[@chadchad33]

I played these as a kid, and am now seeing more foreshadowing. Having my years long questions answered makes me love this game even more!!! ❤

[@Wesgarbarwil1420]

I usually don't like card games but this and a game called Lost Kingdom were two of my favourite games on the Gamecube!

[@chadchad33]

I've been holding my breath on a Lost Kingdom release!

[@TylerAvi]

I was really bummed that they removed the english dubs from both games. It was a part of why I loved these games.

[@Kerdukie]

So glad your review turned out fairly well. Can't wait to play these classics again❤

[@gvaz9636]

I still have my original GameCube copy. Waited 20 years for this to be remastered. Never played Origins so this is a godsend for me. Now, as a diehard fan of the original (it’s on my list of one of the greatest), I am both sad yet interested in the no English dub thing. It’s like a whole new playthrough so I choose to accept it. The frame rate is bipolar, I will admit. Some areas are a wonderful 60fps and I can clearly tell when it stutters for half a second and transitions to 30-45fps. But these games are delicious RPGs guys. Like NoisyPixel said, this isn’t Symphonia remaster. Play these games and appreciate the creative tactical battles, the beautiful art design, the impeccable soundtrack. What a fantastic series.

[@kristianfioresinzarhafner8509]

I'm a fan of difficult turn-based and complex plot RPGs. Since I never had a GC, this really inspires me

[@PM-xc8oo]

That is super unfortunate that the English dub was completely removed. It wasn't a "good" dub but something is better than nothing and the "recoded in a tin can" quality had a certain charm.

[@ryanretirement6662]

I still have this game on my gamecube i bought 20 years ago time fly by fast. And now i retire this year 2023 i quit my rat race job i work for the company for 12 years.

[@sleepiestofall]

I'm so happy to finally be able to play these games. Having an absolute blast so far.

[@flygonic]

This is the RPG I hold closest to my heart because it's the one that introduced me to the genre back in 2003 when I was 15 yo. Still can't believe I'm playing this on the Switch 20 years later. I will never forget how I literally jumped off my couch the day they announced it on that Nintendo Direct.

[@sanjithechef]

I trust Noisy Pixel reviews more than anyone. So happy you’ve reviewed a large majority of games I’m interested in

[@Psych0boost]

I was looking forward to this remaster until I learned about the cut English dub and downgraded localization. I wanted an experience accurate to the original release, and it’s disappointing to see this keep happening with rereleases

[@justinscott7546]

Absolutely loved these games growing up so seeing a HD Collection was on of my "Pipe dream" wishes. Thankfully it came true. Lost Ocean combat is technically deeper when you really get into it but Origins simple approach makes it way faster and more fun in my opinion. Good review! Can't wait to replay these games soon when my physical copy comes in.

[@DieselJT]

Waiting on my physical copy to get to me! Beyond excited, 2 more days to wait!

[@hatchell18]

It’s digital only though?

[@DieselJT]

@@hatchell18 I imported a japanese physical copy. The japanese version has English on the cartridge. It also came with a download code for the digital art book. Just happy to own both of these games on a physical cart!

[@donstarlancer]

Sweet. I was totally surprised by the announcement and am glad the final package is worth it. Definitely getting this. Been about 18 years since I played the original and never played the 2nd one.

[@real_Furryratchet]

Guys. Give these games a chance. They are my favourite RPG's on the whole planet! This remaster is pretty good! It only lacks the english voices. But the rest is brilliant!

[@tinyginger]

I know people think the English voice overs are cheesy, I enjoyed them.

[@EugeneKurlikin]

There’s plot twists and then there’s this games plot twist

[@pault.6653]

THANK YOU for making content about this game! It blows my mind that this is essentially the only review I've been able to find so far. No one gives a shit about this game.

[@NoisyPixelNews]

We give a shit about all games

[@chapterblaq]

I'm playing through this for the first time. I played the demo at Walmart as a kid and been trying to play it ever since.

