Monday, December 22, 2014

VGBA Explosion! #5 - Random Late 2014 Releases

Time for another EXPLOSION of Video Game Bands and their releases! There have been a pretty large number of releases since I've been able to do anything. On top of that, I keep getting behind on my purchases. I could buy more and more, but I try to only get a single album at a time and give myself time to enjoy it.

Why? Because in the past, I have bought a group of albums and then ended up passing most of them by because I can't get myself to focus on one album long enough to enjoy it. (Since I bought several and want to get my moneys worth and all.)

THUS!... I'm going to list off several new release here. (I figure somewhere in the ballpark of five different albums.) You should know that I've only had the time and money to get a few of them below. I'll try to give each one a listen before giving any thoughts on them though. Let's start off with an interesting and quite enjoyable freebie!

Super VG Christmas Party

This album kind of came out of the blue for me, and it's so amazing and such a large selection. There's so many bands and artists on here, and I don't think I know more than maybe a third of who all is on here. The variety of both genre and video game selection are crazy. You'll see so much here and probably haven't even played them all! (Or I sure haven't) Great remixes of a huge assortment of video game music to fit your yuletide celebrations. To top all that off? IT IS ABSOLUTELY FREE!

As far as music genres go, I don't know any other type that releases as much free music as Video Game Bands and Video Game Remixers. Seriously, if you know of another genre of music willing to learn and play awesome music and costs you nothing, then please let me know.

If I had any special highlights here... I honestly don't know if I could choose. There is one song that really sticks out here. (FYI, I decided to choose one that wasn't just one of my favorite bands on the album like Random Encounter, Armcannon, The Returners, or Codename Trigger Thumb.)

The song I'm going to highlight is Dragonborn's Shout (TES V - Skyrim) by Psycho Crusher. I happened to enjoy the original song, but their version just... feels so amazing. Easily one of my favorite songs from the album. I plan to look into more of these groups when I get a chance.

Next up...


The Descendants of Erdrick - Advent

The Descendants of Erdrick (another clear favorite VG band of mine) released their latest album, Advent, a couple weeks ago. I will say that the style has changed a bit from the previous album, but that's because the band lineup has changed quite a bit as well over the past year. That aside, we're still getting quality material from these guys. It's a bit heavier than their previous material, but every song is well chosen and just well thrashed... which is good I think for metal? If not, just know that I'm being positive here. I like the album. I really do. 

In all honesty, I had planned to do a full VGBA review of this album, but I never got around to it at release, so it ended up being pushed back until now. I don't have the time to make individual reviews for this and the other two or three albums that released recently. They do deserve your attention though. Advent brings us some great metal-ified version of songs spanning Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, and many other RPG adventure games. (The group's main focus at this point) 

My favorite song off of the album has to be Shinra Oppression. It's the song I remember the most from both the actual game and the album itself. Regardless, get on down to the Bandcamp, give it a listen, and buy yourself some awesome metal!


OldStyle - Baroque Remixes

From the great Dj CUTMAN comes a very unique and interesting take on classical music. It's classic music meets chiptunes. There's really not much to add here, but I would like to say... It's pretty dang cool. Despite how you might think that mixture would go, it's actually pretty cool to hear. It's got a really funky jamming vibe that also seems pretty classy at the same time. It's the right mixture of old and new to create something so amazing your ears will be confused.

None of the songs really stand out here to single out, but they're all pretty amazing, so I just had a hard time choosing here.

It's a quick album with a really unique sound and interesting to just hear it out. For the low price of only $5, you can enjoy a bit of history both past... and present.


The Returners - Immune to Silence

The first release from the great new VG band, The Returners. (Got their name from the fictitious rebellion group from Final Fantasy VI.) They bring us a very different selection of songs from video games and even a few TV shows. (Combined into one track called Epic Saturday Morning.) We come across some of our usual contenders (Final Fantasy, Zelda), but we also get a nice taste of things I haven't seen covered as much, like Phantasy Star, Starcraft, and Lufia. There's definitely a great selection of music here.

As for their overall sound, it's leaning more towards rock than metal. It's really easy on the ears and a great listen that won't just blow your ears off with loud or boisterous. (It makes for pretty great background music.) They also have the flute-est... flute-er... flute expert, Lauren the Flute. This is her main band after she left Descendants of Erdrick (or so my understanding goes).

I can be honest here. I haven't listened to this album as much as I'd have liked. Mostly just time versus number of albums I tend to get. Not in any way negative though! It's got a great sound and overall some really good covers of video game music. It's definitely worth a listen (and your money), so I'd highly suggest it.

If nothing else, my favorite song "Epic Saturday Morning" is pretty awesome by itself. It combines the Gargoyles opening theme followed by the X-Men (older) opening theme, and then followed by a final one I haven't seen (The Knights of Justice). 

Give The Returner's a shot and let your mind be blown... by the rock!


DKC Mix't Ape '94

Now for my final selection... An item I haven't listened to yet! Why do I list it? Because I love me some Donkey Kong Country music! This is another great free compilation by a few groups I've heard of (Droidekka, The World is Square, Super Guitar Bros) and many people I've never heard of. I plan to get it soon enough, and I figure it's worth recommending now!

I still really enjoy some Donkey Kong Country music. The original soundtrack is great. OCRemix has remixed the first and second games music as part of their free albums. (Kong in Concert, Serious Monkey Business... I reviewed that one.) They did the third game as well, but I haven't really played that game enough to recognize the music. Regardless, this is another free album that's definitely got to be worth a listen. I shall get it soon enough... YES, SOOOOON.


And that's what I got for this Explosion! We got five albums here, and they're all pretty varied with what they offer you. Give these a listen and be ready for another Explosion! soon enough. (Not this month, but I'm backed up enough on albums to need an Explosion! over a plan review.) Hope you enjoyed the post and got yourself some tasty new beats to keep you satisfied.~

Until next time...

~May the Crystals Guide Me~

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Recurring RPG Review #5 - Child of Light

It's been some time since I've done an RPG review... At least, been a while since I did one that wasn't the current focus of blog updates. (And the last Recurring RPG Review didn't go so well.) Thus I figured it was time to get in here and really accomplish something. Had a few days off in a row from work and I decided to review... this.

Recurring Fantasy Recurring RPG Reviews Proudly Presents
#5 - Child of Light



First of all, if that image doesn't have you at least a little interested, you should probably walk away now.
Secondly, I couldn't find an actual game case cause it's mostly a digital release. (I believe there's a collector's edition available, but it literally comes with digital vouchers.)

Child of Light released earlier this year as a digital title pretty much across the board. It came out on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU, so basically everybody can get it. The initial thing you probably already realize... It's a bit of an indie-ish title. It has the look of it just from what's above, and I can agree with that. However, before this review is over, you're going to find out that it's quite a bit more than just another "indie title". Thus, we're going to dive right into this and get you right on board with this Child of Light.

As per my normal format, I'm going to go through the Aesthetics, the Gameplay, and a combined overview of the Characters and Story. Now...

The Aesthetics! It's easily one of the shining points of this game. I've got a few screenshots to share (that I borrowed from around the Internet), and they get across the basic idea for the look and feel the game is going for.

Example of game's cutscenes. (Robert is a Bolmus.)


Example of battle.  


Overworld exploration with nearby enemies


Another example of battle. 


 Early demo look of exploration in a well. (Still how the game generally looks)


 More early demo look! It's still the same art and all, but there's some minor differences.


Oh... sad gnome/dwarf/insert here thing. (They're called Capilli in game.)


Well, now that I have shown those, you have to be interested in the game... right? Again, if you aren't into this style, you probably should walk away. I'm not saying the game is all about the look, but if you don't like the look, you might not have as strong an interest. ANYWAYS!

So the game looks and feels like a children's story come to life. The visuals appear hand drawn (pretty sure they are buuut not 100%) and just look beautiful throughout the game. The fairy tale-esque style that abounds throughout the designs really shows and shines. The various character designs and areas of the game are always a treat to see as you explore the vast world of Lemuria. (The name of the world in the game. More details will follow in the story section.)

Every single area is just a treat to see. It's worth exploring to see the vast, lush landscape. The spooky  yet fertile forest. The cozy country village of the Capilli. The classic yet brimming town of the Bolmus. The rocky landscapes of the mountains. And just so much more. There's a variety of areas to see, and they're all pretty gorgeous on their own. I'd enjoy this story purely as a child's book full of pictures. Really enjoy the art and graphics.

You can't forget about the soundtrack either though! (Give it a listen here.) For Child of Light, the style of music needed to match the overall feel of the game. I'd say that a game like this requires a certain mixture of fantasy, a storybook, child-like wonder and fears, and serious times. It easily hits every single mark.

It goes for more of a classical sound with a strong orchestra abounding throughout. Lots of piano, drums, string instruments, and piano abound throughout the music. It's got a very deep and moving sound as you explore the world. A mysterious and almost somber melody as you go about your journey through the world. Even with your world travelling melodies going, you immediately know when the fights hit you. The game strikes up into a very live and dramatic boom when the battle begins. They really let loose with the drums and strings there. (Whereas the sadder moments take to the piano of course.)

If you're looking for some kinda of rocking guitar solo or electronica... Then you have come to the wrong game mister. You get out of here now!... Anyways, I'm going to say the aesthetics of the game is just completely and utterly amazing. It's just great stuff. Enjoyable to both watch and listen.

If I had to say something... I did notice something. Maybe it's just me, but it seemed like everybody outside of the main character was 2D while she got a fully 3D model. (And I do mean EVERYBODY... even the other main characters.) Maybe I just saw things wrong, but I really noticed it here and there as some of the main characters made their appearance. I'm not mad or even disappointed really. Just... felt like mentioning it I guess.

Overall, ignore that mentioning right there. It's just great aesthetics all around, but... does the gameplay hold up?

I'm going to be frank. Yes, yes it does. But... what is it like? Child of Light manages to combine several game styles into one. If I had to describe Child of Light to someone who knew other games but not it, I'd probably say it was like if Final Fantasy IX, Grandia, and Limbo were thrown into a blender and mixed together quite vigorously. How so? Well, let's get into them details.

Exploring the game's world feels something like a modern 2D platformer. There's platforms to jump and leap about on. Switches to hit, a few spots have boxes with weight switches. Despite the small-ish game world (small for an RPG that is), there are a lot of spaces to explore. Hidden areas are all over the place and reward you pretty well for finding them. Enemies are located on the actual map, so it is possible to avoid them as you want/need to. People who don't like random encounters... You might enjoy that part quite well.

You also have a little spirit creature, named Igniculus, who has various features both in the world and in battle. He's used to activate special switches, you can hold enemies in place, solve puzzles, and quite a bit more. Honestly, the platforming and exploring elements alone could almost be a game in and of themselves. I'd enjoy a game like that, but now we should get into the real meat of the game... the battles and RPG elements!

The RPG portion of the game is pretty strong as well. (Much like I said before, each part of gameplay is actually strong enough to be its own game.) Gaining levels for each character earns them points to spend on their skill tree, which branches out on three paths per character. The branches don't seem to be particularly focused on one stat over another and instead opt to boost and learn special attacks. (Boosting your main attacks, learning new attacks, etc) I thought it did at first, but I never really saw a true pattern on any character.

