ViridianMage
Bio
Particular fan of RPGs, retro gaming and games with amazing soundtracks! Currently wondering what to play next in the huge backlog...
Consoles Owned:
Nintendo - N64, GBC, GBA, DS, Wii, 3DS, Switch
PlayStation - PS2, PS3, Vita, PS4, PS5
PC - ROG Ally
Other - Analogue Pocket
Favourite Games -
JRPGs - FFVI, FFVII, Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest IX
RPGs - Dragon Age: Origins
sRPGs - Fire Emblem Three Houses, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Action - Control, Portal 2
Sports/Racing - Football Manager, Forza Horizon 4
Other - The Sims 2, Lego Racers, Little Big Planet
Particular fan of RPGs, retro gaming and games with amazing soundtracks! Currently wondering what to play next in the huge backlog...
Consoles Owned:
Nintendo - N64, GBC, GBA, DS, Wii, 3DS, Switch
PlayStation - PS2, PS3, Vita, PS4, PS5
PC - ROG Ally
Other - Analogue Pocket
Favourite Games -
JRPGs - FFVI, FFVII, Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest IX
RPGs - Dragon Age: Origins
sRPGs - Fire Emblem Three Houses, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Action - Control, Portal 2
Sports/Racing - Football Manager, Forza Horizon 4
Other - The Sims 2, Lego Racers, Little Big Planet
Badges
1 Years of Service
Being part of the Backloggd community for 1 year
Well Written
Gained 10+ likes on a single review
Gone Gold
Received 5+ likes on a review while featured on the front page
GOTY '23
Participated in the 2023 Game of the Year Event
Liked
Gained 10+ total review likes
Roadtrip
Voted for at least 3 features on the roadmap
Favorite Games
073
Total Games Played
005
Played in 2024
051
Games Backloggd
Recently Played See More
Recently Reviewed See More
This review contains spoilers
This is actually a sci fi RPG masquerading as a farm sim - so some players may be surprised at the turns the storyline takes.
I personally enjoyed the plot twists, and wasn't expecting the lurch into science and philosophy. The role the Omens play in the story was definitely my favourite part of the game, and this look at AI technology was refreshing from how it is normally portrayed. The themes of AI and environmentalism make this game feel very relevant to the present day.
To begin with, the game is a bit of a slog. Chapter 3 seemed to drag on forever, and amidst the tropes galore and fetch quest hell I found myself in, I nearly gave up. The characters are fairly predictable and one dimensional. This and the monotonous side quests let the game down. However, the "one day more" kept me plodding through and overall I'm glad I did as I eventually enjoyed the story as I wasn't expecting the sci fi elements, and I am a fan of such stories.
Combat is simplistic and requires little more than button mashing for the first two thirds of the game. Only in the later dungeons and the post game dungeon does strategy become more relevant. I find the omission of a dodge button slightly baffling.
There is lots for completionists to track down, including crafting materials, recipes, crops and character relationship levels. These levels increase over time, rather than requiring gift giving or correct dialogue choices.
The game is pretty - I imagine it would look fantastic on the Switch's OLED screen. I really loved how the trees and skies changed throughout the seasons and between the different areas (e.g. seeing the Northern lights or the cherry blossoms). The music is well orchestrated and good enough, without being mindblowing or overly memorable.
Overall, an eventually enjoyable, if not overly memorable experience. A decent mid budget JRPG game - just don't go in expecting Stardew Valley!
I personally enjoyed the plot twists, and wasn't expecting the lurch into science and philosophy. The role the Omens play in the story was definitely my favourite part of the game, and this look at AI technology was refreshing from how it is normally portrayed. The themes of AI and environmentalism make this game feel very relevant to the present day.
To begin with, the game is a bit of a slog. Chapter 3 seemed to drag on forever, and amidst the tropes galore and fetch quest hell I found myself in, I nearly gave up. The characters are fairly predictable and one dimensional. This and the monotonous side quests let the game down. However, the "one day more" kept me plodding through and overall I'm glad I did as I eventually enjoyed the story as I wasn't expecting the sci fi elements, and I am a fan of such stories.
Combat is simplistic and requires little more than button mashing for the first two thirds of the game. Only in the later dungeons and the post game dungeon does strategy become more relevant. I find the omission of a dodge button slightly baffling.
There is lots for completionists to track down, including crafting materials, recipes, crops and character relationship levels. These levels increase over time, rather than requiring gift giving or correct dialogue choices.
The game is pretty - I imagine it would look fantastic on the Switch's OLED screen. I really loved how the trees and skies changed throughout the seasons and between the different areas (e.g. seeing the Northern lights or the cherry blossoms). The music is well orchestrated and good enough, without being mindblowing or overly memorable.
Overall, an eventually enjoyable, if not overly memorable experience. A decent mid budget JRPG game - just don't go in expecting Stardew Valley!
It's very difficult to score this game - do you judge it against modern RPGs, or games of its time? This for me is like reading a classic novel - it might be archaic against today's standards, but it's interesting to see what has inspired modern titles.
The story and mechanics are simple, but for me this is all part of the game's charm. I thoroughly enjoyed my time seeing where Final Fantasy all began. The pixel remasters are worth it for the masterful soundtracks alone. Modern QoL features such as a quicksave and autobattle turn this from what could be a grindy slog into something quite relaxing and enjoyable - you can just switch your brain off for a bit and enjoy a classic.
Won't be for everyone, but I enjoyed it a lot.
The story and mechanics are simple, but for me this is all part of the game's charm. I thoroughly enjoyed my time seeing where Final Fantasy all began. The pixel remasters are worth it for the masterful soundtracks alone. Modern QoL features such as a quicksave and autobattle turn this from what could be a grindy slog into something quite relaxing and enjoyable - you can just switch your brain off for a bit and enjoy a classic.
