Poll: Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster Is Out On Switch This Week, Will You Be Getting It?

Might check these out once some reviews come in. Definitely interested to check out Monolith’s older games after I’m done with XC3 + FR.

Not sure; likely not until they are giving it away. I had the original on the cube and remember enjoying but I think it got so tedious and rng'ey towards the end I don't think I finished it. It has been a minute. With Namco doing their no english dubs thing probably not. i think they could do so much better if they added dubs for all of their games.

Really enjoyed the first one back in the days, but never got to play the 2nd as that never released here in my country.

Looking forward to getting these, but not right away. Got a few more Switch games I need to finish first and Namco Bandai does discount sales on a regular basis, so I can wait.

The randomness of card battles puts me off, but the world seems interesting.

I've still got my copies on GameCube. Need to find me a working GC or Wii though.

Play-Asia for the physical copy win!

This game is on my all time Gems list. Loved every bit about this game.

Will be getting it eventually!

Almost certainly at some point, but man, I just ain't got time for it right now, sadly.

here in ny we are blessed to have some independent games stores that sell the game in person...

As I already own the originals, I'll be waiting to see how this remaster will shape up before parting with my cash.

Nah, the loss of the english dub kinda killed it for me personally, I'll just play my GC copies if I do wanna play it.

Both of these are great JRPGs though and come with a hearty recommendation from me.

I've already pre-ordered, but I would by lying if I wasn't nervous after the Symphonia ports...

I still own the original versions along with my GameCube which is still hooked up to my TV via HDMI as I write this. So I'm probably going to pass for now until the eventual sale. Not having a Physical release in the West and no English Dub also disappointed me.

Plus Namco has had some mediocre ports recently with minimal effort like Tales of Symphonia which makes me pause before buying anything from them.

Nope. The later battles in the original game take for ever. You just have to try and try until your deck lines up.

No English dub, no buy for me. Very simple.

I probably won't because my backlog is stacked and the gameplay doesn't look that interesting. But knowing it's a Monolith-developed title, I'm still curious. Perhaps on a sale

I really want to try them, since I love tri-crescendo's work on Eternal Sonata and Motoi Sakuraba's music, but the English dub being removed is kind of a deal breaker. Maybe I'll pick it up and keep it shelved then wait in hope that it will be patched back in due to complaints. Haven't decided yet, this should have been an easy preorder

Edit: I think even with spoiler tags my comment was too spoilery, so I edited it. After reading a little bit about it I will definitely get this. The atmosphere seems to be great. Definitely a game with soul.

Bought the original GameCube version of the first game, a while ago, but I will buy this version with both games anyway.

I think I was about 15/16 when this came out, I remember not understanding the battle system AT ALL but loving the art style.
I got stuck against a boss about half way through and never finished it.

Hopefully the port is solid and I'll pick it up on sale.

Do these polls always have to bundle the "not right away" option with a tinge of hesitation? I definitely plan to get the Baten Kaitos games at some point, but most of September typically finds me broke enough that I haven't even picked up the friggen RF3S at launch, unlike with the franchise's previous two Switch releases.

Absolutely! The first game is a masterpiece, and the prequel is a very good... sequel? Go for it guys!

I definitely will be buying these just not right away. I got way too much on ps5 lately because I got into several series all at once and I want to shrink the backlog stack - literally, because I just plop down physical on top of another when I buy new games 😅 - before I buy any more games at this point.

I'll wait for reviews. The first game was good and the series carries a great rep..I hope version Switch turns out rad....

Also review when Nintendo Life?

I'm SO in! I'm looking forward to get to play BK again, it's been ages. And also play Origins for the first time!

Pretty much any curiosity I ever had in Baten Kaitos died when I learned it had a card battle system honestly. Just always an instant turnoff to me.

I really want to get these games but with BG3 and AC6 I'm not sure when I'd get to them.

@Cashews what do you mean with rng? There is no random encounters and the battle systems is based on a card deck that you can build yourself. Damage output and damage taken depends which cards you pick (+ a bonus if you pick them in pairs or in a consecutive order).

Never played Baten Kaitos Origins, since that was JP + US exclusive. Really enjoyed the Endless Ocean, one of my first more modern JRPG's. So will definitely pick this up at some point.

Must buy, simple

Yup, definitely getting this dual pack, just not right away.

The lack of English voice acting is going level me to turning back to my GameCube

I just ordered it because I'm afraid the physical version will be sold out rather quick (since there is no american version). I'm now afraid of that the port is a s bad as the other bandai namco switch ports (klonoa, tales of symphonia)

I want to but I have so many backlog, I'll get the physical version later I guess.

There's so much to get these months, we're being almost spoiled with great games! So I'll definitely get it someday, but not right now!

Hope they tweaked the cards expiring system a little. It seems that was a huge complaint with the original!

