Chrono Trigger

"One Of The Best RPG Games SNES Has To Offer"

Chrono Trigger is an RPG developed and released by Square Soft. Being an eastern RPG and developed by the legendary Square this game is quite similar to the Final Fantasy series. But Chrono Trigger isn't just a Final Fantasy clone.This game managed to be the only rival of Final Fantasy 6 for the SNES while taking the genre into a new level.

Story: 9/10

You are a typical eastern RPG character, a teenage boy who is good at using the sword. You set off to meet your friend in the city's millennial fair where she is about to demonstrate her new invention. After spending some time in the place where the fair is getting ready and having met another character you reach the place where your friend is. After a while something goes wrong, some kind of portal opens and the character you've previously met vanishes in it. You step into the gate in order to find out what happened and the main story starts. You'll soon find out that the portal was actually a time traveling gate.

In Chrono Trigger you'll have the opportunity to travel to the prehistoric times, to an post apocalyptic future, to two not so distant past eras and to the end of time! You'll discover that the time gates where created due to an entity that appeared in a specific era, and that threatens all life, (there is another theory that is presented in the game adding more mystery and making the story even greater). Of course you'll have to destroy this entity and save the day.

Main characters offer many details about the main quest and have all experienced an event that had to do with the entity mentioned before. Many NPCs are the typical characters of any Japanese RPG game but the main NPCs are almost good as the main characters. Another thing is that some quests are unrelated to the main quests and have to do with a specific character's past or present life. The world itself is feels quite real too. Each era has its own atmosphere and makes you feel attached to the story.

There are many plot holes created by time traveling meaning that sometimes you change something in the past that has a small impact in the future or some things just don't make sense, (the usual time traveling paradoxes). This in the other hand doesn't affect the game in a negative way due to the fact that the game doesn't take itself to seriously. Many dialogues or events are quite funny, characters behave in a cartoonish kind of way, for example a robot that obviously has no feelings cries oil when being sad and stuff like that. Overall the game's plot is great and unfolds in a very good way and makes you want to know what happens next and baring the fact that the game offers many different endings you'll be surely satisfied from the story section of Chrono Trigger.

Graphics: 10/10

In terms of graphic quality Chrono Trigger is one of the best that good ol' SNES has to offer. All characters are larger than in most RPG games thus making them more detailed. All gestures look great and add to the personality of each character and sometimes look quite funny, (personal favorite, Marle's anger gesture). Also every character is very good animated especially when using special skills in battles. Enemies follow the same path by being very detailed and having very good animation quality. I forgot to tell you that the designer of all characters is the actual creator of the Dragonball series making them look quite good especially for fans of Dragonball. Good scenery variety and quality giving each and every era or place the right mood, from simple villages, forests and dark dungeons to mysterious caves, abandoned facilities and futuristic buildings. Great work in the use of special effects too. Time portals, laser beams, lava, waterfalls, explosions and generally everything looks great and makes good use of SNES's possibilities.

Sound: 9.5/10

Sound effects are not something exceptional but have good quality, sound like they're supposed to and are not annoying at all. When speaking about the game's soundtrack we have to do with a masterpiece. Although Chrono Trigger's music tracks are not so famous like the ones of Zelda and Super Mario but are great nonetheless. Each and every music track is quite catchy has very good quality and fits very good with the game. The only thing that might bored you to death after a while is the battle theme but then again we're talking about an RPG which means countless battles thus forcing you hear this tune a bit too often.

Gameplay: 9/10

Lets start with the battle system. At first forget about random encounters. Enemies show up only in specific spots of an area. Also there is no different set made for battles. When some foes appear you battle with them on the spot making fight sequences more fast paced. Now, like most eastern RPGs you don't actually control your character's movement but choose what you want him to do from a list. There is a time bar that when it fills it gives your character the chance to make a specific move like the default attack, item use or a special technique, (the same goes for enemies too although you won't see their time bar). The thing that makes battles in Chrono Trigger special is the double and triple techniques. For example if one character can throw fire and another one can make a spinning attack with his sword they can perform a double technique creating a fire cyclone or perform a triple technique that requires the third member of your party. There are seven characters in the game nad each one of them can perform double or triple techniques with the help of all characters meaning many combinations that create very useful and entertaining skills. Finally some skills attack enemies in a row, or in a specific radius or all of them at once making you choose your moves more carefully since enemies aren't always in the same place.

You'll find many weapons, armors and relics that add plus status or protect you from various damage types. Most weapons and armor have their own advantages and disadvantages making you think before you use. There aren't many items to choose from like in the Final Fantasy games but those items that this game offers are more than enough and they consist of the typical cure and heal potions, elixirs and things like that.

Chrono Trigger is neither difficult nor easy. Most enemies are very easy and some them just need some extra effort. Each boss needs a different strategy in order to be defeated and are probably the best battles in the game. Also in some parts you'll have to complete some simple riddles in order to complete your quest or obtain an item. Don't expect them to bother you too much though since most of them are quite simple but fortunately quite entertaining too.

The game isn't exactly linear, since you can go almost everywhere you want, but in some way it forces you to focus in the main quest since there aren't many side quests to complete, especially in the first 10 hours of the game. The good thing is that you complete a part of the main quest in a specific era and then you move on to another one making the game more entertaining and not boring at all. One very bad thing is that although an RPG Chrono Trigger is quite small. After 12 or less hours you'll be ready to fight the final battle or complete some quest but even with these you'll only enjoy another 3 to 4 hours of, (great nonetheless), gameplay. Fortunately this game has a great replay value, you can use different party combinations each time you play again, find more items and make different choices in some parts of the game. One thing that greatly increases replay value is the fact that there are many different endings, (one of them lets you complete the game in less than half an hour). Also after completing it once you can start all over but with all your previous items and stats. In general Chrono Trigger is a very entertaining game that can be completed in a few hours but can make you play it again and again and again!!!

Positives:
-One of the best graphics and music that the SNES can offer
-Entertaining plot and lovable characters
-Interesting battle system with skills that need the cooperation of 2 or more characters
-Many different endings

Negatives:
-Very small
-Doesn't have many side quests

Overall: 9/10

Searching the Internet about Chrono Trigger you'll find fan sites, fan art, fan fiction and even, (ahem), mature comics. You'll find out that it is regarded as one of the best games of all time and finally find many projects with the purpose of resurrecting the game in three dimensions or freeware games based in it. When speaking about Chrono Trigger we're talking with out a doubt about a classic, so the question isn't whether Chrono Trigger is a good game but whether you'll love it or hate it. Well if you find eastern games like Final Fantasy or Zelda a bit childish and boring you'll hate Chrono Trigger but if you are searching for a typical Japanese RPG that was also quite revolutionary for its time you're welcome!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/17/07