A Ripple in Time

A Few Final Thoughts...

Some of my audience (read: myself) felt my review of Squaresoft's seminal RPG Chrono Trigger could use a little bit more fleshing out. I mean, I didn't even show any screenshots of the actual game in the last blog entry, just concept art, losing myself in a mostly expository history of the genre. I may have given some of you the wrong impression, that the story stops where I stopped summarizing it, but the truth is a lot of Chrono Trigger's charm is in the twists and turns of its plots, and to give those away would be to rob a potential player from the satisfaction of experiencing the story themselves. As I'm sure some of the more keen-eyed observers may have noticed, there is a robot (Robo) you pick up from the far future, and a cave girl, (well, hut) Ayla, from Guardia's distant past. Eventually, Crono learns that the world is in peril of ending in 1999AD from Lavos, an alien that crashed on earth during ancient times. One of the unique things about Chrono Trigger is its myriad of endings; depending on when you decide to face Lavos and who you face him with, you can receive a different ending. But that's enough about the narrative for now.

THIS...IS...GUARDIA!

 

Story - 9

Actually, let's talk about the narrative for a moment. Just. One. More. Moment. While I did call it convoluted, it's easy for a plot to complex once the matter of time travel is introduced, and I think Chrono Trigger more-or-less keeps things on the rails and easy to understand. (It's its sequel, Chrono Cross, that gets the most flack for having a mess of plot for players to wade through). Paradoxes get introduced and are forced to be dealt with, which often can feel like deus ex machina when they're not sufficiently explained.  While I do enjoy it, it incorporates nearly a metric ton of tropes, ranging from Crono being a silent protagonist (at least he doesn't have amnesia!), teenagers being the solution to overcome the greatest evil the world has ever faced (we can beat it with friendship!), and a slew of other tropes that keep Chrono Trigger from being truly unique. But that's okay. Because it's fun. And fun is what games are supposed to be about.

Being judged for your actions. Doesn't that sound fun?

Gameplay - 9

One of the unique ways Chrono Trigger shook things up was by having enemies visible on the map you are traversing. This allowed the player to avoid engaging the enemies if they want. Furthermore, where most RPGs had random encounters take place on a separate screen, often cutting to black before fading in, the encounters in Chrono Trigger happen right where the player is standing, immersing the player in a way that had not been done before. This convention would carry over to Chrono Trigger's sequel, Chrono Cross, on PlayStation 1 in 1999, as well as later Final Fantasy games, like Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XII, and Final Fantasy XIII.  

Another thing that caused Chrono Trigger to standout from other games in the genre was its tech system used in combat. By combing strength between two characters, players can perform dual attacks and even triple attacks with characters, pulling off devastating attacks with visuals that were nothing short of amazing in 1995. For instance, Lucca's specialty is fire attacks, and by combining one of her fire attacks with Crono's sword skills, the two of them can attack an enemy for more damage than either one of them can on their own. Performing the different techs available with multiple characters keeps combat interesting in Chrono Trigger, whereas combat can start to feel stale in other RPGs, using the same move over and over just because it is the most effective.

It should be noted that people weaned on the latest generation or two of video games may be in for a bit of a surprise regarding how much dialog there is to read through. Voice acting is a relative recent development for the genre. Expect a lot of reading, unless you don't want to know the plot and just want to mash the button through it, at which point I ask you why you chose to play a RPG in the first place.

Stupid random encounter! Let me get back to the story!

Graphics - 8

As I mentioned in the bottom line of the last entry, the graphics are somewhat dated by today's standards. Even though they are still beautiful sprites, not everyone has an appreciation for 2D games or graphics. I remember being blown away by the graphics in 1995, particularly the Cathedral level at the beginning of the game and the visual effects when traveling through time, but sadly I'm not quite as easily impressed now as I was then. That being said, there is a lot to be said for a well-executed art style, and that is something Chrono Trigger has in spades. The PlayStation 1 port I am playing on my PSP features additional cutscenes not included in the original Super Nintendo version. They are animated using the visual style of Akira Toriyama, and they look pretty good, but my problem with them is after they happen, the characters still perform whatever actions they performed in the cutscene again, like they did as rendered in the original in game engine, which makes seeing the same thing twice a little jarring.

Blah, blah, blah, just let me kill stuff!

Soundtrack - 9

The soundtrack is still nothing short of remarkable. Yasunori Mitsuda composed the majority of the soundtrack, but had to hand the remaining soundtrack work over to the Final Fantasy series' veteran composer, Nobuo Uematsu.  Each piece composed for a character is iconic, and the rest of the soundtrack is also amazing. See here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOmgIZZuI68

Replayability - 9

As I mentioned before, Chrono Trigger features multiple endings, 14 to be exact, with various permutations based on certain things that may have happened during the game. Also featured is a New Game + Mode, which allows you to play through the game again with all your stats and items earned from your first playthrough. At 10-20+ hours a playthrough, Chrono Trigger is a title full of replayability. 

Final Score - 9

It's not perfect, (the PSN version in particular) but then again, what is?