"Don't put away your gamecube yet, or you'll miss one of the last good games for the gamecube."

The gamecube is slowly running out of good games. 2006 may be the last year for the gamecube also, because now Nintendo is giving the Wii all the support. But don't store your gamecube in the closet just yet, because Baten Kaitos Origins (One of the last great RPG games for the gamecube is here) is here and it might be the last new game your gamecube will see. And your wallet too.

Baten Kaitos Origins is a prequel for the game Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean. (That's such a long name) It doesn't matter which one you play first, because either one works just fine. One is a prequel and one came out before the other, so it really doesn't matter. I played Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, but that's just me.

Graphics are beautiful for a gamecube game. The backgrounds are really colorful and have that really good visual effect. Only flaw is that Baten Kaitos Origins recycles some of it's own graphics from the previous Baten Kaitos game. That's not bad, but I'd just wish that this game would be all new graphics instead of going to places you have already been to in the first game.

First let me talk about the voice acting. It is so much better than Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean. In the first game it felt like the main characters were talking out of a tin can. But now in this game the voice acting is so so so much better and they're not talking in tin cans anymore. Also the music in this game is outstanding. It has some classical music and it has some modern day music and overall the game has awesome music.

Gameplay has changed a lot from the previous game. In this game you collect magnus cards to attack. You can link your attacks if you get them in the numerical order. The game uses some luck as well, because whatever card comes out of your deck is totally random. So you have to use luck and strategy to win your way out of battles. All characters now share one deck. It saves time only having to organize one deck, but sometimes you get unnecessary cards you don't want because of that. The only problem about the battle system is that the battles come to frequently and they last way too long. Soon you will get tired of battling and will just skip the monsters. That's not so bad, but then the bosses are really hard in this game and they pulverize you if you don't train and get experience points. If you have played Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean the battles here may confuse you, because it's totally different. Hey, I almost died on the first battle, because everything has changed and the only thing that this game shares with Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean is the magnus cards. But how you use them or totally different in both games.

The maps are pretty good, sometimes you have to squint your eyes, because sometimes the characters are really far off in the distance. And it's hard to see if your character is running to the left or it's running all the way out of the map. You can also store your items in blank magnus and give them to other people around the world. That's something interesting Baten Kaitos Origins has to offer.

The game is pretty long as well. Covering up to two disks and around 60 hours of gameplay. That's a pretty long time for a game and the gamecube needs some long RPG now a days. The story is really good, but not one of the best. It's still a good story with many plot twists and turns. The story starts off hooking you in, but then somewhere in the middle of the first disk and the beginning of the second disk. It starts to get boring and it gets really tedious to play, but once you are on your final 10 hours of the game. The game picks up and will throw multiple plot twists at you. Which I love in a game and there was this one plot twist really blew me away. (I won't tell you, because you have to play the game to find out.)

Overall Baten Kaitos Origins is a wonderful game and a good way for the gamecube to end the last year of the gamecube. All that's left now is Zelda: Twilight Princess and my gamecube will end with a happy life. Thank you Nintendo for a wonderful system.

Why Not?
I'll end my review with the pros and cons of this game.

+ Good Graphics
+ Outstanding Soundtrack
+ Unique Gameplay
+ 60 hours long
+ Good Main Characters
+ Wonderful Story with many plot twists just for you
+ Better Voice Acting than the first game

- Some graphics are just recycled from the old game
- Battles comes to frequently and they last really long
- Story gets really boring in the middle of the game

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/07, Updated 10/15/07

Game Release: Baten Kaitos Origins (US, 09/25/06)