Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean | |
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North American cover | |
Game in the Baten Kaitos series | |
Developers | Monolith Soft tri-Crescendo |
Publisher | Namco |
Platform | GameCube |
Medium | Nintendo optical disc ×2 |
Release Dates | JP December 5, 2003 NA November 16, 2004 PAL April 1, 2005 AUS May 19, 2005 |
Designers | Yasuyuki Honne Hiroya Hatsushiba |
Lead Writer | Masato Kato |
Composer | Motoi Sakuraba |
Lead Artist | Yasuyuki Honne |
Character Design | Nakaba Higurashi |
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (バテン・カイトス 終わらない翼と失われた海, Baten Kaitosu: Owaranai Tsubasa to Ushinawareta Umi) is a role-playing video game that was developed by tri-Crescendo and Monolith Soft and published by Namco for the Nintendo GameCube. It was first released in Japan on December 5, 2003, and is the first game in the Baten Kaitos series, taking place 20 years after Baten Kaitos Origins, a prequel which was released in 2006.
Story[]
World[]
- Main article: World of Baten Kaitos
Plot[]
The story begins with Kalas, the main character, waking up in a hospital run by Larikush, Cebalrai Village's local doctor. At the moment, he seems to recall little more than a desire to seek revenge against the Empire, who murdered his family and burned down his home. The player acts in the role of the Guardian Spirit, a mystical being from another world who is bonded to Kalas, lending him strength and wisdom. After greeting his rescuer, an odd but intelligent Greythorne named Meemai, Kalas decides to investigate the area where he was found unconscious, Moonguile Forest. There, Kalas encounters, and reluctantly rescues, Xelha from a Sabre Dragon. Although seemingly naive, Xelha convinces Kalas to bring her along into the ruins where she was originally intending to visit.
Within the ruins, the two come upon a spring, and Xelha's medallion inadvertently releases a giant serpent, aptly named the Lord of the Spring. After defeating it, a shining golden Magnus appears. Almost immediately, an airship from Alfard comes from out of nowhere, from which a man named Giacomo comes out. Recognizing Giacomo as his family's murderer, Kalas attempts to kill Giacomo. Unfortunately, Giacomo is too fast, quickly proceeding to kidnap Xelha, take the golden magnus, and knock Kalas out cold. When Kalas wakes up, he quickly sets off to track down the airship by any means possible. Hurrying to Pherkad, Sadal Suud's capital, Kalas sneaks into the Lord's Mansion. Picking up Xelha on the way, Kalas rushes onto the airship and tries to fight Giacomo again. After a heated battle, both Kalas and Xelha are blown off the airship by Giacomo's magic. Now on the run from Imperial Soldiers, the two escape by getting on a ride to Diadem at the last moment possible. In Diadem, a cloud-covered island, they meet Gibari, a fisherman, and Lyude, the ambassador to Diadem fromthe Empire. After lowering the water level of Diadem's Lesser Celestial River, they leave with Gibari for the capital Sheliak, where they are welcomed by King Ladekahn. They soon figure out that the Empire is after the "End Magnus", Magnus cards that have the power of an evil god named Malpercio. Kalas, Xelha, Gibari, and Lyude find one of the five End Magnus in Diadem, but it is stolen from them. In Diadem, the party also learns of an ancient race of wizards, who originally defeated and sealed Malpercio thousands of years ago.
They then travel to Anuenue, a neutral nation devoted to magic and knowledge, to find the next End Magnus; while there, they confront the emperor of Alfard, Geldoblame, and meet Savyna, an ex-mercenary for the Empire. They beseech Queen Corellia for aid, but she refuses on the grounds of political neutrality. However. Savyna agrees to aid the party in obtaining an End Magnus. The party also encounters one of Giacomo's henchmen, Folon, barely escaping from him with their lives.
The group then tries to travel to Mira, Kalas' home nation, through the Trail of Souls, a border between dimensions. On the way, they encounter Giacomo again in his flying Goldoba and are shot down. Falling through the trail lands them in the Portal to an Outer Dimension, an area where no one has been known to return from. Yet somehow they find help from a strange and seemingly androgynous being named Mizuti who leads them to a warp hole exit. Making it to Mira, the party enters Detourne, the Mystical Garden. After making their way through the garden's illusions and tricks, the party encounters the shadow of an End Magnus, essentially a swarm of leftover bits of the power of the real End Magnus. Defeating and collecting it, the party goes back to Parnasse to try to find some more clues to the location of the real End Magnus. They are then arrested for the kidnapping of Lady Melodia, a local noble. Escaping from the town of candy by eating their way out, the party flees to the dark forest called Nekton. There they encounter Giacomo again holding Melodia as hostage. Before they are able to begin battle, the forest spirits respond to the hostility between them and a dimensional rip appears allowing a creature of darkness to attack the party. Giacomo and his comrades flee leaving Kalas and his friends to fend off the monster. Melodia intervenes and calms the creature down, convincing it to go back to sleep. Afterwards, Kalas is stunned to find that the only End Magnus that they had is gone, somehow stolen or dropped. The party retraces their whole route to try and find the lost End Magnus, but it is found nowhere.