[@yamammiwammi]

These games are really something else. The story alone and it’s twists have stayed with me these 20 years and I’ve seen nothing like them since. Probably Monolith’s best work in that department. I wish it was marketed better. The series deserves an extension, it’s so unique and everyone who plays it seems to really enjoy it.

[@andr0zzsenpai]

Thankfully it's not just me, I regard Origins (or II) as the far superior game, yet you don't see people praising it as much compared to the first one. Back in the day I played Origins first so going back to the original was super tough, the combat system is much much faster and fun in Origins and I much preffer the small cast of characters. Hopefully people will give it a chance with this remaster.

[@Teremei]

got my physical copy. I look forward to playing these again. I don't think I ever beat origins either, so bonus!

[@alphtheor.879]

"Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean" is a mysterious name, and then the second game is called origins, so I looked it up, Origin's Original name is "Wings of the Beginning and Heir to the gods" a way bad ass name.

[@JMrealgamer]

I love it when RPG’s respect church. I remember scraping the surface of this back in the day but I will get this. QOL improvements are worth it alone. I didn’t think it was out yet!

[@jaydeebow6431]

Played the games years ago on my GameCube and absolutely loved the games and never enjoyed card battlers and still don't, but that being said this is how they should be made, these games stories take a ton of twist so be ready lol

[@PoPo-qp8zq]

Great game, I'm really enjoy playing it for the first time

[@lex_is_law5654]

Finally, someone reviewed the game in depth. Very informative. Thank you very much.

[@S_Hyde]

These have what probably are the best Motoi Sakuraba OSTs As usual, the changes for "modern" perspectives make me not want to get this, but I was weak and want to support the series so I ended up importing the physical version. It's a shame.

[@nuclearbeeberman]

thank you for the review, I was always afraid the ports are bad because their have been no reviews :)

[@mandalorianroby2542]

this is the review i was waiting for! bought just now

[@NoisyPixelNews]

i'm waiting on the physical release

[@lc3212]

@@NoisyPixelNewssame here but thank you guys for reviewing and bringing attention to it.

[@Brandon667x1]

@@NoisyPixelNewsas am I. Mine already shipped.

[@chadchad33]

I hope you enjoy the games!!

[@josephklause4869]

For me personally BK 1 hasn't aged that well honestly. I still enjoy it, especially with the speed-up features, but still, the game in itself is very slow. Some fights can take ages. When it comes to performance, there was one particular boss fight that basically ran in slowmotion. I'm acually surprised you didn't mention it in the video, since that massive performance drop really messed with the combat machanics. Also, the controls during combat are far from ideal. Like, 50% of the time my inputs are being read incorrectly. That's quite frustrating. I prefer BK2s fighting system by a longshot. It's faster, more satisfying and the fact you can easily discard multiple magnus makes such a difference. Chaining together a huge relay combo always feels great. Also I think, even though BK1s story is certainly more interesting, BK2s characters just have such a great chemistry, that I enjoy story bits far more. BK1 might scare newcomers away, but since you can now skip battles and speed up things, I think it's still worth a shot. However, the 1-shot option is a bit much... I mean, that literally takes away all challenge :P And I really miss the english voices in the 2nd game too....

[@ikwilgeenkanaalzeur]

The art and backgrounds look great!

[@sombrego2260]

As always you deliver the best review coverage of the game with in depth analysis and examples. I might pick up the remaster eventually.

[@NoisyPixelNews]

Much appreciated!

[@lazyPawdy]

When you described Kalas as being callous. I wonder if it’s a pun by the makers… I have this ordered and can’t wait.

[@Hero190909]

Did they say English dub was removed because text was being altered for the modern day? Also, for someone who hasn't played Origins, would there be any benefit to playing Origins before Eternal Wings?

[@tinyginger]

I always play origins first because it sets up the story for the second. I ended up playing it first anyway. You can play lost oceans first, and won’t get too confused but it will make more sense of you play origins first.

