if people would shut the fuck up about this game on reddit that'd be cool
Fuck this game
(as per usual with my reviews this isnt super well structured and im pretty sleep deprived when writing this, so sorry if its hard to read! i dont think i have too much to say thats meaningful, but at the same time, the reviews i do are mostly just to catalog my opinions, so i guess it doesn't matter too much.)
in my opinion and in seemingly a lot of others', chrono trigger is without a doubt an all time classic, among not just rpgs but video games in general.
it's not my favorite jrpg on the snes, the songs you hear the most other than the theme arent really to my taste (practically every unique theme is spectacular though) and the gameplay especially just feels like final fantasy but a puzzle to the point of annoyance late game (if it werent for the player choices and how much i enjoyed them, i probably wouldve liked this game more just watching it rather than playing it), but the narrative and characters are enough to pull it all together to, in my opinion, be more than the sum of its parts.
storywise, i loved every single member of the party, which i can only really say about two other games and theres just so many nice moments between the characters that i wish more games had, and honestly the multiple endings concept is still really underutilized in jrpgs. the story itself is also really fun and theres not really too many parts of the game that feel like filler. and visually, akira toriyamas jrpg designs are always really fun. i think i prefer the monster design for dragon quest overall but the characters in chrono trigger are some of my favorites, and the game in general just looks very pretty i think.
overall, chrono trigger is a game that i think everyone should experience in one way or another, whether it be playing or watching someone play, because its so incredibly special.
in my opinion and in seemingly a lot of others', chrono trigger is without a doubt an all time classic, among not just rpgs but video games in general.
it's not my favorite jrpg on the snes, the songs you hear the most other than the theme arent really to my taste (practically every unique theme is spectacular though) and the gameplay especially just feels like final fantasy but a puzzle to the point of annoyance late game (if it werent for the player choices and how much i enjoyed them, i probably wouldve liked this game more just watching it rather than playing it), but the narrative and characters are enough to pull it all together to, in my opinion, be more than the sum of its parts.
storywise, i loved every single member of the party, which i can only really say about two other games and theres just so many nice moments between the characters that i wish more games had, and honestly the multiple endings concept is still really underutilized in jrpgs. the story itself is also really fun and theres not really too many parts of the game that feel like filler. and visually, akira toriyamas jrpg designs are always really fun. i think i prefer the monster design for dragon quest overall but the characters in chrono trigger are some of my favorites, and the game in general just looks very pretty i think.
overall, chrono trigger is a game that i think everyone should experience in one way or another, whether it be playing or watching someone play, because its so incredibly special.
Chrono Trigger hooked me hard. I finished a 25 hour game in 3 weeks, something I NEVER do. I don't know how it happened but there is something magical that kept me from getting burnt out.
The time travel was really well done! Usually I'm not a fan of time travel tropes but many of the side quests and ideas that the game uses are well thought out with minimal plot holes. The ending felt a little downplayed imo (I got the Beyond Time ending) but there are alternate endings available.
Besides, it's about the journey right? Despite all the common tropes Chrono Trigger uses, I felt like many of them were fresh takes and worked well with the overall themes of the game. Specifically the title drop moment near the end of the game (no spoilers) uses a common JRPG trope involving a party member, but the time travel mechanic puts a unique spin on it that made the overall impact on the story stronger. Lots of the other time travel puzzles were pretty satisfying to figure out and concluded in a way that made sense, something I can't easily say about other time travel media.
The OST is freakin' fantastic, the pixel art is GOREGEOUS, Chrono Trigger has shot it's way up my list for favorite SNES games. If you still haven't played Chrono Trigger, I highly recommend it! There are tons of ways to play it nowadays unlike some of it's other SNES JRPG cousins.
The time travel was really well done! Usually I'm not a fan of time travel tropes but many of the side quests and ideas that the game uses are well thought out with minimal plot holes. The ending felt a little downplayed imo (I got the Beyond Time ending) but there are alternate endings available.
Besides, it's about the journey right? Despite all the common tropes Chrono Trigger uses, I felt like many of them were fresh takes and worked well with the overall themes of the game. Specifically the title drop moment near the end of the game (no spoilers) uses a common JRPG trope involving a party member, but the time travel mechanic puts a unique spin on it that made the overall impact on the story stronger. Lots of the other time travel puzzles were pretty satisfying to figure out and concluded in a way that made sense, something I can't easily say about other time travel media.
The OST is freakin' fantastic, the pixel art is GOREGEOUS, Chrono Trigger has shot it's way up my list for favorite SNES games. If you still haven't played Chrono Trigger, I highly recommend it! There are tons of ways to play it nowadays unlike some of it's other SNES JRPG cousins.
In the pantheon of what people consider "perfect games", it's not gonna be hard finding Chrono Trigger being name-dropped.
Playing it all these years later, it's understandable to see why it has such a highly regarded reputation. Chrono Trigger moves along at a brisk and well thought out pace, establishing its world, tone, and characters in a few short and memorable scenes, right before sending you off on a time travel adventure to save the planet from ultimate annihilation with your best friend and a damsel in distress.
This is Chrono Trigger's biggest strength: the ability to not waste your time, presenting a compelling and fun diverse cast of personalities and enough intrigue and pathos to propel you on your quest. This is accomplished by the expertise of Square Enix's "Dream Team", a group of talented devs that included Sakaguchi (titan of the JRPG genre, famed for creating Final Fantasy), Toriyama (the man behind the iconic character design of Dragon Quest) and Uematsu (legend composer of the Final Fantasy series), along with other just as important members, who gave Chrono Trigger its classic art style and design, charming and witty dialogue and characters, a memorable and haunting soundtrack, and engaging combat system.
Beyond the bond and interplay between the main characters that happen during the cutscenes, the combat itself also reinforces that narrative, with its focus on cooperative techniques that have the team members joining together to deal more powerful attacks to the enemies. Added to that, the combat isn't as abstracted as other JRPGs like Final Fantasy, where the characters and enemies just stand in direct opposition to each other, statically waiting for their turn.
In Chrono Trigger you can see the enemies walking around in the field before encounters, and during combat they move around and are affected by their position in relation to your team members, creating a much more dynamic and expressive burst of action.
Chrono Trigger doesn't' necessarily push the boundaries of its main core components. The story is enjoyable all the way through, but it's not the greatest literature ever put on a cartridge, and the gameplay is satisfying enough but it's not gonna break the mold of JRPGs anytime soon. It's however the marriage between all its pieces that produce a blockbuster of 16-bit glory.
It's hard not feel some form of fascination and excitement during moments like when you are showing Marlie around the town fair, when you find yourself transported to the future and witness the world destroyed, when you fight Magus in his dark castle, when you find the lost magic kingdom that's suspended in the air, or when you save a team member who sacrifices himself to save the rest of the group from certain death.
As you find yourself at the end, having gone through space and time fighting a gauntlet of enemies and boss battles, and defeating a challenging and multiple phased final boss, it's difficult not to look back at the game and not be impressed by it's perfected simplicity.
Regarding which version to be played, the SNES is the right decision. The DS version, while more faithful, does a disservice to the characters by making the line delivery more stoic and stilted, and the game is intended to be played on a big screen, not on such a small device where the pixel magic will be lost.
Certified classic.
Playing it all these years later, it's understandable to see why it has such a highly regarded reputation. Chrono Trigger moves along at a brisk and well thought out pace, establishing its world, tone, and characters in a few short and memorable scenes, right before sending you off on a time travel adventure to save the planet from ultimate annihilation with your best friend and a damsel in distress.
This is Chrono Trigger's biggest strength: the ability to not waste your time, presenting a compelling and fun diverse cast of personalities and enough intrigue and pathos to propel you on your quest. This is accomplished by the expertise of Square Enix's "Dream Team", a group of talented devs that included Sakaguchi (titan of the JRPG genre, famed for creating Final Fantasy), Toriyama (the man behind the iconic character design of Dragon Quest) and Uematsu (legend composer of the Final Fantasy series), along with other just as important members, who gave Chrono Trigger its classic art style and design, charming and witty dialogue and characters, a memorable and haunting soundtrack, and engaging combat system.
Beyond the bond and interplay between the main characters that happen during the cutscenes, the combat itself also reinforces that narrative, with its focus on cooperative techniques that have the team members joining together to deal more powerful attacks to the enemies. Added to that, the combat isn't as abstracted as other JRPGs like Final Fantasy, where the characters and enemies just stand in direct opposition to each other, statically waiting for their turn.
In Chrono Trigger you can see the enemies walking around in the field before encounters, and during combat they move around and are affected by their position in relation to your team members, creating a much more dynamic and expressive burst of action.
