Ya know, I was gonna start this review with my usual personal story opener. I was gonna talk about how I was interested in this game because of Chuggaaconroy's Let's Play that had just come out. I was gonna talk about how I bought a copy at TooManyGames 2019 and saw Thrown Controllers live. I was gonna talk about how I was going to have Chugga sign my copy and I was disappointed in the end that I missed my chance while I was there. So, for this to be my first mention of the guy in any of my reviews, and I'm putting this review out after all the stuff that's come out in the past week and a half? Probably the worst timing imaginable since I had planned this opener from the start lol. (Edit: with the recent statement Emile put out, I have decided to delete the part saying I'm done with him.)
Sorry to start this on a negative note. I figured it needed to be said since I've had this on my mind for the past week and a half. Either way, on to the actual game. I did play like a half hour of this game back in 2019 but dropped it for whatever reason. It was one of my most hyped games in my backlog and while I don't absolutely love it like some people, I did think it was pretty great overall!
Let's start with the story of Chrono Trigger. It's a typical time travel story but it's executed very well! Throughout the game, you're traveling through various different time periods, meeting various different characters along the way. It's light hearted and really picks up in the last third of the game when shit goes down. While the story overall is executed well, flawless in pacing too, I can't say I loved it as really nothing about it blew my mind. Future square games, while maybe more imperfect in their execution of their stories (like FF7 or FFX) I enjoy way more just because they're way more impactful to me. That's not to say the story is bad in Chrono Trigger, it definitely is not, it's just not mind-blowing like I was expecting from such a well regarded JRPG.
Onto the cast, I really liked most of the characters! They all have little arcs that come to play in the story and those are my favorite bits of the story, just seeing the characters interact and grow. My favorites were Frog, Robo and Lucca..they just felt the most impactful of them all. My only issue and it's another bigger one sadly, I really wish there were more scenes of the entire party interacting and more specific character scenes in general. Once you go through a characters arc, you don't really see much from then again unless you have them in your party during a big story moment. There are little scenes here and there that do involve specific characters but I really wanted more of that. The best parts of the character development and worldbuilding and honestly they were maybe my favorite parts of the game as a whole, were the endgame optional side quests. Most of them were super great in fleshing out the characters more, I just wish that happened more in the actual story. The one where you have Robo help Fiona for 400 years, and you learn about something that happened in Lucca's past and Robo comforting her...god it was so good. But I wanted more of that! So while I did really enjoy the cast as a whole, I just wish they were more prominent in the story and not just tied down to who's in your party. Because sadly someone like Marle I completely forgot about for a while cuz I didn't find her fun to use so she wasn't really involved in the story. Also in regards to the main "villian", Lavos. They're alright..it's just a big towering obstacle in your way but I never loved it as it obviously doesn't have any dialogue and thus I never felt any type of connection to them compared to other JRPG's I've played. Everyone kept talking about Lavos but the being itself didn't do much for me besides having a cool design.
The presentation is honestly mind blowing for a Super Nintendo game. I did play the DS version so idk if the visuals were totally the same or not but what I played here was goddamn impressive. The little animations each characters have are crazy, especially if you compare it to something like Final Fantasy VI which came out a year prior to this. The areas are very rich in detail and the world as whole, while being relatively small in scope, felt alive because of the amazing visuals. Along with the presentation is the great OST. Now I won't lie and say I'm in love with the OST as a whole as of now, but each time I listen to it I'm liking it more and more and it truly is great. The standout themes for me were Frog's Theme, Schala's Theme,and Secret of the Forest among several others.
The combat is another thing I think was super well done. It's ATB like the Final Fantasy games from 4 onwards but in Chrono Trigger's case, positioning of the party plays a part. Instead of the characters being lined up all in a row, depending on encounters they can be in different postions on the screen. The character's moves can then take a part in this as some only hit enemies when they're close to you or some multitarget enemies when they're bunched up. I thought this was really fun and added something new to the combat system we all know. That plus tech moves which are specific moves that involve two more more characters when their ATB gauge is full, it adds a lot of variety to the combat. There is a ton of tech moves btw, with it being between every single character and I don't think I even unlocked them all, I doubt I even performed half of them. Gives the game a bit of replayabiliity I'd say.