[@maroXUprising]

So glad to see this remaster happen. Many have already said they'd hope for a xenogears/saga HD Remaster and such. Hopefully those do get remasters or anything at all at this point. And on another note...idk how many ppl care or have played these games.... there's like several pretty good 6th gen games that deserved to be remastered, the Wii has some games i'd love to see remastered like "The Last Story" & "Pandora's Tower." Heck, would like to see MadWorld from sega/PlatinumGames remastered too just for the heck of it lol.

[@christopherokamoto1931]

It's so funny that it's egregious for a lot of people, as the biggest selling point for me is getting the original Japanese audio since it also wasn't an option to play with it on the original NA release.

[@FaerieFaye]

japanese sound so much better than the eng voices, especially "that" scene.

[@jibblerino]

Great review, i'm curious about this one.

[@bender9740]

I'm just kinda waiting for my physical to arrive... Supposedly it'll be here within the next couple days. Here's hoping!

[@XxXPerseus]

Great information, thank you! I hate card-based RPGs so I will never touch these.

[@xaicast55]

All they had to do was make English and Japanese dubs both optional. Removing something that was in the original games is REALLY stupid. I thought the English voice acting in Baten Kaitos Origins was excellent and emotional. This stupid removal makes me lean towards not buying this now.

[@eapleitez]

Same here. It went from a slam dunk buy to no buy for me, for the same reason. I started Origins on Dolphin emulator, using an HD texture pack and widescreen codes.

[@NoonDragoon]

Eagerly awaiting my physical release from Play-Asia for this one!

[@MrChibblez]

I loved this game. The cast and the scenery is gorgeous. Though I was never a fan of the combat. Not going to lie.

[@DeTintasyPixeles]

Game cube version looks better but im happy about this Remastered=)

[@KVR020]

Great review!

[@NoisyPixelNews]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@KrsJin]

I want to play these games just for the backgrounds/environments alone.

[@retrohero2762]

Why is this the only review for the remasters online

[@joseribamarjr5164]

did they add back the fmvs to the game or is it still just that one long one that plays in the beginning of the game?

[@jmbdjc8323]

8:59 terrain looks like the earth dragon island in Chrono Cross

[@robdiquattro5590]

Thank you for this in depth review

[@darrenmifsud5477]

Great, informative review! Thank you!

[@pedrongreen]

Inshallah one day we'll get a remaster of Xenogears and Xenosaga, although I can also imagine the studio opting for a full remake later down the line.

[@mekatora_]

Thanks for the great review and for bringing more eyes to these games. They're very niche and hold a lot of nostalgic weight, so it sucks that they got rid of the English dub, but I'm glad to see that overall it's a pretty good remaster. Hopefully the English dub will be patched in later.

[@franciscobutte]

Is not overlooked at all. Is one of the best JRPG of the Gamecube. Is like sayiing that the first Xenoblade is an overlooked JRPG.

[@Rackatiakka]

REMASTER!?!?

[@MrBwemBwem]

Will still to emulating, thanks though!

[@suicune2001]

I am so disappointed they removed the english dub. :( Instead of doing an LP of the remaster like I had originally planned, now I want to do an LP of the original.

[@MrSupersmash93]

Two questions, did they change the voice actors and do you think Monolithsoft will do a Baiten Katos 3?

[@eapleitez]

They didn't change the voice acting. They left in the Japanese dub. I highly doubt there will be a part 3

[@UnexpectedDanger]

Amazing games, don't miss out

[@armandostockvideos8386]

I'm still curious about if this one will come to more platforms a year later.

[@NoisyPixelNews]

i'm hoping for PC at least.

[@UnexpectedDanger]

Doubtful since it's a Nintendo game

[@armandostockvideos8386]

@@UnexpectedDanger It's made and owned by Bandai Namco, not Nintendo.

[@andr0zzsenpai]

@@armandostockvideos8386 The IP is co-owned by Nintendo AFAIK but it's posible for those types of games to launch on PC, like the Fatal Frame games, not for the competition tho.