@Hippy_Pirate_89 There were a couple of notoriously tricky boss fights in the game, though if I had to put money on it you likely fell foul of that one fight against Giacomo and his goons in the game that for some baffling reason takes place right after a save point with literally no option to go back and grind, so if you were underlevelled or didn't have enough of the right cards you were borked. Hopefully they've remedied this or lowered the difficulty of the fight this time round!

@Retrodouche I remember not ever getting the cards I needed when I really needed them. It was a rare quit for me. Like I said though, it has been a large amount of time I barely remember it.

cheers though hope you like it - I remembered I wont get namco games that don't have dubs. Which means I really only buy From Software games published by namco. Which I do. they'd probably do a lot better with a more stout publisher I bet.

They look super interesting but I won’t buy them right away, think I could give 1 a try on my Wii before I buy the remasters

oh man, already?

The game is already in my mailbox, I just need to go home and pu it in my switch.

Sure there's some rng guys, but making your deck more consistent is a puzzle that you're meant to solve.

I'm planning to order it from Play-Asia at some point soon.

Yup have it pre-ordered going in blind, I have no idea if they will be good or not, but they seem cool!

Will only get it if there is a Western physical release since I own both originals.

Surprised how impotant dub is to people now. Back in my day it was sub-or-die.

Got the physical today, there is a 1gb day one patch :/

I'll wait to see if it's ported to PC.

Waiting on my copy to ship from play-asia.

@Stamina_Wheel
The performance on that trailer looks really rough especially when during those parts showing the town areas.

Edit:saw a couple of videos from the switch one, it seems to be an unlocked framerate but ends up all over the place, im hoping it can end up eventually patched down the line but it kind of reminds me of what chrono cross was like at launch.

Absolutely! These are two of my favorite games of all time and I am very excited to play these remasters

I'm too used to the english VO to be able to enjoy this, so not for me

@Rooty If I knew how to cover my text for spoilers I would haha - I'll just say that what you said about the save point definitely rings a bell, I'm pretty sure the party was on a ship as well, through space?

@Jeremazing It sounded terrible on the GameCube. Leaving it out is an improvement when everyone sounded like they were talking through a cardboard tube from a roll of toilet paper.

@McBurn Might want to re-evaluate that. Nostalgia makes things seem better than they are.

@Jeremazing and then you realize the voice acting sounds like crap from the compression.

Something tells me the people who like the original dubs of these games also thought Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles was worth a remaster.

@Greenmanalishi I have them both on GameCube and it is what it is, and I rather it then Japanese only voice acting option. If company doesn't provide me with what I prefer, they don't get my money.

I can play in original games on my Wii, but I wanna get a physical copy of this games. So I gonna buy it for Switch.

@Stamina_Wheel Thanks a lot for letting me know. Now I have a lot more confidence into this port

@Hippy_Pirate_89 Yeah, that's the one. Way too easy to get locked into a practically unwinnable situation with no way back at that part. At least you can rest easy knowing it (probably) wasn't your gaming skills that let you down there xD

@Hinade Ooof, that is super disappointing. Waiting for my physical copy to arrive.

Awaiting your review

Does anybody know if the Playasia version has the english dub?

@StAmbrosius My sense is that none of the versions (including US digital) have the English dub. I don't think it's in the remaster at all.

@DJDM thanks. Can't believe they took out the English dub because of "modern audience". Played both games on gamecube and can't recall what would be offensive.

@StAmbrosius I haven't played the original games, but I get the sense it might've been due to the comparatively low quality, rather than anything offensive. I'm also bummed though - if I pick up the remaster, I hope I can mute the voiceovers.

@DJDM no, it was to "match the current era". The producer said so in an interview.
http://www.rpgfan.com/2023/09/12/baten-kaitos-i-ii-hd-lack-of-english-dub/
BK Origins dub was great and made me realy feel for the characters. Eternal Ocean dub was not great, but fine with me.

There is nothing offensive whatsoever in Baten Kaitos. There is no censorship at work. It's just that the dub is infamous for being absolutely terrible when it comes to both the quality of the sound and the quality of the performance. It's seriously laughable and in a game that is this tragic they don't want it to hurt the quality that they're aiming for.

Why they didn't include Origins english dub though? That's beyond me.

Also it's crazy they released about three copies in Europe. In my place it was sold out in most places two days BEFORE the release date. I barely got mine from another country at the last moment. Still waiting for it. Good luck tracking it!

If it costs less than £40 I might consider it, but after what Nintendo did with the price of Advance Wars I'm not hopeful.

I have contacted playasia and they said (quote)
item ''Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster (English)'' is in English Language.
I guess that would mean it has the English dub.

@Greenmanalishi: Not really. Actually I prefer even bad english VO to any VO I don't understand and have to read the subtitles. It's just distracting and I almost never enjoy it. Also how can I even say if the japanese VO is actually good when I don't speak japanese? Completely setting aside the fact that it's a subjective matter

@McBurn Subjective until it isn’t.