Chrono Cross

"Without a doubt, a masterpiece, and a game that will be remembered for years to come..."

Well everyone, here it is, the sequel to the well-known game, Chrono Trigger, from the Super Nintendo. Man, it seems like just yesterday when we were enjoying these "old-school" favorites like the Final Fantasy saga on the SNES. Well, anyways, I know this game has been out forever, but I just wanted to voice my opinion about it. I'm writing this review the week before the XBOX 360 comes out, and even though technology has come a long way since this game came out, you should really give it a try if you're a Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy fan. What a game, is really all I can say. I mean when Square developed this game, they created a masterpiece that will forever stay in the minds (and hearts) of serious RPG gamers. This game stands the test of time perfectly, and is a great example of what a good video game can provide for its fans.

Anyways, enough of the mushy little introduction to this review, let's get on to the main event: talking about how good this game really is. And just a little warning: if you don't like the Final Fantasy games or other games that SquareSoft has developed, you probably won't enjoy reading this review because I make a lot (maybe a little too many) comparisons to those games when talking about Chrono Cross. I'll be talking about the gameplay elements of the game, including the storyline, the graphics and sound, the controls, and the replayability value for this game. Well, here goes...

Gameplay Score: 10/10
Okay, on to the overview of what the gameplay of this masterpiece consists of. First off, the battle system. Well, before you go into battle you equip weapons, armor, and accessories, just like in any other game. You can also allocate different types of magic to your character. Each magic spell has a different level that can be increased as the characters grow stronger and gain levels. This is a great system of allocation and growing of characters to provide them with higher level magic. Now on to the actual battles. Rather than having random encounters, like in the Final Fantasy universe, the main character, Serge, and his friends battle enemies that he sees outside of battle, that he runs into in the game map. You can have up to three characters in your party at one time, and this is a very small fraction of the plethora of interesting characters this game has to offer. The battle system much like the first part of the series, Chrono Trigger, if you played and enjoyed that game as well. It is turned based and has the other basic elements of the many other RPG games developed by SquareSoft. The game has two different worlds in it that differ in people you can meet and places you can go. Once you get into a city, you're able to talk to anyone at anytime, and it is a very free system of talking to people. Also, when you go into other places such as mountains and other areas away from towns, you will meet monsters and go into battle as I explained before. This game isn't too hard, but it does provide a challenge, as there are some bosses that you must play your absolute best against to defeat. There are very many characters in the game that can complement each other with combined attacks, and this provides for a lot of fun in finding which combination of the many characters best suits your style of play. All in all, I can basically just tell you now that if you liked the Final Fantasy series you'll absolutely love this game no matter what, unless you're a weirdo ;).

Story Score: 10/10
You play as a young man, Serge, throughout most of the game. He is a child, in a sense, because he is unsure of what or who he is. One day he is accidentally transferred to another world in which he is really dead. So Serge needs to find out what happened in this alternate reality and why he isn't alive. Along the way he meets Kid, a girl with a strange connection with him, and a whole cast of many other companions who come and go frequently during the course of the game. There's a plot overview for you, and if you don't think that sounds interesting enough, you definitely will when you experience the struggle of Serge's identity through his eyes. I gave the plot a perfect ten because it's so intriguing and once you get into the game, generally after a couple of hours of playing, you'll get the feeling that you're pretty much glued and cannot stop playing this game until its final conclusion.

Graphics Score: 9/10
The graphics in Chrono Cross are by no means standard, but are also not the greatest that could be produced on the Playstation. For the time I'm sure the game had great graphics, and I will not compare these to the advanced graphics we're starting to see in the next generations of HD and whatnot. Anyways, let's talk about the graphics of this great game. General gameplay is fine and there are no problems whatsoever. Sorry to make comparisons, but the graphics in the game are much like the FF series in that the characters are a bit blocky, but the backgrounds are beautiful, serene, and very artistic. There is a certain short section of the game where the background is all abstract and it's just so amazing that it could stand on its own and I would call it a work of art. That's just how powerful some of the graphics conventions that SquareSoft used when they made Chrono Cross. Now we need to talk about the cutscenes, and I know that nobody will be disappointed with them. Square has a long history of creating beautiful, pre-rendered, amazing-looking cutscenes that will amaze you even if you're used to current generation graphics. This game certainly doesn't stray from that path and it won't disappoint you. I gave the graphics a nine out of ten because I believe that no game is absolutely perfect, and if there were one area to take a little away from it was the graphics. But don't go thinking that the graphics are a weak point to this game, because they certainly are not.

Sound/Music Score: 10/10
Okay, this is truly the area that made me love Chrono Cross so much. The music score presented in this game is so memorable and amazing that, even though it sounds really geeky, I am listening to a track of it right now on my PC. The composer for this game was Yasunori Mitsuda, and he was also the guy behind the excellent music in Chrono Trigger. The music score is in short, compelling, and if I had the money to do so, I would buy the soundtrack to this game in a heartbeat. The music presented in Chrono Cross is everything to very touching and serene to fast and moving. The music is representative of what is going on in the story. For instance, if there is a sadder moment in the storyline, you'll be hearing a dreary, sad type of song, and if you're in a dungeon or another dangerous place, this will surely be represented by the music playing. The music choice for this game was excellent and just by listening to it, you could be able to tell what sort of event was taking place at that time in the game. If you're a big fan of video game music, need another reason to buy Chrono Cross, or just want to listen to some awesome music, there's some justification to your purchase if you buy it, because the music is the real highlight of the game. I probably would have given it an eleven or twelve out of ten if I could, but I can't so there's your ten out of ten. That's how good the music really is in Chrono Cross.

Control: 10/10
I'll keep this section nice and short. The controls in an RPG aren't too important, and Chrono Cross has the basic style of control that you see in many RPG's. Although it is a very simple type of controlling, and there aren't any advanced button combos or tough inputs to use, it is still very effective in this game and doesn't take away any of the fun, which can sometimes happen to otherwise fun games. So, there you go, a short and sweet little section that tells you what you need. Are you happy? :)

Replayability: 10/10
This game has excellent replayability for many reasons. One is that if you beat the game a total of three times, you can overwrite previous data clears and obtain all the characters in the game. Although I won't go into detail, I'll just tell you that this is an excellent way of replayability within the game and it doesn't get old after three plays through. The game has several branching points which allow for different experiences depending on how you choose and allowing you to play with several different characters. Also adding to the replability are the inclusion of different endings which you can achieve after you beat the game once. Again, no detail here, I'll just say that it's worth the time that you put into it if you really enjoy Chrono Cross like I do. Because this game never gets old and you have the option of playing through several times with a few different experiences, the replayability gets a perfect ten for this great game.

Well, in conclusion, I have to say I have enjoyed writing this long review. It's surprising how much you can write about a game if you really like it and enjoy it as much I as I enjoy Chrono Cross. It's hard to fathom what my definition of a good game would be without this game and once you play it too, you'll know what I'm talking about. So please, if you're thinking of dusting off that old Playstation, go out and buy Chrono Cross. I'm sure you can get it for very cheap, in the $10-$20 price range now, and I know it will be worth your money. So, thanks for reading this review and hopefully I will be doing more in the future!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/21/05