Beyond leveling, there's very little character customization I'm afraid, There isn't any kind of regular equipment in the game, but you do find items called Oculi. Pieces of gems with names like Diamond, Ruby, Onyx, Tourmaline, Spinel. You get where they are going. You equip the Oculi into three different slots: Attack, Defense, Timeline. (Timeline will be explained a bit better when I get to the battles.) Each gem has a different boosting effect to the character's ability. Each Occuli changes your character in some small way. It might change your attack's element or give you a very meager boost depending on the type. There are a few that give you weird conditions like "Boost defense by % while HP is less than %", but they tend to be such a low HP % requirement that I felt it was too little, too late. Then you got the awesome ones that simply boost your attack/magic/defense. Those are the winners in my book. There's a lot to say and describe here, but that's the main idea of how you can customize here.

On top of all that, you can combine small pieces of Oculi to create bigger pieces with stronger effects or combine different kinds of Oculi in general. It sounds super deep and such, but there's a fairly limited number of combinations available. I'd also advise caution here... to not be hasty when combining. There are Oculi all over the place in chests and won in battles, but I kept messing up when combining them. Shortest version? You can combine 2 or 3 based on what you are going for. I kept accidentally combining two because the game automatically moves the selection to the combine command after choosing two compatible ones. It was very frustrating, but also one of the few minor nitpicks I truly had. (I could have just slowed down and prevented every single one.) I'm kind of lagging on here, so let's push into the battles.

The battles in Child of Light are something of a combination between Final Fantasy's Active Time Battle and Grandia's Battle System. To keep this as simplified as possible... Enemies are present on the field, and you can choose whether or not to fight them at your whim. It's possible to dodge them with your character's flight (that you earn quite early on), or you can hold them in place using Igniculus.

When you do get into battles, it is two of your party versus a combination of one to three enemies. (After the first area of the game, it's almost always two and later on three.) There is a bar present at the bottom of the screen with your character's icons along the top and the enemy icons along the bottom. The bar is split into a Wait area (about 3/4ths of the bar) and Cast area(the final 1/4th of the bar). Your icons move along the bar based on Speed stat and current status. When you hit the Cast area, you choose your actions for that turn, and they charge up until they hit the end and activate.

The trick to all that? If someone is hit during the Cast area, their action is cancelled, and they're thrown back into the Wait area. There's several status effects that affect all the conditions of battle, and it can get quite strategic. The battles can be quite challenging in this game, especially if you play it on Expert like I did. It's... both a good and bad thing.

The further along I got, the harder the battles got. That makes sense with progression of course, but the level of difficulty didn't slowly grow so much as it just SKYROCKETED. Not even halfway through and I'm already having quite some issues dealing with even the lesser of enemies. This doesn't even include the ridiculousness of some boss fights. There are bosses that have just so much power behind them it isn't funny. On top of that power tends to come an almost unfair counter attack if you cancel them during the Cast phase. (Many enemies have this, but the boss tends to have the worst version.) All I'm getting at is that it's a challenging game and nothing to joke at.

I could go on and on into details, but that gives you the main idea of what you will be dealing with. I could make several complaints here, but they're mostly things that caused me trouble versus actual problems with the game. However, I don't plan to hold back either!

First of all, there isn't any form of currency in the game. None at all. The only items you get are those found in chests and the ones earned through battles. Beyond that, you can't buy or stock up on any kind of healing items. I wasn't even halfway when I ran out of potions... and then the game kind of stopped giving me any. This is EXTREMELY rough if you consider this additional fact: Only one character has an actual healing spell. Yeah, let that sink in. There's these light things, referred to as Wishes, that you can collect outside of battle to heal up, but as far as battles go, just be sure to use your items wisely.

I'm also not a fan of only having two party members in battle. This means that if someone falls, you have to hurry and pick them up, or the game over will be on you in no time. Also that person with the healing spell? Also the only one who can revive people as well, so if she falls in battle, you best hope you have a Revive item. Otherwise, you are going to be fighting the most uphill battle ever.

Minor nitpick that I feel needs mentioned? You get the ability to fly super early. I mean, within the first hour or two of gameplay, you obtain flight. With flight at hand, it just seems... I figured you'd get it later rather than earlier. That'd be like giving Samus the Space Jump at the very beginning. You basically can go anywhere and do anything so long as you can find it. It matches the flow and feel of the game, so I guess it doesn't matter too much. Less of a negative more of unexpected for me.

Final thing I can really think of here is the lack of Side Quests. For the overall length of the game, the number of Side Quests is pretty spot on. However, for an RPG, the number of Side Quests feels a bit on the low side. I'm not saying I need a billion Side Quests nor do they have to be so involving that they're nearly half the gameplay. (Looking at you Final Fantasy X.) But I would have liked if the game contained just a few more Side Quests to lengthen out the end game. As far as I could tell, there was only one Side Quest added before the true finale of the end. (You have to revisit the next to last area of the game to find it. Didn't take long to complete either but really great reward.) But again, it matches the length of the game as is, so I guess I can't really complain. Just wish there were a few more is all.

Despite my complaints of course, it's still a very rock solid game. The exploration/platforming is done well enough to hold up on its own. The skills tree is nice and simple but offers options. The Oculi are interesting enough, but several of them tend to have useless or very singular effects. Battles are quite fun and challenging, but the need for strategy and difficulty rise quite quickly and can sometimes make simple battles into large ordeals. The only true complaint I can give? I really wish there was more than ONE character who can heal and revive. Beyond that, it's still a really great game with really great gameplay. So much so that it seems to outdo other games that only had one style of gameplay, whereas this one hosted two quite easily.

We aren't quite done yet though! We still lack the true lifeblood of the RPG... The story and characters! Let's get started with the story...

To keep it simple, the game revolves around a little girl's journey into the mysterious and magical land of Lemuria. The story begins with a bit of some ups and downs. Our main character, Aurora, appears to have died in the real world (apparently in 1895 Austria... a duke's daughter) and awakens to find herself in the magical world. She explores the world while attempting to find a way home and discovers that Lemuria is in danger. The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars have been taken by the Black Queen, and it is up to Aurora to get them back.

As far as the story goes, it's pretty top notch and really creative. It's hard to truly create something new in the world nowadays, but I'd say Child of Light is a great start. The story feels involving and interesting enough to keep you going. It's got all your basic ingredients without getting over the top complex like some games feel they need to. I don't want to say too much here and reveal a lot, but like many stories, it's not as straightforward as it might seem!

The only negative from the story is that the ending of the game comes up very, very quickly. Everything is really well paced, and then it suddenly all catches up and the ending almost smacks you in the face. I'm not saying it ends abruptly at all, but it feels like there could have been a bit more length near the end. I am trying to not reveal anything here, but let's just say that if you are "under the sea", then you should know the ending is closer than you might think. I thought there might be one more grand dungeon after that, but there wasn't. That's all I got for story right now, so let's move into the characters.

As you journey through the game, Aurora meets a variety of characters that begin with their own goals in mind, but each one evolves to be something more in order to defeat evil and save Lemuria. The pure variety of teammates reminds me of a certain favorite team of mine... Final Fantasy IX. Each person has their own attitude and agenda for the ride, so they all have a nice unique and different feel. For a group of characters, this should just be the 101. I shouldn't feel like every person has to hit an archetype nor should they be so out there that they make no sense.

I enjoyed almost every character both story and game-wise. The Golem (a DLC character) did feel a bit out of place compared to the rest, but he was still a decent character. After you met a new character in the game, there was a chance they'd strike up conversations among one another. I say chance, but realistically, there would be a single conversation after every battle between the new person and every other character. These were always enjoyable and gave a little insight into each character. Unfortunately, there was only one conversation between two characters all together so... They each only happen once. Kind of wish they had more, but it never built beyond that.

And now I finally bring this up. Mentioning the conversations of the game, I have to bring about one of the game's elements that is probably the biggest source of negativity I have about the game. (Not enough to affect the score, but I still feel it is worth mentioning.) The style of the game has all of the characters rhyming. Whether they go with one rhyming scheme or another, every sentence from every character throughout the game is forced to rhyme.

This could be taken as a delightful way to journey through the game, and it generally is, but it's not always good. There's many times where although the words technically rhyme, it's not rhyming correctly. I'm not an English major, but I know that just because words sound with the same ending doesn't mean you can always rhyme them. It's the ebb and flow of the words along with the sounding alike that makes rhyming work. Orange might sound like door hinge, but you can't rhyme them and be rhythmly correct. I can't think of direct examples right now, but you'll know them in the game when you see them.

On top of that, the rhyming gets annoying at times. It's a clever way to go about the game and really cute, but there were a few times where the rhyming scheme makes it almost unintelligible to understand what is going on. I mean it isn't that confusing of a game, but there's only so much you can read into it when they force everything to rhyme up. Overall, the rhyming doesn't kill the gameplay for me, but they could have toned it down here and there. And I've said my piece on that.

My Final Score - 9 out of 10.

Now it's finally time to really wrap this post up, so let's get a good glimpse of what all happened here.

Child of Light brings us the RPG we want in this day and age. The aesthetics of the game are just spot on. They're going for a children's book-style fantasy setting, and they hit it spot on. The look, feel, and sound are just perfect for what they are going for. If you remotely enjoyed the screenshots above, then you are in for a treat.

The gameplay is a great combination of both platforming exploration and real-time turn-based RPG. Both sides of that could easily stand on their own for a singular but still great game, and yet they combined it all here for one really well done game. Those looking for a fairly simplistic build and stats system will enjoy what goes on here, and although the battles can be pretty rough, it's nice to see an RPG challenge you to play a bit smarter and strategic as opposed to "Just attack always."

Finally, the story and characters are a general delight throughout. There are a few times I'd have liked the characters to flesh out a bit more, but I still liked them nonetheless. Overall, there's really no problems I have with the game that aren't just me being a tad nitpicky. It's not the perfect RPG you might wish for, but it's just so damn close it isn't funny. If you need yourself a tasty little morsel of an RPG, go buy and download Child of Light today!


~May the Crystals Guide Me~

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Side Post!

I'm still unsure of what I should play through next at this point and just spending some down time getting reorganized and back on track. (That and working retail during the holidays is... balls.) With all that in mind, I figured I'd list off all the games I've bought during this year that also released this year. This... is going to be a hefty list.

I'm going to list off all I can remember as well as a quick grouping of thoughts with each game. Keep in mind, I won't say anything about games I've yet to play. (Because that's unfair to the game regardless of what I've heard about them.) I figure I'll choose five games from the entire list as well to be my "Games of Choice". Just a heads up here, they aren't going to all be RPGs here. I play all sorts of games, so this is going to be quite a variety.

Let's get to it.

Recurring Fantasy Side Post Theater Proudly Presents
Games of 2014

Not going in any specific order at this point, so don't think I'm ranking them yet. My "Games of Choice" will appear at the end.

Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 (PS3, 360, PC)
     A sequel to an amazing game. I had fun with the game, but in general, it just doesn't compare to the first one. It's still a good game and worth picking up... at a discounted price. It's hard to put into words. The combat remains pretty good if you ask me, but the story and characters fall short of how the original went. It kept up for a bit, but it was an overall disappointment by the time it was said and done.


Tales of Symphonia Chronicles (PS3)
     I played the first game on the GameCube. Really enjoyed my time back then, so I picked up the Chronicles as it contained both the original and the sequel.. but in HD for a great price! Unfortunately, I picked it up at a bad time and didn't end up playing much. If you like RPGs with a lot to do, collect, and see plus action RPG-style battles... This title is for you! (Was only $40 originally, so you can probably get it pretty cheap even now.)


