Baten Kaitos Origins

Baten Kaitos Origins plays out as a prequel to the original Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, telling the story of mercenary Sagi, whose fate becomes intertwined with the events leading up to the war between the nations of the flying world. Unlike the first game, here the player doesn't control a spirit companion but the hero himself, which gives the story a more personal dimension and allows players to experience his moral decisions more deeply on the path toward events that players of the first game only know by hearsay.

The combat system again builds on collecting and combining magic cards representing attacks, spells, and items, but Origins refines it — battles are faster, clearer, and offer more elaborate cooperation between the characters in the party, including the ability to simultaneously attack and defend using a shared deck of cards. Visually, the game draws on painted backgrounds and striking character design, which made it one of the most visually distinctive games on the GameCube and set it apart from more realistic contemporary RPGs. The transitions between static illustrations and 3D models come across as surprisingly cohesive.

Although it received critical acclaim comparable to the first game, it released relatively late in the console's life cycle, when players' attention was already shifting to the coming generation of consoles, leaving it commercially in the shadow of more popular RPGs. Today it ranks among the sought-after titles for collectors and fans of unconventional Japanese RPGs, who appreciate both its story and its inventive combat system, as well as the series' unmistakable visual style.

Why play it: For the polished card-based combat system and the series' unique artistic style.