Chrono Trigger doesn't' necessarily push the boundaries of its main core components. The story is enjoyable all the way through, but it's not the greatest literature ever put on a cartridge, and the gameplay is satisfying enough but it's not gonna break the mold of JRPGs anytime soon. It's however the marriage between all its pieces that produce a blockbuster of 16-bit glory.
It's hard not feel some form of fascination and excitement during moments like when you are showing Marlie around the town fair, when you find yourself transported to the future and witness the world destroyed, when you fight Magus in his dark castle, when you find the lost magic kingdom that's suspended in the air, or when you save a team member who sacrifices himself to save the rest of the group from certain death.
As you find yourself at the end, having gone through space and time fighting a gauntlet of enemies and boss battles, and defeating a challenging and multiple phased final boss, it's difficult not to look back at the game and not be impressed by it's perfected simplicity.
Regarding which version to be played, the SNES is the right decision. The DS version, while more faithful, does a disservice to the characters by making the line delivery more stoic and stilted, and the game is intended to be played on a big screen, not on such a small device where the pixel magic will be lost.
Certified classic.
Chrono Trigger’s reputation precedes itself. If you haven’t played Chrono Trigger yourself already, you’ve surely heard tales of its legend. A 30 year old game made in the golden era of RPGs. Back when Square Enix were separated into SquareSoft and Enix. Legendary creators in of themselves. It is no wonder why this game is heralded as one of the best RPGs ever made, if not the best for many. As an RPG lover this was a game that I have been wanting to play but never got around to. I didn’t play many SNES or NES games growing up. My childhood gaming was spent on the N64 and original playstation. It’s been a blindspot for me forever. And now to play the game for the first time, to experience this legendary game for the first time with 29 years of game design between when it originally released to now, it’s astonishing to me that this game not only stood the test of time, but feels incredibly fresh and more modern than some modern RPGs.
TLDR at the end
Modern Sensibilities
Part of this is that it’s filled with modern interpretations that games just recently started incorporating. Things like your entire party getting experience from fights, all fights being on screen or scripted, and I think what really sets the game apart from the rest being the dual techs and how enemies move around and that affecting certain attacks. It’s crazy to see these ideas so early in games when there’s easily 15-20 years until that becomes a modern practice in RPGs. It’s also crazy to see choices impacting the game as well. That’s still not even common in JRPGs as a whole. It’s largely specific styles of RPGs like Baldur’s Gate 3 or Mass Effect that heavily employ that. While I don’t think Chrono Trigger has it as in depth as those games, the court scene still blew me away. That mixed with just how each encounter feels so thoughtful. The encounters are quick but a majority of the enemies have mechanics to them and not just higher health values of resistances. And how it organically tells you. Early on in the prehistoric area of the game there’s an enemy type that is resistant to physical attacks, and you only have Crono, Lucca, and Marle. So naturally after the first physical attack doesn’t do much you’d use your newly acquired magic and Crono only has lightning. Then lightning decreases its defense. It’s not even a status effect. It’s just a mechanic of the enemy. Which I found incredibly engaging. The creators were so ahead of their time with so much of the game.
Old Mixed with the New
Not to say there aren't some old school designs or ideas in Chrono Trigger. It is still a product of its time. But I feel these older school design philosophies are feeling fresher again. It’s an old school style JRPG with the overworld map and different areas to visit within said map. There’s old school side mission design with no quest log really, there’s no way points, there’s just NPCs with directions and hints. And I honestly think this is a welcomed change of pace. I think the popularity of Elden Ring and the souls games have brought to the limelight the joys of figuring things out. When the game opened up and provided a variety of side quests I had a lot of fun tracking them down, figuring out when, where and what to do for it. There were just 2 quests I looked up hints for. After looking them up I realized I had already been given the hints in the game but just didn’t register that they were connected to the quests. Which for an SNES title to only have to look up 2 things for just side quests and nothing more was really impressive. Since a lot of the older games tend to have some parts where things just feel obscure. This old school hands off approach feels incredibly refreshing now and I feel is returning to the gaming zeitgeist.
Pacing Perfection
This game on top of feeling so ahead of its time is just masterfully crafted. Chrono Trigger’s pacing is so incredible. Starting at the millennial fair, then quickly getting thrusted into medieval times and stumbling into an apocalyptic future sets up a tone and cadence that just doesn’t slow down or get boring. I think what helps in the pacing is that the game is also shorter compared to a lot of RPGs. This game can easily be finished in 20ish hours in a first playthrough. It took me 30 hours to finish the main game and side quests. Really the only critiques to the pacing could be that the millennial fair takes a little bit to figure out what to do, but it’s largely about exploring the fair. And the end sequence can have just a lot of bosses. But these are more like nitpicks rather than actual critiques. This is one the best paced games I’ve ever played.
Setting, Style, and Vibes
I love sci-fi and time travel settings. I was raised on watching Back to the Future so time travel has always been a favorite science fiction idea of mine. Getting to explore the same few continents and how they chance as eras change is so fun to see and experience. And the vibes and art of each era is so beautiful. And if it wasn’t clear already, the art for this game was done by the legendary Akira Toriyama. (May he rest in peace) It’s honestly incredible how defined his art style in this. It’s not just in the animated scenes and cover art (I played this on steam so I got those, they weren’t in base Chrono Trigger) but it so clearly bleeds into every aspect of the game. The backgrounds, the pixel art. You can really tell upon seeing the fiends, dinosaurs and the final boss. Such beautiful art provides so much life to this game. And possibly even more renowned than the game itself is the game's soundtrack. I heard the chrono trigger soundtrack before seeing the game or playing the game. The iconic soundtrack and vibes of it are unparalleled. From the music in the woods to the music of antiquity. It’s so beautiful and so tranquil. If you haven’t listened to the music of Chrono Trigger I highly recommend checking it out.
TLDR
Chrono Trigger feels so fresh playing it even today which is an incredible feat. This game stands the test of time and it is no wonder why it has inspired so many. This game is simply a treasure and is a must play for anyone but especially any RPG fan. Built by the dream team of Hironobu Sakaguchi, Yuji Horii, and Akira Toriyama. This game’s legacy is well earned and deserved. A masterpiece ahead of it's time.
TLDR at the end
Modern Sensibilities
Part of this is that it’s filled with modern interpretations that games just recently started incorporating. Things like your entire party getting experience from fights, all fights being on screen or scripted, and I think what really sets the game apart from the rest being the dual techs and how enemies move around and that affecting certain attacks. It’s crazy to see these ideas so early in games when there’s easily 15-20 years until that becomes a modern practice in RPGs. It’s also crazy to see choices impacting the game as well. That’s still not even common in JRPGs as a whole. It’s largely specific styles of RPGs like Baldur’s Gate 3 or Mass Effect that heavily employ that. While I don’t think Chrono Trigger has it as in depth as those games, the court scene still blew me away. That mixed with just how each encounter feels so thoughtful. The encounters are quick but a majority of the enemies have mechanics to them and not just higher health values of resistances. And how it organically tells you. Early on in the prehistoric area of the game there’s an enemy type that is resistant to physical attacks, and you only have Crono, Lucca, and Marle. So naturally after the first physical attack doesn’t do much you’d use your newly acquired magic and Crono only has lightning. Then lightning decreases its defense. It’s not even a status effect. It’s just a mechanic of the enemy. Which I found incredibly engaging. The creators were so ahead of their time with so much of the game.
Old Mixed with the New
Not to say there aren't some old school designs or ideas in Chrono Trigger. It is still a product of its time. But I feel these older school design philosophies are feeling fresher again. It’s an old school style JRPG with the overworld map and different areas to visit within said map. There’s old school side mission design with no quest log really, there’s no way points, there’s just NPCs with directions and hints. And I honestly think this is a welcomed change of pace. I think the popularity of Elden Ring and the souls games have brought to the limelight the joys of figuring things out. When the game opened up and provided a variety of side quests I had a lot of fun tracking them down, figuring out when, where and what to do for it. There were just 2 quests I looked up hints for. After looking them up I realized I had already been given the hints in the game but just didn’t register that they were connected to the quests. Which for an SNES title to only have to look up 2 things for just side quests and nothing more was really impressive. Since a lot of the older games tend to have some parts where things just feel obscure. This old school hands off approach feels incredibly refreshing now and I feel is returning to the gaming zeitgeist.
Pacing Perfection
This game on top of feeling so ahead of its time is just masterfully crafted. Chrono Trigger’s pacing is so incredible. Starting at the millennial fair, then quickly getting thrusted into medieval times and stumbling into an apocalyptic future sets up a tone and cadence that just doesn’t slow down or get boring. I think what helps in the pacing is that the game is also shorter compared to a lot of RPGs. This game can easily be finished in 20ish hours in a first playthrough. It took me 30 hours to finish the main game and side quests. Really the only critiques to the pacing could be that the millennial fair takes a little bit to figure out what to do, but it’s largely about exploring the fair. And the end sequence can have just a lot of bosses. But these are more like nitpicks rather than actual critiques. This is one the best paced games I’ve ever played.
