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Chrono Cross Retrospective: What do you think of it now?

S

ScrabbleDude

Member
I hated a lot of the characters and their accents. A lot of the story was all over the place. I hated the special way you needed to beat the last boss.

I loved the overall story and the FMVs. And the music is still one of the best soundtracks of all time.
 
Y

Ydahs

Member
Best game ever by a country mile. Perfection. Funnily I'm listening to Scars of Time as i type this. I couldn't care less for music in most games but CC's soundtrack is enchanting.

Timeless classic and glad to see quite a few GAFers sharing my love for this game :D
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
ZombieSupaStar said:
is there anywhere I can read up on how much of CT is in CC? I honsetly was offput by about the whole game in CC (i think i quit at like some...ghost ship? it was shortly after sneaking into some guys villa if I remember correctly, im guessing I was still early on though?) its been like 10 years since I played it I should throw it back in my ps3 (I still have it along with unplayed suikoden 2 :lol )
Click to expand...
It definitely ties into CT in some really clever, but really CRYPTIC, ways. The CT connections don't happen until far into the game. From what I can tell, many people who played through all of Cross still don't get how it fits into Trigger, but it was all in there if you really take to time to understand it.

I don't have any links for you.. maybe someone else?
 
D

DarknessTear

Banned
I love Chrono Cross. It's a lot different from Trigger, and I was disappointed at the lack of time travel but it was still a really good game. I don't know why so many people hate it, maybe it's because it's so much different from Trigger, but stand alone, it's an amazing game. I would like to see a continuation of the series but I don't really know if that would ever happen. Sad. :(

I thought I'd add some personal favorites music-wise..

Gaia's Navel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgBesZXnrXo

Dead Sea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ine3_jdQIIs

Chronopolis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFT6Ox4Wiyc

Honestly.. musically, this is Mitsuda's biggest masterpiece. I wish he still composed music of this quality.
 
F

fortified_concept

Banned
These morons ruined the fucking game for me by not including an ending if you didn't do these fucking colour combinations (or something, I don't really remember). Great game nevertheless. But fuck you devs.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
fortified_concept said:
These morons ruined the fucking game for me by not including an ending if you didn't do these fucking colour combinations (or something, I don't really remember). Great game nevertheless. But fuck you devs.
Click to expand...
Yeah that was pretty obscure and I wouldn't have gotten that without GameFAQs. To get the color combination right, you had to pay attention to some random background in the last dungeon... (something like that) they don't tell you to pay attention, the last battle is a long time later, and you don't go back to that location :p
 
M

manueldelalas

Time Traveler
fortified_concept said:
These morons ruined the fucking game for me by not including an ending if you didn't do these fucking colour combinations (or something, I don't really remember). Great game nevertheless. But fuck you devs.
Click to expand...
This is a problem with a lot of games actually (most games IMO); the normal enemies are so damn easy that you don't use the features of the game that developers wanted you to use, and then you go into the final boss with no fucking idea of what to do; if the enemies where harder and they made you use the color things, then the final boss fight wouldn't have been a problem.

Same happened in Zelda WW with counter attacks; in Nostalgia DS you didn't really understand the game after beating it, and playing post game content, in FFVIII after you passed the first disk without stealing magic, in Ogre Battle 64 when they introduce the motherfucking chickens that turn you into stones and you don't know how to properly do a team, in every Dragon Quest middle boss when you don't know how to use status spells, etc.

Most RPGs are so easy that you explore the whole dungeons and you turn into such a badass that you defeat everything with melee attacks, so you get to bosses that aren't dead with that and you don't know how to fight (and then you complain about too much grinding in the game :lol )
 
M

manueldelalas

Time Traveler
Dead said:
Better than Chrono Trigger just about sums it up
Click to expand...
That is really a subjective opinion. Both games are great, and both are very different.

I think Chrono Trigger was much better, but I recognize it is just my informed opinion.

Also I think watermelons are much better than regular melons.
 
P

P90

Member
I love(d) the game, warts and all. Much more enjoyable than the RPGs (including WRPGs) we have on consoles this gen.
 
