Info about Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster:

Official game description:
Supported Text Languages:
=========================
\- Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean - English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese  
\- Baten Kaitos Origins - English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese  
(Voice overs are in Japanese only.)
About the Game
==============
Wings of the Heart Take Flight Once More  
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean and Baten Kaitos Origins are now on Steam with improved graphics and new features to aid game progression, making them even easier to play!  
Delve into the world of Baten Kaitos as you strategize with the unique card-based battle system in these two immersive RPG masterpieces. Play as a guardian spirit who guides the colorful cast as they struggle against destiny itself.  
A long time ago, there was a great conflict between the evil god and the people. After a fierce battle, the people managed to seal off the evil god, but what was left behind was only a desolate land. The people thus chose to abandon the land and live in the sky.  
Such fairy tales were passed down as legends. At this time, people had wings called Wings of the Heart and lived a peaceful life. It was an era of long-lasting tranquility. ...But the collapse had quietly begun.  
When a young man calls your name, the name of the spirit, the story begins to unfold. A story set on a floating continent in the sky, where thoughts and prayers intersect.  
• Unique Magnus Battle System  
In the world of Baten Kaitos, the true essences of all manner of things, including equipment and items, can be extracted and stored inside cards called magnus. A magnus' contents can be released at any time, returning the magna essence sealed inside to its original form.  
These magnus form the basis of the Baten Kaitos battle system.  
Battles run in real time, so you'll need to employ quick thinking to select the right magnus for the situation.  
Strategize against enemies of various elements using elemental magnus of your own,  
and experiment with mixing and matching different magnus to discover and unlock powerful combo attacks!  
• Vivid Graphics Remastered in HD  
The two titles have been fully remastered in HD, including retouched battle backgrounds, character graphics, and UI.  
Enjoy Baten Kaitos with even more vibrant visuals.  
・ Aspect ratio expanded from 4:3 to 16:9 for play on wider screens!  
・ Main character and boss graphics have been completely renewed in vivid detail!  
・ All-new menu screens! Enjoy smoother gameplay with refreshed menu layouts, newly added sorting features, and more.  
Pre-existing graphics have been used for in-game maps as well as some screens and character models.  
• New Features for Better Gameplay  
Along with improved graphics, the features below have been added to make game progression much smoother!  
・ Auto-save feature  
・ Help menu containing terminology and hints for progressing through the game  
・ New Game+ mode, unlocked after clearing the game once, which starts a new game while retaining all magnus, levels, and ranks  
・ New Game- mode, a mode with level restrictions for an extra thrilling challenge  
Six new game system options have now been added, including adjustable game speeds and no-encounter mode.  
Save your settings as a Custom Set and turn them on or off at any time.

Release date: 17 Jun, 2024

Categories: RPG, Card-based Gameplay, Real-time Combat, Deckbuilding, Single-player Story, Meta-Progression, Photography Gameplay, Choice-based Narrative


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Enhanced graphics, music, and art (weight 0.95): The remaster enhances the original's graphics, music, and art style, making it visually stunning and more detailed. The game features beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds, detailed character designs, and a unique world with floating continents. The soundtrack, composed by Motoi Sakuraba, is also highly praised.
- Evokes nostalgia, childhood memories (weight 0.63): The game evokes nostalgia and fond memories, with reviewers enjoying revisiting a childhood favorite. The game is considered a classic JRPG and a personal favorite for many. The original games are good and have aged well.
- Helpful quality-of-life improvements (weight 0.58): The remaster includes quality-of-life improvements such as game speed adjustments, encounter nullification, auto-battle, skippable cutscenes and plentiful save points. These features streamline the experience, save time by skipping grind, and make the game more accessible.
- Unique, strategic card-based combat (weight 0.55): The game features a unique and engaging combat system that combines turn-based mechanics with card battles, requiring strategic deck building and adaptation. The battle system is fast-paced and allows for creating combos. Strategic blocking and attack management become engaging in the endgame.
- Interesting characters and story (weight 0.15): The game features interesting characters and locations, with likable characters and engaging stories. The stories, characters, and world create a fantastic adventure. The game also has great plot twists.
- Steam release is definitive version (weight 0.1): The Steam release is considered the definitive way to play the game, with some quality of life improvements. Reviewers are glad the game ended up on Steam and is now playable on PC.
- Excellent, memorable soundtrack (weight 0.08): The game features an excellent soundtrack that enhances the world's beauty and intensity alongside the visuals. The music is one of the best ever heard in any video game.
- Cult classic, must-have RPG (weight 0.06): The game is considered a cult classic and a must-have for RPG fans. Options to remove combat challenge are available for players who want to focus on the story.
- Incorporates unique meta elements (weight 0.05): The game incorporates light meta elements by having the player act as a spirit who can communicate with the protagonist, increasing immersion. The game incorporates a fourth-wall-breaking design where the player is an in-game spirit with a customizable name, and NPCs interact with the player directly.
- Runs smoothly at high resolutions (weight 0.05): The game runs smoothly at higher resolutions and frame rates, looking beautiful in 4K. Playing at higher resolutions and frame rates is great.
- Fully voice acted, English mod available (weight 0.04): The game is fully voice acted. The absence of English voices gives the game a cool anime vibe. There is an easy-to-install mod that restores the English voices, with only minor differences between the voice-over and text.

