Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean is a role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft and tri-Crescendo and published by Namco for the GameCube. It was released in Japan in 2003, North America in 2004 and PAL territories in 2005. The player assumes the role of a "guardian spirit" – an unseen player avatar – who guides protagonist Kalas and his party of companions in an adventure across an aerial floating island-based kingdom in the clouds. The game is focused around the concept of "Magnus" – magical cards that capture the "essence" of items found in the in-game world. The concept is used as a plot device, for in-game item management, and as a basis for the card-themed battle system. The game was noted for its unique battle system, which included aspects of turn-based and action-based battle systems, collectible card games, and poker.

Developed specifically for the GameCube due to its lack of JRPGs in its game library, the game was generally well received by critics, but received lukewarm sales. Despite this, a prequel, Baten Kaitos Origins was green-lit and released at the end of the GameCube's lifespan by Nintendo, receiving a similar reception itself. Outside of the cancelled Baten Kaitos DS and Baten Kaitos 3 concepts, no further entries have been announced or released, with the team largely focusing on other projects, like the Xenoblade Chronicles games. In the years following, Monolith Soft staff have mentioned the desire to return to the series should the opportunity ever arise. A collection containing both released titles, Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster was released on the Nintendo Switch in 2023, and on Windows through Steam the following year.