Something else that makes the game replayable in my eyes is the addition of NG+ and the different endings this game has. I got the Beyond Time ending but I believe there's around 10 endings to get. You get these by defeating Lavos at different points in the game. The fact you can technically beat the game at any time, is not only awesome but with the addition of ng+, makes it feel worth it to get every ending. That plus the game is like 20 hours on a first playthrough so it's a short JRPG overall. This was also one of the first instances of NG+ in a game too which is so cool. Like I said, I got one ending but that's it. I plan on going back to get all the other endings eventually and do that NG+ only extra dungeon and final boss added in the DS version.
Speaking of something else added in the DS version, along with doing all the normal side quests which were great, I also did the Lost Sanctum. This, in my opinion is a pretty crappy addition to the game. It gives you good items but the whole thing is just meaningless fetch quests, going up the same mountain like 20 times and fighting some mediocre bosses. It's not worth the hassle and story-wise I just don't care at all. There was also this arena the DS version added too and I didn't mess with it much, didn't seem like my thing.
So yeah, overall the game is pretty great! I feel like this is a prime example of a jack of all trades but master of none game. Everything is really solid and well polished but nothing is super exceptional except for the music. Personally, I prefer more ambitious games that may be messier in execution..tho I also love Xenoblade 1 and relecting on that game, it's also pretty safe. Maybe chalk it up to when I played it then, I probably would have absolutely adored this game if I played it as a kid..but as of now, I just think it's a great classic game that does deserve the praise it gets! Anyways, now I'm wondering how I'll feel about Chrono Cross as that one seems more split. Ah well, guess we'll see!
Sorry to start this on a negative note. I figured it needed to be said since I've had this on my mind for the past week and a half. Either way, on to the actual game. I did play like a half hour of this game back in 2019 but dropped it for whatever reason. It was one of my most hyped games in my backlog and while I don't absolutely love it like some people, I did think it was pretty great overall!
Let's start with the story of Chrono Trigger. It's a typical time travel story but it's executed very well! Throughout the game, you're traveling through various different time periods, meeting various different characters along the way. It's light hearted and really picks up in the last third of the game when shit goes down. While the story overall is executed well, flawless in pacing too, I can't say I loved it as really nothing about it blew my mind. Future square games, while maybe more imperfect in their execution of their stories (like FF7 or FFX) I enjoy way more just because they're way more impactful to me. That's not to say the story is bad in Chrono Trigger, it definitely is not, it's just not mind-blowing like I was expecting from such a well regarded JRPG.
Onto the cast, I really liked most of the characters! They all have little arcs that come to play in the story and those are my favorite bits of the story, just seeing the characters interact and grow. My favorites were Frog, Robo and Lucca..they just felt the most impactful of them all. My only issue and it's another bigger one sadly, I really wish there were more scenes of the entire party interacting and more specific character scenes in general. Once you go through a characters arc, you don't really see much from then again unless you have them in your party during a big story moment. There are little scenes here and there that do involve specific characters but I really wanted more of that. The best parts of the character development and worldbuilding and honestly they were maybe my favorite parts of the game as a whole, were the endgame optional side quests. Most of them were super great in fleshing out the characters more, I just wish that happened more in the actual story. The one where you have Robo help Fiona for 400 years, and you learn about something that happened in Lucca's past and Robo comforting her...god it was so good. But I wanted more of that! So while I did really enjoy the cast as a whole, I just wish they were more prominent in the story and not just tied down to who's in your party. Because sadly someone like Marle I completely forgot about for a while cuz I didn't find her fun to use so she wasn't really involved in the story. Also in regards to the main "villian", Lavos. They're alright..it's just a big towering obstacle in your way but I never loved it as it obviously doesn't have any dialogue and thus I never felt any type of connection to them compared to other JRPG's I've played. Everyone kept talking about Lavos but the being itself didn't do much for me besides having a cool design.
The presentation is honestly mind blowing for a Super Nintendo game. I did play the DS version so idk if the visuals were totally the same or not but what I played here was goddamn impressive. The little animations each characters have are crazy, especially if you compare it to something like Final Fantasy VI which came out a year prior to this. The areas are very rich in detail and the world as whole, while being relatively small in scope, felt alive because of the amazing visuals. Along with the presentation is the great OST. Now I won't lie and say I'm in love with the OST as a whole as of now, but each time I listen to it I'm liking it more and more and it truly is great. The standout themes for me were Frog's Theme, Schala's Theme,and Secret of the Forest among several others.
