Even better than Trigger!
Chrono Cross fits perfectly in this category. Whether you accept the fact or not, it is a true sequel to Chrono Trigger, a game that many people believed to be the best Role Playing Game of all time. Unlike Chrono Trigger and most RPGs, Chrono Cross handles many aspects, such as experience and battling differently. Heck, the characters aren’t even the same! This made many people hate Chrono Cross and not realize that although it’s different and not without flaws, it’s still a great game.
Similar to Crono in Chrono Trigger, the protagonist, Serge doesn’t speak. The game opens with Serge and a girl in a tower searching for someone. Eventually the girl gets stabbed… by Serge! Suddenly Serge wakes up; thankfully it was just a dream. After performing a task for his girlfriend, Serge gets sucked into a mysterious world in which he was dead for 10 years and nobody (not even his girfriend) knows who he is. Suddenly the girl from Serge’s dream appears…
Although it may sound lame, the plot is easily the best plot I’ve ever seen in a videogame. Although it seems unrelated to Chrono Trigger you will eventually find out that Chrono Cross’ plot is perfectly related to CT. The plot also has a ton of unexpected twists that will cause you to shout exclamations such as “HOLY **** and “WOW!” several times. My only complaint is that the story can sometimes seems confusing and leaves you with many unanswered questions. The plot will make a lot more sense if you previously played Chrono Trigger, but you don’t need to play it to enjoy Chrono Cross.
Serge will meet many people along his quest who will assist him. Pretty much everyone who Serge meets decides to join his party; it is possible to get over 40 people in your party. So although he never talks to anyone, (just nods) there’s something about him that everyone likes so much that they’re willing to team up with him. It’s pretty cool that you’re able to have so many different characters team up with you, but it eventually gets crazy. Some of the characters were clearly added as “filler characters”. For example, it’s possible to get someone’s fat middle-aged mother who attacks with kitchen utensils to join you. You can also team up with a pink talking dog named Poshul who opts to join while searching for scales for your spoiled girlfriend. It’s also possible to team up with her (she fights with a broom for crying out loud)! Although it’s hilarious to fight with a team that consists of Serge (can’t take him off), Poshul, and a fat Jamaican woman you won’t win many battles and will eventually find the 5 or 6 best characters and stick with them. Character development is also poor. Out of the 40+ characters available, only three of them develop throughout the game.
One impressive aspect about all of the characters is the dialogue. No two characters speak alike. Whether it is the mysterious French Jester Harle or the Australian badass Kid, everyone’s dialogue is excellent. Although (as I previously mentioned) some of the characters are pathetic, I often replayed certain areas to hear the different characters’ reaction to certain events. You don’t have to experiment like me to find the character with the best attitude for a certain area. It doesn’t matter who you use; the characters you choose will keep the game’s dialogue entertaining and fresh.
Just like Chrono Trigger and unlike most RPGs (with the exception of a few), there are no random battles in Chrono Cross. If you’re new to Role Playing Games not sure what random battles are allow me to enlighten you. As you walk/run around in areas other than towns, you will run into a battle that you did not see (hence the name random battles), which you are forced to fight. They are inevitable, so if you happen to be low on health and run into a challenging battle you’re screwed. In Chrono Cross you see every enemy on the screen before you fight them. So what happens if you’re too weak to fight a battle? Simply avoid the enemy. Sometimes battles are inevitable but most times it shouldn’t be too hard to avoid battles. But what can you about battles that you can’t win and avoid?
Run away.
In Chrono Cross you can avoid ANY battle in the entire game. You can run away from any enemy or boss, including the boss of the game. Actually you have to fight boss battles, but if you’re fighting a boss and know you won’t win you can simply run away. You’ll then have a couple of seconds to press the menu button (to heal or re-allocate magic) before the game forces you to re-fight the boss. You won’t be able to run back to your home in Arni Village but you’ll have the chance to redeem yourself. It also saves you a trip to the Playstation; resetting after every time you loose gets annoying.
You won’t want to avoid most of the battles because the battle system is quite possibly the best I’ve ever encountered in a videogame. Luckily the overused stamina bar from Chrono Trigger and most of the Final Fantasy games is gone and replaced with stamina points. Every character is given seven stamina points and the option of three attacks; weak, strong, and fierce. Obviously weak is the weakest attack, but it only costs one stamina point and has the highest chance of hitting the enemy. On the other hand fierce is the strongest but has the lowest chance of hitting. This is where strategy comes in; obviously it’s easier to pull off seven consecutive weak attacks, but your character will most likely be interrupted multiple times by enemy attacks (don’t forget they have to attack too).