Setting, Style, and Vibes
I love sci-fi and time travel settings. I was raised on watching Back to the Future so time travel has always been a favorite science fiction idea of mine. Getting to explore the same few continents and how they chance as eras change is so fun to see and experience. And the vibes and art of each era is so beautiful. And if it wasn’t clear already, the art for this game was done by the legendary Akira Toriyama. (May he rest in peace) It’s honestly incredible how defined his art style in this. It’s not just in the animated scenes and cover art (I played this on steam so I got those, they weren’t in base Chrono Trigger) but it so clearly bleeds into every aspect of the game. The backgrounds, the pixel art. You can really tell upon seeing the fiends, dinosaurs and the final boss. Such beautiful art provides so much life to this game. And possibly even more renowned than the game itself is the game's soundtrack. I heard the chrono trigger soundtrack before seeing the game or playing the game. The iconic soundtrack and vibes of it are unparalleled. From the music in the woods to the music of antiquity. It’s so beautiful and so tranquil. If you haven’t listened to the music of Chrono Trigger I highly recommend checking it out.
TLDR
Chrono Trigger feels so fresh playing it even today which is an incredible feat. This game stands the test of time and it is no wonder why it has inspired so many. This game is simply a treasure and is a must play for anyone but especially any RPG fan. Built by the dream team of Hironobu Sakaguchi, Yuji Horii, and Akira Toriyama. This game’s legacy is well earned and deserved. A masterpiece ahead of it's time.
did i play the same game
An absolutely great JRPG made by a dream team of amazing developers, composers, and artists. Easily one of the most noteworthy games to come out for the SNES. Having battles happen in the areas you explore, team attacks that are flashy and cool, and a plot that wastes no time in hooking you in are what you'll find in this game. This one is almost too easy to recommend!
When you play through this game you keep getting surprised by how many QoL features are present despite the games age. Dragonball artstyle is fkn great. The best use of time travel in any piece of media. My largest issue is that the difficulty is way too low. There was a single challenging fight in the entire game that required a different strategy than alternating between healing and attacking. Without the game providing a challenge nor any sort of tension when you're always given a save point directly before a boss fight it makes the experience less rewarding.
JRPG'lerin şahı, padişahı, kralı. Zaman yolculuğu desen var, taş gibi OST desen var, insanı sıkmayan ve çoğu JRPG'nin aksine kısa sürede biten bir senaryosu var, karakterler desen inanılmaz... Eğer JRPG seviyorsanız ve hala bir şekilde oynamadıysanız mutlaka ama MUTLAKA ilk fırsatta oynamanızı öneriyorum. Üzülürsünüz.
Chrono Trigger was my first foray into the JRPG genre - and it was a good game to start out with. I wouldn't call it the most incredible experience from my gaming career, but it was still a fun game and had an interesting cast of characters and a well written story. The combat was entertaining, but near the end of the game I just wanted it to be over with... but up until this point I had a blast.
Não se faz um Chrono Trigger por acidente, mas tudo nesse jogo soa como um grande acaso. Em resumo, o jogo alcança uma excelência que pouco se vê dentro dessa mídia, cada área tá calibrada, e a junção de todos os elementos rende um espetáculo.
Esse é um daqueles bastiões da midia que não deve faltar no cânone de quem quer entender videogames, e bem, indo nessa pegada de ser um jogo indispensável até o presente momento eu tinha um certo preconceito com esse jogo pois quando me vendiam a ideia era sempre recorrente um ponto "a historia não é nada demais, é bem simples".
De certo modo, não é errado pensar isso, mas a complexidade da mensagem por trás de Chrono Trigger está ligada a subjetividade de quem joga. A narrativa claramente quer te dizer algo, mas pode passar despercebida por tamanha qualidade em outros aspectos ou você tá ocupado demais ministrando uma barra, mas o ponto é: Chrono Trigger pode não ser apenas um jogo de historia simples.
Existe um roteiro muito consistente aqui, e toda a complexidade está em você (não irei elaborar dessa vez, entender o que esse jogo pode significar é parte do processo, serio, é bem divertido). No mais, jogos como Chrono Trigger não são feitos por acidente, mas definitivamente soa como um milagre.
"Fui feito por mãos humanas, mas não sou diferente dos outros, viver é bom"
Eu vou guardar isso comigo, Robô.
Esse é um daqueles bastiões da midia que não deve faltar no cânone de quem quer entender videogames, e bem, indo nessa pegada de ser um jogo indispensável até o presente momento eu tinha um certo preconceito com esse jogo pois quando me vendiam a ideia era sempre recorrente um ponto "a historia não é nada demais, é bem simples".
De certo modo, não é errado pensar isso, mas a complexidade da mensagem por trás de Chrono Trigger está ligada a subjetividade de quem joga. A narrativa claramente quer te dizer algo, mas pode passar despercebida por tamanha qualidade em outros aspectos ou você tá ocupado demais ministrando uma barra, mas o ponto é: Chrono Trigger pode não ser apenas um jogo de historia simples.
Existe um roteiro muito consistente aqui, e toda a complexidade está em você (não irei elaborar dessa vez, entender o que esse jogo pode significar é parte do processo, serio, é bem divertido). No mais, jogos como Chrono Trigger não são feitos por acidente, mas definitivamente soa como um milagre.
"Fui feito por mãos humanas, mas não sou diferente dos outros, viver é bom"
Eu vou guardar isso comigo, Robô.
I don't even know how one begins to talk about Chrono Trigger. I have never played a more wonderful, more endlessly beautiful game in my life. A more perfect game doesn't exist. Literally everything here is perfect. The gameplay is fire, the pixel art is gorgeous, the music is possibly my favorite in gaming full stop, and dear lord the story is unbelievable. I have nothing else to say about this utter masterpiece. Words cannot do it justice.
Good game, I enjoyed it for the most part. I just don't know why people hold it in high regard in terms of it's plot and characters, many people say that this is one of the best JRPG parties and I'm just sitting there wondering how? Most of them are flat and nobody gets enough time to develop. The only ones I'd say were good is Frog and Robo and I still don't feel like Frog got enough time to shine
They mostly just disappear after they're arc concludes (considering if they have one)
Can see how the story is good for it's time and I can appreciate that but the characters aren't good imo and it isn't really an excuse when we got FF6 from the same era
But everything else is pretty good
The game aged really well, the pixel art and general presentation of the game aged really well and I really like how battles happen in real time except of being transported to the "fighting dimension" which is something I wish more JRPGs did
Combat is simplistic and honestly after a certain point I've been able to just spam the same tech or I can just equip berserk for Ayla and leave the DS and come back to find the fight done (actually works)
The soundtrack is hands down one of the best in gaming
Overall it's a good game and I recommend playing it but it just leaves me disappointed and empty. Don't wanna say it's overrated since it was a phenomenon for it's time but it really is
They mostly just disappear after they're arc concludes (considering if they have one)
Can see how the story is good for it's time and I can appreciate that but the characters aren't good imo and it isn't really an excuse when we got FF6 from the same era
But everything else is pretty good
The game aged really well, the pixel art and general presentation of the game aged really well and I really like how battles happen in real time except of being transported to the "fighting dimension" which is something I wish more JRPGs did
Combat is simplistic and honestly after a certain point I've been able to just spam the same tech or I can just equip berserk for Ayla and leave the DS and come back to find the fight done (actually works)
The soundtrack is hands down one of the best in gaming
Overall it's a good game and I recommend playing it but it just leaves me disappointed and empty. Don't wanna say it's overrated since it was a phenomenon for it's time but it really is
Basicamente o seu Square juntou os melhores artista da época e falou: bora fazer o melhor JRPG desse videogame e quem sabe o melhor da história? Dito e feito.
Dessa vez eu decidi jogar a versão de Super Nintendo (a primeira vez eu zerei a de play 1) e acho que foi bem melhor assim.
Falar sobre Chrono Trigger e o quanto ele é maravilhoso, tanto na sua gameplay quanto na sua historia que é até simples mas tão bem executada e seus personagens mega carismáticos é chover no molhado, mas quero destacar 2 coisas aqui: Não precisei farmar de maneira alguma e o tempo de jogo, que achei até curto pra um JRPG (cerca de 27 horas de jogo e isso que fiz todas as missões secundárias).
E claro, o jogo tem a mecânica de magias em dupla e trio, o que é inovador e legal pra época. Sem contar que da pra mudar o seu grupo a qualquer momento apertando o Y (não lembro de outro jogo antes disso que tinha essa mecânica).
Se vc nunca jogou Chrono Trigger, que que ce tá fazendo aqui? Vai jogar logo carai.
