Is the voice acting in Baten Kaitos really that bad?

B

Beezy

Member
I just beat Paper Mario: TTYD yesterday and Baten Kaitos is the only RPG I have left for the cube. I want to know if I should I turn off the voices or leave them on. If the voices in Tales of Symphonia didn't bother me, will I be able to deal with this?
 
Apart from the voice acting, there is something weird just about how the voices sound. Really don't know how to describe it, but it's terrible ... (pal release I'm talking about, I am not sure if it is the same for ntsc).
 
If you set the sound options to "surround" it completely removes the echoes from the voices. Why this isn't the default setting, I have no idea because it sounds so much better. That being said, some of the actors themselves are pretty bad (Lyude, I'm looking at you).
 
stalker said:
Apart from the voice acting, there is something weird just about how the voices sound. Really don't know how to describe it, but it's terrible ... (pal release I'm talking about, I am not sure if it is the same for ntsc).
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you talk about the fact that it sounds just like the sounds went out of a phone ?

Setting the game in surround correct it, and then voice acting sounds a lot better !
 
The voice work is terrible but I loved it. I kept it on for laughs.

I do hope the English voice work is significantly better for the sequel though.
 
Oh yeah, it is. Worst thing is that with some characters, you get the sense that the voice actor might have been semi decent, but just got terrible voice direction from the English voice track director.
 
Snow said:
Oh yeah, it is. Worst thing is that with some characters, you get the sense that the voice actor might have been semi decent, but just got terrible voice direction from the English voice track director.
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Ther was some actual talent in the cast that's for sure but yeah the direction was just horrid. Made the good actors suck and the bad ones hilarious.
 
The funniest scene (in my game, so far) is the one in which
Kalus' true nature is revealed.

You actually wonder whether these voice actors were doing this as a joke.
 
Leave it on for a while, so you'll appreciate when it's gone.

I left it on probably 10 hours. However, it got to the point where I was starting to pay more attention to the voices than what they were saying, so it was distracting me from actually knowing what was going on.
 
Sylfurd said:
you talk about the fact that it sounds just like the sounds went out of a phone ?
Setting the game in surround correct it, and then voice acting sounds a lot better !
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Thank you guys, I had no idea about it. I play my cube on a 14'' not even stereo TV and therefore I do not bother with sound options on the menus. I think I have an excuse to come back to Baten Kaitos and play a bit more... someday!
 
Symytry said:
pfffffffffffffffft. I've heard worse than Baiten Kaitos. Tales of Symphonia was just as bad if not worse.
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What? The ToS voice work is like Masterpiece Theater in comparison.
 
Lol at methodman's post. If it's like that throughout the whole game, then I can see why you would want to turn off the voices.

Barry Lightning said:
is "baten kaitos" a really dumb name?
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*shrugs* Who cares? A lot of games have dumb names. Maybe Baten Kaitos actually means something in some other language.
I doubt it though...
 
Beezy said:
Maybe Baten Kaitos actually means something in some other language.
I doubt it though...
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It does:
BATEN KAITOS (Zeta Ceti). Four named stars define the main figure of Cetus, the Sea Monster, or Whale: Menkar in his head, the great variable Mira in his neck, Deneb Kaitos, which marks his tail, and Baten Kaitos, which links the long neck to the body. Of these Baten Kaitos is the faintest, excepting of course when Mira is on the down-side of its huge variability.


Plus:
http://www.winshop.com.au/annew/BatenKaitos.html
A topaz yellow star in Cetus, the Whale or Sea Monster. Baten Kaitos is from the Arabian Al Batn al Kaitos, or Batn Qaytus (1), the "Whale's Belly", although the star is higher up in the body.
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worst VA ever goes to Star Ocean 2

seriously thats..... just a disaster not even the mighty BK can beat SO2 in that department.
 
Error2k4 said:
worst VA ever goes to Star Ocean 2

seriously thats..... just a disaster not even the mighty BK can beat SO2 in that department.
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Clearly you have not heard the Sea Witch's tale in Shadow Hearts 1.
 
NichM said:
Clearly you have not heard the Sea Witch's tale in Shadow Hearts 1.
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SCHLOOP! SCHLOOP! SCHLOOP! SCHLOOP! (don't remind me)

BTW, NichM - I think I remember you from the E3 Atlus booth, I was asking you some Persona 3 questions and saw your badge and recognized the name from somewhere...
 
Yeah so....I turned the voices off about 2 hours in. The game is a lot more enjoyable now. I'm about 8 hours into it right now.

Btw, the voices didn't sound any different to me when I changed to surround sound. It still sounded like they were talking through a tube.
 
Adagio said:
Sooo...with the voice acting off, this game worth a play?
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Yes, the game's worth a play. Don't let something as minor as voice acting detract you from playing an otherwise good game.

The story is pretty poor... that's the biggest failing in the game. It has just nothing going for it at all.

However, the graphics are excellent (in-battle graphics, and especially the prerendered backgrounds they use in environments) and the music is Sakuraba's best soundtrack ever. Most importantly, though, is the gameplay -- very innovative, very fun, a ton of customizability, and an extreme amount of depth to the gameplay. Worth it for that alone.
 
Adagio said:
Sooo...with the voice acting off, this game worth a play?
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I don't know much about the story yet, but the game is beautiful, the music is great, and the battle system is fun.
 
ethelred said:
However, the graphics are excellent (in-battle graphics, and especially the prerendered backgrounds they use in environments) and the music is Sakuraba's best soundtrack ever.
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I'm a big fan of Motoi Sakuraba and I liked the Baten Kaitos OST, but it has always striked me as something on par with Star Ocean 3. I still personally prefer the simple Golden Sun soundtrack to both BK and SO. Some of Golden Sun's songs had that touch, like the main menu theme, that I couldn't quite find with BK and SO. And then there is the earlier OSTs and rearrangements that Motoi Sakuraba has done that really appealed to me.