Once purchased/found, elements (the game’s magic) are put in a character’s available elemental slots for use in battle. Elements can be placed in any slot, but they function better in certain slots than others. For example, Magma Bomb works best in slot 2 and Holy Light works best in slot 5. To use Holy Light (or any element in slot 5), you will have to successfully hit an enemy with 5 stamina points (using multiple attacks). Elements use up 7 stamina points, and if not used with caution they can really cause problems, especially when a character has –6 sp (you recover 1-3 per turn, depending on your allies move).
The best part about the battle system is the amount of freedom you’re given. Some characters are capable of pulling off double and triple techs. For example, you can attack once (a fierce attack) with Serge, and then switch to the spikey-haired swordsman, Glenn and do the same procedure. Now that they both are able to use an element from the third slot, a super powerful combo called X-Strike that can easily demolish most of the game’s weaker enemies is available to them. It may be powerful but there is a huge risk, it will drastically lower both of their stamina points. Only a few characters are capable of pulling off double and triple techs, but luckily there is much more you are capable of doing. Do you want to pull use all of your stamina points attacking the enemy followed up by an element? You might rather switch to another character before using an element, so your stamina points don’t go too low. Or maybe you’ll want to attack only a few times with each character, so you can build up each character’s element grid evenly without falling into the negatives? The possibilities seem almost endless and make Chrono Cross’ battle system one of the best you will ever encounter.
Unlike most RPGs, your characters won’t gain any experience after winning battles. You will receive a couple of items that are important for purchasing weapons and armor. Occasionally a few random stats will level up, but most of the time nothing will happen. Whenever you defeat a boss, you will gain a star, which is basically leveling up. Everyone’s stats will increase, whether they are fighting or not. This will put you at the “ideal” level, so you don’t ever need to worry about leveling up. So instead of wasting hours and hours fighting the same monsters over and over again so you can defeat the boss, you’re always prepared.
This “ideal level” also creates problems. Since you are always at the perfect level, the game never really posses much of a challenge. There were 2 or 3 bosses that had me throwing down the controller in frustration, but the majority of the game, especially towards the end shouldn’t cause you many, if any problems at all. Too bad there’s only one difficulty level included; a harder mode available would’ve gotten rid of this problem.
Although there’s not as many as the Final Fantasy series, there are quite a few sidequests and minigames available in Chrono Cross. These include a dragon feeding game, a battle arena and a few more. There are also two optional boss fights, which are the highlights of the side quests. They are both extremely hard and require special strategies in order to defeat them. If you’re not a wuss and don’t use strategy guides to defeat them, you’ll have a blast thinking of strategies and executing them. They are one of the most fun battles I’ve ever come across in a videogame.
Chrono Cross will take the average gamer 30-35 hours to beat, which is average for an RPG. The New Game+ feature introduced in Chrono Trigger is back. Once you beat the game you can start over and play again to get any of the characters you missed on your first playthrough and to view all of the game’s many endings. Some of the endings are quite entertaining and are worth playing the game more than once to see. The only downfall is your party keeps it’s experience and most weapons, which makes the difficulty a joke. Not everyone will be interested in New Game+, but it’s a great feature available to those who are craving for more.
Chrono Cross is one of the best, if not the best-looking Playstation games. Although the character models a little blurry sometimes, they are top notch. The pre-rendered 3D backgrounds are easily the best I’ve seen on Playstation and even better than some early next gen games. Although they tend to drag on a bit too much, the spells push the Playstation’s hardware to the max. For example, when you use Orhla’s Drunk-Punch spell the screen will become blurry. There are not as many FMVs as Final Fantasy games, but the ones that appear look just as good.
Chrono Cross’ soundtrack is either a hit or miss. Most of the songs, especially Dragon God, Time’s Scar, and Radical Dreamers are spectacular but it also has a couple of atrocious songs that had me muting the game, such as the battle and the home world map music. Unfortunately those are the two most common tunes in the game, and you will be hearing them a lot. The sound affects are solid overall.
I loved Chrono Cross. It’s a great game, and in my opinion a worthy sequel to one of the greatest games of all time. The battle system and lack of experience in innovative, although many flaws are present. You might love it, or you might not; it’s not for everyone. If you’re looking for a game similar to Chrono Trigger and most Japanese style RPGs, Chrono Cross will disappoint you. But if you don’t mind a game with a slightly different approach you’ll dig it. Trust me.