Greatest of all time. Zenith of the medium. Hallmark of media. Gold standard of storytelling. Apogee of creativity. Vertex of invention. Crest of ingenuity. Acme of imagination. Pinnacle of innovation. Epic of epics. Legend among legends. Peak fiction.

I played this game in honor of Akira Toriyama after his passing as this game is known for having the “dream team” staff as part of its development. Compared to most games I’ve played recently, everyone around me has been hyping this game up as one of the best the video game medium has to offer so my expectations were the highest it could ever be. But this game surpassed them. Chrono Trigger is the video game that encapsulates why I love video games, from its grandiose adventure to its gameplay mechanics all serving the only purpose a video game should have; to be fun.

Easily one of the best looking SNES era games, sure it doesn’t look as technologically advanced as say Donkey Kong Country or uses mode7 graphics like Final Fantasy 6 all that often, but the art direction is just simply magnificent with how the world looks in how it fits well to the stellar Akira Toriyama character designs with the main playable characters looking as slick as hell. Monsters look like this perfect fusion of Final Fantasy eldritch horrors mixed with Dragon Quest’s charming silliness that creates a cool balance of both. Chrono Trigger also has a godly soundtrack where each music piece feels so resonant with the scene playing that I always end up humming the tunes while I play. Even if you dislike older video games, everyone owes it to themselves to at least check out this one with how amazingly well it has aged.

One thing that playing Chrono Trigger has made me learn is that every western inspired JRPG really is just trying to mimic this game and I can see why. It is THE turn-based combat JRPG for players who hate turn based combat. With the ATB system similar to Final Fantasy but with an interesting twist with positioning on the screen, Chrono Trigger’s combat really gives the illusion of being more lively and involved compared to other turn-based JRPGs in this sense. How quick the combat is against enemies also really helps the exploration, especially the fact that it has no random enemy encounters. That must certainly be a huge boon for some. But that’s just scratching the surface of what makes the exploration great as the real meat is in fact the time travel letting you explore the world in different time periods and impacting history in different ways to complete side quests and progress through the story.

It is with this gameplay element that the story truly shines as something completely unique. It starts off with Crono simply being dragged into the time travel shenanigans but it gradually escalates into this amazing time travel adventure where you meet interesting party members each very distinct to their original time periods and having a lot of character and personality. The overall main story is surprisingly short, but it makes up for it with its sheer amount of side quests available before the final boss. I like this structure to be honest, it gives a lot of content for those who want to make the most out of their games while also being a game that can be relatively quick for those who just want to see the main things of what makes this game so great, Either way, Chrono Trigger will rarely ever keep a played bored with how well it directs them to the next interesting event.

This is a pretty good game overall. Might be a new all-time favorite. I’m going to be thinking about it for a while. If you’re looking for a beautiful game that just has a comfy yet hype story that’ll keep you engaged be it through its addictive gameplay or its endearing narrative, this is the one. Don’t play the steam version though because it crashes a lot. 10/10.

Rightfully deserves its place as one of the best JRPGs of all time. Definitely has some flaws (every cave looks exactly the same, you are constantly running out of MP), but those issues are but a drop in the bucket compared to everything else.
The character work is absolutely top-notch. every character feels as if they deserve to be there, and each one has fantastic sprite work. Marle in particular was a highlight, with probably the best and funniest sprites I've seen in a game.
The dual tech system was nice, but I do wish it was more strategic rather than "this is the newest dual tech you unlocked so that is the one that will deal the most damage". If I had been able to move my characters around to line up particular line techs, that could have been interesting.
Exploration was fun, and the game is basically laid out the same way as Final Fantasy VI, where it is heavily linear up until a particular story point where you can then complete the rest of the side quests in any order.
The shorter length also helps this, as there is basically no filler, although it is unclear why the story suddenly shifts towards befriending frog for a few hours.
The extra dungeons in this version of the game are absolute trash and were an actual detriment to the game. Lost Sanctum was the laziest quest design I had ever seen. No I do not want to trek all the way up and down a mountain a seventh time just because some dumb creature wants a banana.