Dessa vez eu decidi jogar a versão de Super Nintendo (a primeira vez eu zerei a de play 1) e acho que foi bem melhor assim.
Falar sobre Chrono Trigger e o quanto ele é maravilhoso, tanto na sua gameplay quanto na sua historia que é até simples mas tão bem executada e seus personagens mega carismáticos é chover no molhado, mas quero destacar 2 coisas aqui: Não precisei farmar de maneira alguma e o tempo de jogo, que achei até curto pra um JRPG (cerca de 27 horas de jogo e isso que fiz todas as missões secundárias).
E claro, o jogo tem a mecânica de magias em dupla e trio, o que é inovador e legal pra época. Sem contar que da pra mudar o seu grupo a qualquer momento apertando o Y (não lembro de outro jogo antes disso que tinha essa mecânica).
Se vc nunca jogou Chrono Trigger, que que ce tá fazendo aqui? Vai jogar logo carai.
A lot is said about how Chrono Trigger looks great and has a bitchin' soundtrack. And yeah, it does, but a lot of games have those things, and the gameplay isn't all that deep. But I've come back to this game what must be about twenty times at this point. I think it has a lot more to do with the story.
Chrono Trigger is a story about discovering that the world is more complex than it appears. Masato Kato seems to have a love for such stories, judging by his later work on Xenogears. I also love this sort of narrative. It evokes the same feeling as, say, learning that the world isn't as fair as you thought. Maybe problems don't have solutions as simple as fiction likes to present them. Maybe the systems that govern our lives are too complicated and insidious for that.
Xenogears has many layers of obfuscation and discovery about the world. It has so many that at some point it becomes convoluted to the point of comedy. I do like Xenogears a lot, but Chrono Trigger is a much brisker and tighter experience that still has an impact.
I haven't seen much actual plot analysis for Chrono Trigger, so I'm going to try and break down my thoughts on it.
The initiating incident is that Crono meets a princess at a festival. After some time shenanigans and a kidnapping plot, he has to save her. Rescuing a princess is about the most archetypical video game plot there is, and it sets up a simple premise. There are no other known conflicts at this point. Saving the princess will solve everything, like in Mario, Zelda, etc.
It doesn't quite work out that way. Right afterward, Crono is put on trial for kidnapping the princess. Bringing the princess back only created a new, more complicated conflict. The world is not as simple as saving a princess and getting rewarded. The player is judged for it, and even for the most innocent actions committed at the start of the game. Video games have a tendency to present important decisions in an obvious way. Here, though, it even matters if you picked up the princess's pendant before trying to talk to her.
The trial scene is when the game seems to grab most people. It comes out of left field, and it's neat how well the game hid the decisions that influence it during the festival. At this point the main story of Chrono Trigger, about trying to stop the apocalypse, hasn't started. But this entire stretch leading into the first visit to 2300 AD is a microcosm of the story's structure.
Next, we have the visit to the post-apocalypse of 2300 AD. The protagonists learn that a massive monster called Lavos will destroy the world in 1999 AD. They vow to prevent that. When they get back to 1000 AD, they hear that Magus created Lavos in 600 AD.
Now we're onto the main story. This time, the archetypical plot we're starting from is in the framework of Dragon Quest. It's a huge escalation in scale compared to the princess story, but it looks like there's a straightforward path. If the Hero (Frog) gets the MacGuffin (Masamune) and defeats the Bad Guy (Magus, named Maou in Japanese, the title that many Dragon Quest villains hold), then the day will be saved.
And again, this turns out to be much more complicated. Lavos has actually existed since long, long before Magus. As we learn more about the shared history between Lavos and humanity, we learn that this is a problem with no obvious solution. The rise of human civilization coincided with the arrival of Lavos. Humans built a great empire with the energy that Lavos provided, but Lavos also destroyed that empire. There's technology in 2300 AD that the pendant reacts to too, so unless the Guru of Reason built it all, Lavos's energy was presumably harvested at some point after 1000 AD. And again it destroyed civilization.
There's a lot that someone could read into Lavos and what it represents. The game never goes out of its way to explain what it is or where it came from. But on a basic level, Lavos is a great and enticing, but dangerous, energy source. Not just dangerous, but really, really obviously dangerous. And yet people continued to use it until they destroyed themselves. Twice, assuming that this is what happened in 1999.
No longer is this a story about good and evil and beating a villain with a magic sword. Magus wasn't evil, and even Lavos isn't. It's just a creature trying to survive and reproduce. The people of Zeal just wanted their magic floating cities. And what you're left with is a giant, mindless creature that, even now, seems unstoppable. You've been free to fight Lavos since a couple hours into the game, but you can't win. (Or, well, you can with a lot of grinding. But let's say players are being reasonable.)
There are a lot of stories about impending disaster or climate change allegories or the like. But I love that Chrono Trigger presents its impending disaster as having one simple, straightforward solution before telling the player that, actually, it doesn't work that way. The first time you're forced to actually go up against Lavos, the player's self-insert dies, and Zeal meets the same fate that it would have if you never came at all.
After this whole arc of the story concludes, the story becomes open-ended. You could go straight to the final dungeon and not even revive Crono, if you wanted. You can revive Crono, fix every problem in every era, collect all the best stuff, then do the final dungeon and fight Lavos. You can fight Lavos without going through the final dungeon too, like you've always been able to. At the start of this segment, you're still probably not able to kill Lavos, but it's up to you to come up with a solution. In the end, it's not that hard to kill Lavos. The solution comes down to getting strong enough that you don't immediately die when it hits you. But you have to decide how to do that.
Anyway, there's plenty of little character moments throughout the game that I like too. The scene where Lucca relives when her mother loses her legs always gives me chills. It says everything you need to know about what motivates her in a couple of minutes.
But the overarching story isn't about the characters as individuals. Crono has no personality because he's you, the player, learning about the world. The time travel is a mechanism for slowly unraveling the world's history and the truth about Lavos. It's all in service of creating a sense of discovery in a world that once seemed simple. It's limited as a Super Nintendo game and Xenogears gets way, way more complicated, but at least this game was finished, and I can get to the end in fifteen hours.
Chrono Trigger is a story about discovering that the world is more complex than it appears. Masato Kato seems to have a love for such stories, judging by his later work on Xenogears. I also love this sort of narrative. It evokes the same feeling as, say, learning that the world isn't as fair as you thought. Maybe problems don't have solutions as simple as fiction likes to present them. Maybe the systems that govern our lives are too complicated and insidious for that.
Xenogears has many layers of obfuscation and discovery about the world. It has so many that at some point it becomes convoluted to the point of comedy. I do like Xenogears a lot, but Chrono Trigger is a much brisker and tighter experience that still has an impact.
I haven't seen much actual plot analysis for Chrono Trigger, so I'm going to try and break down my thoughts on it.
The initiating incident is that Crono meets a princess at a festival. After some time shenanigans and a kidnapping plot, he has to save her. Rescuing a princess is about the most archetypical video game plot there is, and it sets up a simple premise. There are no other known conflicts at this point. Saving the princess will solve everything, like in Mario, Zelda, etc.
It doesn't quite work out that way. Right afterward, Crono is put on trial for kidnapping the princess. Bringing the princess back only created a new, more complicated conflict. The world is not as simple as saving a princess and getting rewarded. The player is judged for it, and even for the most innocent actions committed at the start of the game. Video games have a tendency to present important decisions in an obvious way. Here, though, it even matters if you picked up the princess's pendant before trying to talk to her.
The trial scene is when the game seems to grab most people. It comes out of left field, and it's neat how well the game hid the decisions that influence it during the festival. At this point the main story of Chrono Trigger, about trying to stop the apocalypse, hasn't started. But this entire stretch leading into the first visit to 2300 AD is a microcosm of the story's structure.
Next, we have the visit to the post-apocalypse of 2300 AD. The protagonists learn that a massive monster called Lavos will destroy the world in 1999 AD. They vow to prevent that. When they get back to 1000 AD, they hear that Magus created Lavos in 600 AD.
Now we're onto the main story. This time, the archetypical plot we're starting from is in the framework of Dragon Quest. It's a huge escalation in scale compared to the princess story, but it looks like there's a straightforward path. If the Hero (Frog) gets the MacGuffin (Masamune) and defeats the Bad Guy (Magus, named Maou in Japanese, the title that many Dragon Quest villains hold), then the day will be saved.
And again, this turns out to be much more complicated. Lavos has actually existed since long, long before Magus. As we learn more about the shared history between Lavos and humanity, we learn that this is a problem with no obvious solution. The rise of human civilization coincided with the arrival of Lavos. Humans built a great empire with the energy that Lavos provided, but Lavos also destroyed that empire. There's technology in 2300 AD that the pendant reacts to too, so unless the Guru of Reason built it all, Lavos's energy was presumably harvested at some point after 1000 AD. And again it destroyed civilization.