Won't be for everyone, but I enjoyed it a lot.
My review also posted on Steam:
TLDR
A classic RPG with a great soundtrack and an interesting storyline (providing you've played Chrono Trigger!). Performance may vary but I had no real issues with latest updates. Unusual battle, leveling and party system which is likely to be divisive. Recommended for fans of classic 90s RPGs, but unlikely to persuade those who aren't a fan of the genre.
Performance
Lots and lots has been said about this. I played this in 2024 after all the patches and alternated between my ROG Ally and my desktop PC. Barring some screen tearing, which was fixed by forcing on V Sync and switching to borderless windowed instead of full screen, I had no issues and the game ran smoothly. I didn't use mods but I also limited the frame rate to a maximum of 60FPS just in case. The game was fine on both the ALLY and the desktop. Probably looked better on the ALLY as the smaller screen doesn't expose the dated backgrounds as much!
Gameplay
The battle system is a bit odd - it's not quite turn based and uses a stamina system. There is an easily missable tutorial in the first village that explains the basics. It took me a while to get my head around it and to be honest I think there's a reason we've not seen anything like it since - it's unnecessarily convoluted in my opinion. The levelling up system is also a bit different, with an overall level awarded by beating bosses and then small stat increases awarded through the regular battles. These stat boosts are finite, so it means there is little grinding, but then also it can be pointless fighting these battles in long stretches between bosses. Unlike many JRPGs, there are also many part members you can recruit (over 40!). Personally, I didn't really like this as it meant you don't get to know the characters as they don't really respond uniquely to most scenarios in the game and it feels like many characters are very similar and as you can only swap them out at save points or on the world map, there isn't really an incentive to do so regularly. These do level up with your main party thankfully, but as far as I'm aware don't gain the stat increases from the regular battles. Chrono Cross is clearly an ambitious game, trying to be different and it succeeds in that regard - but definitely won't be to everyone's tastes.
Storyline
Takes a while to get going but poses some interesting questions about the meaning of life, what happens when one interferes with timelines and even natural selection (which as a biology teacher I did very much enjoy!). Chrono Trigger fans will get more out of it - I've heard people say that Chrono Cross works as a standalone title, but I think much of the ending would be lost on you if you hadn't played Chrono Trigger and therefore the storyline would lose a lot of its impact. The story provides enough intrigue to keep you playing and provokes thought post the ending which is always a mark of a good storyline in my book. I also enjoyed the story of the Radical Dreamers visual novel that was included and one could argue that this more closely links to Chrono Trigger. There is also a brand new secret ending that you can unlock after viewing the endings of both Chrono Cross and Radical Dreamers - you can see it by watching the credits in the launcher.
Overall, I liked it (mainly for the storyline, Chrono Trigger references and soundtrack), but I'm not rushing back for a new game plus as I never really came to love the battle system or character progression.
TLDR
A classic RPG with a great soundtrack and an interesting storyline (providing you've played Chrono Trigger!). Performance may vary but I had no real issues with latest updates. Unusual battle, leveling and party system which is likely to be divisive. Recommended for fans of classic 90s RPGs, but unlikely to persuade those who aren't a fan of the genre.
Performance
Lots and lots has been said about this. I played this in 2024 after all the patches and alternated between my ROG Ally and my desktop PC. Barring some screen tearing, which was fixed by forcing on V Sync and switching to borderless windowed instead of full screen, I had no issues and the game ran smoothly. I didn't use mods but I also limited the frame rate to a maximum of 60FPS just in case. The game was fine on both the ALLY and the desktop. Probably looked better on the ALLY as the smaller screen doesn't expose the dated backgrounds as much!
Gameplay
The battle system is a bit odd - it's not quite turn based and uses a stamina system. There is an easily missable tutorial in the first village that explains the basics. It took me a while to get my head around it and to be honest I think there's a reason we've not seen anything like it since - it's unnecessarily convoluted in my opinion. The levelling up system is also a bit different, with an overall level awarded by beating bosses and then small stat increases awarded through the regular battles. These stat boosts are finite, so it means there is little grinding, but then also it can be pointless fighting these battles in long stretches between bosses. Unlike many JRPGs, there are also many part members you can recruit (over 40!). Personally, I didn't really like this as it meant you don't get to know the characters as they don't really respond uniquely to most scenarios in the game and it feels like many characters are very similar and as you can only swap them out at save points or on the world map, there isn't really an incentive to do so regularly. These do level up with your main party thankfully, but as far as I'm aware don't gain the stat increases from the regular battles. Chrono Cross is clearly an ambitious game, trying to be different and it succeeds in that regard - but definitely won't be to everyone's tastes.
Storyline
Takes a while to get going but poses some interesting questions about the meaning of life, what happens when one interferes with timelines and even natural selection (which as a biology teacher I did very much enjoy!). Chrono Trigger fans will get more out of it - I've heard people say that Chrono Cross works as a standalone title, but I think much of the ending would be lost on you if you hadn't played Chrono Trigger and therefore the storyline would lose a lot of its impact. The story provides enough intrigue to keep you playing and provokes thought post the ending which is always a mark of a good storyline in my book. I also enjoyed the story of the Radical Dreamers visual novel that was included and one could argue that this more closely links to Chrono Trigger. There is also a brand new secret ending that you can unlock after viewing the endings of both Chrono Cross and Radical Dreamers - you can see it by watching the credits in the launcher.
Overall, I liked it (mainly for the storyline, Chrono Trigger references and soundtrack), but I'm not rushing back for a new game plus as I never really came to love the battle system or character progression.