Pure quality from start to finish. So easy to see how this has become a classic and how its focus on characters has informed the modern JRPG. The game is not going to blow you away if you've played the games that take inspiration from it, but the fact there is almost no filler is amazing. The music is awesome, the characters are very likeable, and the locations are varied and interesting enough for it to never hit those dull lows of longer JRPGs that have you grinding and completing fetch quests to drag out the game length.

The game is a solid 20 hours and for all that time I was completely engaged. The combat is also pretty unique and I'm surprised it hasn't been emulated more. It's more time-based than turn-based with battles that happen within the levels themselves and without uninspired random encounters. Overall, it's pretty easy throughout and you don't really need to grind much. Some of the bosses are really good though, especially the final gauntlet of bosses.

The only negative thing is the padding added by the DS and PC versions in the form of optional dungeons and quests. I stumbled into the Lost Sanctum questline and played it for a few hours, but most of the added content only serves to disrupt the tight pacing of the original. I just didn't play it and had a much better time for it.

Finalmente parei pra jogar. E é tão bom quanto todo mundo fala, quem diria.

O impacto de jogar ele em 2023 com certeza é muito menor do que na época mas é sem dúvida um jogo incrível e muito a frente de seu tempo, com uma história e personagens realmente muito bons. Não tive paciência pra fazer o ng+, acabei vendo os finais no YouTube, mas definitivamente é um jogo que eu teria ficado fissurado se tivesse jogado quando era mais novo. Junto com Live A Live na categoria "RPGs que eu queria muito ter jogado uns 20 anos atrás"

9.5/10
A Timeless Classic for a reason. Chrono Trigger stands with Final Fantasy VI as the golden JRPGs of that console, and maybe the golden titles of the SNES period. Playing through the game, it is easy to see why it is so loved, and with the added cutscenes, it adds so much to this game that I wonder how some sequences were even experienced without them, even if some of them are just the same sequence but instead animated to emphasize their importance.

Story
A surprisingly more complex story that I would had imagined going in, especially for a SNES game. It is a repeated tune, but the themes of existential crisis,not sitting down and accepting "fate", and of course themes around the idea of time travel, with the benefits and of course, consequences. You focus on going through all the time eras, finding out your fate due to lavos, and finding companions who tie their story to lavos as well. With how complex time travel can get, Chrono Trigger knows how to have the complexity of time travel, without overdoing it and causing a confusing mayhem that ends up harming the story more than it benefits it, as it is pretty simple to understand how the time travel works with past affecting future, changing the past changes the future, and changing the future does not change the future, but having future knowledge can help you change the present or past. There is no meeting past self (kinda), and other time plots that convolute the story, which is amazing. Considering how short this game is for a JRPG, the pacing is excellent. The game does start to falter a TINY bit towards the end, but is able to make a great conclusion. It also helps that the side quests in this game are just amazing, as they each focus on each character, and have great character developments that make each and every single one of them worth playing through. Its really hard to point at issues with the story for this game, if I had to consider ANY, it is the tiny pacing issues toward with the end which lands greatly, some of the sidequests were a bit out there to understand who to solve them, anddddd I guess I was a bit confused how the multiple endings were at first, only to realize that the most obvious one is the best ,and the other endings are gotten through actions taken during the playthrough instead.