There's a lot that someone could read into Lavos and what it represents. The game never goes out of its way to explain what it is or where it came from. But on a basic level, Lavos is a great and enticing, but dangerous, energy source. Not just dangerous, but really, really obviously dangerous. And yet people continued to use it until they destroyed themselves. Twice, assuming that this is what happened in 1999.
No longer is this a story about good and evil and beating a villain with a magic sword. Magus wasn't evil, and even Lavos isn't. It's just a creature trying to survive and reproduce. The people of Zeal just wanted their magic floating cities. And what you're left with is a giant, mindless creature that, even now, seems unstoppable. You've been free to fight Lavos since a couple hours into the game, but you can't win. (Or, well, you can with a lot of grinding. But let's say players are being reasonable.)
There are a lot of stories about impending disaster or climate change allegories or the like. But I love that Chrono Trigger presents its impending disaster as having one simple, straightforward solution before telling the player that, actually, it doesn't work that way. The first time you're forced to actually go up against Lavos, the player's self-insert dies, and Zeal meets the same fate that it would have if you never came at all.
After this whole arc of the story concludes, the story becomes open-ended. You could go straight to the final dungeon and not even revive Crono, if you wanted. You can revive Crono, fix every problem in every era, collect all the best stuff, then do the final dungeon and fight Lavos. You can fight Lavos without going through the final dungeon too, like you've always been able to. At the start of this segment, you're still probably not able to kill Lavos, but it's up to you to come up with a solution. In the end, it's not that hard to kill Lavos. The solution comes down to getting strong enough that you don't immediately die when it hits you. But you have to decide how to do that.
Anyway, there's plenty of little character moments throughout the game that I like too. The scene where Lucca relives when her mother loses her legs always gives me chills. It says everything you need to know about what motivates her in a couple of minutes.
But the overarching story isn't about the characters as individuals. Crono has no personality because he's you, the player, learning about the world. The time travel is a mechanism for slowly unraveling the world's history and the truth about Lavos. It's all in service of creating a sense of discovery in a world that once seemed simple. It's limited as a Super Nintendo game and Xenogears gets way, way more complicated, but at least this game was finished, and I can get to the end in fifteen hours.
The ultimate and legendary all rounder
It's almost blasphemy to call myself a fan of JRPGs without playing Chrono Trigger especially at this point in my life. It was sort of hard to find the motivation to start it because I feel like I wouldn't like as much as and it never really appealed to me at a conceptual level. The dream team of Hironobu Sakaguchi of Final Fantasy fame, Yuji Horii of Dragon Quest fame and Akira Toriyama has and had all the makings of making Chrono Trigger to be one of the best JRPGs and I feel like it definitely does a great job in nailing all of the important aspects of making the odyssey through time worth it. It's actually impressive from a design standpoint and I can see why people recommend this game for first time players of the genre albeit with one big caveat.
The Heroes of Time and The Impending Doom (Story/Characters)
The story definitely is pretty interesting albeit nothing that makes my jaw drop in disbelief other than one specific moment but honestly still great in a sense especially in the final quarter. The characters are surprisingly full of expression and they each have their own time in the spotlight. No character is the same and they each have their own motivations and personality along with their own woes and problems which get expanded in their own sidequests which do an excellent job of fleshing out these circumstances with Robo and Frog being my favorites that I took with me for most of my journey. I think the pacing is probably one of the strongest points Chrono Trigger has going for it. JRPGs can usually suffer from hours of nothing happening but in Chrono Trigger, something is always happening before you get bored with the combat which helps the combat feel fun as well. The things that happen might not be the most exciting thing until later but it does a great job of keeping your attention and making the runtime feel really dense in my opinion.
The Art of Teamwork and Techniques (Gameplay)
The battle system relies on Active Time Battle which consists of a bar filling up as time goes on until it is one of your party member's turn. You can either have the game on Active which lets time flow even while you are menuing or have it on Wait and time will stop while you're searching for the right technique, I went with Active for this playthrough. The bread and butter of the game are Techs each character learns throughout the game. Each character has their own unique set and given with the right party members, can combine their turns to do even more powerful duo and trio techs for better effect. Some techs also have an area of effect but this feels more like an afterthought as there is no way to really plan for this or move enemies around in your favor and more just doing an area of effect tech when the rare chance it all lines up for you. I will say the overall game difficulty falls into the easier side which I think benefits newcomers but still manages to be a simple and fun system all of its own. There is really one huge wall in the end though if you've been coasting along the game until this point where you might need to do the sidequests and gain some levels but fortunately this is all easy too as the game really incentivizes you to actually prepare before doing the final boss and the content itself isn't egregiously long either.
The Sounds of Time (Soundtrack)
It's hard to deny that Yasunori Mitsuda can make a great soundtrack and it shows in spades here. Incredible use of the piano and synth/midi gives the whole soundtrack a surprisingly ethereal feeling at certain moments. I did not expect to like the soundtrack this much considering how much I've heard Corridors of Time from external sources at this point. Final boss themes don't disappoint either just making this an excellent soundtrack in general.
The End of Time (Conclusion)
The ultimate irony is that despite Chrono Trigger being one of the shorter JRPGs I've played, it took me a little over two weeks to beat. Chrono Trigger is what I feel to be a jack of all trades but a master of none. It manages to nail everything at an intermediate degree but never really the heights of the genre personally with music and the overall concept being close. I can see why people recommend this for first time players of the genre: Easy to learn combat, The dungeons and locations not being extremely labyrinthe in design and hard to get lost in, the shorter than usual runtime allowing it to not overstay its welcome accompanied by wonderful characters and an excellent soundtrack.
How can you save the future when you keep dwelling on the past?
It's almost blasphemy to call myself a fan of JRPGs without playing Chrono Trigger especially at this point in my life. It was sort of hard to find the motivation to start it because I feel like I wouldn't like as much as and it never really appealed to me at a conceptual level. The dream team of Hironobu Sakaguchi of Final Fantasy fame, Yuji Horii of Dragon Quest fame and Akira Toriyama has and had all the makings of making Chrono Trigger to be one of the best JRPGs and I feel like it definitely does a great job in nailing all of the important aspects of making the odyssey through time worth it. It's actually impressive from a design standpoint and I can see why people recommend this game for first time players of the genre albeit with one big caveat.
The Heroes of Time and The Impending Doom (Story/Characters)
The story definitely is pretty interesting albeit nothing that makes my jaw drop in disbelief other than one specific moment but honestly still great in a sense especially in the final quarter. The characters are surprisingly full of expression and they each have their own time in the spotlight. No character is the same and they each have their own motivations and personality along with their own woes and problems which get expanded in their own sidequests which do an excellent job of fleshing out these circumstances with Robo and Frog being my favorites that I took with me for most of my journey. I think the pacing is probably one of the strongest points Chrono Trigger has going for it. JRPGs can usually suffer from hours of nothing happening but in Chrono Trigger, something is always happening before you get bored with the combat which helps the combat feel fun as well. The things that happen might not be the most exciting thing until later but it does a great job of keeping your attention and making the runtime feel really dense in my opinion.
The Art of Teamwork and Techniques (Gameplay)
The battle system relies on Active Time Battle which consists of a bar filling up as time goes on until it is one of your party member's turn. You can either have the game on Active which lets time flow even while you are menuing or have it on Wait and time will stop while you're searching for the right technique, I went with Active for this playthrough. The bread and butter of the game are Techs each character learns throughout the game. Each character has their own unique set and given with the right party members, can combine their turns to do even more powerful duo and trio techs for better effect. Some techs also have an area of effect but this feels more like an afterthought as there is no way to really plan for this or move enemies around in your favor and more just doing an area of effect tech when the rare chance it all lines up for you. I will say the overall game difficulty falls into the easier side which I think benefits newcomers but still manages to be a simple and fun system all of its own. There is really one huge wall in the end though if you've been coasting along the game until this point where you might need to do the sidequests and gain some levels but fortunately this is all easy too as the game really incentivizes you to actually prepare before doing the final boss and the content itself isn't egregiously long either.
The Sounds of Time (Soundtrack)
It's hard to deny that Yasunori Mitsuda can make a great soundtrack and it shows in spades here. Incredible use of the piano and synth/midi gives the whole soundtrack a surprisingly ethereal feeling at certain moments. I did not expect to like the soundtrack this much considering how much I've heard Corridors of Time from external sources at this point. Final boss themes don't disappoint either just making this an excellent soundtrack in general.
