Patrick Elliot
Shaun InguanzoChrono Trigger (Review)
December 1st 2006 22:30
Players: 1
Genre: RPG
Developer: Square
Platform: SNES
Year: 1995 (USA)
Why on earth did Square decide not to release this game in PAL? Or port it for that matter when they ported it to the Playstation in Final Fantasy Chronicles? Chrono Trigger, nor any of the Chrono games has ever seen PAL shores.
Story: Chrono Trigger consists of many interweaving stories through time. Crono, the silent protagonist, starts off in 1000 A.D. with two of his friends, Marle and Lucca. The times span from as far back as 65,000,000 B.C. to the future in 2300 A.D. The story doesn't just focus on Crono - in fact, once you have four or more characters, you can leave Crono out of your main party if you wish to (however, there are some story elements that require particular characters to be in the party).
Battle System: The game combines turn-based gameplay with a more action-oriented outlook - where timing does matter. In the field, enemies can be seen on screen there's no random encounters. Upon encountering enemies, the party prepares for battle with no screen change (eg, Final Fantasy having a different battle and field screen). The moment battle starts, a gauge starts filling for each character. When this gauge is full, the character may act. This is known as the Active Time Battle system.
Innovation: Most of the innovation in Chrono Trigger lies in the battle system. Apart from the more general aspect of the ATB style, CT has some intricacies with character skills. Apart from using and learning new skills for a single character, combos can be learnt by having two or three characters fight together in battle for a while. Combing their existing skills results in stronger and more effective healing, as well as devastating damage for offensive skills.
Other things would involve the aspect of time travel itself. I find the time effects quite detailed, including small things such as chests. Say there's a house in both 600 A.D. which is also still around in 1000 A.D. If you open the 600 A.D. chest, the chest will be open in 1000 A.D. On the other hand, if you open the chest in 1000 A.D. first, you can time travel back to 600 A.D. and open it again, for the same item.
Graphics: Detailed and smooth, there's no difference between in-battle and in-field graphics.
Sound: An impressive soundtrack overall. My favourite background track would have to be the 600 A.D. map theme.
Replayability: For an RPG, pretty replayable. Although the general story elements wouldn't change too much upon replaying the game, there's a lot of detail that would be missed during a first playthrough unless you have a walkthrough. Also, depending on how, where and when you defeat the final boss of the game, the ending changes.
Overall: Alongside Secret of Mana, I consider Chrono Trigger to be one of the hallmark games of the SNES era. PAL gamers, if you haven't already done so, I highly recommend downloading a copy of this game since I seriously doubt it'll ever release here.
Score: 10/10
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Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
Not too long, not too short, great battle system, great sotry (that isn't so overly complicated like its stupid sequal 'chrono cross'), and erm, yeah, just awesome.
Comment by Sword Serenity
A Female Gamer
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
THe story is really, REALLY, complicated though, Is till dunno whats going on, and the way it is presented is really subpar...
Comment by Sword Serenity
A Female Gamer
As for the game itself, I keep hearing that the story isn't all that great. Something to do with having over 40 playable characters so you don't get much character development?
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
Sometimes they have an ok back story but they simply don't ever develop... Save for the two lead characters, Kid and Serge... well serge to a lesser extent.
The story is really wierd and senseless, there is one or two nice twists and turns but it isburied under so much confusion it simply killed the really cool moments...
Comment by Joel
Comment by Cibbuano
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