Resident Evil 4 Ultimate HD Edition (PC)
     I now own almost every iteration of this game. GameCube, PS2, original PC (disc), Wii, PS3 (PSN digital), and then I picked up the Ultimate HD Edition on Steam. Resident Evil 4 is among my top five of favorite games of all time. It gets a mention on this post because the Ultimate HD Edition fixed all the problems with the original PC version, but I don't feel right immediately counting it in the "Games of Choice" because it already had an unfair advantage. Just trying to not play favorites. If I could, I'd name it all five and go tell you to play it now. Great game, awesome action, fun characters, interesting story, just gooooooood stuff. Enough said here.


South Park: The Stick of Truth (PS3, 360, PC)
     I realize that I already posted about this game a little ways after its release, but it does deserve a re-listing. I had fun with it, but I happen to enjoy South Park. You can like RPGs all you want, but that's both the best and worst thing about this title... Needing a knowledge of the series. If you don't have it, I can't really suggest this title. I will say that it's definitely more challenging than most RPGs though, so look into that if you want something to give you a run for your money (compared to the usual).


Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Collection (PS3, PS Vita)
     How can I not mention this? I bought it. I haven't played much of it yet, but there's two full games here remastered into HD. I don't mean half-ass remastered like MOST HD collections. (Looking at a lot of you right now but won't name them.) It's a great update to a great selection of games. I can't say I liked X-2 very much but some people do. Honestly, for like $20 now, you get a great HD update of a fantastic Final Fantasy and its weird sequel.


Infamous Second Son (PS4)
     Hello early PS4 title. How are you doing? What's that?! You are super short and easy to complete? Well that's just crazy... Also my opinion. I had fun running around with all powers and such, but the game and story are just so... short. I collected everything in the game and finished the story within 14 hours of gameplay. I only skipped some weird online thing, but who cares. With the completion of the title, it was out the window and out of my life.


The Witch and the Hundred Knight (PS3)
     Nooooooooooooooooooooope. Just... This game is for people who love Disgaea with its kooky antics and overbearingly large amount of leveling and gameplay. For everybody else, it's a terrible action RPG with awkward characters and story. Just... no. You may feel otherwise but no for me.


The Child of Light ( PS4, PS3, PS Vita, 360, XB1, WiiU, PC)
     I have this game, but I have not played it yet. (Might be the next game I play/review on the blog... WHO KNOWS) However, I have played a bit of a demo, and it's a great game in its own right. Turn-based battles with active elements. There's lots of puzzles and exploration. It's the kind of game we want but rarely ever get.


Kirby Triple Deluxe (3DS)
     I enjoy Nintendo and its characters. I don't know if I'd classify myself as a Nintendo fanboy, but I like their stuff. I've enjoyed nearly every Kirby game that comes to mind. I enjoyed Triple Deluxe... but it's not anything I'd go crazy about. Kirby games rarely ever evolve anymore, so we kind of end up with the same game every couple years. Good but not worth the full price they charge. (Loaned my copy out to two different people... so yeah.)


Wolfenstein The New Order (PS3, PS4, 360, XB1, PC)
     Every year, we get another Call of Duty or Battlefield or both. These are what I'd classify as typical and pretty straightforward First Person Shooters with their massive online group and kinda plain gameplay. Then we get the OTHER shooters. Games like the Metro series, BioShock, and... Wolfenstein. The New Order brings in a great mixture of the old school shooting with the new school of gameplay. If I look past any true factors involved... I really enjoyed the gameplay. Fast-paced with lots of action and just good old shooting bad guys. Enough for me really.


Killer is Dead (PS3, 360, PC)
     Suda 51 is one of those magical developers that just don't exist enough in the world of gaming. However, I've come to learn that despite his name being stickered on the game... Magic doesn't always come about. Killer is Dead is unfortunately one of those. It's your typical hack and slash with a ridiculous over-the-top story and characters. Hard as crap to follow, but there's plenty of fun to be found inbetween. Really can't suggest for most people, but... if you find it cheap, give it a chance. (And look past that silly GLARE AT LADIES mini game, I'm willing to admit it's creepy and sad but could be a whole lot worse.)


Mario Kart 8 (WiiU)
     It's Mario Kart. Fantastic party fun with karts and racing. They messed up the Battle mode by taking away arenas, but there's still plenty of fun to be had. They also recently released a DLC that added Link, from the Legend of Zelda, to the cast! It's fun by yourself but definitely best enjoyed with a crowd!


Azure Striker Gunvolt (3DS)
     A game that takes a mixture between Mega Man Zero and an interesting gameplay element. Interesting characters and story with gameplay that proves quite challenging. It's fun and I beat it... but I didn't get the true ending. I didn't take the time and kind of lost interest honestly. If you have a 3DS and liked Mega Man Zero or Mega Man ZX... Go get it now!


Mighty Gunvolt (3DS)
    A newly created retro-style game that screams Mega Man gameplay and look and hilariously bad translations. It's cheaper than Azure Striker Gunvolt and more fun if you ask me. Grab it up!


Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (3DS)
     This already has a giant review post. I liked it, great improvement on the original, but it's kind of a niche group. Still a fun game to listen and tap the day away to though~


Hyrule Warriors (WiiU)
     Dynasty Warriors meets the Legend of Zelda in a strange but quite fun game. The story brings together some of the best Zelda lore while playing up the slashing through thousands of victims angle of gameplay. It's a lot of fun to play but a lot of depth to dig through and unlock. Definitely worth your time if you own a WiiU, but I can't call it a reason to buy the system I'm afraid.


Super Smash Bros 2014 (WiiU, 3DS)
     It's Super Smash Bros. There's really nothing to add here. I would suggest the WiiU version over the 3DS version purely because I prefer a controller over the 3DS controls cause the controller feels better. Otherwise, they're the same game, both fun, and multiplayer madness!


The Binding of Issac: Rebirth (PS4, PS Vita, PC)
     I enjoyed the original game, and Rebirth is just an updated re-release of the original. It looks better, plays better, and is still a fun game. The content can be disturbing, but it's funny disturbing. Gameplay is a mixture between classic Legend of Zelda dungeon exploration and Smash TV directional destruction. Easy to pick up and play but difficult to master. I... still haven't beaten it.


Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (WiiU)
     I know what you're thinking... Another Sonic the Hedgehog game. Yup, that's what it is. They keep making new ones. I keep buying them. I'm willing to argue that I've enjoyed many of them to a point. Sonic Colors and Generations get a special mention here. Sonic Boom though... not good. I keep playing it and hoping for improvement, but it's not really worth my time. I'll probably keep trying to play it and will regret it later though. Can not recommend.


Tales of Heart R (PS Vita)
     I haven't played it yet. It's a port of Tales of Heart that only got a release in Japan, but then they brought it over to America... for the Vita. I enjoy my Vita ever so often, but I can really only suggest it to people if they enjoy random PS3 ports and a big pile of JRPGs. (I do mean a big pile. I can't even name how many JRPGs you can get on here. Kinda ridiculous really.)


Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire (3DS)
     It's another Pokemon game. Highly recommend if you are a Pokemon junkie or enjoy a strangely deep and developed RPG. I can't NOT recommend it. I won't push it like crazy, but it is still a solid game regardless of being the exact same game since the beginning. (Give or take a few features.)



Now, I might be missing a few titles in there, but that covers a majority of the games I've gotten over the year. However... now we enter into my "Games of Choice". If you wish, you can basically just call them my favorite games of the year. Let's begin with #5!


#5 - Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze (WiiU)
     Following up on the incredibly well done Donkey Kong Country Returns comes a fantastic sequel with plenty of Donkey Kong Country fun, references, and challenge. It looks great, plays great, sounds great. There's just no finding a game that's been newly created that fits so well to what I find is... traditional gameplay. However, at the same time, Tropical Freeze stands out as its own game. Easily one of the best games you can get for the WiiU right now!


#4 - Bravely Default (3DS)
     You're probably disappointed because this isn't #1. I can explain... Okay I really can't, but let's gloss past that. Bravely Default is the game JRPG people have wanted for YEARS. Square Enix finally delivered after so many years of people going "WHYYYYYY" on their other material (namely recent Final Fantasy titles). It's an incredibly deep game with challenging RPG gameplay (generally hard to pull off), a ton of customization, strategy out the butt, more customization, enjoyable and real characters, engaging story, and fun fun fun fun fun for RPG-ers everywhere! Let us hope the sequel reaches us swiftly~


#3 - Bayonetta 2 (WiiU)
     You are probably glaring at me right now about how I'm being a Nintendo fanboy or something. I can clarify right now... I am not. I can discredit Nintendo quite easily without even trying. BEYOND THAT, they have some great titles for their systems. Bayonetta 2 is one of them. It could easily be on the other consoles right now, but why isn't it? I honestly don't know. Clearly Nintendo gave Platinum Games (company that made Bayonetta) a chance, and they took it. Bayonetta 2 might be a bit oversexualized at times, but you need to look past that RIGHT NOW. It's a fantastic game with actual freaking gameplay. It's fast-paced, action packed, challenging but do-able, balanced gameplay that punishes you because you deserve it and NOT because it wants to. (AKA my problem with the Souls series) Bayonetta 2 instilled in me the idea that... gaming isn't dead. I'm being overdramatic, but I will allow it. Great game. If you have a WiiU, get on it. Go. Do it.


#2 - The Evil Within (PS3, PS4, 360, XB1, PC)
     My love for Resident Evil 4 lead me here. I'll be honest. Before the game's release, I didn't look into nor cared much about this title. Upon release, I finally gave it some thought. I looked up bits and pieces, talked with a few people, and then jumped the fence to buy it. With the game bought, I took it home and... the magic begins. It's a Japanese style horror story, so it's got a lot of crazy and demented things going on throughout the game, but that's not why I'm all about it. I could care less about the characters and story. (They're all interesting and such, but it's kinda bat shit crazy and hard to follow sometimes.) I'm in this because the gameplay makes me feel like Resident Evil 4 came back to me. There's a challenge and skill mixture that's just right. A few moments slowed down too much here and there, but overall, I really enjoyed my experience. I plan to go back soon for another round of torture... ON THE HARDEST DIFFICULTY BABY!



And finally... my #1 game for the year?



Shovel Knight
(WiiU, 3DS, PC)

     I already talked about Shovel Knight back there. I gave to the Kickstarter, and it was well worth my time and money. Shovel Knight brings us a blast from the past with more than before! The game pushes you to the limit while holding up the value and style of modern times. It's a platformer with more than the former. It's a pile of sentences racking up into a mish mash of nothingness, so I'll get to the point.
     Shovel Knight is great for all ages. It's fun. There's an interesting character and story. It requires you to both think and be fast on your feet. It's a game that is very possible yet challenging. It takes the old style of platforming and adds in a shovel. An unusual item made into a fantastic game mechanics. Dig stuff, bounce off stuff, KILL ENEMIES, and so much more. The game has been designed so well, and it shows. You've got your Mega Man-esque style of level design and bosses with a bit of Super Mario Bros 3 for world map and progression. The story seems simple but is actually pretty deep and detailed despite what the retro style would lead you to believe. The music makes you feel like you're playing an old game with a great beat.
     There's just nothing wrong with it. The only people who won't like it probably just haven't given it a chance. It's a fun game and deserves your support. Shovel Knight is the best. That's why it is my #1 game for this year.


Aaaaaand that does it! These are the games I've played this year, and it's a pretty large amount. This is probably missing a few games, but they are either so relevant it doesn't matter or so irrelevant and didn't get played. I need to get a better job to afford all these titles. ANYWAYS! That's all for this Side Post, so I hope you enjoyed my inside opinion on a big pile of games. Thanks for reading and see you soon when I pin down the game I'll be playing next.

