Its pretty decent overall. Playing for the first time in 2022, I'm surprised by how well it aged. It isn't bogged down by any of the issues that plague most JRPGs and is polished up around the edges enough that I could easily mistake this for something that came out in the late 2000s instead of the mid 90s.
I wouldn't go so far as to call it a masterpiece though. While the game avoids having any particularly major flaws, it doesn't have anything so standout that would make me fall in love with it. Almost everything about the game is good, very little is bad, but nothing is spectacular. It's a refreshing take on JRPGs, but it's also nothing revolutionary.
I'm sure part of my bias here is having played it so late. The game is older than I am but, not having played it until very recently, I can't really judge it by the standards of the time. I can easily believe that, compared to everything else coming out in 1995, Chrono Trigger fully deserves a 10/10. But today? I think you can get plenty of value and enjoyment from playing Chrono Trigger, but it's hardly the must-play masterpiece that it once was.
I wouldn't go so far as to call it a masterpiece though. While the game avoids having any particularly major flaws, it doesn't have anything so standout that would make me fall in love with it. Almost everything about the game is good, very little is bad, but nothing is spectacular. It's a refreshing take on JRPGs, but it's also nothing revolutionary.
I'm sure part of my bias here is having played it so late. The game is older than I am but, not having played it until very recently, I can't really judge it by the standards of the time. I can easily believe that, compared to everything else coming out in 1995, Chrono Trigger fully deserves a 10/10. But today? I think you can get plenty of value and enjoyment from playing Chrono Trigger, but it's hardly the must-play masterpiece that it once was.