I just finished and mastered the second Baten Kaitos game on GC. Every single Magnus, every side quest, every mix, etc., for retroachevements. It was brutal.
I did both games this past month and man to I want to talk about some of the twists but nobody knows what the fuck I'm talking about, haha.
It's been years since I've played either, but I always liked the combo system in the first game better. The sequel dumbed it down a little too much for me.
I've heard that criticism. The upside was they right have a damage report after every freaking attack, and the speed was a lot faster paced. Granted I like a simpler system since you can still optimize it (but good luck remembering ex combos lol).
Plus in the first one you can throw rotten bananas at people. Some of the cards were a little out there.
I played through 1 and 2 about two years ago, but I wanted to try the recent rerelease. Like last time, I play on Ultra Violence. This time with Pistol Start though, as I recently learned that the levels were balanced around that.
It is challenging, but feels so right. The beginning of a level often plays like a little puzzle. Who to kill in what order to get to a decent weapon, before your 50 pistol shots run out.
Can't wait to play the new semi-official expansion they added with the rerelease.