< Back        Chrono Trigger - Review

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Staying in step with a rapid string of RPG successes, Squaresoft followed up their 1994 masterpiece Final Fantasy VI with a title that was hailed as the greatest roleplaying adventure of all time by most people and the worst by a handful of others. The name of the game is time travel, and while many other mediums of entertainment have harnessed such a concept into tales that have been considered either confounding or unrealistic, Chrono Trigger tends to focus less on the 'Relativity' side of things and more on the actual adventure itself. It's a game that offers smoother handling than other Square titles, with a streamlined battle engine, an adjustable handicap for enemy encounters, and just enough twists and turns in the storyline to keep you guessing without befuddling the hell out of you.

Crono, the silent protagonist and story's lead, is awakened by his mother one morning and reminded not to miss the unveiling of a new invention at the Millennial Fair by his best friend Lucca. He runs into a young woman named Marle en route, a rebellious young girl who makes a fast friend in Crono. But when they both finally arrive and Marle becomes eager to try out the new Telepod, something goes wrong and causes her to vanish. Intent on finding her, Crono takes up her lost pendant and follows into the distant past. It starts off as a seemingly simple quest, but unbeknownst to any of our heroes, it is their first adventure that winds up breaking the chain of time. From this point onward, nothing will ever be the same again.

The fact that anything you do will ultimately influence past or future events is the real charm behind Chrono Trigger. While individual characters have their own little quirks and memorable moments here and there, they don't seem to really hold a candle to how the world constantly shifts and changes as you leap from one time period to another. Character highs are thinly veiled in this game, only really taking shape when heroes like Frog set out to vanquish some foe that had wronged them in the past. How the game unfolds is affected by many different variables, such as who you add to your party, what sidequests you finish or leave undone, and at what stage in the game you decide to destroy the end boss. Even if you fail, you'll be given a complete (albeit grim) ending.

What Crono's team lacks in backstory, however, they make up for in battle. There isn't any waiting for a battlefield screen to load up, as the terrain itself determines how the fight unfolds (a first for RPG’s). Each member has a standard set of menu options, a few character-specific battle commands called Techs, and over time will come to learn magic and even Dual and Triple Techs (attacks in which two or all three members of the party will pounce at once for significant damage). It should also be mentioned that enemies are no longer randomly encountered, but seen ahead of time. So the player has (at least, for the most part) the choice of whether they want to get into a battle or sidestep it altogether.

Aesthetically, there's a lot in this entry to appeal to and move gamers of all ages. Famed character designer, Akira Toriyama, known for his artistry in such games as Dragon Quest and the manga of Dragon Ball, lends his expertise to us in a similar capacity here. As well, Nobuo Uematsu of Final Fantasy acclaim teams up with Yasunori Mitsuda to bring us a soundtrack that includes a little bit of everything - from tribal rhythms out of the Prehistoric Era to the ambient melodies of the End of Time. But a high point that cannot be emphasized enough are the endings. Replayability runs rampant in Chrono Trigger, with at least twelve different outcomes to be unlocked.

Chrono Trigger can be considered as the first installment of a loosely established trilogy. A 1995 sequel entitled Chrono Cross marked a radical departure from the engine of the original, its focus more centered upon alternate dimensions than time travel. The posthumous 'Radical Dreamers' entry, released a year afterwards in Japan, was little more than a text-driven adventure intended to tie up what loose ends existed between the two. While each sequel was successful in its own right, neither was able to achieve the groundbreaking acclaim of the original. Whether you were part of the 16-bit generation or still just starting out, be sure to pick this one up. Chrono Trigger is simply timeless.

9 / 10