Inviting the party to her home in Balancoire, the party meets Duke Calbren, Melodia's grandfather. Explaining the dire situation to Calbren, it is revealed that the End Magnus of Mira resides under Calbren's manor inside Coccolith, the Labyrinth of Mirrors. Giacomo rudely interrupts again and dashes downstairs to claim the End Magnus. Trailing him, Kalas and his friends rush downstairs only to be confronted by the End Magnus' guardian, Phantasm. After defeating it, the End Magnus starts to react with the shadow End Magnus picked up earlier. Mizuti draws off the excess energy and Kalas seals the End Magnus with its shadow. Giacomo then in turn snatches the End Magnus and runs off. In Balancoire, the group also hears an old woman's tale of why the ocean disappeared and the islands rose into the sky so many years ago: when Malpercio was defeated by the wizards, his evil had already ravaged the Earth. The ocean was lost, and the Taintclouds formed above the earth to seal away Malpercio's taint from the islands in the sky.
Finally, the group of six heads to Alfard, where they intend to stop Geldoblame once and for all. After witnessing the state of the Empire firsthand, they confront Geldoblame in the Lava Caves, where the last End Magnus lies. Geldoblame summons the power of the five End Magnus to transform him into a godlike being, however, the resulting creature is horribly misshapen and deformed (though still quite powerful). After defeating the twisted Malpercio, it is revealed that Melodia, a relatively insignificant character up to this point, has been the one behind the Empire's plot the entire time, and that Kalas has been working for her from the start. The power of the five partially unsealed End Magnus transforms Kalas, replacing his single black wing and Winglet with two beautiful white wings. Now "complete", Kalas rejects the Guardian Spirit as he has no need for it anymore and helps capture his former allies.
Xelha awakens in an Imperial cell separated from the rest of the party. She rediscovers and bonds with the lingering Spirit that Kalas rejected earlier. Escaping with the help of three witches, Xelha is able to return to Anuenue and contact Queen Corellia. After rescuing the other members of the party, Xelha decides to search for a means to break the hold Melodia has over Kalas and save the world. The forgotten ice nation of Wazn, which has not had contact with the other lands for several centuries, is determined to be their last possible source of salvation. After breaking through the wards placed around the nation, the party enters Wazn and it is revealed that Xelha is actually the current Ice Queen of Wazn. Once inside Wazn, the Ocean Mirror, an ancient artifact which is said to have to power to purify evil forces, is claimed by Xelha after passing a test by the former Ice Queens of Wazn.
With the mirror in their possession, the party journeys to the Imperial Fortress to confront Kalas. After facing their old comrade in battle, Xelha attempts to use the Mirror on Kalas, but quickly discovers that doing so will kill him instead of merely purifying the evil within him. Eventually, Kalas realizes the value of his friends and attempts to break the End Magnus' spell on himself. He finally manages this by tearing off the white wing given to him by Malpercio. Revealing her motives for keeping the party alive, Melodia then steals the power of the party's friendship and trust to completely unseal the End Magnus. This in turn revives the evil god Malpercio in a physical form. Mizuti then tries to stop Malpercio by calling on the help of her fellow wizards. However, even with the combined strength of the Children of the Earth, Malpercio is able to barely escape with Melodia to Cor Hydrae, his demon-filled castle that he summons from a different dimension. From behind Cor Hydrae's defensive shields, monsters appear and begin to attack the five islands.
Retreating to Alfard, Kalas offers an apology to the party for deceiving them. Quickly accepting this, Xelha then returns the Guardian Spirit to Kalas again. Putting on his old Winglet, Kalas rejoins the party and starts making plans to somehow counter Malpercio's attacks. Mizuti's origins are brought up as a possible source of support. Revealing her homeland to be under the Taintclouds, Mizuti explains that she is one of the Children of the Earth, a tribe of humans that remained on the ground even after everyone else left for the sky. The Children of the Earth are all descended from the great Ancient Wizards that originally sealed Malpercio away. The party agrees to seek out the rest of the tribe in hopes that at least some of the power of these wizards could help in the fight against Malpercio.
After a great deal of convincing on the part of Mizuti, the party descends to Duhr through the Taintclouds, and arrive in Mizuti's hometown, Gemma Village, by way of the Labyrinth of Duhr. After arriving at Gemma, and being introduced to its leader, the Great Kamroh II, the party learns of a third magical artifact, the Sword of the Heavens, kept in the nearby Capella, Garden of Death. Upon arriving in the Garden, however, it is discovered that the sword is no longer present. After traveling to Algorab Village, Kalas and everyone learn that Krumly, mayor of the village, has stolen the sword and is currently heading to Zosma Tower, where he intends to break the seal on Duhr, summon Malpercio, and offer him the Sword in return for a new home above the Taintclouds, in the sky. Kalas and co. rush to the top of Zosma, but are too late to stop Krumly from breaking the seal. However, when Malpercio shows up, he and Melodia attack Krumly, and fly off to Algorab to kill the villagers and destroy the ancestors of the wizards who originally destroyed him. The party follows Malpercio to Algorab, and manage to defeat him. He and Melodia then retreat to the Cor Hydrae, but not before destroying the Sword of the Heavens. He then flies off, leaving everyone weary but alive.
