Monolith Soft are primarily known for their Xenosaga and Xenoblade Chronicles games, but in the early 2000s they collaborated with developer Tri-Crescendo on Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, a beautiful Gamecube-exclusive RPG featuring a unique card-based combat system. The game wasn’t a huge seller, but it’s become a bit of a cult favorite in the decades since its release. That said, with Xenoblade and support work for other Nintendo games now taking up Monolith Soft’s time, not many expected to ever see Baten Kaitos again.
Well, about that… per insider eXtas1s writing for eXputer, a remake of Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean is in the works. Apparently, this new version of the game is a collaboration between Monolith Soft and Bandai Namco, with Nintendo also being involved in some capacity. According to our insider, he’s seen some sort of visual evidence the remake exists, although he isn’t clear on how radical the game’s revamp will be.
The original Baten Kaitos featured lush pre-rendered backgrounds, a technique that’s largely gone out of style in the years since. Would the new Baten Kaitos attempt to completely remake the game in 3D? Or would it perhaps be more of a remaster that presents an HD version of an already-very-nice-looking game?
Of course, take all this with a grain of salt until something is officially announced. Accurate information about Microsoft and Activision projects have come from eXtas1s in the past, but he doesn’t have much of a history with Nintendo.
According to the rumors, the Baten Kaitos remake is slated to launch in summer of this year and will likely be revealed sometime around E3. What do you think? Any old Baten Kaitos fans out there? Would you be interested in playing a modernized take on the game?