~May the Crystals Guide Me~

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Side Post!

Today's Side Post is going to be a little less ranty and a little more informative-y. Well, I say informative, but I'm basically just blatantly advertising a site I enjoy. Moving on.

Now, if you peruse the Internet fairly often, you come across quite a few things. Many of those things are generally horrifying to see, but sometimes, you come out ahead and find something awesome. It could be a clever set of pictures, a hilarious video, or a well written blog/article posts.

I'd say one of the cooler things to come across for me was the discovery of the t-shirt deal sites. I can't think of a proper term to call them, but basically, it's a site with a specially advertised shirt that is generally very creative, cheap to purchase (generally $10 to 13 apiece), and available for only a day or two. There are quite a few of these sites in existence now. (So many that you can refer to sites that link/show all of the different shirt sites on a single page.)

I've seen quite a few of these sites, and I even followed many of them for a while. However, at the end of the day, there's only one of the sites I check out and keep up with... The Yetee.


Why? Because of all of them, The Yetee is one of the few I know that almost exclusively keeps to video games, video game references, and video game crossovers. They do sometimes deviate, but it is more often than not a video game shirt. On top of that, they have a great selection of video game tees in their store as well. I've bought four or five shirts in the time I've been keeping up with The Yetee. Here's a few of shirts I've gotten. (Most of these are actually still available!)

Black Materia

The Flow of Time

Festival of the Hunt

I'd link the image, but the site doesn't seem to like that. Just know that... Those links are worth a click! I realize that the price on those shirts is $17, but that's because only the daily shirt is available at a discount. If you're even remotely worried about the quality, I can tell you firsthand that they print out top notch shirts that are made of quality material.

And... that's all I've got for this Side Post. I won't even give it a title or link it in the regular Side Posts, but I'd still say it was worth spreading the word. I'll add the link to the side after this (if it isn't already there). Be sure to give The Yetee a look and subscribe! You'll be drowning in fancy, affordable awesome shirts in no time!


~May the Crystals Guide Me~

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

VGBA 15 - NES JAMS

Going to keep it quick and simple with an oldie but a goodie!

NES JAMS
NES Chiptunes + Piano Jams = Piano Chiptunes!... Wait
Pay what you want here!

Artist - Shnabubula
Sites - Bandcamp. Facebook.
Type of Album - Piano + Chiptune Mixture
Genres - Chiptune, Piano, ...That's it really.
Favorite Song - Stage 1 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Review - Ever so often, you're introduced to something new and unique. When this happens, you tend to go one of two directions... You find it strange and walk away, or you bite in and become addicted. With Shnabubula's NES JAMS, you can very much say I became addicted.

From the very first song, I'm immediately grabbed into this album. It's got the sounds of the old mixed with a very lively and happy piano jam. You feel like you're playing the games of old while a classy gentleman accompanies the sound with his fantastic piano work. It sounds crazy, but it works incredibly well.

As the album goes, all of the songs contained within are NES games. You've got quite a selection here as well. It's not composed completely of one series or another. You have the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle games (looove these), a couple Mega Man songs (can't have NES tunes without Mega Man), Castlevania, Little Nemo, and much more. I don't have experience with every single game on the album, but I can just say... This album makes me interested to hear them first hand. (Well, in all fairness, I've heard a lot of the songs on here firsthand.)

And that... is all I really have to say honestly. It's a unique album with great sound all around. It takes an interesting concept of mixing NES chiptunes with a jamming piano to bring you a fantastic and unique sound. It's fun, lively, and just super catchy to boot. The only problem? I don't have five more albums of this!

To top this all off? The album is available on Bandcamp as "Pay what you want". Pay $1, $5, $20, or even free! You can't beat free on an album this great. So get download this album and start jamming today!

Pros - Fantastic piano work. Great selection of NES chiptunes used. Incredibly unique sound and feeling. Blends together really well despite what you would initially think.
Cons - The only Con is that you aren't listening to it right now! Oh, and I wish there was like five more albums of this amazingness.


~May the Crystals Guide Me~

Saturday, November 15, 2014

News Post! (11/15/2014)

So, I'm going to keep this short because I've had too many of these lately.

First off, I want to keep doing the blog. That means I don't plan to close shop anytime soon (short of death or something horrible killing my love for games).

Secondly, I'm going to need to change how I'm doing everything on Recurring Fantasy.

I said the first part first so that the second part was obvious. As you may realize, I'm taking waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time to complete things. Chrono Trigger? Should have had that done a month and a half ago... if not sooner. I could apologize, but I won't... not because I shouldn't but because I've done it too much as is. I can't apologize for life although I want to.

I work full time, and the blog isn't the main focus of my day. I do enjoy posting and sharing stuff, but the format with which I do it now can often feel tedious and more like a job than something I enjoy. I like playing games, I enjoy RPGs, but the method which I post them up on here isn't working well. I don't get posts done very fast and often not at all with the pace I go.

So what are my solutions?

1. I can drop doing a "Day" format for games and simply post up reviews as I finish them (if I can stomach finishing them).

2. I stick with the "Day" format, but I literally make it one day. Whatever I get done in the game in a day is what gets done. I get the post up that day or by the following day. This means lots of little posts though, and that just sounds like too much too fast.

I haven't thought up a third solution at this time. It's mostly going to be either Option 1 or Option 2. Of course, a third option would probably go...

3. I refocus the blog from RPG playthroughs into Video Game Bands while still keeping RPGs/game reviews as a secondary thing.

I really, REALLY like video game music. It invades my brain at all times of the day. To state it moreso... My favorite kind of music at this point in my life is Video Game Music by Video Game Bands. Whether that comes from pure video game soundtracks (Final Fantasy, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man), video game bands (The Megas, Knight of the Round, Descendants of Erdrick, Random Encounter, and much, much more), chiptune artists (Dj CUTMAN, Benjamin Briggs, Chiptunes=WIN! in entirety), video game remixers (OCRemix, anything GameChops), or game-influenced artists (Professor Shyguy, Mega Ran, Doug Funnie, URIZEN).

I could list at least twenty more artists here but I didn't... for now. This brews down to me having a lot of bands/artists/music I'd love to share and partially review. Partial being that it's more about the sharing than breaking/fondling anybody's balls.

So in summation... Be prepared for a change soon! (Also not sure what I'll play next, but I'll have something soon.) I figure a small break so I can actually play some of the games I've neglected at the moment. Small break is going to equal out to "Nothing new next week", but the few people still reading this are probably used to that idea. ANYWAYS!

Thanks for any loyal peeps/returning fans/friends who take the time to read this/that one guy. I thank you for giving this blog even a moment of your time. This year is... more or less a failure, but I'm going to try and rectify that quite soon. Thanks again and PREPARE YOURSELF MORTALS!

~May the Crystals Guide Me~

Chrono Trigger (PS1) - Final Thoughts

I could have some fun foreword here, but you don't care about the foreword... YOU DON'T CARE AT ALL! So... Let's get right down to it!

Chrono Trigger - Final Thoughts

     As the years go by... I dunno. I guess I just get slightly more bitter about things. At first it seems like bitterness, but I'm allowed to strangle that thought and try to explain that it's less about being bitter and more about upholding to a greater taste. NOW I'M KINDA HAVING A HIPSTER VIBE.

     Now that I've gotten that out there, I'd like to say... Chrono Trigger is great. It's great on so many levels. It was such a great experience that I once again question the current day's video game selection. This isn't to say "OMG BAD GAMES EVERYWHERE!", but it's more along the lines of "These games of the past treaded so many paths... Why doesn't anything explore THIS MUCH?" My time and experience with all of these different games with their varying styles and alternate ways to play. Why does nothing explore that much? This is where Chrono Trigger hit me.
     I've tried on a few occasions to play through Chrono Trigger, but I never fully played it. Why? Just different reasons. It was never the idea of "I don't like this" or anything that cruel. It just never happened. So although I was familiar with a portion of the game, many parts were a nice new experience for me. You start off on a small adventure across time to save a girl... and it turns into saving the world!
     For most RPGs (or adventure stories in general), that's pretty much just... 101. It's the basic story, it's the general idea, IT IS LIFE! Boy saves girl (girl saves boy, boy saves boy, girl saves girl, however the hell you want to imagine it), and that's your basic story. HOWEVER... then it grows. It grows into a grand adventure that looks into your very soul. You find other characters from across time that are just trying to put things right in their own time. Before too long, your group begins to unite over a single cause. To stop a calamity between time. There are all sorts of details here and there, and it just falls together so well. There's no slow parts. It's just all forward movement in the Chrono Trigger universe.
     Each and every character feels unique on top of it all. Beyond their stats and equipment, each one of them has something that makes them special. Bring different characters at different points and your result is different statements. That's just so great and complex! I mean... Imagine how many times you'd play through to hear all the various things your characters have to say.
     What does that say so far? Strong story and strong characters. It's hard to not like at least two or three people from the cast here. However, Chrono Trigger doesn't stop with the characters and story. Oh no it doesn't. It also brings along... the gameplay itself. There are so many levels to the gameplay in this game it isn't funny. I could drone on and on about this, but I'll try to keep this fairly quick and concise.
     The exploration alone could easily be a game in and of itself. Exploring (both by talking and actually looking) offers up so many little tidbits and rewards. Look around, find a random item, it turns into a mini quest. Suddenly, that "Item #1" has become "Item #2" and then evolves into "Power Up Item" without even thinking about that. Beyond pure material gain, there's a lot of little things you can find throughout the world. People and places to see that aren't even part of the main game. All the Side Quests possible at the end? Many of them involve people, places, and things that you'd never even touch if you didn't explore a bit more.
     On top of all that, they throw in the time mechanic. Fix a problem here, go into the future and it changes everything. Claim something in the future, go into the past, claim it again! There's so many clever uses of the time travelling that it's awesome. As you may have read, many of the Side Quests involve going back and forth through time for even the most meager of tasks. Just good exploration and rewards for exploration.
     The battle system manages to take something old (technically new for that time) and mix in something unique to make a battle system that nobody has ever truly replicated since. The ATB (Active Time Battle) system is always welcome in my book. Tack onto that the Tech system? My goodness... You got yourself some exciting battles. My favorite part about Techs has to be the availability of them. In most RPGs, your special attacks are really limited and tend to force you to save until those two or three moments where you need them. I guess the limitation keeps them special, but at the same time, I always tend to hold back... JUST IN CASE. Like, I'll hold back at nearly every point JUST IN CASE.
     With Chrono Trigger? That's not a problem. From the very beginning, your special attacks (Techs) are super accessible. The cost of your low level still is small enough that it's great to use whenever. Then combo the accessibility of your techs with the MIXING OF TECHS... Things just got more awesome. Eventually you get Dual Techs and eventually TRIPLE TECHS. I regret not getting more Triple Techs as I only had access to like four or five of them. It's awesome to see your big attacks come together for this giant explosion of epic. And often times, you can see a hint of the attacks that went into it. I really enjoy the Techs system.
     So, as you can tell, I really enjoyed my time in Chrono Trigger. There are so many small details that affect greater details down the road in the game... So many parts made me go "HOLY CRAP THAT IS AWESOME/CLEVER!" It just made me feel... happy. I'm not saying newer games do it, but they did so damn much in such a small game. This used to be on the Super Nintendo! ALL OF THIS! (Minus the FMVs of course) They performed so very much on such a little console that I question modern games doing so very little with all the resources they have at hand. It's dumbfounding to think of how much was done in the past when you look at the future. I'm not saying I have no hope it's just... concerning sometimes. However, that's not the point of this post.
     You might think "You have something negative to say... don't you?" I do. However, it isn't what you think. All I have to say here is... If you play Chrono Trigger, get the Super Nintendo version. Whether you get a real cart or emulate it, just play that one. It's the original and the ultimate version. If you want a slightly more modern copy... Go for the Nintendo DS remake. The PS1 version is pretty poop in comparison. (It's mostly the load times.) I'm playing it on the PS3 (emulated technically), and I'm still facing load times at every point. Battle? 15 to 30 seconds before it gets going. REALLY sad if you consider it started on the SNES with like zero loading. And that is it.

