A worthy sequel.
Chrono Cross has a much more involving and deep storyline than Trigger did, this time though it's not a 'direct' sequel to Trigger, it has an entirely new cast of characters. You start off as a silent protagonist named Serge, who is thrown into another dimension, a mirror world of his own where he died 10 years ago, then he finds out that a man named Lynx is after him, and it goes from there.
The narrative starts off kind of slow, and it does take awhile before any of the trigger references come into play. At first it seems like a Final Fantasy title than a Chrono title. About half way though then you learn on what had happened and the result of the teams actions in the previous game, and how they affect these alternative worlds.
The story is very deep and thought provoking, what adds onto it is that it has 44 characters. While you will need to do three play throughs to get all of these characters, each character has a significant part in the storyline. Though to help these multiple play throughs like it's predecessor, Chrono Cross has a new game + feature which defiantly help you go through the game faster and without as much tedious combat as it was on your first time.
Speaking of combat, It is pretty weak. You have a xenogears esque system, yet Xenogears was actually fun. This game just feels bland in it's game play. It also has a FFVIII style junction system called elements, though these are not as tedious as the junction system, it is still constant management. The main problem with combat is that it drags on. While that is not a complaint in bosses, when regular encounters take a good five minutes to beat sometimes, then you know it's a problem. Though when you are powerful enough and at near the end of the game it isn't a big deal for your characters are a power house, though for the first 20 hours the combat seems too slow.
The leveling system is pretty interesting at it's first glance. You gain major stat bonus's by boss fights, the regular enemies you fight give you minor bonuses but there is just no huge demand for fighting every single encounter. You could possibly get through the entire game avoiding all enemies and going through boss's. Yet the enemies do give you elements which help, but most of these elements are buy able.
The game is hard, some boss battles are simple, yet allot require precise thinking to win. There are some fights where if you mess up once, the boss will come close to killing your party. Fortunately you can run away from any and all fights, so that gives you the chance to heal and what not. Whenever you run or win a fight, you can automatically heal your party. All RPG's should have this feature.
The music is fantastic, except for the battle theme. This is the worst battle theme I've heard in a RPG, ever. Everything else is perfect though in the music department.
The graphics are fantastic, while FFVIII feels a little more polished in it's character models, the pre-rendered back rounds of Cross take the crown. The FMV's are amazing as well. each environment is very beautiful which match Triggers style, with Cross's own art direction.
Chrono Cross is a great sequel to a classic. While it isn't the masterpiece that Chrono Trigger was, it is still a must for fans. Even if you haven't played Trigger, you can get into Cross with little to no problem. Chrono Cross is a game worth playing, and defiantly a RPG with allot of substance.