Z

Zakkath

Member
In the end, it was a good game, but not the sequel I was waiting for and that's what disappointed me the most. I would really like a proper CT2, but chances of that happenning are very, very unlikely. /sigh
 
I

ItWasMeantToBe19

Banned
BocoDragon said:
I also loved the ending with the live action scenes. I swear I've never heard anyone say anything positive about it, but I thought it was beautiful. Yeah, I said it.

Sure,
Schala was absorbed into Lavos and was ultimately destroyed along with it...
but in the nature of these stories, there were always alternate timelines- including our own timeline.
Schala/Kid lives on in our world, along with Serge, and in this reality they can be together
. That's sweet, dammit!
Click to expand...
No,
that was the point of using the Chrono Cross against the Time Devourer. The Chrono Cross freed Schala and completely eradicated Lavos, and then Kid and Schala merged together, in addition to fusing the Home and Another dimensions. Then time was rewound to the day Serge crossed over to the Another world (the first day of the game), except it was a new dimension fused together from the two and everybody sans Serge and Schala/Kid forgot the events of the game.
But I believe the live-action sequences were more supposed to be a thematic thing instead of actually being part of the story. But all the same, I really liked the ending too. The song that plays during it is one of my favorites from the OST.

BocoDragon said:
The dialogue of the
"ghost children" was something about Serge having led them to their fate... something to do with the split timelines or whatever? (this is my 10 year old memory now :p) I always interpreted that as Chrono and crew not being "dead", but having been written out of history, but presumably restored after Serge's actions?
I know my memory is vague on this, but I believe the game was vague itself :p
Click to expand...
I believe it was something like how
the ghost children were the planet's "memories" of the world that was saved by Crono and friends, but thanks to Serge not drowning in Home world and creating the Home world as a result, Lavos was never defeated in the Home world and the future where Lavos awoke and wrecked the planet came back into existence.
That's all the explanation that that subject got. One of the few things that actually goes unexplained.
 
D

Deku

Banned
Soundtrack is still one of the most amazing soundtracks I've ever heard anywhere. I still have it on my ipod playlist and have never taken it off my music players since I started lugging one around.

I really don't think I'll have the stamina to play CC today, or any RPGs in general. Being in high school just made a lot of things like that possible.

I think Trigger is the better game. But Chrono Cross is so different, to say Trigger is better doesn't really diminish it.

For beginners, I'd recommend Trigger easily. Chrono Cross is really for the aficionados and fans, and judging from the sales, that's who it sold to.
 
I

Infinite Justice

Member
Game was great then and is still cool now imo

was surprised at the internet hatred due to it not being a true sequel to CT when i first saw it.

and the music...dang (the song for the intro was just so awesome).
 
R

ryan-ts

Member
Love this game, haters gonna hate but whatever. The music is top notch, not a bad tune in the whole bunch. Battle system is unique and can be pretty damn fun once you get farther into the game. Way too many characters but what you gonna do? Story is kind of blah and it's utter bullshit that it makes Trigger useless. Still an awesome game.
 
C

Cheerilee

Member
Looking at it objectively, it's probably a much better game than I currently expect anyone to make, but at the time I was very upset that I was dragged into this game with the promise of Chrono Trigger, but many hours in I was unable to find even the slightest hint of the game I loved. And after unlocking my umpteenth useless hidden character, I raged, stopped caring about whatever it was Chrono Cross was trying to be, and turned off the game.

I was also upset with people who said that the soundtrack was better than Chrono Trigger. It's a great soundtrack, but I don't think it's better than Chrono Trigger and pitting one against the other didn't do the loser any favors.

It's on my list of games to try again. Been there for a few years.
 
Z

Zek

Contempt For Challenge
Waaaaay too many characters. CT had a very memorable core cast, CC just had a clusterfuck of random nobodies with exactly one weird quirk apiece and zero character development. That was their biggest mistake IMO. The second big mistake was the gigantic convoluted mess of a plot, which was like the polar opposite of CT's fun "gotta save the world with time travel" story. Otherwise I liked it though.
 
Giolon

Giolon

Member
I don't understand why you can't like both games.

I love Chrono Cross. There are a lot of aspects of the game that are a mess. The story is nigh incomprehensible the first time you run through it. The cast is largely throwaway and undeveloped (I attribute this to the game being a victim of the post FF7 JRPG "I've got more of X than those other games" pissing match).

