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.
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~
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