[@fineanddandy26]

​@@armandostockvideos8386Only the first. Origins is published by Nintendo, no way theres a PC Port.

[@rooty]

This will be valuable af in the future

[@suzyocean7392]

Wow I'll definitely have to get this. Never played this game before but there's already so many small similarities to Xenoblade (or just general details Monopon likes to implement) just inside this review alone that I can't wait to discover more

[@gamelover2222]

I beat both games back in the day. I literally don't recall the stories at all. Only the combat was memorable to me.

[@nozopoke1782]

I have never played these but just watching the art, it does remind me a lot of the xenoblade series

[@willwidrick8039]

i played the first one back in the day but i was turned off by the card combat. nowadays I'm willing to try it again, a shame there isn't a physical release in America.

[@yamammiwammi]

BK is not a card game. It’s a battle menu for a JRPG

[@yoso378]

​@@yamammiwammiwhile that's accurate, it does still want you to deal with card game mechanics. Making a deck with good consistency goes a long way in BK just like in an actual card game, so you still have to have the same kind of mindset in that regard.

[@yamammiwammi]

@@yoso378 I could argue it’s the same with Tales of Symphonia which makes you pick your skill stream for attacks/in-battle functionality. They’re the same functions but decorated differently, with BK using a card system. I will acknowledge that the card numbers can play a part in the battling which brings a “card-game” feel, stringing combos and getting higher attacks, but I’ve played both games two times and largely ignored this feature with no drawbacks to progression or enjoyment.

[@sterlingwirth7931]

Kalas sounds like he was heavily inspired by guts from berserk

[@Dr.Moogle]

Shame they didn't decide to put this on multiple platforms. It wasn't even a 2nd party type game where Nintendo was involved.

[@UnexpectedDanger]

Actually origins is published by Nintendo, so it very much is

[@Dr.Moogle]

@@UnexpectedDanger Damn, I wasn't aware.

[@Zino_blade]

Having played Xenosaga I already know I'll abuse the 200% speed option

[@BrianOblivionB]

All I need is Xeno Saga and ports of SMT

[@tinyginger]

I don’t understand still why English dub was removed. The characters mouths don’t move and they don’t show active talking. It’s only still illustrations of facial expressions. If it was a matching issue I don’t see it.

[@moominsean]

I've been playing the first and though I haven't made it far, I'm starting to remember why I never finished it on the Gamecube. I like the card concept in theory but I feel like for bigger fights, the apparent totally random selection that appears at any given time sometimes frustrates the hell out of me. I've had to do some fights multiple times because it refuses to give me a single defense card when I'm being attacked. And then it will give me a jacket, a helmet and green bananas when it's my turn to attack. Like over and over again, so I take every hit. Maybe I haven't figured out the nuances but it seems very arbitrary which cards appear from the shuffle. But I'm really trying to work through it because I enjoy it otherwise. There is quite a bit of noticeable stuttering, as well. Nothing gamebreaking but there are a lot of mini screen pauses when it fades in and out of scenes and fights.

[@crzymage]

Without too much spoilers, the trick is to balance out how many cards you need for attack, defense, and healing respectively. Once you find that sweet spot, you won't have to worry too much about having too many defense cards during your attack phase, and so on. Additionally, picking good dialogue choices during cutscenes will help with better card draws and numbers.

[@yamammiwammi]

I think that’s sort of the point with the randomization. Otherwise the battles and your actions would get boring real fast. Balance your deck better so you have more to choose from.

[@christopherokamoto1931]

Sorry if you consider this a spoiler, but you may love keeping Gibari in your party. His weapons (all/most?) double as defensive cards!

[@michaelherrmann5562]

I put very few defense cards in my deck, instead I have one character whose deck is full of healing cards and a few attack cards, they heal all the damge taken and attack if there is no healing needed

[@AM-uk7jv]

I remember playing the first one on GameCube and got stuck at a boss battle due to my card setup. I couldn't grind at that point and I got my ass handed to me enough times to just drop the game completely. Maybe I'll replay this game. But with BG3 and all the other games this fall and winter, that maybe will turn in to nah.