But none of those things ruin the great characters (Kid, Harle, Nikki, Fargo, Glenn, etc.), or the great sub-stories (Chronopolis and FATE, anyone?). And of course everybody already knows about the music.

Overall I enjoyed it a lot. I especially loved the additional content they added to Chrono Trigger DS that helped tie the game in a little better to Chrono Cross.

Both are some of my favorite games of all time.
 
Dreamer RD

Dreamer RD

Member
One of my favs along with Xenogears.

Game has unbalanced scenario and poor empty characters with few exceptions like Kid, Fargo etc. But Mitsuda's music makes diamond from the shit. CC OST is definetely his best work, like mentioned by many people above.

Also Serge's story is kinda similar to mine (my name is Segei so it was great to play the game back then). In 1999 I almost drown in the pond and after that accident obtained some special abilities that I even fear of.

Anyway, it's very solid game thanks to music and memorable quotes like

"There’s nothing in the world as ruthless or impartial as death. All living matter ages over time and eventually dies… No matter how mighty or tiny its life force… So being alive means you’re creeping closer to death with every second…"
 
I

Instro

Member
I absolutely loved Chrono Cross. I played it for the first time a good 5 years after it came out and found it to be a very worthy sequel to Trigger. Probably has one of my favorite RPG stories as well, quite complex but very interesting. The only major issue I had with the game was the overabundance of characters most of which had no story behind them, which was too bad.

And btw,
No character from Trigger is ever really confirmed to be dead by Cross. Both Lucca and Robo are presumably alive and well once the timelines recombine into their ideal state after the Time Devourer is killed.
 
Giolon

Giolon

Member
SatelliteOfLove said:
I will never ever ever ever understand the "TOO MANY CHARACTERS, BIG FLAW!" spiel. Every other critique is rational and understandable.
Click to expand...

It's because the vast majority of them are throwaway. What purpose does NeoFio serve? How about Mojo? That poodle thing?

If they all had the development that a few of them do (Glenn, Riddel, Fargo to name a few), then I don't think anybody would be complaining.
 
M

MCX

Banned
It's still one of the best games ever made. Its soundtrack is the best VG soundtrack ever recorded.
 
I

Instro

Member
ZombieSupaStar said:
as a sequel to CT I thought it was awful, I didnt even get thru most of it. Did all the same team make it, or was it like some team just took the license and made a game?



did they ever say that

guile is magus? I remember when CC came out it was like well in radical dreamers he was, but since it wasnt out in america he technically isnt him, and then post CT DS it might be him now? which of course doesnt matter since CC was made in a time when he WASNT supposed to be him lol. In my old high school jrpg loving what if days, I always thought if he had done a "keyser soze" type reveal with the magus theme slowly starting to play then fucking up everything hardcore, would have been SO awesome :lol
Click to expand...

Yes Guile is Magus, the new ending in CTDS finally confirmed it for sure. Originally he was supposed to be in CC searching for Schala under the alias Guile, but that part of the story was cut for various reasons iirc. Hints of it are pretty blatant in CC though, including a letter that basically says Magus is someone in your party.
 
R

ronito

Member
SatelliteOfLove said:
I will never ever ever ever understand the "TOO MANY CHARACTERS, BIG FLAW!" spiel. Every other critique is rational and understandable.
Click to expand...
It's not that there's too many characters, it's that none of them are very distinct/worth having versus the others.

edit: I think everyone saying it's one of the best games ever should post the last time they played it.
 
Z

Zeal

Banned
I'll just come out and say it.

I consider the Chrono series to be the greatest in the history of gaming. OF ALL TIME. And when Chrono 3 is finally announced, I will die.
 
L

Lard

Banned
I played Cross before I played Trigger and maybe that's why I don't see it as the "stain" on the series that some do.

I get the complaints about the pacing but it seems like most of the complaints are "It's not Chrono Trigger in 3D".

It was a really adventurous RPG on the part of Square, and one of their best.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
SatelliteOfLove said:
I will never ever ever ever understand the "TOO MANY CHARACTERS, BIG FLAW!" spiel. Every other critique is rational and understandable.
Click to expand...
Really? Because that's one of the few complaints Im surprised anyone would argue. Each one of the characters was optional, much of their dialogue was actually generic and would be placed into the mouth of whoever was in your party (only their "accent" would change), and there were tons of them.

