Nintendo continues the Baten Kaitos series

Monolith’s card battling RPG Baten Kaitos wasn’t a smash success like Tales of Symphonia in North America. That didn’t stop Monolith from producing a sequel to the game, which was released in Japan in February ’06. With no concrete details about the sequel’s US release it looked like the franchise was going to fade away. Maybe not because Nintendo announced that they will publish a prequel to the Baten Kaitos series called Baten Kaitos Origins for the Gamecube. The game is currently in development by Monolith and is set for a release on September 25th in North America. Baten Kaitos Origins is set 20 years before the first game. The story begins with Sagi, the blue haired hero sent to assassinate Emperor Geldoblame. When he arrives at the scene, Geldoblame is already dead and Sagi goes on the lam with Milly and a robot named Guillo. The story of Origins will explain the back history of the Baten Kaitos universe and explain where the heroes in Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean come from. Baten Kaitos Origins is still a card RPG and has over 600 magnus cards that players can use in combat. We’ve got more screenshots of Baten Kaitos Origins below.