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?
3 Comments
Agreed. I don't think Chrono Trigger is groundbreaking in any aspect. It instead perfects what has already been done to a degree I personally cannot find fault with. There are better alternatives as far as gameplay, story, and worldbuilding, but few games have them -all- at the same level Chrono Trigger does. Glad you ended up enjoying it.
@chandler this is how I feel as well
chandler
2 years ago