People aren't complainin just because of a large cast.. They're complaing about a large interchangable - and therefore unimportant - cast. How can any indovidual character matter at all if his actions could have been performed by any of the other characters? And due to the nature of that interchangability, the actual roles that characters play have little substance to the overall plot.
 
S

SatelliteOfLove

Member
BocoDragon said:
Really? Because that's one of the few complaints Im surprised anyone would argue. Each one of the characters was optional, much of their dialogue was actually generic and would be placed into the mouth of whoever was in your party (only their "accent" would change), and there were tons of them.

People aren't complainin just because of a large cast.. They're complaing about a large interchangable - and therefore unimportant - cast. How can any indovidual character matter at all if his actions could have been performed by any of the other characters? And due to the nature of that interchangability, the actual roles that characters play have little substance to the overall plot.
Click to expand...

They're basically "free"; ie, character development is NOT taken from mainline story characters in order to put them in. They are optional.

Suikoden.

As mentioned above, the animation and creativity of these optionals are damn good.

And finally, the coup de grace: A Psychic Luchadore Priest. Nuff said.
 
R

revolverjgw

Member
I was very disappointed when I first played it, I was a Chrono Trigger fanboy and this game was not what I wanted, but I came to appreciate it later. Still it's not near my favorite JRPGs, the story and characters weren't very memorable... incredible aesthetics though. Some of those backgrounds are burned into my memory and I still listen to the soundtrack occasionally.

I do have a bad memory associated with it. I missed out on getting the preorder bonus clock. My cousin and I each picked up a copy at the same time but the last clock in the store went to him. Bullshit.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
No,
that was the point of using the Chrono Cross against the Time Devourer. The Chrono Cross freed Schala and completely eradicated Lavos, and then Kid and Schala merged together, in addition to fusing the Home and Another dimensions. Then time was rewound to the day Serge crossed over to the Another world (the first day of the game), except it was a new dimension fused together from the two and everybody sans Serge and Schala/Kid forgot the events of the game.
But I believe the live-action sequences were more supposed to be a thematic thing instead of actually being part of the story. But all the same, I really liked the ending too. The song that plays during it is one of my favorites from the OST.
Click to expand...
Oh yes... you are correct.
Schala didn't die, and Kid is back in the fixed timeline.
. Still I did interpret the ending as being literal in some sense. In another time and place similiar to our own,
Schala
lives on. It's obviously a debatable, subjective ending though. I wouldn't draw concrete story conclusions from it, but I did get the sense that this was
Schala
in some other lifetime. It's still metaphorical in some sense, not having definite connection to the main plot.
 
D

Darkatomz

Member
Personally, I would say that you;d be going too far if you suggested that Cross was better than Trigger. However, CC gets too much hate and I think it's a really good game, albeit flawed. If it was a standalone game with no relation to the Chrono games, then it probably wouldn't get as much hate as it does.

Soundtrack really is one of the best game OSTs made. Time's Scar and Dream Of The Shore Bordering Another World are my two personal favs.

The story is a bit convoluted. To be honest, I just learned some things going through the spoilers in this thread. And it was a little disappointing to first start to connect the stories from CT game late into the game.

Still
hopelessly
praying for another Chrono game.
 
B

beelzebozo

Jealous Bastard
ruby_onix said:
Looking at it objectively, it's probably a much better game than I currently expect anyone to make
Click to expand...

it's certainly more enjoyable to me than any traditional jrpg i've played in the past five years.
 
J

Jigsaw

Banned
if this would have been released on a nintendo platform instead it would be a worthy follow up and the 2nd best jrpg of all time...

both are great games but i like cross more,better music,better cast,better ng+,and best of all,it's longer than 8 hours
 
W

Wazzim

Banned
B.K. said:
Horrible game. It completely ruined the Chrono universe. I never was a fan of the soundtrack either. Other than the few Chrono Trigger remixes, I thought the soundtrack was Mitsuda's weakest so far.
Click to expand...
Oh come on, CC enchanced the Chrono universe.

CC is fucking awesome, no RPG sucked me in the world like Cross did. Trigger fans are just the usual fanboys hating on the best rpg ever.
 
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