The End of Time (Conclusion)
The ultimate irony is that despite Chrono Trigger being one of the shorter JRPGs I've played, it took me a little over two weeks to beat. Chrono Trigger is what I feel to be a jack of all trades but a master of none. It manages to nail everything at an intermediate degree but never really the heights of the genre personally with music and the overall concept being close. I can see why people recommend this for first time players of the genre: Easy to learn combat, The dungeons and locations not being extremely labyrinthe in design and hard to get lost in, the shorter than usual runtime allowing it to not overstay its welcome accompanied by wonderful characters and an excellent soundtrack.
How can you save the future when you keep dwelling on the past?
An undisputed masterpiece that only few can near match in the inspiration and influence that it brought to not only the JRPG genre but also the video game medium. I am preaching and joining in the choir of constant compliments of being "timeless" or "being ahead of its time".
Everyone who's into JRPGs knows this game. One of the best games Square Enix (then Squaresoft) ever made. Absolutely beautiful graphics, one of the best soundtracks ever, an epic storyline, maybe the first game to have new game +, tons of endings, incredible replay value... the list goes on.
Perhaps one of the best paced JRPG's ever, nothing seems to outstay it's welcome and everything seamlessly flows together when it comes to the story. Charming character writing and intense combat scenarios are just a couple more aspects that make Chrono Trigger worthy of being in the conversation for greatest of all time, to this day.
to good friends in far away times
The SNES equivalent of a AAA blockbuster. Gorgeous and streamlined, but kind of vapid once you look past the surface.
In an era where Hollywood and the media masses enforce the narrative of time travel doing more harm than good (looking at you, The Flash), it's always a relief that we can always fall back on Chrono Trigger for a simple, feel-good time travel story.
One popular review on Backloggd cited disinterest towards Chrono Trigger due to its overly simplified mechanics. That review weighed heavily on the back of my mind as I began my own playthrough of the game, and initially, I would've been inclined to agree. But as soon as I unlocked the first Dual Tech, everything suddenly began to click. The rest of the playthrough flew by and I was left astoundingly impressed by the entire experience. Yet somehow, that reviewer was also right in their critique of Chrono Trigger.
The most apt comparison I can make to Chrono Trigger is, interestingly enough, 'fundies' characters from fighting games. See, 'fundies' characters tend to have very simplistic movesets and techniques that make them easily approachable by newcomers. These characters also serve an ulterior purpose - they allow players to gradually grasp the fundamental aspects of a fighting game and develop their skills in all the core mechanics incentivised by the game. The skill floor for 'fundies' characters is just low enough that anyone can pick them up and play expertly with them in a short period.
That same philosophy can also be applied to Chrono Trigger, as weird as it is to say.
The 'Dream Team' made Chrono Trigger a simple RPG at its core. It has all of its foundations and fundamentals set in stone, most of them being general key elements present in most RPGs - setting, story, gameplay, and obviously the soundtrack and graphics. What makes the game stick out amongst its peers, however, is the fact that it was developed with not just dedication and heart, but professional expertise. Its world is so minimalistic it can be considered a sandbox standing amongst its more advanced siblings from the Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy series, yet every landmark and timeline is crafted with so much expertise that it sticks out more to casual players. Throughout your playthrough of the game you'll mostly end up listening to the same few tracks, especially the battle theme, but they're all so expertly composed that the soundtrack continues lingering in your mind - in a positive manner. The story is rather simple for RPG standards, especially in contrast to the grandiose tales told in the Final Fantasy games, yet is handled with utmost care and polish that the time travelling somehow leaves no plot holes whatsoever within the narrative. Everything is seamless and feels natural, further backed by tightly paced sequencing and a forgiving and respectful attitude towards the target audience's time. The strategies and gameplay loop stay consistent throughout the experience, never once throwing random curveballs at unsuspecting newcomers (except Son of the Sun, I'm looking at you you RNG ass boss fight); and while they are indeed simplistic, have a strong basis to build upon, with the implementation of Techs providing veteran RPG players fancy toys to tinker around with. The biggest and strongest standout of my Chrono Trigger experience, however, was easily its expertly designed spritework. Hands-down some of the most expressive, fluid and drop-dead stunning spritework and graphics from 16-bit hardware, and I mean that full-heartedly.
Chrono Trigger is simple, yes, but simplicity isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, its this simplicity that I believe has earned Chrono Trigger its widespread acclaim. The game itself is rather easy compared to its more technically advanced siblings, but I believe that's why so many people have fond memories of it, owing to its difficulty making it much more approachable as an RPG. In some ways, one can view Chrono Trigger as a phenomenal introductory medium into the genre, as its simplicity simply entices the gaming audience to experiment with their interest towards RPG as a whole. It's easily accessible mechanics and basic implementation of the Active Time Battle system serve as the perfect groundwork for newcomers to delve within, and ease them into more challenging titles in the future.
Speaking of the ATB system, while most of my writings may infer that Chrono Trigger is a game that relies solely on its strong fundamentals, but that is far from the truth. Chrono Trigger is also innovative: not only did it help popularise Square's modus operanti - the Active Time Battle system, as well as the concept of New Game+, but it also proved that a game revolving around time-travelling as part of its core narrative can be executed properly without the caveats and risks that come with it (COUGH COUGH SONIC 06). In fact, New Game+ further increases the replayability of Chrono Trigger compared to most RPGs at the time, since players are not only encouraged to experiment with different characters or different strategies, but also different pathways to reach the 12 different endings that are achievable through various means.
I do hold one specific criticism towards Chrono Trigger, though - while it does execute whatever character interactions they include in the game well, what we have overall is slightly lacking, honestly. Magus, in particular, feels like an afterthought despite his great backstory and integral role in the game's biggest twist, his addition to the party feels too late. The game also doesn't capitalise on the potential of Frog and Magus being on the same side, with the two barely sharing any character interactions. I brought Ayla to the primal dancing area of the festival, only to be disappointed by her lack of reaction towards her culture being preserved or perhaps even disapproval at the shallow replication of her culture. Chrono Trigger is clearly capable of stuff like this - Marle actively reacts to Crono's antics whenever you participate in a game at the festival, and even has a unique conversation exclusive to her when Queen Leene is rescued, so its a bit of a let-down, to say the least.
However, for the game that alongside Final Fantasy VII, redefined and popularised RPG in the faces of the media, it feels like I'm asking for a cherry on top of a wedding cake. Chrono Trigger is comfort food - its easy to dig into, have a good time with, and leave with a smile on your face. It's simplicity is complemented by the expertise of the hands that carefully unleashed it onto the world, and much like the characters its story dictates, transcends eras and time itself.
Final score: 10/10
Focus: How Chrono Trigger's simplicity is enhanced by expertly handled game design
Theme: Simplicity & Expertise
One popular review on Backloggd cited disinterest towards Chrono Trigger due to its overly simplified mechanics. That review weighed heavily on the back of my mind as I began my own playthrough of the game, and initially, I would've been inclined to agree. But as soon as I unlocked the first Dual Tech, everything suddenly began to click. The rest of the playthrough flew by and I was left astoundingly impressed by the entire experience. Yet somehow, that reviewer was also right in their critique of Chrono Trigger.
The most apt comparison I can make to Chrono Trigger is, interestingly enough, 'fundies' characters from fighting games. See, 'fundies' characters tend to have very simplistic movesets and techniques that make them easily approachable by newcomers. These characters also serve an ulterior purpose - they allow players to gradually grasp the fundamental aspects of a fighting game and develop their skills in all the core mechanics incentivised by the game. The skill floor for 'fundies' characters is just low enough that anyone can pick them up and play expertly with them in a short period.
That same philosophy can also be applied to Chrono Trigger, as weird as it is to say.
The 'Dream Team' made Chrono Trigger a simple RPG at its core. It has all of its foundations and fundamentals set in stone, most of them being general key elements present in most RPGs - setting, story, gameplay, and obviously the soundtrack and graphics. What makes the game stick out amongst its peers, however, is the fact that it was developed with not just dedication and heart, but professional expertise. Its world is so minimalistic it can be considered a sandbox standing amongst its more advanced siblings from the Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy series, yet every landmark and timeline is crafted with so much expertise that it sticks out more to casual players. Throughout your playthrough of the game you'll mostly end up listening to the same few tracks, especially the battle theme, but they're all so expertly composed that the soundtrack continues lingering in your mind - in a positive manner. The story is rather simple for RPG standards, especially in contrast to the grandiose tales told in the Final Fantasy games, yet is handled with utmost care and polish that the time travelling somehow leaves no plot holes whatsoever within the narrative. Everything is seamless and feels natural, further backed by tightly paced sequencing and a forgiving and respectful attitude towards the target audience's time. The strategies and gameplay loop stay consistent throughout the experience, never once throwing random curveballs at unsuspecting newcomers (except Son of the Sun, I'm looking at you you RNG ass boss fight); and while they are indeed simplistic, have a strong basis to build upon, with the implementation of Techs providing veteran RPG players fancy toys to tinker around with. The biggest and strongest standout of my Chrono Trigger experience, however, was easily its expertly designed spritework. Hands-down some of the most expressive, fluid and drop-dead stunning spritework and graphics from 16-bit hardware, and I mean that full-heartedly.
