Chrono Cross

 

Fortunately it was even better than I expected because it nails all the things you want in an RPG and then some. The game starts off pretty quickly because you actually start off in the middle of the game, Your in a fortress and you don't really know whats happening plus you figured out that you have stabbed your partner. You then wake up and realized its a dream (or vision) having many left out questions. This was an amazing beginning for me because it made me want to know what was happening and why.

 

The story is about a boy named Serge who was engulfed in a huge wave and realized that no one knew him and thought he was dead. Later on in the story you learned that you traveled into another dimension and are tangled up on a quest to stop a demi human (half human half animal) named lynx from obtaining the frozen flame which has the power to control time and space for evil purposes(duh reo lol).

 

The graphics are a high point of the game it looks really clean and all the characters looked really detailed for the PS1. It does include CG cutscenes like in the Final Fantasy games. Its really rewarding to watch and there just beautiful to look at especially the games architecture and some truly epic moments that only could be possible by these cutscenes. 

 

The sound is a great aspect of the game too especially the music. The soundtrack is mostly different from Chrono Trigger but I never got that far(had to return it back to a friend). They do add some of the same tracks but its only a few I wish they added more Chrono Trigger tracks because that was astounding too. There is absolutely no voice acting its kind of a shame because a good portion of the many party members you get in the story have different accents and dialects and it would be great to know what they sound like plus there is a good chunk of diolouge in the game so its a bit disappointing there is no voice acting.

 

The diologe does some interesting things like you can choose your path in a way there is no good or evil choice(well in a way) but it usually a choice between being selfish or generous like in one part of the game your partner is poisoned and you can either find a cure for her, you can just leave her and continue on your quest without her or you can have chosen to refuse her request of being your partner. which I find that most JRPGs rarely ever give you the power of choice. This is also one of the first JRPGs Ive ever played that went in a nonlinear fashion and gave you different paths to do which is a great change for once. An example would be that you need to get into the manor and you will need a person with a pass to get in and you have a choice between three partners to choose from if you chose one of the 3 its impossible to get the others so there's a consequence to the choices you make.

 

Gameplay is a bit different from other turn based RPGs because it takes away an active time bar and into a more traditional turn based gameplay but what difference it does have is that when you attack you have 7 stamina points you can do a weak attack and it'll just take one stamina point and get a great chance of hitting your target without missing, If you want something much more powerful but will take up 3 stamina points and a higher chance of missing. This addition of stamina points does make a traditional turn based battle feel more action packed while making it feel more strategic at the same time.

 

Chrono Cross does a different magic system from most RPGs. The magic in the game is called elements and there a variety of them from fire balls to meteors you'll see many elements during your quest. What makes it different from other magic systems in games? well they completely taken out magic points and your element can only be used once during battle also your partners have elements that only they could use so it makes you think of a different strategy than using you most powerful spell until you mp runs out.

 

The element system also surprisingly similar to a Pokemon than a final fantasy game since your character is attributed to a certain element and are stronger to certain element and are also weaker to other element like for example you have a red attributed partner and are against 3 blue attributed enemies your partner would be the one taking the most damage from them that a person who is a blue attributed character(who will take less damage than others and so on and so fourth).

 

Another thing that is important about the element system is the element field. Every time you use a certain colored element you fill up a portion of the element field and when you fill it up completely your element becomes stronger and you can use your most powerful element that is attributed to you but if some one else uses a different element color whether its your partner or your enemy a portion of the field changes to that color. This is an extremely deep system and I wished more RPGs would use it more often.

 

When out of battle and in the game world you can do the normal stuff that RPGs have done for years now like talking with people, shopping,etc. They do add one thing that does change that formula a bit which is that you can use key items that you found in the game to interact with other people and objects. This does go a long way in that you can have some very interesting conversations in the game and do some really important things like waking your partner up from a coma and such. While not groundbreaking it does make some RPG aspects feel a bit fresh.

 

The side quests for this game is also something that I thought Chrono Cross succeeded greatly on. Some of the side quests were really big for I actually wished that it was in the main story because the side quests had some really great moments like when you get the most powerful weapon in the game. The boss battle was epic and in the end of that you changed the game world in a huge way. They are some lackluster ones but most of the side quests are great.

 

There is also a great amount of replay value found in Chrono Cross like the side quests mentioned above. Doing everything in one play though is impossible (unless you somehow hacked it or know some sort of glitch). Gaining all the party members which is over 30 of them in the game will take you 2-3 playthroughs an that's just the party members. There are multiple endings to the game, some are better than others but they're still worth playing the game all over again. If thats not enough for you than the main quest has multiple paths to take. These things help expand Chrono Crosses length greatly from its 20 hours or less main quest.

 

Of course this game has its flaws like every other game in the world. The biggest one that fans will recognize is the fact that this game is a huge departure from Chrono Trigger. While it was great for me and others who didn't play Chrono Trigger(at that time) but when I did get the chance to play Chrono Trigger if felt that I was in a different territory. 

 

The story barley has anything to do with Chrono Trigger. All or most of the characters Chrono Trigger are dead or missing. The game tried to connect Chrono Crosses story with Chrono Trigger at around the ending which I thought was just made to please Chrono Trigger fans and the connection was just awful they just got one person to tell you in a paragraph or two about how the stories are connected to each other. In general the pacing of the story in Chrono Cross was doing great until it got close to the last 1/3 of the game since I just heard plot twist after plot twist after plot twist and some were extremely awesome but you knew a plot twist would come up. This game couldve used more time to spread out the story.

 

It also departures from the combat too. they took out cooperative attacks which were awesome and it couldve been even better with the 30+ party members that you gain in the game. The element system is completely different from Chrono Triggers magic system while I don't find that a problem because its an awesome system but it does depart from Chrono Trigger. Many partners is also a problem too because there just not as deep as a game with about 5 partners and its a shame considering how deep the partners in Chrono Trigger were and Ive only played the game for about 5 hours. I know this game is not a direct sequel to Chrono Trigger but it doesn't feel like a sequel at all it feels more like a spin-off if you ask me and that's Chrono Crosses biggest problem.

 

In the end Chrono Cross is a fantastic game that any RPG fan can get into and was sadly unappreciated from it departure from the series.

 

Graphics:9/10

just fantastic

 

Sound:10/10

The same person who composed Chrono Trigger composed this and even though they are a few Chrono Trigger songs you cant complain it is near perfect for the tone and setting of the game.

 

Controls:10/10

it was always responsive and simple at the same time

 

Gamplay:8/10

While the Element system is awesome every thing else does little to stick out from other RPGs

 

Overall:9.2

 

P.S my scores above are not meant to be averaged.