It's been a long time coming. I owned Chrono Trigger when it released on the Nintendo DS 2008. I was only 13, and I was barely familiar with the reverence the game had. I think. It's hard to remember. I fell in love with the game, but I don't recall getting very far. I made it to the Sewer Access and Factory areas during the first visit to Future, but that's my only memory of the game. Fittingly, every other aspect of my experience with Chrono Trigger back then has been lost to time. Finally now, almost 30 years on from the game's release, I've had the chance to play through the entirety of Chrono Trigger. And wow! People were right! This game rocks!

Separated as I am from the context of its 1995 release, it's hard to even fathom how this game blew minds back then. I only know that it did. But even in 2024, if the technical aspects that impressed back then don't have quite the same sheen, it's still easy to tell how things like the more 'grounded' battle transitions and time travel concepts stood out from other games of the era. Most notable I think is the game's pacing, which trades in the wandering and 'hanging out' popular even among RPGs of its age for a more frenetic, fast-paced roller coaster ride that is constantly introducing you to new dungeons, enemy concepts, and unique boss fights. It never lets its foot off the gas - even when it finally opens up towards the end, all of the sidequest paths you can choose to explore lead to exciting and unique dungeons and bosses. Not super difficult bosses though - another drastic change from many RPGs of its time is the game's ease of play. It's pretty breezy! I died twice, and one of those times was from trying to take on the game's final boss as soon as it was available. Which is in itself a radical feature that I'd love to see more games try to implement nowadays.

Fairly short and insubstantial review here I know, but it's hard to say much about Chrono Trigger that hasn't been said. What an impressive delight.

Chrono Trigger is often considered one of the best games ever made, at least this is what I heard years ago. So I decided to give it a shot and... from the moment I noticed the characters going into a dance animation in the optional side roadof the festival, I knew I was in for a ride.

For a game from 1995, it's incredible how many things this masterpiece achieves: it's presentation is immaculate, able to convey a gorgeous spritework with incredible environments, set pieces and designs. A literal work of art that lives one to this day. Akira's Toriyama's characters are able to remain both simple and incredibly memorable, also because of the incredible characterization that makes you care for them so much (seriously stories and some bits about like Robo and Frog are just... tear-dropping).

The story is also impressivily realized: it's not easy to make a narrative based on time-travel can result so easy to follow, but also enthrilling and full of incredible settings and twists, ableto convey fun, fear and even sadder feelings.

Compared to other jrgps, Final Fantasy especially, it can result less deeper in mechanics, but the amount of combos between allies and the overall presentation makes it stand out even more.

I feel like that final section of the game, which is less linear, can drag a bit, especially because the requirements to get the "Best ending" can be kinda tedious to discover without a guide.

But overall Chrono Trigger is amazing. One of the best jrpgs of all time, and a title that deserves all the praises it gets!

About the only reason I'm not giving this 5 stars is that I really feel like this was a game you needed to experience when it was fresh and new. Playing this as an adult in the Year of our Luigi 2024 I think "wow, it's easy to see why this was so formative for many people". Playing it in 1995 as a young person must have been absolutely mind blowing.

What sins this game has are hardly unique to it, mainly that only the boss fights are allowed to be interesting and the final dungeon is way too long. All the other fundamental aspects are incredibly solid. The boss fights are good and the art direction and music are wonderful.

What I think was refreshing was how straightforward the story was. JRPGs have this reputation for being sprawling and convoluted, but you can finish this one in under 20 hours. Despite being a time travel narrative all the events flow in an understandable fashion. And yet despite this there's still room for decision making, sidequests and secrets to explore and even a whole wealth of extra endings to try for.

Level design: 10\10;
Gráfico: 10\10;
Gameplay: 8\10;
Diversificação: 7\10;
Trilha: 10\10;
História: 10\10;
Fator replay: ?\10;
Motivo de não zerar: JRPG não é minha área, mas eu curto jogar quando tô no ônibus, não precisar focar é bom pra esses momentos, então eu vou demorar pra zerar, mas um dai eu irei.

This game gets a lot of praise from all sorts of people and before playing I didnt really understand why that was, it just seemed like another standard JRPG to me.

Man was I wrong, this game has everything. The music, the story, the artstyle, and surprisingly even the combat are top notch. Playing this for the first time changed my brain chemistry in a way that can only be explained to someone else who has also experienced this masterpiece. Absolutely a 10/10 game, maybe an 11/10 even.

Now Square Enix make either a 3D HD Remake or one on the style of DQXI.

Chrono Trigger is probably one of the best games ever made, and it is definitely one of the best JRPG ever made. The way it handles time travel is unique, fun, and somehow not that confusing to wrap your head around. It does minor things so well with the core theme of time travel, such as heading back in time to manipulate events for side quests. It does a lot of interesting things that you don't see in many games honestly, and the gameplay is actually fun to boot. Also unlike a lot of old JRPGs, I didn't feel like I needed a walkthrough for a majority of the game, and 70% of the time I was able to do things. (I'm glad I did have a walkthrough though, so I could take advantage of those Sealed Chests optimally)

I don't have any problems with Chrono Trigger, but I suppose my main critique would be that I wasn't really in love with any of the party members. I like them, but they aren't as engaging as even other old JRPGs. But I don't think it detracts enough from the game to really give it flak for that.

I also have issues with the PC port but I can't dock points from the game itself. I had to revert to a 2018 build because the 2023 build has a weird stuttering bug when you walk diagonally. The port also doesn't have proper button prompts for PlayStation controllers, so I wasn't sure what to press at some points of the game. When it came to the part where you have to play Simon Says in the fair to get (spoiler item) I kept failing and just grinded for 60K to buy it instead.

But even that doesn't change the fact that Chrono Trigger is one of the greats and a must-play JRPG.

Score: 95