Chrono Trigger is simple, yes, but simplicity isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, its this simplicity that I believe has earned Chrono Trigger its widespread acclaim. The game itself is rather easy compared to its more technically advanced siblings, but I believe that's why so many people have fond memories of it, owing to its difficulty making it much more approachable as an RPG. In some ways, one can view Chrono Trigger as a phenomenal introductory medium into the genre, as its simplicity simply entices the gaming audience to experiment with their interest towards RPG as a whole. It's easily accessible mechanics and basic implementation of the Active Time Battle system serve as the perfect groundwork for newcomers to delve within, and ease them into more challenging titles in the future.
Speaking of the ATB system, while most of my writings may infer that Chrono Trigger is a game that relies solely on its strong fundamentals, but that is far from the truth. Chrono Trigger is also innovative: not only did it help popularise Square's modus operanti - the Active Time Battle system, as well as the concept of New Game+, but it also proved that a game revolving around time-travelling as part of its core narrative can be executed properly without the caveats and risks that come with it (COUGH COUGH SONIC 06). In fact, New Game+ further increases the replayability of Chrono Trigger compared to most RPGs at the time, since players are not only encouraged to experiment with different characters or different strategies, but also different pathways to reach the 12 different endings that are achievable through various means.
I do hold one specific criticism towards Chrono Trigger, though - while it does execute whatever character interactions they include in the game well, what we have overall is slightly lacking, honestly. Magus, in particular, feels like an afterthought despite his great backstory and integral role in the game's biggest twist, his addition to the party feels too late. The game also doesn't capitalise on the potential of Frog and Magus being on the same side, with the two barely sharing any character interactions. I brought Ayla to the primal dancing area of the festival, only to be disappointed by her lack of reaction towards her culture being preserved or perhaps even disapproval at the shallow replication of her culture. Chrono Trigger is clearly capable of stuff like this - Marle actively reacts to Crono's antics whenever you participate in a game at the festival, and even has a unique conversation exclusive to her when Queen Leene is rescued, so its a bit of a let-down, to say the least.
However, for the game that alongside Final Fantasy VII, redefined and popularised RPG in the faces of the media, it feels like I'm asking for a cherry on top of a wedding cake. Chrono Trigger is comfort food - its easy to dig into, have a good time with, and leave with a smile on your face. It's simplicity is complemented by the expertise of the hands that carefully unleashed it onto the world, and much like the characters its story dictates, transcends eras and time itself.
Final score: 10/10
Focus: How Chrono Trigger's simplicity is enhanced by expertly handled game design
Theme: Simplicity & Expertise
This is one of my favorite games of all time and I forgot to log it that's embarrassing.
Anyways I wanted to write an actual review for this game, just to mix things up. IGN will surely hire me after reading this large block of text.
I want to start by talking about the presentation, because it's nothing short of excellent. The game has a very strong art direction, and the sprites are detailed and expressive. It also shouldn't come as a surprise that the character and monster designs are pretty top notch. While Akira Toriyama same face syndrome applies to Crono a bit, I've only lost like 2 nights of sleep to that so it's fine. The backgrounds are also extremely well detailed and varied.
The game's soundtrack is also one of the best on the super nintendo, and one of my personal favorites. There's a good variety of tunes, and they all fit their respective scenarios like a glove. I don't know much about music theory so I can't go much further than "this soundtrack fucks" but just take my word for it on that.
As for the gameplay, I personally think it still holds up. While it might feel a bit basic and dated to some, maybe even a bit boring, I still find it to be a good time. Although my monkey brain really just likes seeing numbers go up so I can sit through most rpgs.
You have your basic attack, special skills, and magic spells, the thing that makes the gameplay more compelling is the addition of dual and triple techs. These are attacks that need to combine two or three party members to perform, and for the most part, they're quite potent. These partner combos are a lot of fun to use, and they also encourage you to experiment with your party combinations. Every character has several dual techs with each other, so there's pretty much no wrong way to build your party. Using multiple party members is further encouraged by reserve members still gaining exp, so it's not super hard to learn new techs with them.
There's a fair amount of strategy that comes with party combinations, and it makes it so that every party combination is fun to use and viable. Every character shines in their own right (I mean Marle is kinda bad and Robo's kind of busted but it's fine lol).
While by today's standards it may seem a bit basic, there's still fun to be had with it, and it's a battle system that I personally enjoy a lot.
Finally, I want to talk about the story, because I think it's pretty damn good. It revolves around time travel, and going throughout different eras to stop an alien parasite called Lavos from destroying the world in 1995. I guess that worked out.
While it's a pretty simple setup, and the characters are a bit static, the pacing is fantastic. Nothing in the story feels pointless, nothing feels padded, and there's something interesting happening at every turn without it feeling overwhelming. While I did just knock on the cast being a bit static, they're still a very likeable cast with fun personalities and some great character moments. And without getting into spoilers, the whole arc with the kingdom of zeal is nothing short of pure kino. All these aspects make up for a story that never has me going "ugh this part" like I would in a lot of other rpgs. It's pretty great.
So this review was long winded and dry and written like a 9th grade essay but whatever it's backloggd not english class.
When I first played Chrono Trigger back in like 8th grade, I didn't quite understand the hype behind it. I think it was because I couldn't beat the final boss because I was really bad at it. However, I went back to it one day and it all just clicked for me. I'm not sure what changed, I guess I just developed taste.
Chrono Trigger is a great example of gaming excellence, because nothing about it feels half baked or sloppy. The story is great, there's fun to be had with the gameplay that's easy to grasp but compelling throughout, and it looks lovely. It's a very tight experience, only being about 15-20 hours, but that's a good thing in my eyes, it makes it not feel padded. All of this makes it easy to see why Chrono Trigger is considered one of the greatest games of all time. Fuck you 8th grade me.
Anyways I wanted to write an actual review for this game, just to mix things up. IGN will surely hire me after reading this large block of text.
I want to start by talking about the presentation, because it's nothing short of excellent. The game has a very strong art direction, and the sprites are detailed and expressive. It also shouldn't come as a surprise that the character and monster designs are pretty top notch. While Akira Toriyama same face syndrome applies to Crono a bit, I've only lost like 2 nights of sleep to that so it's fine. The backgrounds are also extremely well detailed and varied.
The game's soundtrack is also one of the best on the super nintendo, and one of my personal favorites. There's a good variety of tunes, and they all fit their respective scenarios like a glove. I don't know much about music theory so I can't go much further than "this soundtrack fucks" but just take my word for it on that.
As for the gameplay, I personally think it still holds up. While it might feel a bit basic and dated to some, maybe even a bit boring, I still find it to be a good time. Although my monkey brain really just likes seeing numbers go up so I can sit through most rpgs.
You have your basic attack, special skills, and magic spells, the thing that makes the gameplay more compelling is the addition of dual and triple techs. These are attacks that need to combine two or three party members to perform, and for the most part, they're quite potent. These partner combos are a lot of fun to use, and they also encourage you to experiment with your party combinations. Every character has several dual techs with each other, so there's pretty much no wrong way to build your party. Using multiple party members is further encouraged by reserve members still gaining exp, so it's not super hard to learn new techs with them.
There's a fair amount of strategy that comes with party combinations, and it makes it so that every party combination is fun to use and viable. Every character shines in their own right (I mean Marle is kinda bad and Robo's kind of busted but it's fine lol).
While by today's standards it may seem a bit basic, there's still fun to be had with it, and it's a battle system that I personally enjoy a lot.
Finally, I want to talk about the story, because I think it's pretty damn good. It revolves around time travel, and going throughout different eras to stop an alien parasite called Lavos from destroying the world in 1995. I guess that worked out.
While it's a pretty simple setup, and the characters are a bit static, the pacing is fantastic. Nothing in the story feels pointless, nothing feels padded, and there's something interesting happening at every turn without it feeling overwhelming. While I did just knock on the cast being a bit static, they're still a very likeable cast with fun personalities and some great character moments. And without getting into spoilers, the whole arc with the kingdom of zeal is nothing short of pure kino. All these aspects make up for a story that never has me going "ugh this part" like I would in a lot of other rpgs. It's pretty great.
So this review was long winded and dry and written like a 9th grade essay but whatever it's backloggd not english class.
When I first played Chrono Trigger back in like 8th grade, I didn't quite understand the hype behind it. I think it was because I couldn't beat the final boss because I was really bad at it. However, I went back to it one day and it all just clicked for me. I'm not sure what changed, I guess I just developed taste.
