It's been a long time coming. I owned Chrono Trigger when it released on the Nintendo DS 2008. I was only 13, and I was barely familiar with the reverence the game had. I think. It's hard to remember. I fell in love with the game, but I don't recall getting very far. I made it to the Sewer Access and Factory areas during the first visit to Future, but that's my only memory of the game. Fittingly, every other aspect of my experience with Chrono Trigger back then has been lost to time. Finally now, almost 30 years on from the game's release, I've had the chance to play through the entirety of Chrono Trigger. And wow! People were right! This game rocks!

Separated as I am from the context of its 1995 release, it's hard to even fathom how this game blew minds back then. I only know that it did. But even in 2024, if the technical aspects that impressed back then don't have quite the same sheen, it's still easy to tell how things like the more 'grounded' battle transitions and time travel concepts stood out from other games of the era. Most notable I think is the game's pacing, which trades in the wandering and 'hanging out' popular even among RPGs of its age for a more frenetic, fast-paced roller coaster ride that is constantly introducing you to new dungeons, enemy concepts, and unique boss fights. It never lets its foot off the gas - even when it finally opens up towards the end, all of the sidequest paths you can choose to explore lead to exciting and unique dungeons and bosses. Not super difficult bosses though - another drastic change from many RPGs of its time is the game's ease of play. It's pretty breezy! I died twice, and one of those times was from trying to take on the game's final boss as soon as it was available. Which is in itself a radical feature that I'd love to see more games try to implement nowadays.

Fairly short and insubstantial review here I know, but it's hard to say much about Chrono Trigger that hasn't been said. What an impressive delight.