This review contains spoilers
"Oh my god... I get it."
Chrono Trigger was a game I've had my eyes on for a long time. To be honest, the more praised a game is, the more scared I am to try it because I fear it may not live up to my expectations. Such is the case for games like Ocarina of Time, Yakuza 0, and of course, Chrono Trigger, hence why I haven't started them. I'm happy to say that not only does Chrono Trigger happen to meet my expectations, but greatly surpassed them! This game is the definition of "subverted expectations" because while it does at first feel like a simple "hero's journey" story where you save the world, it really is so much more than that. The sequence of events flows together perfectly and I have zero issues with the pacing here, it just works so well. The characters make up the meat of the story though, if they weren't written as well as they were, the story would seriously fall flat. Luckily, every character is well written whether its the main cast with their incredible backstories, chemistry, and dialogue, or the NPC's that give the background lore of each time period. My personal favourites are Frog, Magus, and Lucca (in no particular order), but all of the main cast is perfect. The time travel works really well here, each era has such a different vibe from the others that they all become really fun to explore and the characters from each era have their own conflicts, which are really interesting. My personal favourite era is the Middle Ages due to the war during that time and going to Magus's lair after returning the Masamune to Frog was one of my favourite parts of the game. I also love that things you do in this game actually matter. The Trial chapter caught me off guard the first time because I didn't realize the interactions you had with NPC's can help prove your innocence or further make you look guilty. Things like that make this game so unique and it makes the world feel much more alive. There's also the combat, which is really fun and has a lot of cool techniques you can do, especially with the Dual and Triple Techs which make the combat more advanced. The final boss's last phase in particular is so well made due to the game teaching you that when there's more than one part of a boss, defeating the middle/unique looking one will defeat the other parts, yet you need to defeat the right part in order to defeat the boss. It's so shocking how different this game feels from anything else I've played before, and it's an experience I'll never forget. Other things to note are that the art and music are simply incredible. I know this is to be expected because of Akira Toriyama and Nobuo Uematsu, but seriously Yasunori Mitsuda KILLED it here! And you're telling me the CREATORS of Final Fantasy AND Dragon Quest were involved with this game!? It's no wonder they had what they called the "Dream Team" in here, the people they had working on this game are extremely creative and wonderful people. Overall, this game managed to severely surpass my expectations and deserves the recognition and praise it gets, as it is simply a timeless masterpiece.
Rest in peace Akira Toriyama, thank you for your contributions on this game.
Chrono Trigger was a game I've had my eyes on for a long time. To be honest, the more praised a game is, the more scared I am to try it because I fear it may not live up to my expectations. Such is the case for games like Ocarina of Time, Yakuza 0, and of course, Chrono Trigger, hence why I haven't started them. I'm happy to say that not only does Chrono Trigger happen to meet my expectations, but greatly surpassed them! This game is the definition of "subverted expectations" because while it does at first feel like a simple "hero's journey" story where you save the world, it really is so much more than that. The sequence of events flows together perfectly and I have zero issues with the pacing here, it just works so well. The characters make up the meat of the story though, if they weren't written as well as they were, the story would seriously fall flat. Luckily, every character is well written whether its the main cast with their incredible backstories, chemistry, and dialogue, or the NPC's that give the background lore of each time period. My personal favourites are Frog, Magus, and Lucca (in no particular order), but all of the main cast is perfect. The time travel works really well here, each era has such a different vibe from the others that they all become really fun to explore and the characters from each era have their own conflicts, which are really interesting. My personal favourite era is the Middle Ages due to the war during that time and going to Magus's lair after returning the Masamune to Frog was one of my favourite parts of the game. I also love that things you do in this game actually matter. The Trial chapter caught me off guard the first time because I didn't realize the interactions you had with NPC's can help prove your innocence or further make you look guilty. Things like that make this game so unique and it makes the world feel much more alive. There's also the combat, which is really fun and has a lot of cool techniques you can do, especially with the Dual and Triple Techs which make the combat more advanced. The final boss's last phase in particular is so well made due to the game teaching you that when there's more than one part of a boss, defeating the middle/unique looking one will defeat the other parts, yet you need to defeat the right part in order to defeat the boss. It's so shocking how different this game feels from anything else I've played before, and it's an experience I'll never forget. Other things to note are that the art and music are simply incredible. I know this is to be expected because of Akira Toriyama and Nobuo Uematsu, but seriously Yasunori Mitsuda KILLED it here! And you're telling me the CREATORS of Final Fantasy AND Dragon Quest were involved with this game!? It's no wonder they had what they called the "Dream Team" in here, the people they had working on this game are extremely creative and wonderful people. Overall, this game managed to severely surpass my expectations and deserves the recognition and praise it gets, as it is simply a timeless masterpiece.
Rest in peace Akira Toriyama, thank you for your contributions on this game.