Chrono Trigger is a great example of gaming excellence, because nothing about it feels half baked or sloppy. The story is great, there's fun to be had with the gameplay that's easy to grasp but compelling throughout, and it looks lovely. It's a very tight experience, only being about 15-20 hours, but that's a good thing in my eyes, it makes it not feel padded. All of this makes it easy to see why Chrono Trigger is considered one of the greatest games of all time. Fuck you 8th grade me.
Chrono Trigger is extraordinary in many ways. The Millennium Fair ranks as the greatest initial location of any RPG, serving as an organic tutorial, a location where your actions will be judged later on in court (a groundbreaking idea), and a damn fun place to visit in general. The soundtrack by Mitsuda and Uematsu — a masterpiece by itself — stirs every emotion in the book with a grandness that transcends the efforts of so many fully orchestrated tracks we hear today. The turn-based combat is tight and fast-paced, with a combo system that hasn't been topped. And the plot is full of colorful characters and brilliant twists, including the death of the protagonist and the shocking conversion of a devilish villain.
At the same time, people overrate Chrono Trigger when they call it the greatest SNES RPG or, worse, the best RPG ever. Too many little flaws for either claim to be true: the overworld graphics are tiny and dull; certain sound effects, like that hoarse creature roar, are comically overused; some techniques are useless and visually embarrassing (see Ayla's Dino Tail); the endings are as underwhelming as they are plentiful; and that bike mini game is insultingly atrocious with its contrived place switching. Final Fantasy VI, Illusion of Gaia, Super Mario RPG, Earthbound, and Secret of Evermore are more consistent than Trigger, yet Trigger gets most of the glory. We need to rewrite the RPG history book when it comes to this injustice, despite Trigger's obvious greatness.
At the same time, people overrate Chrono Trigger when they call it the greatest SNES RPG or, worse, the best RPG ever. Too many little flaws for either claim to be true: the overworld graphics are tiny and dull; certain sound effects, like that hoarse creature roar, are comically overused; some techniques are useless and visually embarrassing (see Ayla's Dino Tail); the endings are as underwhelming as they are plentiful; and that bike mini game is insultingly atrocious with its contrived place switching. Final Fantasy VI, Illusion of Gaia, Super Mario RPG, Earthbound, and Secret of Evermore are more consistent than Trigger, yet Trigger gets most of the glory. We need to rewrite the RPG history book when it comes to this injustice, despite Trigger's obvious greatness.
still unmatched
Has it been a diaporama of nice backgrounds, I might have been more lenient to tolerate the atrocious combat system of Chrono Trigger, but it's also the only thing I can criticise out of good faith !
None the less, I must say that the high octane pacing is fun when you play the game, but didn't manage to get me that hooked into it. I don't cherish those memories as much as I did when playing FF6 for example, a less rhythmic JRPG !
My main issue with Chrono Trigger, is the fact that it's so smooth, you can't really grab yourself on any of its edges before you're left sliding from it, not being able to develop any strong memories with it.
It is a good game, of course, but the way everyone praises it as the best thing that happened to JRPG should be brought back to the thinking room. Being perfect because you were too scared to get yourself into risky territories shouldn't be that praised in my opinions.
Anyway, you should try Chrono Trigger, it's still a perfect game, right ? ( Let's forget once again the combat system. )
I might prefer slightly imperfect game.
None the less, I must say that the high octane pacing is fun when you play the game, but didn't manage to get me that hooked into it. I don't cherish those memories as much as I did when playing FF6 for example, a less rhythmic JRPG !
My main issue with Chrono Trigger, is the fact that it's so smooth, you can't really grab yourself on any of its edges before you're left sliding from it, not being able to develop any strong memories with it.
It is a good game, of course, but the way everyone praises it as the best thing that happened to JRPG should be brought back to the thinking room. Being perfect because you were too scared to get yourself into risky territories shouldn't be that praised in my opinions.
Anyway, you should try Chrono Trigger, it's still a perfect game, right ? ( Let's forget once again the combat system. )
I might prefer slightly imperfect game.
When I play a game, I always take into account the time it came out and how it looked in comparison to other games on the console. I like to imagine if it would have been one of the few games that was worth actually paying the full price, rather than just renting. Something worth the extra money, just for the security of knowing it can be your copy.
Chrono Trigger absolutely is a must play for those interested in the SNES library. It’s what you dream of accidentally discovering when picking out a game to rent for the weekend, rather than getting stuck with something totally shit. But not this time, instead deciding to bring home Chrono Trigger guarantees you everything to satisfy that itch of having a nice lazy weekend with a good-ass game (and hopefully some good-ass pizza, too - or if you’re me, good-ass Top Ramen with an egg).
The gameplay is fine, nothing to complain about, nothing to write home about either. The dual and triple techs are fun to experiment with, though my EarthBound-obsessed brain kept forgetting I could use them. The visuals are gorgeous while also getting the kind of colorful chibi graphics that I always was obsessed with in the SNES, the exact ones that drew me to A Link to the Past and EarthBound. The story is satisfying in making me feel successful as a hero, while making me feel comfortable in additional roles as well, taking an unheard approach to RPGs I could appreciate. Overall, these important aspects of good game making made Chrono Trigger stick out amongst many other SNES titles in comparison.
The real joy that got me to absolutely fall in love with the game were the side quests. I must admit that the part with Lucca and her mother hit me very personally. Having your one wish with the power of controlling all of time to fix a terrible mistake you felt you caused your mother. It caught me by surprise, and was again, so out-of-the-place personal that it felt almost a direct call out to me. Obviously, this is just a coincidence, but it affected me enough to feel additional love for the game.
Overall, Chrono Trigger is a great game, though there’s definitely some controversy on how much praise it seems to get. As someone who has never played a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest game, there was nothing I could really directly compare Chrono Trigger to, as my friends who have played those series were often telling me elements that were reused or heavily inspired by past Square Enix games. As someone who has never played either series, it might have impacted my score more positively, though who knows. After I play them, I might end up changing my score, but as of now a 4.5 seems right for my experience.
Does it have the best story ever written? No.
Is the story compelling and fun to follow? Absolutely.
Does it have the best music on the entire system? No.
Is the music memorable in a way that makes me happy? Yeah.
Is it the best RPG ever made in the history of ever? Hell no.
Was it a really fucking good SNES rpg that made me really feel accomplished, challenged and always wanting to find out more? Yeah. It was.
And overall, maybe that’s just what you needed for a lazy-gaming weekend.
Chrono Trigger absolutely is a must play for those interested in the SNES library. It’s what you dream of accidentally discovering when picking out a game to rent for the weekend, rather than getting stuck with something totally shit. But not this time, instead deciding to bring home Chrono Trigger guarantees you everything to satisfy that itch of having a nice lazy weekend with a good-ass game (and hopefully some good-ass pizza, too - or if you’re me, good-ass Top Ramen with an egg).
The gameplay is fine, nothing to complain about, nothing to write home about either. The dual and triple techs are fun to experiment with, though my EarthBound-obsessed brain kept forgetting I could use them. The visuals are gorgeous while also getting the kind of colorful chibi graphics that I always was obsessed with in the SNES, the exact ones that drew me to A Link to the Past and EarthBound. The story is satisfying in making me feel successful as a hero, while making me feel comfortable in additional roles as well, taking an unheard approach to RPGs I could appreciate. Overall, these important aspects of good game making made Chrono Trigger stick out amongst many other SNES titles in comparison.
The real joy that got me to absolutely fall in love with the game were the side quests. I must admit that the part with Lucca and her mother hit me very personally. Having your one wish with the power of controlling all of time to fix a terrible mistake you felt you caused your mother. It caught me by surprise, and was again, so out-of-the-place personal that it felt almost a direct call out to me. Obviously, this is just a coincidence, but it affected me enough to feel additional love for the game.
Overall, Chrono Trigger is a great game, though there’s definitely some controversy on how much praise it seems to get. As someone who has never played a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest game, there was nothing I could really directly compare Chrono Trigger to, as my friends who have played those series were often telling me elements that were reused or heavily inspired by past Square Enix games. As someone who has never played either series, it might have impacted my score more positively, though who knows. After I play them, I might end up changing my score, but as of now a 4.5 seems right for my experience.
Does it have the best story ever written? No.
Is the story compelling and fun to follow? Absolutely.
Does it have the best music on the entire system? No.
Is the music memorable in a way that makes me happy? Yeah.
Is it the best RPG ever made in the history of ever? Hell no.
Was it a really fucking good SNES rpg that made me really feel accomplished, challenged and always wanting to find out more? Yeah. It was.
And overall, maybe that’s just what you needed for a lazy-gaming weekend.
babby's first rpg
I’m glad the canon ending was good enough because there’s no way I’m playing this game eleven more times. Other than that of course I loved it