Common complaints:
- Missing English dub, censored content (weight 0.38): The remaster controversially omits the original English dub, offering only Japanese audio with subtitles. Some perceive this as censorship due to script changes, such as replacing alcohol references. This decision disappoints fans seeking a faithful recreation of the original experience and impacts nostalgia.
- Slow, tedious combat system (weight 0.37): Players find the combat in Baten Kaitos 1 slow and tedious due to lengthy animations, frequent stat displays, and reliance on RNG. The card-based system, while unique, feels unpolished, restricting player agency and leading to frustrating battles. Limited speed control options exacerbate the issue.
- Poorly implemented control scheme (weight 0.19): The game suffers from poorly implemented controls, especially on PC. Key bindings are problematic, with in-game prompts not reflecting remapped controls. This leads to frustration and difficulty in navigating the game.
- Low-quality, minimal effort remaster (weight 0.14): The remaster is criticized for being a minimal effort port with inconsistent upscaling and visual bugs. Some graphical elements appear worse than the original, and status effect indicators are less clear. The high price point is not justified by the quality of the remaster.
- Inconsistent game pacing (weight 0.1): The game's pacing is inconsistent, with slow walking speeds and limited speed adjustment options. The absence of a dash feature in the first game makes traversal tedious. These issues contribute to a feeling of unrefined gameplay.
- Cumbersome UI/UX (weight 0.08): The game's UI/UX is criticized for being cumbersome and difficult to navigate. Magnus flavor text is hard to read, and quest management is a mess. These issues detract from the overall player experience.
- Game-breaking bugs (weight 0.07): Players have encountered game-breaking bugs that halt progress, including issues with status ailments and freezes during boss fights. These bugs can force restarts and lead to a loss of motivation. This point is important due to the severity of the bugs.
- Limited language/region support (weight 0.05): The second installment was not released in Europe and lacks translation into French and German. This limits accessibility for players in those regions. This point is important for accessibility.
- Childish censorship (weight 0.03): The remake has script changes, removing references to alcohol, which feels like 4Kids-era cringe. Childish censorship includes changing alcohol to juice or water and altering lines to make deaths less impactful. This point is important for censorship.
- Unnatural movement, missing content (weight 0.03): Character orientation and movement during exploration feel more unnatural compared to the original GameCube version. The game feels like it's missing content compared to the GameCube version. This point is important for comparison to the original.
- Not Steam Deck verified (weight 0.03): The game is not Steam Deck verified, which is expected to be fixed. The reviewer is unable to fix the error preventing the game from launching. This point is important for Steam Deck users.

Gameplay feedback:
- Monster photography earns money (weight 0.07): The game features a unique money-earning mechanic where players take pictures of enemies during battle using photo cards and then sell them. Bosses are worth the most, making photography a lucrative way to earn money.
- Real-time defense, strategic card use (weight 0.06): The game incorporates real-time defense mechanics where players must use guard cards to block enemy attacks. Healing cards require selecting a friendly character in advance, and attack cards can sometimes be used defensively.
- Optional combat skipping features (weight 0.04): The game provides options to skip combat, including a one-hit kill mode and the ability to disable normal enemy encounters. This allows players to bypass challenging or tedious battles.
- Cards change/age over time (weight 0.04): Cards change over time, such as food spoiling, which is part of the collection aspect. This aging process adds depth to card management and combos.
- Manual, randomized character leveling (weight 0.04): Experience points earned from battles do not automatically level up characters; players must visit blue save points and pray to level up. Character growth is randomized within a certain range each level.
- Player is an invisible spirit (weight 0.02): The player embodies an invisible spirit who communicates with the protagonist and influences their affinity through choices. This unique narrative element affects character development and story outcomes.