     Back to the final thought here... Chrono Trigger is a great game. Best RPG ever? That's in the eye of the beholder, but in this case, it's definitely in the running. All of the greatest elements of JRPGs were born from titles like this. If you want a true RPG experience and you've never played Chrono Trigger... Do yourself a favor and play it through. It's easily one of the best games worthy of your time. And thus ends... my final thoughts on Chrono Trigger.

~May the Crystals Guide Me~

Friday, November 14, 2014

Time Checkpoint V - Side Quest Fever and the Time Egg

Game - Chrono Trigger, Time Checkpoint V
Hours Played/Hours Total - 8-1/2 hrs / 23 hrs
Starting Point - 12,000 B.C. (The Dark Ages)
Current Goal - Figure out what the group should do next. Stop Lavos and save time!

What Happened - From here, I don't have a whole lot left to do, but there's still a small distance between here and the end of the game. Thus!... I shall get right to it.
     Where I left off, the world had just been pretty totaled by the Ocean Palace rising from the sea. All that's left of society in the Dark Ages was the "last village." Upon entering, the Enlightened Ones have joined with the Earthbound Ones, but they seem to have also lost all of their powers as well. As I'm exploring, Dalton comes back around and stakes a claim as the new King of the world. He takes position of the Epoch as well and blows away the group with his power. (Because he still has power unlike the others.)
     When the group finally comes to (Lucca, Robo, and Frog), everything we had on us is gone! (Weapons, armor, items, even the gold!) We're locked in a cell at the moment, but we can strangely go out a nearby window. Of course, that just reveals to us that we're on the Dark Ages airship, the Blackbird.
     Now, without our stuff, we have no way to fight battles. If you bring Ayla along (I didn't), you're able to get out and fight people using her since she just uses her fists. Without Ayla though, I'm forced to sneak around the vents of the ship and try to locate my equipment. The vents are able to take you all over, but if you exit out in front of people, you'll be caught and thrown back in. I was pretty frustrated to realize how much different the scenario goes with Ayla around. Getting past that, I felt I was in quite a predicament here. I looked all over the vent area and never could figure out where to go.
     Being that as it is, I finally looked up a guide. Turns out, there's an air duct in the far northwest corner of the vent area. Going down into it, the guard is asleep at his post, so you're able to recover the equipment here for your lead character (Lucca for me). With her fully equipped, I'm finally able to fight back! I will say that fighting solely with her is kinda dangerous though. She's got some of the lowest stats of the group (mostly her low stats from items rather than levels). I just used Fire 2 to kill most of the enemies. As I'm clearing out the Blackbird, I find the remaining chests with our items, money, and other member's equipment. With everything reclaimed, I figure it's time to finally get out of here.
     The only exit out of this main area though leads out onto the wing of the Blackbird. I'm just wandering around there when BOSS BATTLE TIME! A Golem is summoned from nowhere. (Remember the giant golden annoying ones?) This time around, it's Golem Boss!... However, this battles quickly turns into a big joke. You can attack him all you want, and he seems to have no way of counterattacking or even regular attacking. He's afraid of heights and can't will himself to attack while standing out here on the wing like we are. I keep hitting him, and he eventually runs off. Hooray for easy victories!
     Now we need to find out how we're getting off of this airship... The Epoch seems like the only way, but it seems that Dalton has had a few ideas for our time machine. As we're standing here, he's flying around in the Epoch! He had his crew adjust it some, so now it can fly and shoot lasers. He's firing at the group, and apparently the only solution is to leap off of the Blackbird and onto the Epoch. Dalton is in for a little... BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     Dalton Plus turns out to be a pretty easy battle as well. He has a few attacks here and there, and he can throw out those stupid Iron Orbs (1/2 HP nonsense). He's got some pretty powerful magic behind him, but I seem to be more than prepared for it. As the battle is coming to a close, he attempts to summon the Golem Boss to deal with us. What he doesn't realize though, is that we previously defeated it. Instead of the Golem being summoned, Dalton is sucked into whatever zone he was summoning it from.
     With Dalton gone, we're in control of the Epoch again!... But they seemed to have changed the controls for it. While trying to pilot it, the group accidentally shoots down the Blackbird. After a few more attempts, we finally manage to gain control of the Epoch, and it's now our official airship! (FINALLY) The group returns to the "Last Village" of the Dark Ages for a final meeting before we go. I look around a bit and buy a few items as well. The people around mention that someone was looking for us and went off to the North Cape. We head up there to see who it is (the group thinks it might be Crono), but as it turns out... It's Magnus.
     Magnus reveals a few things to the group here. He tells us that he is Janus. Through a few small scenes, it's shown what happened to him as well as a few of the Gurus of Life. When the Mammoth Machine was activated at one point, it drew in several of the people around it. Melchior taken to the present time, Gaspar was dropped at the End of Time, and Belthasar was thrown into the future. Janus was left in the Middle Ages and found by Ozzie. He then grew up to become the evil being known as Magus.
     He swore revenge on Lavos and was planning to summon it during the Middle Ages in order to destroy it.Then we came in and stopped him. This not only ruined his plans but opened the gate that brought him back into the Dark Ages. His knowledge of the future helped him get in with Queen Zeal (his mother) so he could attempt to stop Lavos. He realizes now that those who meddle with Lavos die, much like Crono. The group takes up arms at this point, and he asks us if we wish to fight him now. I'm given a choice here... and I say no. As we turn to leave, Magus decides to join the party. I guess he figures we're the best chance to get at Lavos. He also suggests that Gaspar might be able to help us in bringing back Crono.
     We board the Epoch to leave this time period. Suddenly, the Ocean Palace rises from the ocean and takes its place in the sky! Not sure what to do about that... so I head to the End of Time instead. The man (Clearly, it's Gaspar at this point.) is sad to hear of Crono's parting and offers a song symbolizing our memories of Crono. The group asks if he knows a way to bring Crono back, and he seems to shrug it off and say no. As we turn to leave though, he calls us back and gives us THE CHRONO TRIGGER! (DUN DUN DUUUUUUN)
     Gaspar says that the Chrono Trigger is a unique item that is capable of changing an event in time, but it depends entirely on the effort we put into it as well as the significance of the event itself. Gaspar suggests that we go and see the one who built the Epoch (Belthasar) to figure out how we can use it in this scenario. Off to the future to talk with... Belthasar's remains? (More or less) When we speak to him, he says that the person has to be of great importance to the stream of time in order to return. That... and we'll also need a clone of sorts to bring the person back.
     Now this part, could be a pretty big stumper if you don't remember and/or didn't do something near the beginning of the game. At the Millennial Fair, you could play those special games with the silver points you racked up from the other games. One of the prizes you earned from the special games was a Crono doll, and as it turns out, he's the clone we need for our plan. I already won the Crono doll at the beginning, so the only thing I needed to do here was retrieve it from his house.
     Now that I'm back in the future, I let Belthasar know that I have it. From here, our task just gets more dangerous. We have to climb the nearby Death Peak in order to use the Chrono Trigger on the clone. He uses one of his final programs to assist our journey. (It sends a few dolls up to the mountain.) With the final program being done, he asks that we shut down the creature housing his memories so that it may finally rest. Sad... OFF TO DEATH PEAK!
     The first doll is right near the entrance of Death Peak and says we need to hide behind the trees to block the wind. Then the doll turns into a tree. As you try to run forward, there's a strong wind that comes and goes. If you are out when it blows strongly, it will throw you right off the mountain and back to the World Map. To cut this short? It's super annoying, and I was thrown off more times than I'd care to admit. When I finally made it past the wind section, I was face to face with monsters. Nothing too big to report here. More monsters. A new area. Now... a giant creature appears from nowhere and calls us out for a SORTA BOSS BATTLE TIME! (More of a heavy enemy than a true boss honestly.)
     The creature we're fighting is a Lavos Spawn. It didn't turn out to be a true boss, but it does have some power one should be aware of. The biggest thing here is to NOT attack the body! It's got a small mouth/head at the end and a giant spine-y body. If you attack the body, it counters with these large needles that do a hefty amount of damage. (It killed Marle this way a few times.) It does the needles even if you don't necessarily attack the body, but not as often since the needles are mostly a counter here.
      That gave me a pretty rough time, so I had to thoroughly heal after beating it. Just hope there aren't anymore soon... And then a few screens later, I'm fighting a second one. I already know the strategy at this point though, so I have a bit of an easier time here. With the second Lavos Spawn down, I've finally worked my way around to the second doll program thing. It says to be careful of the next spot because it's slick ground. Slick ground isn't so bad, but then the wind is also blowing strongly. You have to almost constantly move upwards while slowly crossing. If you aren't careful, you get blown down to the area below though (not off the mountain thankfully). I didn't have as many issues here as with the entrance, but it was still a challenge.
     As I make it across, I find the third and final doll here. It says something about pushing a shell around and then crossing it... What? As I work through the path and various enemies here, I find myself fighting a THIRD Lavos Spawn! I've got the strategy down at this point of course, so it's pretty easy this third time. Upon its defeat though, something different happens. The mouth/head part is gone, but the rest of it remains... Thus, this is the shell I'm supposed to push around.
     I'll admit it. I was kinda clueless where I was supposed to push it. I looked over the guide again and then felt a little stupid. There's like a ladder thing in the top-right corner of the area. You push the shell all the way into the corner, and then the group can climb it up to the top of Death Peak! It's finally time for us to use... THE CHRONO TRIGGER!
     The initial impression is that it didn't work because nothing happens. But then... the sky is blotted out by a large black circle. The group is warped to the very moment where Lavos was about to blast and destroy Crono. Time is simply frozen at this spot, and the group replaces Crono with the doll. They're taken back to Death Peak... and Crono is alive again! He has a nice touching moment here with the group (particularly Marle since she's at the top of my party). With Crono's return, we head to the End of Time to figure out our next move.
     Gaspar says we have three paths at this point. We can use the gateway located here to visit the Day of Lavos, fly the Epoch to go to the Day of Lavos, or we can visit the Black Omen located in the skies throughout the time periods (10,000 BC, 600 AD, 1000 AD but not 2300 AD). Although we could go and fight Lavos now, Gaspar also tells the group of several Side Quests that exist across time. I figure I need the better levels and items so... LET'S DO IT! He tells me of the following ones:


  1. In the Middle Ages, a woman's sheer determination brings a forest back to life...
  2. A fugitive in the Middle Ages, Ozzie, maintains an evil hideout...
  3. There's a task to be done in the Future, where machinery originated...
  4. And there's a very special stone that can shine its light on each generation, from the distant past to the far future...
  5. There's the ghost of a lofty knight, slain by Magus in the Middle Ages, who haunts the present...
  6. There's an object in the Middle Ages that sparkles like a rainbow...
  7. One of you is close to someone who needs help... Find this person... fast.

