9.5/10
A Timeless Classic for a reason. Chrono Trigger stands with Final Fantasy VI as the golden JRPGs of that console, and maybe the golden titles of the SNES period. Playing through the game, it is easy to see why it is so loved, and with the added cutscenes, it adds so much to this game that I wonder how some sequences were even experienced without them, even if some of them are just the same sequence but instead animated to emphasize their importance.
Story
A surprisingly more complex story that I would had imagined going in, especially for a SNES game. It is a repeated tune, but the themes of existential crisis,not sitting down and accepting "fate", and of course themes around the idea of time travel, with the benefits and of course, consequences. You focus on going through all the time eras, finding out your fate due to lavos, and finding companions who tie their story to lavos as well. With how complex time travel can get, Chrono Trigger knows how to have the complexity of time travel, without overdoing it and causing a confusing mayhem that ends up harming the story more than it benefits it, as it is pretty simple to understand how the time travel works with past affecting future, changing the past changes the future, and changing the future does not change the future, but having future knowledge can help you change the present or past. There is no meeting past self (kinda), and other time plots that convolute the story, which is amazing. Considering how short this game is for a JRPG, the pacing is excellent. The game does start to falter a TINY bit towards the end, but is able to make a great conclusion. It also helps that the side quests in this game are just amazing, as they each focus on each character, and have great character developments that make each and every single one of them worth playing through. Its really hard to point at issues with the story for this game, if I had to consider ANY, it is the tiny pacing issues toward with the end which lands greatly, some of the sidequests were a bit out there to understand who to solve them, anddddd I guess I was a bit confused how the multiple endings were at first, only to realize that the most obvious one is the best ,and the other endings are gotten through actions taken during the playthrough instead.
Characters
All of the cast were done excellent. Each of the characters have their own arc that all ties in together. Each of the characters represent the time era they were in, both good and bad considering the future that lavos created. The main character, Crono, is of course a silent protagonist who is designed to be a self insert, but brave character, which works considering the era it was set in. The other characters were all written so well, as Marle, the princess turned love interest, has an interesting story not only tying with cronos and of course her ancestory, but also her family struggles with her father who both struggle to accept the death of their Mother, and finally accepting and realizing how much they care for each other. Lucca's arc as well is just excellent, who ESPECIALLY gets one of the best scenes thanks to the excellent side quests in this game, and of course her inventions that allowed time travel to begin with for cronos and the group (even if it was fate that gave them the opportunity). Frog's arc and his rivalry with Magus (and depending on your choice, his redemption or acceptance), were just amazing, especially with his struggle as the human Glenn and accepting to become the hero that his previous companion sought out to be. Robo at first didn't seem that crazy, but his side quest fleshes him out way more and makes him another interesting character in the group. Ayla is also very interesting, but is probably the weaker one considering that she lacks an interesting side quest, which the other characters get, giving them the fleshed out development they needed. Magus finally after finding out who he is was a joy to experience, and while he is a bit sidelined with some story beats, his dialogue as he has a more personal connection with Zeal and lavos made him a worthy (and very strong) companion. It is insane how well done these characters are done, and not only are fleshed out throughout the game, but with how amazing the side quests are, makes them the fleshed out cast that everyone knows of, even if not all side quest developments were made equal, they are still all amazing. Each of the character experience existential crisis, especially frog and marle (and Lucca as well... and Robo as he is tossed out of the "Pure Robot" species), and it is an excellent common theme of the characters.
Gameplay
This was a surprise to me. The system revolves around the usual ATB system seen in previous FF games, but this time uses positioning as a key part of the combat as other turn based systems similar to this have either attack one, or all, instead this game contains move that only attack if the enemy's position are together, which plays a strong element that this game excels in, enemy and player position matters if they are hit or not. Attacks that are a straight line will only hit if the enemies are also in a straight line, and circles of course are the same and you get the point. This element makes this combat system so damn fun, as it adds a really fun aspect due to the fact enemies move around while in a waiting state, so you can either attack now and only attack 2 out of 3, or maybe wait a bit more till they group up and attack all 3 at the same time. This risk reward system while also being quick thinking of specific attacks for positions makes this system thrive really well. Of course end game attacks ignores this a bit, as the strongest spells usually attack all, but it still persists for some attacks still. The time travel mechanic is just insane to consider they made it work for a SNES game, and while some confusions happen for the side quests, the game just flows so well. There are some issues, as items are VERY basic till endgame when they start getting more strong passives, but for most of the time its mainly bigger number is better, which is fine. Finally The animations with how the party fights together with double or triple tech was a joy to experience, as their personality is expressed through how they fight, and fight together.