Characters
All of the cast were done excellent. Each of the characters have their own arc that all ties in together. Each of the characters represent the time era they were in, both good and bad considering the future that lavos created. The main character, Crono, is of course a silent protagonist who is designed to be a self insert, but brave character, which works considering the era it was set in. The other characters were all written so well, as Marle, the princess turned love interest, has an interesting story not only tying with cronos and of course her ancestory, but also her family struggles with her father who both struggle to accept the death of their Mother, and finally accepting and realizing how much they care for each other. Lucca's arc as well is just excellent, who ESPECIALLY gets one of the best scenes thanks to the excellent side quests in this game, and of course her inventions that allowed time travel to begin with for cronos and the group (even if it was fate that gave them the opportunity). Frog's arc and his rivalry with Magus (and depending on your choice, his redemption or acceptance), were just amazing, especially with his struggle as the human Glenn and accepting to become the hero that his previous companion sought out to be. Robo at first didn't seem that crazy, but his side quest fleshes him out way more and makes him another interesting character in the group. Ayla is also very interesting, but is probably the weaker one considering that she lacks an interesting side quest, which the other characters get, giving them the fleshed out development they needed. Magus finally after finding out who he is was a joy to experience, and while he is a bit sidelined with some story beats, his dialogue as he has a more personal connection with Zeal and lavos made him a worthy (and very strong) companion. It is insane how well done these characters are done, and not only are fleshed out throughout the game, but with how amazing the side quests are, makes them the fleshed out cast that everyone knows of, even if not all side quest developments were made equal, they are still all amazing. Each of the character experience existential crisis, especially frog and marle (and Lucca as well... and Robo as he is tossed out of the "Pure Robot" species), and it is an excellent common theme of the characters.

Gameplay
This was a surprise to me. The system revolves around the usual ATB system seen in previous FF games, but this time uses positioning as a key part of the combat as other turn based systems similar to this have either attack one, or all, instead this game contains move that only attack if the enemy's position are together, which plays a strong element that this game excels in, enemy and player position matters if they are hit or not. Attacks that are a straight line will only hit if the enemies are also in a straight line, and circles of course are the same and you get the point. This element makes this combat system so damn fun, as it adds a really fun aspect due to the fact enemies move around while in a waiting state, so you can either attack now and only attack 2 out of 3, or maybe wait a bit more till they group up and attack all 3 at the same time. This risk reward system while also being quick thinking of specific attacks for positions makes this system thrive really well. Of course end game attacks ignores this a bit, as the strongest spells usually attack all, but it still persists for some attacks still. The time travel mechanic is just insane to consider they made it work for a SNES game, and while some confusions happen for the side quests, the game just flows so well. There are some issues, as items are VERY basic till endgame when they start getting more strong passives, but for most of the time its mainly bigger number is better, which is fine. Finally The animations with how the party fights together with double or triple tech was a joy to experience, as their personality is expressed through how they fight, and fight together.

Music
Easily one of the best in gaming. It is easier to point out songs that AREN'T godtier, and even then it is hard to point out those so few songs that are fine. Each new song made me stop to listen to them, as while other game's OST may have 1 or 2 songs that stand out the most, nearly the entire OST in this game is the standout. Crono's Theme (main theme), frog theme, Battle theme, Corridors of Time, Secrets of the Forest, Lavos Theme, Boss Theme, I can go on and on that I might as well list the whole OST as ALL of the songs are just peak after peak to the point of being unfair. No lyric songs, SNES obviously, but what they were able to compose with the limitations is something that so few can achieve, and they were able to achieve this while LAPPING over other OSTs of modern day even.

Final Positives/Nitpicks
- Last Segment of the game was a bit of a dip, but still lands amazing
- This OST man...
- Having nearly ALL the sidequests land this hard is a rare achievement that not many games can achieve, and enters games like NieR Automata for amazing asf side quests.
- Having enemies die one at a time was a bit slow, but again, SNES.
- Even the smaller side characters around the world were very interesting, and the villains were well developed.
- Game is a bit easy, but with interesting battle and fight mechanics, it doesn't turn into a button masher luckily. Probably doesn't help that the excellent side quests, consequentially makes you super OP as well.