     Now THAT is a list of Side Quests! Most of them seem to be in the Middle Ages curiously... but whatever! I figure to go in order that they were told me. So first up, we head to the Middle Ages to figure out how we can help that lady.
     Back in the Middle Ages, there's a house called Fiona's Villa in the middle of a desert. Going in there, I speak with Fiona who is excited to see her husband return. They mention a cave in the middle of the desert where monsters are lurking. While they remain there, there's no way she can possible do her dream project. Thus, we volunteer for the task. The husband also notes that the creatures there seem to hate water, so I figure Frog and Marle are the dream team here. Off into the Sunken Desert!
     After jumping into the cave, I'm left in a small area of shifting sands and random encounters. There's several chests located around, but exploring the area leads to almost constant enemy encounters. You can beat them pretty easy with water/ice magic since it "hardens the sand" and lowers their defense. Even with the weakened defense though, you have to be careful to not slip up. I was struggling after 5-6 battles against these guys. After clearing the top area out, I head downstairs to find the big boss man behind it all. (We all know there's a big bossman down here. Has to be!)
     Upon entering the lower area, suddenly, the group spots a large skeleton-like creature burrowing around here. I hit up all the chests around first, and then charge in for... BOSS BATTLE TIME! It's the return of our old skeleton boss friend, Retinite! He's come back around for another taste, but he's brought along an additional body piece to change things up a bit. The top and bottom half still do a large variety of attacks here, but the middle portion seems to simply be there to heal up the other parts (by being drained of its own HP).
     Now, my initial reaction here was that I didn't have much to worry about. You can cast ice/water on the individual parts to lower its defense. (Casting on the entire thing kinda cancels it out because the core absorbs the magic.) Things were going pretty well... Then it stopped going so well. About halfway through the battle, I lost control of it all. Retinite was getting what seemed like three attacks to two of my people's. Before too long, he killed a member, and then the next member. I was destroyed within just a few bad rounds. Wasn't very happy about that at all.
     I figured that part of my problem was the team. Going all water was good and all, but it left out a lot of the power or other variety that could be used here. I swapped out Frog for Robo and give the area another shot. Fast forward past all the enemies and time to fight Retinite AGAIN! The biggest change here was the use of Robo's Uzzi Punch to deal large amounts of damage after softening him up with Marle's Ice magic. Once they drain the middle core, all that's left is the top and bottom piece which go down quite quickly with a little over a 1000 damage per Uzzi Punch. With all that done... WE WIN! The area is cleared of monsters, and we can return to Fiona.
     Fiona wants to plant trees all around and restore the area. However, she's sad to say that she'll never be able to see the work done to completion. After stating this though, Robo volunteers to stay behind and help her plant everything. We leave him here and travel forward to 1000 AD! Upon our arrival, the area around here is a vast forest now with a shrine in the middle. It lies right where Fiona's House was and is a memorial to Fiona and Robo's work to regrow the forest. We enter inside and find the very beaten remains of Robo there. They reactivate him, and we end up camping out for the night nearby.
     During this time, the group has a small discussion. Long story short, Robo believes that Lavos isn't behind the Time Gates. He believes there is a greater being, some sort of Entity, behind them. They discuss the idea of the "Flash of Life before Death" and believe that these Gates are the Entity's way of seeing and showing various things to us. Randomly, Marle asks the group if there were a certain point in their lives they would revisit. She directly asks Lucca who doesn't seem to want to give an answer at this time. Regardless, the group goes ahead and goes to sleep now.
     A short time later, Lucca suddenly awakens from her sleep and wanders off into the forest. She stumbles upon a strange Red Gate. She goes inside and is taken to a point in time. I'm at Lucca's house now, but it seems to be the past. I go downstairs and see Lucca's mother cleaning things. Suddenly, her skirt gets caught in one of Taban's (Lucca's father) machines. It starts up and begins to pull her in. Young Lucca tries to do something, but it's up to current Lucca. A note upstairs said that the password is his wife's name (Lara), so you have to enter it in to the machine. They were quite clever with this part (as far as the SNES is concerned) because you enter in L A R A exactly. Of course, the PS1 controller isn't laid out like that, and the letter A is replaced with the Circle button. Thus it turns into L1 O R1 O. With the event said and done, it changes Lucca's life for the better!
     When she comes back out of the Red Gate, Robo is waiting there for her. He tells her that she's a good person and gives her a small gift. He's been creating an object using amber in his core and created the "Green Dream." (It's a special accessory that revives a character once.) Now we head onward into the present! I figure I should go visit Lucca's house and see what's changed.
     Before this point, Lucca's mom was sitting quietly in her room, but now she's up, walking about, and quite cheerful. Taban is here as well, and it seems he's created the ultimate armor for Lucca... The Taban Hat and Taban Suit! With these rewards reaped, it means that Side Quest 1 is officially over. Now it's time to get on to Side Quest 2: "A fugitive in the Middle Ages, Ozzie maintains an evil hideout"
     Looks like we're heading back to the Middle Ages to deal with Ozzie. I take Magus and Frog along for the ride because they're Middle Age peeps. (Kinda sorta for Magus?) Upon entering Ozzie's little hideout, we immediately run into Ozzie. Magus and he have a few special lines here, but the bottom line regardless is that Ozzie feels that Magus betrayed the Mystics of this time. He runs off, and we chase after him, much like before but thankfully shorter.
     First up worth mentioning is a fight against Flea again, but this time... he/she/it is Flea Plus! I'd say Boss Battle Time here, but it seems that improved Flea isn't really worth mentioning. I managed to beat Flea in a few attacks, and then they (Flea and Ozzie) run off. I chase a bit further and now it's Super Slash time!... for a brief time. He's even easier to beat than Flea Plus. The chase continues a few more rooms and then... It's time to fight all three at once! BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     Unfortunately, they're pretty easy to fight here as well. The only cool part of this battle is that the trio makes use of what are basically Dual Techs and a Triple Tech "Delta Attack" to fight and counter us. Delta Attack was pretty strong, but there's nothing else really worth mentioning here. Slash went down pretty fast, Flea ran away, then Ozzie was just a few attacks from dead. He heads off once, but this time, we corner him at the end!
     Of course, he throws himself inside of an impenetrable barrier like before. And again, like the last time, he's got a couple of switches behind him, but when you hit it this time... You're dropped below! MWAHAHA! Or so I would say, but you're only dropped to like two rooms before. When you come up again, the battle music starts... but the battle doesn't. A cat runs in and hits a different switch behind Ozzie which drops him down. Ozzie is gone for good this time.
     From here, I'm just left with one final task for Side Quest 2. I head to the Present in order to examine the ruins nearby the village of Medina. A note worth saying here is that all the Mystics are friendly towards humans now with Ozzie out of the picture since 600 AD. Entering the Forest Ruins, the giant blue shield that's been on it disappears with the pendant. A Nu (one of the big blue guys) offers us one of two treasures as a gift from the Guru of Reason. We can have either a piece of armor (Safe Helm) or a weapon (Swallow sword for Crono). I make claim of the Safe Helm and Side Quest 2. Time to head for Side Quest 3.
     "There's a task in the future where machinery originated." Finally! A Side Quest of the Future! (My favorite time period of my favorite character!) First thing first... We're looking for a Geno Dome to explore. It's one of the few places left here in the future I haven't been to. There's quite a bit of map outside of the main area, but it's also a lot of water so you have to keep looking around until you stumble upon it. It's kinda North/Northwest from the "Black Omen" in the center. It looks like a factory. Yes! That's the one. Now, let's head inside the factory and figure out what is up.
     First off, you have to have Robo in the lead to get anywhere here. (Oooh! I like where it's going already~) Robo turns the machine on in front of the group, and he's greeted by it. It refers to him as Prometheus and asks us to come on in... However, it seems to dislike the humans around Robo, so I have a feeling it doesn't really want us here. The outer door is locked now, and we're forced to move forward.
     We're taken on a conveyor belt and forced through a series of battles with (surprise surprise) a big pile of robot enemies. After clearing out all the robots, you're thrown in front of a door and enter into the rest of this facility. There's quite a bit to explore here, and... I really wasn't sure what to do. (I try not to use a guide all the time, but there are confusing little tidbits here and there. I've spent way too long trying to beat this has is, so I do have a guide at hand now.)
     The puzzles around here are mostly just hitting switches and having to charge up Robo to activate specific terminals. Once you get past that, you have to find these two "Poyozo" dolls as well. Honestly, before I consulted the guide, I had already done most of the work around here, but I hadn't collected either doll beyond that. Once I had both of them, it was time to confront the computer controlling this place. It's name? Mother Brain. (I see what you did there.) However, as we're heading to fight it, we're stopped by a pink robot that looks a lot like Robo.
     She also refers to Robo as Prometheus, and although it takes a moment, Robo calls her Atropos. She (a female I guess cause it's pink and all) says that Robo was sent to live with humans in order to study and learn about them. Now that he's done that, he shall rejoin the robots and destroy the human race like Mother Brain wants him to. Atropos steps forward to attack the humans (Crono and Lucca currently), but Robo stops her before she does anything. The group steps up to fight her, but Robo asks that he do it himself. BOSS BATTLE TIME! (Kinda... kinda depressing edition)
     There really isn't much of a battle here. It's more of a small event where Robo has to fight and defeat Atropos. He clearly likes her and all. Atropos doesn't have much for special attacks and is just using all the ones that Robo learns until it reaches Area Bomb (for me at least... I didn't have Shock yet). Even her strongest attacks aren't much to mention. I did have to heal here and there, but otherwise it was a downhill slide to beat her. And upon her defeat, Atropos comes to and realizes that Mother Brain had reprogrammed her.
     In her final moments here, she remember who she truly is. Robo is sad to see her go, and Lucca even dashes forward to try and save her. However, before passing on, she gives Robo her Ribbon and then... she's gone. (The Ribbon boosts Robo's speed by 3 and Magic Def by 10.) Looks like we've got more than enough reason to go after Mother Brain now! Let's go get it!
     In the bottom of the facility is a large door that's locked, but it has two suspicious looking spots on both sides. I placed the dolls on both sides, and the door opens. Inside, we finally meet with this Mother Brain. It asks Robo again to leave the humans. It promises to reprogram him and erase his memories. Robo replies that he won't leave his friends nor will let them get hurt. He doesn't want to forget his time with all his friends either. Looks like it's... BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     Mother Brain appears as a giant golden statue of a woman along with the three displays behind her as support. Like many battles, it's best to destroy the supports first here since they will consistently heal her for 1000 HP each, which is crazy cause she tops out at 4000 total. The best strategy is to destroy the three displays almost immediately with group attacks, but there is a catch. When the displays are destroyed, Mother Brain switches mode and starts slowly growing in power with each attack against her. Thus, you have to be pretty powerful and quick to beat her, or she will win with pure power. Unfortunately for this game, I seem to be pretty darn strong for the areas I'm going through. (Early 40s at this point if I'm remembering right.) A few high powered Techs later, and the Mother Brain is finished!
     Among her remains are the ultimate and most powerful weapons for Robo, the Terra Arm and Crisis Arm. Robo proceeds to shut off the factory for good. With this all said and done, Side Quest 3 is officially finished! Now we just need to head to Side Quest 4: “And there’s a very special stone that can shine its light on each generation, from the distant past to the far future.”