After the battle, Kalas returns to Cebalrai to visit Larikush, the doctor who saved him in the beginning of the game. It is here that he finally learns of his past: he was created in an experiment conducted by Larikush and the man he thought to be his grandfather, Georg, in the Empire. He was born from a magnus, as was his brother Fee, but after the emperor ordered Georg to kill Kalas, he staged his own death and fled to Mira with Kalas, Fee, and Larikush, who later went to Cebalrai. It was two years later that Giacomo came to Mira and murdered Georg and Fee. Kalas is then directed to the Celestial Alps, where Larikush says Georg left him something.
After climbing to the top of the Celestial Alps, Kalas and company face off against Giacomo and his lackeys, Ayme and Folon. After a long and heated battle, Kalas comes out the victor, but the battle is not without casualties; Giacomo is killed. With his dying breath, he commands Ayme and Folon to drop their grudge with Kalas and help him save the world. The two meet him halfway; after Giacomo passes, they leave in peace, vowing not to fight Kalas again. Kalas also learns that the reason he survived his wounds after Giacomo's attack is that Fee, who was created from a pure and divine magnus, the Magnus of Life, was absorbed into him as he died. So now, Kalas contains within him the Magnus of Life which is the opposite of Malpercio's End Magnus.
After traveling around the islands once more to tie up loose ends and discover more of the pasts of the party members, Kalas and the party together with the world's leaders, Rodolfo, Ladekahn, Corellia, and Calbren decide that it is now time to attack Cor Hydrae, Malpercio's demonic castle, and end the war for good. However, the Cor Hydrae is protected by a near-unbreakable force-field. In a stroke of genius, the leaders decide to use the residual power left in each island by the End Magnus to destroy the force-field; their attempt is successful, and the group enters Cor Hydrae.
After battling through Cor Hydrae's many traps, and defeating five evil gods, the group finally reaches the main chamber of Cor Hydrae, and face off against Malpercio. They defeat him, but just before he was about to be destroyed, Melodia fused herself with Malpercio, not only restoring him to full power, but creating a whole new form, even stronger than before. Atop Cor Hydrae, Kalas and co. face off against Malpercio one last time, and after a long, grueling fight are able to immobilize him. While Mizuti holds Malpercio off with her magic, Kalas enters Malpercio in an attempt to save Melodia. After doing so, Melodia instructs the Guardian Spirit to use its power to recreate the three artifacts, the Sword of the Heavens, the Ocean Mirror, and the Earth Sphere. The three artifacts are then made whole by the power of the End Magnus, the Magnus of Life, and the Guardian Spirit together, and Malpercio is destroyed once and for all. The islands then descend to the Earth, righting the wrong that was made when Malpercio originally was destroyed. However, one component is still missing; the Ocean is absent.
After an emotional conversation in which Kalas and Xelha reveal feelings for each other, Xelha tells Kalas that the Ocean is contained within her, and that it had been the duty of the Ice Queens for generations to protect the Ocean until the time was right for it to be released onto the world again. Immediately after Xelha reveals her purpose to Kalas, Geldoblame reappears as a manifestation of the earth itself. He is easily defeated by Kalas and Xelha, after which Kalas and Xelha agree to release the ocean from Xelha, an act that could end Xelha's life. After a tearful prayer between Xelha, Kalas, and the Guardian Spirit, Xelha collapses, and disappears, leaving Kalas alone. Almost immediately, salty rain begins to fall from the sky, and does not stop until the space between the islands is filled with the Ocean; it has finally returned to the world.
In the final scene of the game, Cedr and Palolo III are running along the shore when they find a conch shell that intrigues them. Bringing it to Kalas, they tell him that they can hear Xelha's voice in it. Kalas takes the shell and observes it, when immediately the shell gives off a burst of water, which then takes the form of Xelha. The two tearfully embrace, and then say their goodbyes as Kalas severs the bond between himself and the Guardian Spirit, allowing it to return to its home world, for the world of Baten Kaitos has been saved from the evil of Malpercio.
Characters[]
- Main article: Main Characters
Gameplay[]
Magnus[]
- Main article: Magnus
Field[]
Battle[]
Camp[]
Music[]
Trivia[]
- The name Baten Kaitos comes from an existing star: Zeta Ceti, a star in the constellation Cetus ("The Whale"), which traditional name is Baten Kaitos, a name derived from Arabic, meaning "belly of the sea monster" or "belly of the whale". This is an obvious reference to the legendary Whale.
- In the Star Map quest, the last Constellation Magnus that is found is Cetus, the constellation in which the star Baten Kaitos is located.
- This naming convention can be found throughout the series, with most of the names of locations in both games being derived from a stars.