Baten Kaitos Origins and Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria are the best Sakuraba works, imo. VP 2 particularly is one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard.
 
Spirit Icana said:
I'm a big fan of Motoi Sakuraba and I liked the Baten Kaitos OST, but it has always striked me as something on par with Star Ocean 3. I still personally prefer the simple Golden Sun soundtrack to both BK and SO. Some of Golden Sun's songs had that touch, like the main menu theme, that I couldn't quite find with BK and SO. And then there is the earlier OSTs and rearrangements that Motoi Sakuraba has done that really appealed to me.

Baten Kaitos Origins and Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria are the best Sakuraba works, imo. VP 2 particularly is one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard.
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I disagree 100%. BK II's music is nowhere near BK's calibre... particularly because almost all of the battle themes are so much weaker. The True Mirror (Orchestral Version) is fantastic, but the rest... eh. And the BKII version of Chaotic Dance is most of the most bloody-ear inducing things I've ever heard. Horrible. :/

Aside from the really nice ambient tracks and nice dungeon themes, what really puts BK over the top of all his other works is the battle music (because, really, let's be honest here -- that's what they're hiring Motoi Sakuraba for and that's what we're listening for). There's no competing with The True Mirror, Vitriolic a Stroke, True Mirror (Guitar Version), Supreme Ruler of the Nine Heavens, Rumbling of the Earth, Violent Storm, and Chaotic Dance. It's his best stuff.

Star Ocean is... er, I dunno. I liked a few tracks on it (much of the OST1 stuff was really nice), but OST 2 was painful. And the Director's Cut OST was, IMO, one of his worst albums ever.
 
Baten Kaitos is easily Sakuraba's greatest OST ever, IMHO. I'm rather surprised by how much worse SO3 was than it's predecessors, BKII was over BKI, and VP2 was over VP1. Disappointing. Seems like it he might have peaked... perhaps he just needs a break.

The VA is BK is pretty bad, and riddled with MISTAKES. WTF?
 
I agree that BK's VA sucks a lot except for. . .

The voice of Lady Melodia. I thought she was fantastic!
Mitzuti was cool too. Savyna was average but her voice in battle was pretty cool imo.
 
Mejilan said:
Baten Kaitos is easily Sakuraba's greatest OST ever, IMHO. I'm rather surprised by how much worse SO3 was than it's predecessors, BKII was over BKI, and VP2 was over VP1. Disappointing. Seems like it he might have peaked... perhaps he just needs a break.

The VA is BK is pretty bad, and riddled with MISTAKES. WTF?
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I don't think Sakuraba has peaked at all. Have you listened to the Tales of the Abyss soundtrack? It's outstanding. Short of Baten Kaitos, I think Abyss has the best collection of his battle themes yet -- Everlasting Fight is absolute genius; then you've got The Arrow Was Shot, Fang Which Wants Blood, Awkward Justice, etc., all of which are really excellent tracks which have a very different feel from most of his earlier stuff.

Given how ****ing prolific he is as a composer, I'm amazed how high the average quality of his albums is. The guy doesn't get nearly enough credit for how many soundtracks he's able to crank out of good quality -- not all of them may be excellent, but very, very, very few of them are actually bad, or even average.
 
Mejilan said:
I haven't listened to TotA yet. But wasn't that composed WELL before BKII or VPII?
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It was a 2005 game compared to two 2006 games... it's hard to make an argument that someone creatively peaked at Baten Kaitos when he then goes and composes a fantastic new album in 2005.
 
I wasn't suggesting that BK, necessarily, represented his peak, just that it was my favorite of his OSTs. It's just that his more recent stuff is... very disappointing. Particularly when said more recent stuff represents sequels to two of his greatest works ever, IMHO.
 
Wow, the difference of opinions between us here is....pretty big. :)

Motoi Sakuraba's 2006 work is far better than his earlier scores. The guy's reached his peak? Nah, I think he's getting better and better as far as I'm concerned.

Oh, and being honest with myself, while I don't know what Tri-Cresendo, Camelot, Tri-Ace, or whoever hire Motoi Sakuraba for, I like his calm, ambient, orchestral pieces as much, if not more, than the battle gems that the guy cooks from time to time.

ethelred said:
There's no competing with The True Mirror, Vitriolic a Stroke, True Mirror (Guitar Version), Supreme Ruler of the Nine Heavens, Rumbling of the Earth, Violent Storm, and Chaotic Dance. It's his best stuff.
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Those are great songs! Valedictory Elegy, Evidential Material, Ruinous Commander, Iconoclasm, The True Mirror (Orchestral), and especially Le Ali Del Principio top them, imo. I also think the ambient scores were more powerful, and the brass more tolerable and varied, though still overdone a wee bit.
 
Ok, so I'm listening to Tales of the Abyss and am thoroughly unimpressed. What I imagine are the battle themes are almost universally awful. (Note: Everlasting Fight is thoroughly incredible, however).

Looking at the spread though, most of the few songs I actually like are Sakuraba's. Not the worst Tales of OST (that goes to Eternia, IMHO), but it's way worse than ToL (which I realize had no Sakuraba involvement). ToS smokes TotA. Easily.

So I definitely think Sakuraba's recent works don't compare to his older stuff. :/
 
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