     I remember walking into a Sun Keep during the 65 million BC phase, but I know through the guide that place isn't the current goal. First off, I need to visit the Sun Palace that's located right here in 2300 AD. Let's just go inside and have us a go at the fancy boss called SON OF SUN! BOSS BATTLE TI- Holy crap, what was that nonsense? It blasts me down in just a few moments without any way of really fighting back
     The Son of Sun is a giant red eyeball that conjures fire to attack. On top of that, it comes with a very special way of fighting it. Instead of your casual "attack until dead", you have to strike at one of the five flames surrounding him and HOPE you hit the right one. Strike the wrong flame, and it counters you while dealing very little to him (double digits small). On top of that, he's constantly throwing fire everywhere for fairly large damage. EVEN MORE! He casts roulette ever so often and changes which flame is the real one... Hurray for interesting and super hard boss!
     This guy is pretty much impossible without fire resistant armor. I switched the party up to more accurately match what I needed here. I was going to use Lucca with her Taban Armor, Ayla with a Ruby Vest, but... I don't have a third piece of armor for Robo. Thankfully, I've got a pretty easy solution to this. If you go back to 65 million BC, the trader that lets you trade items for armor and weapons has upgraded to a final system. 10 of each item (Horns, Feathers, Fangs, and Petals) and you're given a Ruby Armor, which reduces fir damage by 80%!!! I had to farm up a few Horns for this, but I was able to afford one. I could have taken the time for more, but I didn't feel like wasting the time at this point. I give Ayla the Ruby Armor since she has the worst defense and leave Robo with the Ruby Vest.
     Now... back to 2300 AD for BOSS BATTLE TIME! Let's Try Again Edition~ I'd like to say right now that even with the fire resistance, he still does quite a bit of damage. Lucca was taking the least here, but Robo's Ruby Vest was only reducing it so much. The strategy I went with here was just luck and rough times. Robo was constantly healing the group while the other two struck the flames. Of course, the whole thing is a guessing game, and you can't attack the main body directly. Besides the flamethrower counter, he also does a laser and giant Flare attack. All of those attacks do quite a bit to the group. Thankfully, he doesn't have a lot of HP, so after you get a large number of hits on the correct flame, it's down for the count. (Don't forget that it constantly changes.)
     Upon defeat, the Son of Sun rolls up and away from the group. We follow after it, and it turns out to be the Sun Stone we are looking for. Unfortunately for us, it's completely drained of the energy inside. I've heard about the Sun Stone before earlier in the game. Although it's empty, it is possible to recharge it through the power of the sun. Unfortunately for us, it takes "Aeons" to charge it. However, we have a time machine! We head back to 65 million BC and placed the Moon Stone in the Sun Keep. Then we head back to 2300 AD for... There's nothing here. Robo figures that it was only taken recently though, so we head back to 1000 AD... and it's gone from there. I figure one more jump back just to be sure (although Robo suggests it was this time period). It's there in 600 AD, so that only leaves the present to search.
     Flying around the Present shows one house in particular which appears to be shining! Heading inside, the man denies any knowledge of the Moon Stone, and it seems his family thinks pretty shitty about him. Not much I can do in this time, so I head back to 600 AD to check up on his ancestors. The house that was the Mayor's is now the Elder's house. There are a few people living here along with a few of the fancy Time Chests. (They can be unlocked with the pendant like those fancy doors.) The guide says to open it but not to take what is inside. Fair enough guide! As for the family here, there's a way to change things here that affects the future.
     It's weird and kinda unconnected, but it involves 1000 AD. In that time period, this town has a store called the Snail Stop. A man there offers to sell you his fancy jerky, but it will cost you 9900 gp. You buy it up and then take it into 600 AD. The woman in the family offers to buy the jerky from you for 10,000 GP. You can take her generous offer, or you can give it to her for free. Giving it to her for free gives her a great sense of generosity. She promises to instill that generosity in all of her children. Fast-forward to 1000 AD, and the mayor has a complete change of personality. His family greatly loves him for who he is and for his generous attitude. He gives you the Moon Stone. On top of that, I'm able to check the Time Chests here for a Black Mail and White Mail (rather than Black Vest and White Vest they were in 600 AD).
     I return the Moon Stone to the Sun Keep in 1000 AD and then head back to the future... one more time. In 2300 AD, the Moon Stone is fully charged into a Sun Stone again! ONLY TOOK 65 MILLION YEARS. Anyways, Lucca is amazed by the power contained inside, and we're immediately whisked away to her workshop back in the present. She uses the energy from the Sun Stone to make her ultimate weapon, the Wondershot. Her father, Taban, makes a pair of Sun Shades from the object as well. There's one more use for the Sun Stone, but I can't use it quite yet. It is coming though! For now... Side Quest #4 is over. Side Quest #5 is alive!
     "There's the ghost of a lofty knight, slain by Magus in the Middle Ages, who haunts the present." Looks like we're heading back to 600 AD... AGAIN. So many problems existed in the Middle Ages it seems. We head to a place called Chorus to talk with the people there. I meet up with a man named Toma. He's from waaay earlier on in the game, around the time I came to the Middle Ages for the second time. He's been looking for an item called the Rainbow Shell since the and has finally found out where it is. He gives us "Toma's Pop" and says we should pour it on his grave someday after he dies. It's a weird saying, but let's go with it for now. (This is actually a piece for the next quest but guide said do it now.)
     Turn from him now, going to speak with another man here. He talks about a job he wants to finish, but his tools have gone missing. We could go and look for them, but that's too much work. Instead, we travel forward to a similar man in 1000 AD, borrow his tools, and then lend them to this guy here in 600 AD. After receiving his tools, he goes back to his house and gathers up his men. (You have to follow him there.) They head up to the ruins north of here and get to work!... or so they would, but monsters are everywhere. They leave, and I get to clear the place out.
     There's two areas to clear out of this Northern Ruins (what it is actually called). We clear out every single monster here (knights and skeletons), and then we head back to the builder's house. He wants us to pay up 2000 gp to fix it up. That's... great. Wants us to pay to fix up a place he was supposedly going to fix. I head back up after payment, and they've only fixed part of it because more monsters appeared. I head back through and check what has changed. All he did was fix a portion of floor on the bottom area. We follow it through, clear out more monsters, but there's something more down here. There's a grave here dedicated to Cyrus!
     Turns out, his ghost is the one haunting the Present. He speaks with Frog (Glenn) and tells him that he's quite proud of him. There's a few more words exchanged here, but then Cyrus leaves this world for good now. The Masamune reacts to this moment as well. Masa and Mune separate and unleash their true power to upgrade the Masamune. Now that Frog has his ultimate weapon (technically already had it but powered up now), we can leave here and get the place fully fixed up.
     Another 2000 gp, and the Northern Ruins are now the Hero's Grave. Their work this time opened up the path to several Time Chests. Like previously, you can either take the item now or just open the seal to take it later. I did accidentally take one thing... the Nova Armor. Even before being powered up, it's pretty dang powerful, but if you take it now, it doesn't reappear later. Oh well, I've done pretty well so far, so this is just a minor mess up. Jump to the Present, and I get the Valkyre for Marle! (Her ultimate weapon) With that obtained, this is another Side Quest wrapped up. Just two more, and this game is pretty much done. (The final Side Quest actually leads into the end.)
     Side Quest #6... "There's an object in the Middle Ages that sparkles like a rainbow." Now we come back to Toma and his quest for the Rainbow Shell. It's clear now that he didn't succeed in his task, but what went wrong? If you head to 1000 AD and go just north of Chorus, there's a lone grave there belonging to him. We pour the soda he requested on his grave, and he appears to us. He reveals that he knows where the Rainbow Shell is. It's located in a nearby mountain called The Giant's Claw. We simply need to go there and explore the underground to find it.
     I head back to 600 AD and enter the Giant's Claw. The inside of here ends up leading to a very familiar place... the Tyrano's Lair. Half of the cave here is littered with portions of the Tyrano's Lair. It seems that when it was sunk into the ground, part of it did survive. Anyways, the caves are filled with prehistoric creatures of all sorts, but it seems that Toma couldn't make it through here. He did leave a note near the entrance about jumping into a hole to reach the beginning. Just a small path through here, lots dinosaurs beaten, and when we reach the bottom, a large something is waiting for BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     The Rust Tyrano is blocking our way to the Rainbow Shell. It looks and feels terrifying, but it's really not too hard of a battle. I figure with all the level gaining and new equipment... I'm kinda out of the game's general league now. I just lash out with all the powerful attacks I can. The big dino spends the first five rounds charging up for a big attack! And it doesn't really deliver. I finish off the rest of the dino and go past him for our reward, the Rainbow Shell! Unfortunately, it's too big for the group to move at this time, so it's suggested we head to the King of this time and ask for his help.
     He offers to hold the Rainbow Shell for us underneath the castle. Jump back to the 1000 AD, and things have changed quite a bit. I bring Marle into the party and we head to Guardia Castle. The King seems to be on trial for some reason. When we enter the courtroom, the Chancellor is questioning the King about a mysterious royal heirloom that nobody knew of. (Rainbow Shell) However, the King knows nothing about the shell and is clearly being framed for all of this. The group heads downstairs to locate the Rainbow Shell.
     We fight through a few monsters and find the Rainbow Shell just as it was 400 years ago. We take a piece off of it and head back top. Just as the King is being pronounced guilty... Marle jumps through the stain glass window from behind the court. (They had it blocked off, so we couldn't enter from the front.) With her evidence of the Rainbow Shell, the Chancellor reveals it was all a setup... but he's also not the real chancellor! It's Yakra XIII, and he's here to avenge his predecessor with a little BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     I'm pretty much sweeping these bosses at this point in the game. Yakra likes to deal out a lot of status effects, but otherwise, he doesn't have a whole lot going for him. He's got a couple attacks, but most if it isn't too bad so long as you keep healed up. The only thing to truly watch for is his final attack that deals around 200 damage to the entire party. (Mostly to just avoid an accidental game over at this point.) With Yakra XIII defeated, the King is known to be truly innocent, and he has a touching moment with his daughter, Marle. (Remember? She's Princess Nadia.)
     With that all wrapped up nicely, Melchior shows up and offers to create something from the Rainbow Shell. We follow him down to its storage place in the basement, and he offers to craft us one of two options. We can either get a Prism Dress or 3 Prism Helms. I choose the Dress here because I have more than enough helmets for the group. (That and the Dress is supposed to be better anyways.) With the Prism Dress made, he creates another little accessory for my use as well, the Spectrum Shades. Then he finishes off by combining the power of the Sun Stone with the Rainbow Shell to make Crono's ultimate weapon... the Rainbow.
     Side Quest 6 is in the bag, and it's finally time to head for Side Quest 7! This final Side Quest actually leads right into the end of the game, so this is more or less the final dungeon coming up here. Anyways! "One of you is close to someone who needs help, find this person... fast." Now, this seems like another Side Quest, but as it turns out, it was a mistranslation of sorts. It was supposed to translate into asking your fellow teammates about problems during their time periods. That's... quite a misstep. Thus, it's time for us to head for the end via the BLACK OMEN!
