Baten Kaitos Origins Review

I finished it! It was amazing, shocking, and a lot of fun. I am still trying to decide which was the better, the prequel or the sequel. But enough of that. Down to the review.

BKO takes place twenty years before Eternal Wings. It answers questions that were left unanswered in the first game such as: The origin of Malphercio, why Alfard became so antagonistic, and how machina (machines) became dominant in Alfard. I assure you that this game's story will not disappoint. You again assume the role of the main character's (Sagi's) Guardian Spirit. Sagi has joined the Dark Service, an elite battalion under the command of Alfard's Lord Baelheit, with his companion Guillo, a mysterious puppet animated by magic. When Sagi and Guillo are framed for the death of Emperor Olgan, they barely escape with the help of Milliarde, a "sheltered girl" as she calls herself. They escape to Hassaleh, Sagi's home, to recover. After his home is invaded by the empire Sagi, Guillo and Milly set out to stop the Empire's "pro-machination" plan.

The Magnus battle system returns although with a couple of changes. Instead of each character having a separate deck in battle, all characters use the same deck to attack. The battle system is a lot faster paced than in Eternal Wings, with combos, relay combos, and EX combos being possible. Also quest magnus can be mixed with battle magnus to upgrade them. The battles can become unforgiving later in the game, causing frustration but even more satisfying wins.

Motoi Sakurba again provides the music and he does not disappoint. There are a couple of remixes from Eternal Wings but other than that the music is original. The music fit all of the locales and situations perfectly.

The game reuses a lot of Eternal Wings' pre-rendered backgrounds but it has several new features to make up for it. Sedna , a town made completely of a clay-like material, The Land of the Gods, Nekkar Quietlands, and Tarazad. The graphics are again superb and the battle animations are amazing.

Rating for key elements:
Story: 9.5/10, Another long wonderful tale that will likely exceed 100 hours
Gameplay: 9.0/10, Well executed but sometimes painful boss battles
Graphics: 9.0/10, Reuses a lot of stuff but includes many new well designed backgrounds and animations to make up for it
Overall score: 9.25/10 Amazing game but if you want to know the rest of the story you better pick up Eternal Wings along with it.