Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster Critic Reviews

It's a great chance of discover a truly special JRPG. A GamesCube gem with a prequel that many people don't know yet.

Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster brings back one of the greatest RPGs ever made as well as its impressively fleshed-out prequel so if you want to experience an incredible story with phenomenal strategic card-based combat then definitely pick this collection up.

Baten Kaitos I & II are back for both the older and newer generation of players to enjoy in the Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster. What is new and improved? What is all the hype about among enthusiasts? Should you buy this title, wait for a sale or leave it be? Read all about it in this review for more information so you can decide.

Elaborate expositional lore and deck-based battles are unexceptional today. But when Baten Kaitos and its prequel were released, these constituents were rather uncommon in console RPGs. Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster’s bundling of Monolith Soft and tri-Crescendo’s titles offers a chance to revisit this overlooked GameCube duology and observe developments that would have a significant impact on the genre. Have little interest in role-playing history? Well, there’s about 100 hours of adventure waiting for you.

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.

Even if it’s not flawless, this still is a nice collection full of content that help new and returning players access these two “lost” games.

The Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster offers a wonderful glimpse into a well-received bit of Monolith Soft’s history, one that barely sold enough for us to expect a second look. While the remaster doesn’t do anything exceptional, it’s more than enough, and it’s such a delight to have a bit of history in the palm of your hand.

After a disappointing remaster dedicated to Tales of Symphonia, Bandai Namco gives the Baten Kaitos franchise the treatment it deserved, gifting us with a solid remaster of two of the most obscure but also most appreciated GameCube JRPGs.

Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster is a great opportunity to discover, or replay, two role-playing gems from the GameCube era. Although the visual improvement is evident, Bandai Namco could have done more, as translating Baten Kaitos Origins or polishing the technical hiccups. Even with that, both are great adventures, with a great combat system.

Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster is a pretty straightforward of two great JRPG from the Gamecube. Best resolution and some quality of life improvements is all that your are going to fin here, but is also a pretty good chance to play this cult games.

Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster brings back from the past two competent JRPGs which had a limited run and were going to be forgotten for good.

Quotation forthcoming.

In an ideal world, the remasters probably would have worked better as proper remakes. Baten Kaitos and Origins’ pre-rendered backgrounds were gorgeous on the Gamecube, and they’re just as lovely now. Some aspects would have benefited from more improvement, though. Character animations, limited dialogue illustrations, awkward battle structures, and wonky localization weren’t great at the time and don’t hold up quite so well. Both games are still worth experiencing, but there are a few more hurdles to enjoying them than there should be.

As a newcomer to Baten Kaitos, I’m glad Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster exists so I could finally play these games, but I hope Bandai Namco can iron out the few annoying issues holding it back. The quality of life features are welcome, but the unstable performance is disappointing. This release is definitely worth your time if you’re interested in the games though. Motoi Sakuraba’s soundtracks are also superb here.

Baten Kaitos 1 + II HD Remaster is a great way to play this pair of classic games, but there are a few caveats. A few of the new visual features might make the game lag, and the original English dub is missing aside from during the opening cinematic – very peculiar. But despite that, if you’ve ever wanted to play Baten Kaitos, I have no doubt that this is the best way to do it.

Overall (and after some post-launch updates) I’m content with the state of Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster. That’s not exactly the tone I was expecting to have during the launch period, so I’m thankful that they fixed it quickly even if I was frustrated that we needed to wait a week at all. These are two very special games that deserved a great re-release, and I’m thankful that I was able to experience them in this fashion. They might not appease every hardcore fan of the original, but I doubt many would be able to deny how good of a steal this is for newcomers looking to experience some cult classics. They are flawed gems, but they’re bound to capture the attention of anyone looking for something truly unique.

The Baten Kaitos series is JRPG royalty. Both are experimental, engaging, and rich games that explore a gorgeous world carefully crafted by veterans at Monolith Soft. While the Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster leaves a lot to desire in terms of its QoL features, and makes the fatal mistake of not including the original English dub, the new HD visuals are stunning, and packaging both games for $50 is a great deal. I can understand that the aforementioned problems can be a dealbreaker to some. However, I have a hard time not recommending the HD Remaster, as it makes two incredible cult classics easily available and more gorgeous than ever.

Bandai Namco presents one of the most acclaimed niche RPGs on a console that favors this genre. Although the performance and quality of life improvements could have been better, the game stands out as a title that stands out for its unique combat, narrative, and music that will impact more than one player and that no fan of RPGs should be left out.

Baten Kaitos 1 & 2 HD Remaster brings two GameCube classics back from the dead, and they're still worth playing in 2023.

Following the decadent drift of Tales of Symphonia Remastered, the restoration made to BATEN KAITOS I & II HD REMASTER did not completely convince us. The excellent work done on scenarios and polygonal models is in fact counterbalanced by superfluous playful features, unsatisfactory technical performances and only partial localization of the texts. Since these are two authentic pieces of history of the medium, we recommend their recovery to fans of the genre and to those who would like to delve into the past of Monolith Soft.