     I figure the Present is about the best time to go for it... Although it really doesn't matter when you take down the Black Omen since it seemingly exists across time. (Not available in 65 million BC cause doesn't exist nor the Future cause Queen Zeal is already with Lavos at this point.) For the initial break in team, I take Crono, Frog, and Ayla. We quickly defeat the Laser Guards outside of the front door and then bust inside! We're immediately greeted by Queen Zeal. She claims that we are too late and that Lavos will awaken in 999 years. As long as Lavos survives, she will have limitless power and time. Before leaving us, she summons a giant monster for... BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     The name? MEGA MUTANT! The difficulty? Pretty easy for my team of mid-to-upper level 40 characters. That and all that dope awesome armor. Totally makes him a piece of cake. I just blast the heck out of the big monster with techs and then continue through the Black Omen. The trip through the Black Omen isn't a cake walk, but I wouldn't call it a marathon either. It's a large swirling path throughout this massive... palace? ship? space station? Call it whatever you want because it could honestly be any of those three or more.
     After the Mega Mutant, there's quite a few heavy HP enemies beyond. They each have their own little thing going, but again, they really aren't worth mentioning here. After going through what I felt was quite a bit, I finally ended up in a suspiciously "final room" room. There were chests all about, a rest point, a save point, a shop where I could buy items and equipment. Clearly, I'm getting close to some sort of the end of this place. A few rooms later, and I'm meeting with an old friend who has powered up for BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     By old friend, I meant to say it's the Mega Mutant, but now he's a Giga Mutant! That's cool and fancy and all, but now he's completely dead. Yeah, I'm basically just slaughtering all these bosses at this point. Some of the enemies put up a fight, but in general, nothing to really worry about. A couple rooms and an elevator later, I'm fighting the big Mutant guy for a third round. in BOSS BATTLE TIME! MUTANT GUY AGAIN!
     He's powered up from Giga to TERRA MUTANT! Things are a bit different here, and he's not as much of a pushover this time. The bottom half was my greatest concern here. It was able to absorb magic attacks, and it counters with the Life Shaver (knocks HP down to 1) upon being physically struck. The top half was armed with regular strikes plus an HP draining ability that took from the bottom bit. All I really had to do was focus on the top and let it kill the bottom. I've mostly just been using Single and Dual Techs at this point in the game. It seems like most of the Triple Techs aren't worth the cost nor all three character's turns in one go. I defeat Terra Mutant and keep moving right along.
     The Lavos Spawn made another appearance during my trek as well. It was more powerful than the previous instances on Death Peak, but I killed him pretty quickly regardless. Just a few more rooms of enemies, and it's finally time to face Queen Zeal! BOSS BATTLE TIME! QUEEN ZEAL TIME! She has a few special attacks here, but the most powerful one is Hallation. It drops everybody's HP to 1, so you have to hurry and heal up as to not be caught dead in a moment's notice. Beyond Hallation, she's a pretty simple boss. However, upon her failing, she throws us at the Mammon Machine for BOSS BATTLE TIME ROUND TWO! THE MAMMON MACHINE MARCHES IN!
     This is another of those "careful how you go at it" moments. If you strike the Mammon Machine with magic attacks, it raises its attack. If you go with physical strikes, you end up raising its defense instead. There's really not a good win to this scenario, but I'd say magic is the way to go since you simply power its hits rather than making each further hit do less and less. No point making it STRONGER, and most of its attacks weren't even doing that much. When I cleared the Mammon Machine out, Queen Zeal comes back around for a final round... BOSS BATTLE TIME ROUND THREE! ULTIMATE ZEAL!
     Queen Zeal has transformed into a large robot-style giant boss. It has two hands for attacking and a face for smashing. (You know... Andross style?) I'll admit that this battle goes pretty easy because I'm in the know of what to do here, but it's not like it is hard to figure out. If you strike her hands, she tends to counter pretty harshly. This means you have to take the extra hits from her hands' attacks, but you stop them from super power countering by simply striking the face. It wasn't the easiest battle ever by far, but it wasn't really anything to worry about either.
     At this point, I can't really remember the crew I had here... I think I was using my Final Team of Crono, Lucca, and Robo. (My favorite group of characters) Powerful single strikes are definitely the way to go since hurting either hand leads to a world of hurt. With the face defeated, Zeal falls for the final time, but she isn't about to go down THAT easy. Upon her loss, she calls to Lavos and raises him from the planet for our final confrontation.
     Going to warn you now... Lavos is multiple battles here. (The number adds up to a total of ELEVEN!) The first nine battles are blasts from the past as Lavos simply mimics a selection of bosses from throughout the game. I'm not going to go into detail about every single battle, but I will list out the different bosses he mimics.
  1. Dragon Tank
  2. Guardian with Security Bits 
  3. Heckran 
  4. Zombor 
  5. MasaMune 
  6. Nizbel 
  7. Magus 
  8. Azala and Black Tyrano 
  9. Giga Gaia
     Now, that may look like a pretty daunting task ahead of me, but there's a flaw here. The bosses are perfectly mimicked in every way. Unfortunately, this includes the stats of each and every one. So... I'm going at the Dragon Tank and manage to beat it in a single hit with a powerful group attack. (I believe I did Crono's Luminaire and blew everything up in a single attack.) 
     After the first six bosses (you get a pause inbetween to heal and change members if you want), I finally met someone who was a worthy opponent!... Is what I say, but really, it's just annoying. Magus is just like he was back then, so physical attacks do very little, but he also absorbs any magic attacks you throw at him unless you use the correct element. I kept with my Final Trio for most of this, but I swapped in Frog for this match because of the Masamune's effect on Magus. Azala and Black Tyrano had quite a bit of health, but they weren't much of a concern either.
     Honestly? The only one I was concerned about was Giga Gaia. He gave me so many issues earlier in the game. Fought him several times before I finally beat him then, but the difference between then and now is my massive stat change. Most of the attacks from before don't seem to hurt nearly as bad. With that in mind, I blast away the Giga Gaia and finally being the process of... FINAL BOSS BATTLE TIME! ROUND ONE - LAVOS EXTERIOR!
     The exterior is technically a boss battle, but he's also weaker than he was at the Ocean Palace. That's supposedly the hardest incarnation of Lavos since he is meant to be completely unbeatable at the Ocean Palace. (However, beating him at that point nets you one of the stranger endings of the game.) Back to the situation at hand, we tromp through Lavos's exterior pretty quickly and then find that we have to explore inside and destroy the core. Defeating the exterior gives you a chance to both save, heal, and leave this point in time if you wish. Of course, I've been prepared since before the Black Omen, so I simply heal and save before moving forward. Up next...
     FINAL BOSS BATTLE TIME! ROUND TWO - TRUE LAVOS! With us being at the core of this monstrosity, we're finally give a challenge as he comes up with a pair of arms and a powerful torso. Every single part has a pretty strong attack, so there's really not any suggestions to give. It is best to eliminate the arms here though since they will heal him otherwise. Seeing as I don't have too many notes here, I'd like to mention the story bits that happened right before charging in...
     Basically, Lavos crash landed on the planet and started absorbing it from the inside. That we knew, but further realizations here show that he's been absorbing and CONTROLLING everything on this planet. His core contains all of the DNA of everything that ever is or was in existence. The group went so far as to suggest and realize that Lavos has been controlling everything here since he dropped down in 65 million BC! It's crazy stuff man... Back to the boss at hand.
     All I can suggest is keeping your HP in tip top shape and making use of all the fancy items you've been hoarding up to this point. Recent Side Quests have stocked me up on the awesome "Megaelixer" which I made quite a few uses of. (I think I had 8 total... maybe 9.) A good selection of group and area attacks are best as to kill off True Lavos's arms. He also throws out some status effects, so hopefully you be prepared for that as well. Most of my crew had status blocking equipment... except for Lucca. She missed out somehow, but regardless, I wasn't too hindered by her... ability to be status'd.
     I have to heal more frequently than I'd think and even revive a character or two, but when it's all said and done... True Lavos is dead! However, via classic RPG form, that True Lavos (or however you refer to him) isn't the FINAL FORM! Instead, we're treated to a true final boss with... FINAL BOSS BATTLE TIME! FINAL ROUND - LAVOS CORE! The Lavos Core comes in with Two Bits to assist it. The Core deals out most of the damage here with massive and fancy special attacks. The Left Bit is able to heal the Core and can absorb any magical based attacks thrown at it. Have to stick with physical on this part. The Right Bit, interestingly enough, has the most HP of the three here. It's main power seems to be the ability to revive the other two. (Certainly throws this part for a loop... The "bit" being the main part and all.)
     Destroying the Core and Left Bit are easy, but they're also easily revived. This leaves focusing on the Right Bit while the other two are away. However, the Right Bit can willingly raise and lower its defense at random points. Thus, it's possible to get stuck while trying to beat it and then it raises the two dead parts. It's a pretty rough battle, and I did lose a person here and there. Made great use of those Megaelixers though and lots of powerful yet Single Techs. It's almost silly how much better Single and Dual Techs seem to be compared to the Triple Techs. (Or maybe I just don't have great experience?) With a lot of damage, healing, and a close call here and there, I finally put Lavos out of commission... ENDING TIME!
     Now, if I haven't already mentioned it a few times, Chrono Trigger has multiple endings. However, the multiple endings involve beating the game at earlier points rather than all the way at the end like I did. There are various examples of where you can stop and beat the game and get a unique ending, but I'm not going to list them. There's 13 Endings total (as of the DS version), but everything before that contained 12 endings. For my ending? I got the main one called "Beyond Time."
     Crono wakes up to find himself back home. He's then taken in front of the King of the Present. Things almost look grim, but then... more people show up. There's the King of 600 AD, Doan from the future, and Kino from 65 million BC. They reveal here that they're all actually ancestors or descendants of Marle. They all thank Crono and crew for what they have done...Now it's time to party though! The group heads down to the Millennial Fair for a final parade to celebrate life and such. There's some fun interactions here as well. Lucca's mom is here and trying to get Taban to stop drinking and dance. Melchior mentions that weapons aren't much business anymore, but he doesn't seem to care. Crono's mom comments that despite saving the world, he hasn't much helped her take care of the cat. There's a few bits here and there, and then we head up to Lucca's machine... for final goodbyes.
     The Time Gate is going to close forever, and everybody is returning to their own time period. Ayla and Kino head back to 65 million BC. Frog escorts the King back to the Middle Ages. Magus heads out to try and locate Schala. Then it came time for Robo to leave... and he definitely had the saddest leaving of anybody. (He's my favorite and also Lucca was sad to see him go.) With everybody finally stepped through the gate, it seems that the adventure is coming to a finale... Then Crono's mom shows up and chases a cat through the Gate! Oh boy, looks like we're going to have to chase after her. The group runs off and jumps into the Epoch for... /end credits.
   
     And oh my goodness... I've finally made it to the end! There's a bit more to be seen during the ending credits, but you'll have to look into that yourself. (Or hit up Youtube cause yeah.) Words almost can't express my time with this game. It's been thoroughly enjoyed on many levels. I regret not playing it sooner. However, I also took about ten times too long to beat it (not in-game time, out of game time). Not going to apologize for that because life, work, and I've apologized enough.
     Expect a great review post to come quite soon, and let's just say... great things are in the future! (Also changes, expect those too.) Thanks for sticking with me and reading whatever nonsense I type up on here. AND THUS ENDS ANOTHER RECURRING FANTASY OBJECTIVE! 


Ending Point - End of the Game.
Current Party -
  • Crono - Level 51
  • Lucca - Level 49
  • Robo - Level 49
Other Party - 
  • Marle - Level 48
  • Frog - Level 48
  • Ayla - Level 48
  • Magus - Level 48
Goals Accomplished - Defeated Dalton. Recovered the upgraded Epoch. Got Magus to join the team. Rescued Chrono. Completed the game's Side Quests. Defeated Lavos and saved all of time!
Next Goals - Figure out the next game to play and then... go from there!

~May the Crystals Guide Me~