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.
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.