Conclusion
Again, broken tune, but this game is simply AMAZING, and easily stands as one of the best JRPGs. This game has aged so damn well that it is so easy to see why it is timeless. It easily stands with FF6 as the 2 Golden Titans of JRPG SNES games, and is easily still one of the great games to play to this date. A game that focuses on time travel and is able to handle it well is a feat (looking at you FF7 remake trilogy on how to door it poorly). This game is an easy recommendation, and while it isn't the most complex story, its simplicity with strong themes is played to its fullest strength in this game.
9.5/10

I think it is super wild that there are so many RPGs out there that take inspiration from this game, while very few accomplish the same achievements this game does. It is fantastic.

This was my 4th time trying to play this game. First, I tried to play it on my hacked SNES Classic. Got up to Robo and stopped playing. Then I tried the PC port in 2021. Port sucked. I tried again in 2022. Port still sucked. Finally, I tried the PC port again, and now works.

So to start, story. I do think the game has a fantastic opening. But then, it kinda drags a little for a bit. But then you hit the mid point of the game, and the entire concept of this game finally clicks. I ended up falling in love with every member of the cast.

This game has a ton of side content, that initially, I had no intentions of doing. However, many friends HEAVILY suggested I do them, and yup I agree, they are all very important and worth doing. All of the character specific quests are great.

Gameplay, this game is also great, though I do have a few nitpicks. Combat is super fun, no complaints there. However, navigation is a little weird. There were a lot of times where I really had no idea where to go, and with no quest menu, I had no way to double check.

I think this game could really benefit from some kind of HD-2D remaster to add a quest menu, and maybe even markers for main quests and side quests. I think it would do wonders to improve the game for a newer audience.

Along side that, why is Chrono Cross on all platforms, but the only modern way to play Chrono Trigger is the Steam version? This game should be on all modern platforms, and I can't find a good reason for why it's not, besides maybe a remake is in development.

Side note - during my playthrough, I was heavily considering dropping it while the story was at a low point. I am super happy I pushed through, because this game was really worth it. I am super excited to revisit it for NG+ at some point.

It felt like a breath of fresh air going back to a more classic JRPG with a shorter story and simpler mechanics.
I've been growing tired of the genre after having played several 100h+ games with convoluted battle systems, endless grinding, and irritating anime tropes, but this game reminded me why I love the genre in the first place.

The thing I feared going into this was the multiple time periods and having to search endlessly for the next place to go in order to progress the story. This fear was essentially never realized since it was almost always clear where the game wanted me to go next. The only times that I got stuck and had to turn to a walkthrough were when I didn't pay enough attention to the dialogue.

The battle system is simple, almost to a fault, where I found that my best strategy was to spam my most powerful techs 90% of the time during the latter half of the game. However, I don't really see this as an issue.
Speaking of combat, there were some annoying boss fights during the course of the game, with the Golems being the worst of the bunch in my opinion. If you play in active mode (which you most likely will do, let's be honest here) some bosses can spam attacks on your party, without giving you any possible chance to recover, which felt downright frustrating. Once again, I'm looking at you Golem and Golem Sisters.

Other than that, I feel like the game manages to tell a riveting story that doesn't overstay its welcome and feels satisfying to see through to the end. This is a must-play.

ah sim... o clássico dos clássicos dos clássicos. um dos primeiros RPG's que joguei na vida. cá estou jogando pela quinta (?) vez. um exemplo ótimo pra mostrar pras pessoas a importância da memória e como isso deve ser, e é, repassado. gosto muito de como passe o tempo que passar, esse jogo continua sendo lembrado e nunca deixa de aparecer nas listas dos melhores. espero que a minha geração (Z) e as futuras continuem essa tradição. existem muitos jogos que estão começando a ser esquecidos, muitas franquias que não são citadas e se ofuscam pela histeria coletiva gerada com o "novo". o capitalismo não apenas é rejeitado por mim pela imbecilidade do que se propõe, mas também por todas as tragédias que desenrolam para que ele possa "funcionar". Chrono Trigger, pelo menos, parece ter encontrado seu lugar. pra mim, é um exemplo de resistência da nossa comunidade que ainda não percebeu o quanto é bem politizada.

