Personagens cativantes, trama simples emocionante e aventura repleta de eventos marcantes configuram parte da beleza desse clássico. A remoção de batalhas aleatórias usando combate in loco e às vezes evitável, com técnicas individuais, duplas e de trio, junto de uma das melhores OSTs da história dos jogos somam-se para fechar um dos mais icônicos, memoráveis e atemporais RPGs de todos os tempos, com sua belíssima pixel art dos anos 90.

A melhor versão que joguei foi definitivamente a do Nintendo DS, apesar de pecar na trilha sonora, em virtude das capacidades de som do console. As mudanças na interface são maravilhosas e a melhor localização do texto põe a cereja no bolo.

me and alex played Chrono Trigger (and are almost done with it). it's great although there isn't much that stands out to me. perhaps that's a result of it being a major influence on tons of games in the 25 years since its been out (wow actually we started this around its 25th birthday!). it has an incredible sense of adventure, the new locales you go to are evocative, the battles are fast paced and exciting although brutal, if you're doing the Wrong Thing. music's great. dream team 90s JRPG. can't go wrong

Wow. I was not expecting something like this. I'm not really a turn-based RPG guy, like at all, but there's something about this game that feels different. It's combat is great, combining the powers of each character together. The characters are extremely likeable and interesting while also being useful in combat. It's a long game but the use of Time Travel always keeps things interesting and fresh. Time Travel leads to varied enemies, locations, music, everything. Everything comes together to give you sense of an epic adventure while also having this feeling of pure magic you don't get with most games. If your a turn-based RPG guy, this is a must play. If you not, I would still recommend to give this a try, it may even change your mind. Once I beat this game all I could say was, wow.

Squaresoft's passion project is as much a classic as it is a well designed jrpg, featuring just deep enough combat to be somewhat enjoyable, and a well written albeit simplistic story.

The aesthetics and soundscape are the real highlight, with an onslaught of wonderful locales and great tracks, ranging from the great intro to Corridors of Time. Areas have good background and sprite art to draw you in, and other than maybe a couple setpieces it never really gets old.

Combat is alright, better than most jrpgs but the depth ceiling is rather capped. You have to use attacks in ways that line up with where the enemy moves to, and there's some decent strategy around when to use tech points for tech attacks, but around 2/3 through the game that all falls apart. It ends up being replaced by triple techs and AoE magic (thanks Magus) that wipe the screen, and most enemies do not use weakness/resistance strategy well, so it ends up rather dull by the end.

The writing in contrast is rather well put together, with great cinematic story moments laid throughout. Even at the weaker points of Chrono Trigger's narrative did I find myself engaged, and each of the characters get some form of characterization of their own. It's not a particularly amazing story, in fact it's a rather simple time travel story, but it rounds out the cohesive experience Chrono Trigger has on offer. There are still times where the writing shines, but overall it's a thematically bare story that just generally entertains with its signature aesthetic.

While it's not what I'd call one of the best rpgs, Chrono Trigger is a delight to play and one I very well recommend.

I have struggled far more than most in my attempts to reckon Chrono Trigger. I did not grow up with a Super Nintendo, and I have yet to foster any genuine nostalgia for it. It is a game which I emulated in middle school along with Earthbound and the 16-bit Final Fantasies. I liked it then, and I like it now. It is a beautiful, razor-sharp, meticulously polished video game which hosts a wonderfully memorable adventure full of effective moments and a strong cast of likable characters. However, I could say the same about a lot of games.

At no point in my life has Chrono Trigger enraptured me to the degree that I witness in others. It frequently tops "Best Video Game" lists, and is usually the second RPG spoken of in reverence by the layman after Final Fantasy VII. It is one of the most beloved video games in history, and yet whenever I overhear anyone attempt to explain why, it's usually just a recitation of Cool Stuff That Happens In It.

I try not to give too much overwhelming weight to a game's story when I put on my criticism hat. The stories and themes and storyTELLING of video games are extremely important to me, but they are arguably the most subjective subject on the table. I can't tell you that Final Fantasy IX is the best one simply because it's narrative resonates with ME more than any other game in the series, any more than a game is better than anything else because it has an art style I like. What I CAN tell you is that both of those games have gameplay systems that occasionally contribute to less-than-glorious experiences, and that their designers seemingly did not fully accomplish what they set out to do.

Chrono Trigger has a mediocre battle system. Double and Triple techs are flashy and cool, but are hardly some game-changing innovation that results in strategically riveting battles. Skill animations, especially on lategame enemies, can be insufferably long and they bring the ATB bars to a screeching halt, leaving the player with nothing to do but watch the attack play out for the thirteenth time that battle. In 1995, this was irrelevant. Audiences were so awestruck by the technology-straining visuals and effects that they would never think to admonish the spectacle, but on my third playthrough here in the 2020s, I found myself reaching for the speed button on my emulator for almost every fight of the game's second half. I found myself noticing that at the end of one of it's dungeons, Chrono Trigger asks you to choose between two unmarked doors without even expressing that the player is making a choice. Choosing wrong sends them all the way back to the entrance. On the Blackbird, the only way to progress is to stand on a few random, unmarked pixels out on the wing of the plane, with no indication given of this.

I used to have no problem accepting the notion that Chrono Trigger is "The One Perfect Video Game." This is because when searching for things that are WRONG with Chrono Trigger, the exercise has often felt pedantic and rude. I have however, struggled just as much to come up with something that is so RIGHT about Chrono Trigger that it should be crowned Video Game Emperor Of All Time.

I believe that now, I have finally found answers to each. I've already given you what I believe to be "the problems" with Chrono Trigger, but before I speak my argument in its favor, let me first offer you my most cynical of suspicions.

I believe that Chrono Trigger is so beloved because it was globally released just before Dragon Ball Z appreciation began to take root in America, at the tail end of a popular console's lifecycle, with an extremely accessible story that could be instantly appreciated by all who played it. Its playable characters were an Anime Coolguy, Bulma, a spunky princess, a talking frog knight, a robot, and a hot cavewoman. It came out in the right place (everywhere) at the right time, under all of the right circumstances, and was effortlessly understood by basically anyone. Everyone could be pitched on Chrono Trigger, everybody bought in on Chrono Trigger, and everyone was satisfied.

This is why as soon as I found something to hold against Chrono Trigger, namely its lategame animation bloat, I docked it points, and enshrined my new love, Trials of Mana, on a rhetorical shelf directly above it. This was, however, a bit short-sighted.

My critical equations employ a few unspoken rules. One of these rules is that a game cannot be The Greatest Game of All Time simply because it's pretty and sounds good and has a great story. If you wish, you may consider this the Final Fantasy IX clause.

However Chrono Trigger, I have realized now, is proof that yes, a video game can be one of the greatest ever made by sheer virtue of its pacing and its heart. I do not think that Chrono Trigger is the best game ever made, and I usually do not take much shine to games that I believe to simply be the products of good, traditional work, but every single bar on Chrono Trigger's graph is SO HIGH that Chrono Trigger does not need to break any molds to be included in the pantheon. It does not need any earthshattering gimmick.

Having said all of this, I must confess: I find anyone whose favorite video game is The Last of Us to be among the most boring people alive, and I consider Chrono Trigger to be an older generation's version of that same scenario.

Chrono Trigger is, by every traditional metric of its day, an absolutely exemplary piece of work, and maybe, just maybe, that should simply be enough for me.

Writing: 3/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Art Design & Visuals: 3/5
Voices & Sounds: 5/5
Atmosphere & Immersion: 4/5