Performance notes:
- Stable performance across platforms (weight 0.32): The game generally runs smoothly across various platforms like Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and PCs with RTX 4070ti, often achieving high frame rates (120FPS). Some reviewers specifically noted the absence of bugs, crashes, stuttering, or control issues. The PC port is functional and stable.
- Controller recommended over keyboard (weight 0.02): The game is better played with a controller due to complaints about keyboard controls. This suggests that the keyboard control scheme may be poorly implemented or less intuitive than using a controller.
- Frame drops during combat (weight 0.02): Some players have observed frame rate drops and stuttering during combat. This indicates that the game's performance may not be consistently smooth, particularly during demanding scenes.
- Optimize settings for Steam Deck (weight 0.02): Limiting the framerate and lowering TDP on the Steam Deck can improve performance and battery life. This suggests that while the game runs well, users can optimize settings for a better experience on handheld devices.
- Graphics too clean (subjective) (weight 0.02): One reviewer lowered the resolution because the graphics were too clean. This is an unusual complaint and may reflect a personal preference rather than a widespread issue with the game's visuals.

Recommendations:
- Recommended JRPG for genre fans (weight 0.48): Many reviewers recommend the game, especially to JRPG fans, citing its unique combat and story. Some consider it a hidden gem and a must-buy for genre enthusiasts. However, some suggest waiting for a sale.
- Appeals to fans of classic JRPGs (weight 0.36): Reviewers draw comparisons to classic JRPGs like Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, and Legend of Mana, suggesting that fans of those games will likely enjoy Baten Kaitos. The game is considered a worthwhile experience for those who appreciate story-driven RPGs.
- Origins more polished, bugs present (weight 0.17): While Baten Kaitos Origins is generally considered more polished, some find the first game more charming. However, Baten Kaitos 2 has game-breaking bugs that reviewers hope will be fixed in a future update.
- Emulation may offer superior experience (weight 0.09): Some reviewers recommend emulating the original GameCube version due to the lack of English voice acting in the remaster and potential stuttering issues. They suggest using mods to enhance the experience.
- Wait for a sale (weight 0.07): Several reviewers suggest waiting for a discount before purchasing the game, especially for those who are short on money. Getting two games for the price of one is considered a great deal, but the timing of the release may not be ideal for everyone.
- Remap controls, adjust game speed (weight 0.07): Some reviewers recommend remapping the keyboard/mouse controls for a more natural feel. Playing at 200% game speed is also suggested.
- Good for deck-building fans (weight 0.07): The game is recommended for players who enjoy deck-building, turn-based combat, and card battles with a unique twist. However, if players dislike the card system, they should refund it within the refund window.
- Remaster includes accessibility features (weight 0.05): The HD Remaster includes built-in cheats like invincibility and game speed adjustments to improve the experience. These assist features make the game more accessible to those who dislike the battle system or want to replay for achievements.
- Dislike magnus aging mechanic (weight 0.02): One reviewer would not have purchased the game if they had known about the magnus aging mechanic. This is a specific complaint, but it only appears once.
- Remaster is offensive (unspecified) (weight 0.01): One reviewer feels that the HD remaster is offensive and that the games deserved better treatment. This is an emotionally charged statement without specific details, so the importance is reduced.

Other player notes:
- Japanese audio only (weight 0.11): The remaster only includes Japanese audio, despite a North American version existing with an English dub. Some players may find this disappointing, and suggest using the original dub by swapping audio files.
- Unique world and collectibles (weight 0.09): The game features a unique world with floating continents, magic, and creatures, blending biological and mechanical elements in its art style. Both games contain various collectibles and side quests.
- In-game switching unavailable (weight 0.05): The game uses a launcher to switch between the first and second game, which cannot be done after the game is already running. This is different from the Switch version, which allows switching between releases from within the game.
- Guardian spirit affects bond (weight 0.04): The player embodies a guardian spirit who communicates with the protagonist, influencing their bond through dialogue choices. The protagonist sometimes breaks the fourth wall by speaking directly to the player.
- New Game+ and New Game- (weight 0.02): The addition of New Game+ for the first game and New Game- for both games is a welcome surprise for players looking for replayability.
- Controller mapping workaround (weight 0.02): Players have found a workaround for controller mapping issues by using a Switch Pro controller connected via USB.
- Desire for a third installment (weight 0.02): Some players express a desire for a potential third installment that combines the gameplay of the second game with the story of the first.
- Music by Motoi Sakuraba (weight 0.02): The game's music is composed by Motoi Sakuraba, known for his work on other JRPG series such as Tales of, Star Ocean, and Valkyrie Profile.
- Pre-rendered environments (weight 0.02): Environments outside of battle and certain scenes are pre-rendered, which may affect the visual experience for some players.
- Nightmarish shopkeepers (weight 0.01): The shopkeepers are the stuff of nightmares. This point is too vague to be useful.

Emotions:
No emotions}