The combat is another thing I think was super well done. It's ATB like the Final Fantasy games from 4 onwards but in Chrono Trigger's case, positioning of the party plays a part. Instead of the characters being lined up all in a row, depending on encounters they can be in different postions on the screen. The character's moves can then take a part in this as some only hit enemies when they're close to you or some multitarget enemies when they're bunched up. I thought this was really fun and added something new to the combat system we all know. That plus tech moves which are specific moves that involve two more more characters when their ATB gauge is full, it adds a lot of variety to the combat. There is a ton of tech moves btw, with it being between every single character and I don't think I even unlocked them all, I doubt I even performed half of them. Gives the game a bit of replayabiliity I'd say.
Something else that makes the game replayable in my eyes is the addition of NG+ and the different endings this game has. I got the Beyond Time ending but I believe there's around 10 endings to get. You get these by defeating Lavos at different points in the game. The fact you can technically beat the game at any time, is not only awesome but with the addition of ng+, makes it feel worth it to get every ending. That plus the game is like 20 hours on a first playthrough so it's a short JRPG overall. This was also one of the first instances of NG+ in a game too which is so cool. Like I said, I got one ending but that's it. I plan on going back to get all the other endings eventually and do that NG+ only extra dungeon and final boss added in the DS version.
Speaking of something else added in the DS version, along with doing all the normal side quests which were great, I also did the Lost Sanctum. This, in my opinion is a pretty crappy addition to the game. It gives you good items but the whole thing is just meaningless fetch quests, going up the same mountain like 20 times and fighting some mediocre bosses. It's not worth the hassle and story-wise I just don't care at all. There was also this arena the DS version added too and I didn't mess with it much, didn't seem like my thing.
So yeah, overall the game is pretty great! I feel like this is a prime example of a jack of all trades but master of none game. Everything is really solid and well polished but nothing is super exceptional except for the music. Personally, I prefer more ambitious games that may be messier in execution..tho I also love Xenoblade 1 and relecting on that game, it's also pretty safe. Maybe chalk it up to when I played it then, I probably would have absolutely adored this game if I played it as a kid..but as of now, I just think it's a great classic game that does deserve the praise it gets! Anyways, now I'm wondering how I'll feel about Chrono Cross as that one seems more split. Ah well, guess we'll see!
23 Comments
@maurith so what I mean by overrated in this sense is just compared to other games I love I think it is, but its definitely worthy of all the praise it gets with how polished and well done it is. Idk how to explain it, just chalk it up to more a me thing I guess. And that last point is true, its definitely like the most balanced jrpg I've played probably in terms of everything being well done. Anyways, thank you!!
This mirror's many of my thoughts with the game. The steam version also had the lost sanctum and that truly sucked ass but otherwise a classic that holds up pretty brilliantly! The soundtrack is what's stuck with me the most a year after playing it, Tyran Castle is my favourite but pretty much every track is banger, no surprise considering the composers.
@wollom the ost is easily one of the best aspects and tyran castle is a banger
I think what made Lavos so iconic for the majority of people is how threatening he is. He has a very intimidating aura that is hard to forget. I couldn't help but say "holy shit!" out loud the first time I saw him
In my opinion, the prime reason Chrono Trigger aged a lot better than other highly praised jrpg from the same era is how they handled the random encounters. It's a lot less obnoxious than in any other game from the same genre.
Not only you can see the enemies on screen, so you're never taken aback; but you can also run away from almost every encounter.
And on top of that, the fights are FAST, and I never needed to grind at any point in my adventure. This truly felt like a modern jrpg in those aspects.
Even in another great game like FF6, the random encounters annoyed me a lot.
Anyway, great review 👍
In my opinion, the prime reason Chrono Trigger aged a lot better than other highly praised jrpg from the same era is how they handled the random encounters. It's a lot less obnoxious than in any other game from the same genre.
Not only you can see the enemies on screen, so you're never taken aback; but you can also run away from almost every encounter.
And on top of that, the fights are FAST, and I never needed to grind at any point in my adventure. This truly felt like a modern jrpg in those aspects.