gostaria, inclusive, de aproveitar para deixar aqui algumas tímidas palavras de homenagem à um dos trabalhadores desse projeto que, não só transformou o mundo, mas também deu vida à esse que é um dos melhores jogos de todos os tempos:

em um mundo onde somos vistos apenas como classe trabalhadora, meros consumidores, reduzidos à servos dos interesses da classe dominante, não posso deixar de, mesmo em morte, agradecer ao mestre Toriyama. as lágrimas e a melancolia que escorreram de mim quando vi a notícia foram, até então, a última vez que me senti um ser humano. muito obrigado.

I played the first part of this in my horrible middle school contrarian phase and so obviously my opinion then doesnt matter, i hated it.
I expected this game to be just ok, still overblown (which it is) but fuck man. Theres something here that just isnt present in other rpgs, and idk how to describe it. This game is so cool. From every little thing you do in the opening scene being judged (i got 7 guiltys btw lol) to having a drinking contest with bisexual caveman Launch (crime form) it just shows you so many kickass scenes. Sure it has weird issues with inconsistency and whatever but damn! I get to play as a frog!

Provavelmente uma das ideias mais ambiciosas na indústria dos jogos até hoje. Juntar 3 eras em apenas um jogo, interligando-as e extraindo ao máximo o conteúdo de cada uma, com seu próprio contexto, seus próprios personagens, até mesmo seu próprio jeito de vender e comprar itens, cada zona temporal se torna única dentro dos limites do jogo, toda sua atmosfera muda mesmo sendo o mesmo mapa. O nível de detalhes é surreal, é uma quantidade ampla de ações que o jogador pode fazer que vai influenciar de maneiras diferentes os períodos de tempo do jogo, por exemplo a sidequest da moon stone, em que você leva a pedra do futuro para a era pré histórica para faze-la esquentar por 65 milhões de anos... Além das suas personagens , sendo super carismáticas, conseguiram conquistar meu coração em pouco tempo. E as dinâmicas entre eles são elevadas com o sistema de combo, simplesmente muito foda o Frog e o Crono cortando em X, ou o Robo Frog e Crono com seu ataque triplo. Sua história apesar de simples é fechadinha, pensada e conectada perfeitamente do início ao fim, como dito antes com uma quantidade imensa de detalhes sendo elevada pela relação que o jogador tem com o cast. Enfim um jogo exímio, tanto em gameplay quanto em narrativa, apesar de ser de um gênero que eu sempre evitei, consegue ser divertido, difícil e instigante, me fazendo utilizar de diferentes estratégias sempre que um boss novo aparecia, além do sistema de você poder prever os seus encontros e só tendo alguns que são realmente obrigatório,me poupou de muita frustação (VAI SE FODER WORLD MAP DE FF7). 10/10 superestimado.

The best game I've ever played!

Chrono Trigger is a classic, a completely timeless game. There is nothing, NOTHING bad in this game. Remarkable story, incredible and charismatic characters, difficulty at the right point... everything is incredible! I can't put my love for this game into enough words, it helped me through some of my worst moments.

If you haven't played it, PLAY it, especially if you're a fan of JRPGs. It's a classic that's well worth trying out. It's no wonder that it's in the Top 1 RPGs for a lot of people out there!

Passion projects are some of the best form of media that exist. When an artist, a director, or a game developer has a focused vision for an experience, and gives their all towards making that a reality, the final product is always something to be respected, no matter the quality in the end. Chrono Trigger is a rare example of a passionate team coming together to create their dream project, and the final result being an absolute masterwork of quality. This game oozes passion and charm at every moment, and for a game originally released on the SNES, it holds up remarkably well despite how much games have evolved since it's initial release.

