Bandai Namco was originally opposed to the Baten Kaitos name
The Baten Kaitos series is set to return with new Switch versions later this year, but you might be interested to know that Bandai Namco wasn’t originally on board with the name.
Yasuyuki Honne, the director of the series, recently reflected on Baten Kaitos in light of its comeback. He revealed that “there was a lot of opposition”, but the name got passed through in the end.
You can find our translation of Honne’s comments below.
Thanks to the kindness of Bandai Namco, the world I worked so hard to create, and the maps I worked so hard to draw twenty years ago have been resurrected! Incidentally I was the one that named the title ‘Baten Kaitos’, but there was a lot of opposition from higher-ups at Namco to the name…we got it passed though!
In order to create a real sense of grandeur for the game with a limited budget and specs, I had to create and specify a lot in advance, such as the number of maps, NPCs and even enemies, details of playable characters as well as story and character design. And because of that there were no delays. Thanks to the understanding of each staff member; Kato-san – story and Nippori-san – character design.
The very first thing we named was the intercontinental airship. And then the world grew based on that keyword, expanded further by the story writer, and that was the flow. Using the names of constellations also helped localization as the words are universal, and that’s how it started.
Baten Kaitos and Baten Kaitos Origins originally debuted on the GameCube. These two titles will release for Switch as Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster on September 15, 2023. Read about improvements that have been made here and here.
Translation provided by Simon Griffin and SatsumaFS on behalf of Nintendo Everything.
