To me the story was good, the prerender/painted backgrounds were ok, the pacing outside of battles was aweful...

The card system is was made the game for me. Definitely worth $10 if you got the time.

I haven't played Origins yet, but Eternal Wings is definitely worth it. Great game.

Baten Kaitos is one of the best series of rpg born in 128-bit generation. No doubt.

You may as well try it. Here's a short-short review from yours truly:

The gameplay: Slower than you're probably used to, but a little more strategic than your average "press X to attack" RPG. The card system sounds amazing in theory, but in practice, you receive cards over time that are obviously better than than the ones you had before; therefore, it's just a work-around substitute for the usual "buy the next set of equipment" upgrading that you'll find in any Final Fantasy game. I would have rather seen something more akin to Phantom Dust, where every card you find has potential use throughout the entire game, but at least it's something different.

The visuals: Simply breathtaking. The art direction is amazing, and a welcome change from your typical animu RPG.

The story: Rather typical for a JRPG, but it gets a few props for the point-of-view experiment, as well as for the big plot twist in the middle.

The voice acting: Sucks. It's better in the second game, though.

So, in short: If you like RPGs already and you want something a little different, it's worth getting for the visuals and somewhat-different battle system. If you don't, then it won't change your mind.

Skies of Arcadia poops on Baten Kaitos (Origins at least).

I agree that Skies of Arcadia was one of the better rpgs last gen. Gladly own that game :D