The first thing that jumps out at you is the combat, combining a mix of real-time and turn-based in a way that feels novel and exciting throughout the entire 20+ hour journey. Having to strategize around when you can use up your ATB bar for an action is doubly hectic by having your most powerful abilities tied to combo attacks requiring the ATB of multiple characters be used at the same time. The rapid speed of combat can be a bit disorienting at first, as it was for me, and while there is a lot of fun to be had by sticking with the Active gameplay style, the option to tweak gameplay settings to allow for more time when selecting actions is much appreciated, since menu-ing on a time limit is intensely frustrating when you are still trying to figure things out. The notion of static encounters over random ones, the dynamic positioning of enemies and allies, makes this game feel as close to a turn-based action game as could realistically be achieved. Top it off with stellar sprite work, excellent bosses, and a thumping soundtrack, and you arrive at one of the most action-packed JRPGs ever created.

The true hook of this game is the narrative. Time travel is such a pandora's box of a story trope, and it can be very difficult to create a story around that premise, but CT manages to use the interactive nature of games to great effect, taking advantage of player agency to manipulate the plot in major or minor ways. It's not exactly revolutionary, since many of the game's trademark multiple endings feel a little undercooked story-wise, but the sheer uniqueness of a sprawling JRPG narrative that presents itself like this is just so refreshing. CT never feels too bloated, never feels padded, and every moment of it feels like it was hand-crafted by a team of experts...which it was. Every story moment is presented beautifully, with, again, superb sprite work and an amazing soundtrack that punctuates every moment, no matter the emotion. The party members also each feel like fully realized characters, with their own goals, their own faults, and their own opinions. They all contribute to the plot, helping to build up this unfolding mystery through time. Really, no complaints to be had with the story of this game.

When it comes to faults in the game, I do have a few subjective ones. The game balance does feel a bit off, with large chunks of the game being easy to Auto-battle your way through the critical path, but then a couple of steep difficulty checks that are impenetrable without having found everything that the game makes available to you at that moment. While that does serve as a useful way to encourage exploration, it can feel a bit arbitrarily difficult, and for me at least, stunted my enjoyment of the game at first. Moreover, when I said the game never felt padded, that is true for the base game, but not so for the additional dungeons added in later versions of the game. Lost Sanctum and the Dimensional Vortex are just plain unfun, lacking any real challenge, and half-baked story moments that feel like a waste of time. Truly the only parts of this game that felt undercooked.

Even though Chrono Trigger will likely not stand as one of my favourite games for personal biases, there is no denying the quality of the product. In a genre known for convoluted plots, tiresome mechanics, and overly lengthy stories, Chrono Trigger stands as the antithesis to that stereotype. The game is a lean 20 hours to complete, is paced to perfection, never throws any convoluted skill trees or mechanics at you, and keeps the entire plot neatly organized to remain enjoyable throughout. It's a marvel of a game, and one that still plays amazingly today. There is a reason that the team behind this game is referred to as the Dream Team; some of the finest minds in all of the history of JRPGs got together to make their dream game. When talent and passion combine, greatness is born, and Chrono Trigger stands as one of gaming's greats.

One of the most cozy, most timeless grand adventures ever portrayed in media.

I was a little skeptical about it since I heard it was about time travel. It's so easy to fuck it up and make it a nonsensical plot driver. This, however is what I'd call a prime standard for time travel stories. It doesn't do anything new or overly weird, it just fits perfectly. The characters are so incredibly cozy and likable and witnessing their stories which, again, aren't anything groundbreaking or untraditional but unravel in a masterful and satisfying way is cathartic. And like anyone and everyone, the campfire scene is just so fucking cozy i want reality to be it...

I'm a sucker for time travel stories that dont cower from exploring REAL TIME TRAVEL like if you have a time machine why WOULDN'T you go to prehistory and this game does that I love it so much for it. Something so grand and deeply resonating, witnessing such a monumental story being told in an intuitive way. Also the music is so fucking good oh my god.

Also in a way, its a pretty punk game if you think about it. Which is always a plus in my book.

Ayla best girl.
Robo best boy.
Akira Tomiyama's art is incredible.