Even in another great game like FF6, the random encounters annoyed me a lot.
Anyway, great review 👍
@Armakeen I'm gonna be totally fr right now, I actually found how encounters worked at first annoying because theres a lot of "mandatory" ones that you have to run into...and I didn't know you had to hold L and R to run so I figured there was no run button. I found out like nearing the end of game you could and thus my criticism is void so I didnt mention it. But yeah that's definitely a plus in this case, tho I do prefer how earthbound did overall I'd say where you could pick and choose what you want to fight totally
@armakeen but yeah thank you!
I had the DS version that I amazingly got from gamestop for like 10 bucks, wich sounds insane if you look up the price now, and I freakin loved it. I see it as a masterpiece but I can absolutly agree with your assessment that its a jack of all trades and master of none. Wich is why its far from my personal favorite JRPG, but I still love and respect it immensely. Also: Frog and Robo are MVP, cant imagine it any other way.
@NovaNiles so true, Chrono..Frog and Robo was my go to team usually. Holy crap, I can't believe it's going for $100 now CIB..I remember getting it for $30 back in 2019 lol
Chuggaconroy's DMs gave me second hand embarrassment.
Great review. I don't think it's overrated, I think its impact has just been slightly dulled cuz so many games took influence from Chrono Trigger. Chrono Cross is even better imo, but it honestly seems to depend which Chrono a person grew up with to define the better one for them.
Great review. I don't think it's overrated, I think its impact has just been slightly dulled cuz so many games took influence from Chrono Trigger. Chrono Cross is even better imo, but it honestly seems to depend which Chrono a person grew up with to define the better one for them.
@spinnerweb thank you! yeah and with everything that came out two days ago woof, chrono cross definitely sounds interesting for sure, excited to see if I'll like it more than this or not
Decided to get rid of the overrated line since..it really isn't now that I think about it in the grand scheme of things and is more just a personal taste thing
Great review to a amazing JRPG
@GAMERxSTEVE thank you!!
Yeah, the point people really just make about the game is that it's good in terms of everything but not exceptional in any of it. For the time I'd say it's pretty exceptional in terms of ideas and gameplay, but nothing else really. It's a game you can't really hate and has no glaring issues
@Spinnerweb ok let's not get ahead of ourselves, Chrono Cross is not better
@mickey yeah that's basically how I feel.
@Mickey hence the all-important 'imo'
@Spinnerweb yeah I can still disagree with your opinion
@Mickey thanks for going out of your way to let me know
@Spinnerweb you're welcome lil bro
Criticizing Lavos for not being much of a character misses some of the more unique aspects of the story I think. Lavos is spoken of throughout the game in hushed tones of fear and reverence like something between a religion and a natural disaster, and even when you come face to face with it and start breaking it down to its smallest pieces it remains almost totally beyond comprehension. Chrono Trigger's protagonists have control over time, which you would think pushes them above mortal concerns like fear of death or the unknown, but Lavos, who is almost literally death and the unknown, still manages to cast a shadow over the entire adventure. You can go anywhere and do anything and you can do it whenever you want for as long as you want, and yet this monster is always below your feet, eating away at the world that you love like a worm in an apple. I think that makes Lavos an ideal villain in a time travel story.
@guiltcause that's fair, it just didn't do much for me besides them being mentioned constantly lol
Maurith
3 months ago
I don't think this game is overrated, I guess you expected something different for what is for many "the best JRPG of all times", because "the best of all times" is always different for each one of us, for some is to have a mindblowing story, for others an excellent gameplay or for others just to have a lot of fun, and I guess that's what caused you to have too much expectation in this game.
For me, having played many Square games from the SNES era, Chrono Trigger has no equal. I think how much you appreciate it depends more on what you're looking for in a JRPG, and not so much on whether or not you were a kid when you played it.
Having played the Dragon Quest before Chrono Trigger (DQV) and also the Final Fantasy before that (VI). My opinion is that Chrono Trigger doesn't quite reach them in story, but it surpasses them quite a bit in pacing, balance, polish and gameplay, and although it may not seem like it, that's also important and makes a difference between being a good game with a great story or being a great game with a good story.
Be that as it may, that's just my opinion and neither one of us is right or wrong