Music
Easily one of the best in gaming. It is easier to point out songs that AREN'T godtier, and even then it is hard to point out those so few songs that are fine. Each new song made me stop to listen to them, as while other game's OST may have 1 or 2 songs that stand out the most, nearly the entire OST in this game is the standout. Crono's Theme (main theme), frog theme, Battle theme, Corridors of Time, Secrets of the Forest, Lavos Theme, Boss Theme, I can go on and on that I might as well list the whole OST as ALL of the songs are just peak after peak to the point of being unfair. No lyric songs, SNES obviously, but what they were able to compose with the limitations is something that so few can achieve, and they were able to achieve this while LAPPING over other OSTs of modern day even.
Final Positives/Nitpicks
- Last Segment of the game was a bit of a dip, but still lands amazing
- This OST man...
- Having nearly ALL the sidequests land this hard is a rare achievement that not many games can achieve, and enters games like NieR Automata for amazing asf side quests.
- Having enemies die one at a time was a bit slow, but again, SNES.
- Even the smaller side characters around the world were very interesting, and the villains were well developed.
- Game is a bit easy, but with interesting battle and fight mechanics, it doesn't turn into a button masher luckily. Probably doesn't help that the excellent side quests, consequentially makes you super OP as well.
Conclusion
Again, broken tune, but this game is simply AMAZING, and easily stands as one of the best JRPGs. This game has aged so damn well that it is so easy to see why it is timeless. It easily stands with FF6 as the 2 Golden Titans of JRPG SNES games, and is easily still one of the great games to play to this date. A game that focuses on time travel and is able to handle it well is a feat (looking at you FF7 remake trilogy on how to door it poorly). This game is an easy recommendation, and while it isn't the most complex story, its simplicity with strong themes is played to its fullest strength in this game.
9.5/10
A Timeless Classic for a reason. Chrono Trigger stands with Final Fantasy VI as the golden JRPGs of that console, and maybe the golden titles of the SNES period. Playing through the game, it is easy to see why it is so loved, and with the added cutscenes, it adds so much to this game that I wonder how some sequences were even experienced without them, even if some of them are just the same sequence but instead animated to emphasize their importance.
Story
A surprisingly more complex story that I would had imagined going in, especially for a SNES game. It is a repeated tune, but the themes of existential crisis,not sitting down and accepting "fate", and of course themes around the idea of time travel, with the benefits and of course, consequences. You focus on going through all the time eras, finding out your fate due to lavos, and finding companions who tie their story to lavos as well. With how complex time travel can get, Chrono Trigger knows how to have the complexity of time travel, without overdoing it and causing a confusing mayhem that ends up harming the story more than it benefits it, as it is pretty simple to understand how the time travel works with past affecting future, changing the past changes the future, and changing the future does not change the future, but having future knowledge can help you change the present or past. There is no meeting past self (kinda), and other time plots that convolute the story, which is amazing. Considering how short this game is for a JRPG, the pacing is excellent. The game does start to falter a TINY bit towards the end, but is able to make a great conclusion. It also helps that the side quests in this game are just amazing, as they each focus on each character, and have great character developments that make each and every single one of them worth playing through. Its really hard to point at issues with the story for this game, if I had to consider ANY, it is the tiny pacing issues toward with the end which lands greatly, some of the sidequests were a bit out there to understand who to solve them, anddddd I guess I was a bit confused how the multiple endings were at first, only to realize that the most obvious one is the best ,and the other endings are gotten through actions taken during the playthrough instead.
