Selling standard Magnus is not a way to earn much money, but by selling pictures of the monsters you fight, you gain large amounts of cash. One of the most unique aspects of the game is how money works. Additionally, it’s never explained why the characters can be transported to the church, only that they can. Because of this, it becomes impossible to power level in certain dungeons in the game, as the red-colored save points only function as save points. The oddest part is that characters do not level up automatically instead, they must travel to a church at blue-colored save points. Standard levels are just as anyone would expect: you get additional hit points and statistics. Class levels allow the characters to gain extra deck space and additional cards to combo in battle. There are two types of experience levels: Class levels and standard levels. Headache is similar the numbers have simply changed position on the card.Įxperience and levels work differently than in most other RPGs. Confusion is nothing similar to what gamers are familiar with the numbers on the face of the cards start moving around and it’s more difficult to get the number that you want. Linking these cards, either by pairing them or creating a straight, will increase the value of the combo at hand.Īdditionally, the game has some unique status effects. Also included are the numbers on the face of the card. Some objects can be used both on defense and offense, but will have different defensive and offensive values. The cards played on defense can reduce damage based on standard and elemental damage as well as healing some status effects. Certain items also exist as combo breakers–they tend to be much more powerful than other cards, but cannot be followed at all.ĭuring an enemy’s attack, cards may be played as well. Some items may change during a combo, based on if a certain item has been played previously. Players will initially not be able to combo cards, but quickly build in rank to have six or seven plays during a single combo. Simple enough? Cards go all the way up to Combo 5. Combo 2 cards can only be played after a Combo 1 card has been played.
BK’s cards have several attributes an offensive and defensive “Combo Number,” which determines how early a player can use the card an Attack or Defensive value, to determine how much damage an item does or takes away a possible elemental charge and anywhere from one to four face numbers.Ĭombo Numbers are the easiest to understand: A card with Combo 1 can be played at any time during your turn: be it the first card play or the last, Combo 1 cards can be played at any time during that character’s turn. Expanded later by level-up, the deck is the cornerstone of everything in Baten Kaitos’ battle system. Players start with a very small number of cards to be put in their deck. Constructing a deck in Baten Kaitos is much like equipment in your standard RPG.
The battle system in Baten Kaitos is split into two elements: building your deck and battle. Unfortunately for Namco, any player of Magic: the Gathering or most other CCGs will find the system dreadfully simple. In fact, someone who’s never had experience with anything beyond Yu-Gi-Oh! or PSO Episode 3 may find Baten Kaitos’ easy-to-learn, easy-to-master system of control and deck-building simply enthralling. The game certainly has appeal to those who aren’t Collectable Card Game (CCG) players.
Blank Magnus are also available to capture the essence of things in the world.īaten Kaitos could’ve been the best thing since breaded Slice. In the game, this functions in two ways: outside of battle in puzzles and in the deck for battle. These cards hold the power of the item captured in the Magnus, which can be released when the cards is used. In this world, in the form of cards, exist objects called Magnus.
However, Baten Kaitos does provide a relatively unique game in a sea of Final Fantasy clones.īaten Kaitos is a world full of strife. Did Namco succeed in putting out the finest RPG for the GameCube? Yes, they certainly did. Released in November, Namco’s Baten Kaitos was met with open arms by most. Gorgeous pre-rendered backgrounds, an engaging story, and a card-based battle system were supposed to make RPG fans quiver with joy. Baten Kaitos, the card-based RPG developed by Monolith Soft and Tri-Crescendo, headed by Shinji Noguchi was slated to be one of the most brilliant games on the Nintendo GameCube.