[@robertflappie7310]

Had the same problem and had to restart the game

[@hydrocosmo]

11:58 gamers when they try to describe music in any way other than "it's really good"

[@neoandroid8586]

I wish this was on PC so i could play it on my steam deck

[@Lock2002ful]

Yessss!! Thank you! :DD

[@NoisyPixelNews]

thank you for hanging out :)

[@Lock2002ful]

@@NoisyPixelNews Always! Also watched your Bomberman R 2 review. Tough one that game..😬

[@alexe.7561]

Amazing rgps both of them

[@monkeykinggoku1831]

Hopefully Lost Kingdom 1&2 will be next, and all starfox games and star wars sq and xenosaga and xenogears

[@LucaBlight_7]

Any chance this getting a pc or ps5 release?

[@hr-g4640]

it is a Nintendo IP

[@kaikiske7436]

Whats the target frame rate?

[@Gonçalo--M]

Love these two games

[@kaikiske7436]

Go away! I'm Baten!

[@NemXX2]

It's mad to me how this got an HD remaster and Xenogears hasn't yet.

[@robertwahlstrom]

I totally missed the game was even out.

[@DangerCrow]

I’m not sure how anyone could prefer BKO’s combat to BK1. Did you not get far enough into the game to build combos? It gets pretty neat when you’re chaining large numbers of cards. BKO’s combat gets stale and repetitive *really* fast, and there’s basically no variation in play style/builds for your characters.

[@JimC1984]

This is cool but bullshit that xenosaga 1 2 and 3 hasnt gotten this especially since bamco is with both.

[@NoisyPixelNews]

agreed lol we need xenosaga without all the censored stuff

[@cappachino78]

Is there a easymode?

[@rafaelrodriguez9371]

I named my character kalas gotta start over 😂

[@frederickmesenbrink7098]

I hate card games, but I really liked this game, never played origins, I wish and hope this comes to other systems. Day one buy for me on playstation

[@DJHYDEHEART]

Hope it gets a port to PS4.

[@faidou9954]

Would play, but the gameplay looks a little too complicated for me. What was with the 2000s game devs and implimenting card mechanics in their games? Was Yu-Gi-Oh that popular ar the time?

[@chadchad33]

I wish they would make more card based RPG games like this.

[@gundambassexe31]

Ok cool but I'll pass on this one as I'm focusing on my backlog and fate samurai remnant next week

[@zacharybecker8228]

Yeah the 2 is a probably gonna be confusing to new people cus its a prequel

[@ccgdream5393]

The English voice overs were completely removed, gutting a huge part of the experience

[@FaerieFaye]

"gutting a huge part of the experience", no its not. It detracts from the original weight of scenes in the first game . Second game's eng dub was fire though, bandai took away gender pronouns so your guardian spirit wasn't referred to as he or she.

[@CommDante]

​@@FaerieFaye They changed a whole lot more for 'a modern audience'... I'll stick with the original instead of this cringe dialogue.

[@kamiloo86]

Started with Origins. First 2 h are boring and card system is not properly explained. Some fights are really hard, it's important to use less than 40 cards on your deck (easier to build combos). Other than that game is really cool, and fun. I can recommend IT to All Jrpg fans

[@mhjmstultiens]

What weird games, but I'm not unsympathetic towards their gameplay.

[@zanzaklaus]

I was really shocked as soon as the now completely unprofessionally dubbed opening started. No emotion, stupid new translations with less weight... I don't get why they had to change it in the first place... Baten Kaitos is one of my favourite games. The opening used to be so epic and emotional. But in this version they sucked out all of its soul. That was a bummer. At least I still have the original I suppose...

[@MYNARDs]

Gibari is Wakka

[@kingarcadian]

tanx 4 the rev