Characters
All of the cast were done excellent. Each of the characters have their own arc that all ties in together. Each of the characters represent the time era they were in, both good and bad considering the future that lavos created. The main character, Crono, is of course a silent protagonist who is designed to be a self insert, but brave character, which works considering the era it was set in. The other characters were all written so well, as Marle, the princess turned love interest, has an interesting story not only tying with cronos and of course her ancestory, but also her family struggles with her father who both struggle to accept the death of their Mother, and finally accepting and realizing how much they care for each other. Lucca's arc as well is just excellent, who ESPECIALLY gets one of the best scenes thanks to the excellent side quests in this game, and of course her inventions that allowed time travel to begin with for cronos and the group (even if it was fate that gave them the opportunity). Frog's arc and his rivalry with Magus (and depending on your choice, his redemption or acceptance), were just amazing, especially with his struggle as the human Glenn and accepting to become the hero that his previous companion sought out to be. Robo at first didn't seem that crazy, but his side quest fleshes him out way more and makes him another interesting character in the group. Ayla is also very interesting, but is probably the weaker one considering that she lacks an interesting side quest, which the other characters get, giving them the fleshed out development they needed. Magus finally after finding out who he is was a joy to experience, and while he is a bit sidelined with some story beats, his dialogue as he has a more personal connection with Zeal and lavos made him a worthy (and very strong) companion. It is insane how well done these characters are done, and not only are fleshed out throughout the game, but with how amazing the side quests are, makes them the fleshed out cast that everyone knows of, even if not all side quest developments were made equal, they are still all amazing. Each of the character experience existential crisis, especially frog and marle (and Lucca as well... and Robo as he is tossed out of the "Pure Robot" species), and it is an excellent common theme of the characters.
Gameplay
This was a surprise to me. The system revolves around the usual ATB system seen in previous FF games, but this time uses positioning as a key part of the combat as other turn based systems similar to this have either attack one, or all, instead this game contains move that only attack if the enemy's position are together, which plays a strong element that this game excels in, enemy and player position matters if they are hit or not. Attacks that are a straight line will only hit if the enemies are also in a straight line, and circles of course are the same and you get the point. This element makes this combat system so damn fun, as it adds a really fun aspect due to the fact enemies move around while in a waiting state, so you can either attack now and only attack 2 out of 3, or maybe wait a bit more till they group up and attack all 3 at the same time. This risk reward system while also being quick thinking of specific attacks for positions makes this system thrive really well. Of course end game attacks ignores this a bit, as the strongest spells usually attack all, but it still persists for some attacks still. The time travel mechanic is just insane to consider they made it work for a SNES game, and while some confusions happen for the side quests, the game just flows so well. There are some issues, as items are VERY basic till endgame when they start getting more strong passives, but for most of the time its mainly bigger number is better, which is fine. Finally The animations with how the party fights together with double or triple tech was a joy to experience, as their personality is expressed through how they fight, and fight together.
Music
Easily one of the best in gaming. It is easier to point out songs that AREN'T godtier, and even then it is hard to point out those so few songs that are fine. Each new song made me stop to listen to them, as while other game's OST may have 1 or 2 songs that stand out the most, nearly the entire OST in this game is the standout. Crono's Theme (main theme), frog theme, Battle theme, Corridors of Time, Secrets of the Forest, Lavos Theme, Boss Theme, I can go on and on that I might as well list the whole OST as ALL of the songs are just peak after peak to the point of being unfair. No lyric songs, SNES obviously, but what they were able to compose with the limitations is something that so few can achieve, and they were able to achieve this while LAPPING over other OSTs of modern day even.
Final Positives/Nitpicks
- Last Segment of the game was a bit of a dip, but still lands amazing
- This OST man...
- Having nearly ALL the sidequests land this hard is a rare achievement that not many games can achieve, and enters games like NieR Automata for amazing asf side quests.
- Having enemies die one at a time was a bit slow, but again, SNES.
- Even the smaller side characters around the world were very interesting, and the villains were well developed.
- Game is a bit easy, but with interesting battle and fight mechanics, it doesn't turn into a button masher luckily. Probably doesn't help that the excellent side quests, consequentially makes you super OP as well.
Conclusion
Again, broken tune, but this game is simply AMAZING, and easily stands as one of the best JRPGs. This game has aged so damn well that it is so easy to see why it is timeless. It easily stands with FF6 as the 2 Golden Titans of JRPG SNES games, and is easily still one of the great games to play to this date. A game that focuses on time travel and is able to handle it well is a feat (looking at you FF7 remake trilogy on how to door it poorly). This game is an easy recommendation, and while it isn't the most complex story, its simplicity with strong themes is played to its fullest strength in this game.
9.5/10