Painful. While I will never subscribe to the notion that a sequel to something needs to be wholly like the original, the direction this game went in terms of narrative of gameplay is such an obvious and clear downgrade over the original that I find truly baffling. Instead of a tight cast of characters who get a lot of development and intrigue, you get maybe three characters with SOME development and about 30 who clog up the party doing nothing besides using bad accents. Instead of fluid engaging ATB-based gameplay it's now very slow turn based with the constant need to shuffle vague 'elements' depending on the situation. Instead of a plot that is thrilling to discover and learn more about, you get infodumped about 15 twists right before the game ends.

The game has excellent audio and visuals (Zoah eyes emoji) in service to a plot that is completely beneath it. Chrono Trigger never needed a 'bigger and better' sequel like this, it needed something much more concise, which ironically Radical Dreamers fills the role of much better. One of the all time most disappointing sequels.