It took 9 years, but I finally beat this game. I remember buying it the day it came out and thoroughly hating it. It was as if they destroyed everything I loved about Chrono Trigger; the time travel, the awesome music, and the ridiculously fun battle system.

I tried starting new games here and there, but to no avail. I just couldn't sit through this travesty.

I started up a new game a week ago, and I finally beat it yesterday. I have to admit, it really isn't that bad of a game. Sure, there are things that I hate; I hate how Square's PS1 RPGs have that little "intro" whenever you're about to do battle and CC's is by far one of the most obnoxious. The battle theme is most definitely reserved for the darkest pits of musical hell, and the whole field effect thing when trying to do summons could get pretty annoying. I will give the game this though: the story definitely gets much cooler around the second half of the game, and is resolved quite nicely by the game's conclusion. The music is quite good save for the battle music, and the graphics/artwork are also decent for its time.

Still, the game doesn't hold a candle to CT, but that goes without saying.

Has anybody else had a game you outright hated but later enjoyed, or a game that you finished only after years of ownership?

11/26/2009 5:02:32 PM

this game fucking sucked

11/26/2009 5:55:36 PM

I recommend giving it another shot and trying to stick it out all the way through, if only to see how it relates to the first game. It really does get a lot better towards the end.

11/26/2009 6:02:13 PM

I've gotten pretty far but was never able to finish it. I wanted it to be awesome, CT is the shit.

11/26/2009 7:53:03 PM

i really liked CC. it wasn't as good as CT, but it still has its merits. i played through it a few times with new game+ to check out the different endings and to recruit different characters since there were like 50 of them, and you might miss out on some of them depending on the choices you made (i missed out on glenn the first time through ).

11/26/2009 8:30:28 PM

i really enjoyed this game. There were just so many characters...and like most RPGs i played growing up i'd find 3 or 4 characters i really liked and would just ignore the rest of them.

11/27/2009 10:57:09 AM

Quote :

"I wanted it to be awesome, CT is the shit."

QFT

I'll give Square credit for one thing: they aren't afraid to take chances. The game is so different from Chrono Trigger and it's not clear that it ties into the story of that game until pretty far into adventure.

I thought the battle system was really unique and interesting. CT's battle system is basically FF6 with combo techs added in, but this is a completely different animal. I barely remember the story (it was convoluted as hell), but I like that they wrapped up that one dangling plot point from CT.

It was a mistake IMO to pack the game with so many characters. None of them had any backstory except for Kid and the Harlequin chick. And none were as likable as Chrono, Frog, Magus, and the others. Except for the main battle theme, the music was excellent.

It's hard to believe it's been ten years since this came out. I thought there'd be a third Chrono game by now.

11/27/2009 8:21:13 PM

was anyone from the CT team even involved with CC?

11/27/2009 10:02:12 PM

I think the only major guy to come back from the original team was the guy who did the soundtrack.

11/27/2009 10:35:19 PM

^^^ Your point about how the game doesn't really tie into CT was one of the barriers that kept me from finishing the game all the times that I had started it. I would always get a little over halfway until Serge and Lynx trade bodies, and up until that point it was as if it was its own little storyline. There wasn't really anything about time travel or the like aside from the two dimensions, but even then to go half of the game without any sort of link to the first game, gameplay wise or story wise, was a major disappointment to me. The battle system was the other major barrier. I just felt like it wasn't a "Chrono" game (I know there was only one other game before this one, but I felt like CT's tech system was unique enough to warrant attributing that mechanic to the franchise). The fact that the second game was now in 3D with an extremely limited supply of dual/triple techs just baffled me; with the increased graphical capabilities of the Playstation, why wouldn't they go all out? I also didn't like the entire "Element" system, and I didn't like how the physical attacks were grouped into three.

The storyline aside, these are still minor complaints about the game. I still didn't really like the combat system by the time I finished it, and another thing I didn't like was the system used in leveling up. I would reach a new star level, get into a couple of fights, and after that my stats wouldn't go up anymore. Aside from collecting items, getting into fights was completely pointless. Half of the time I didn't need the items that were dropped. They were usually forging materials I already had plenty of, or weak elements I could just simply buy with the abundance of currency the game was practically dishing out to me. These points aside, I did enjoy the storyline by the time the game was concluded. The theme of the alternate dimensions arising out of differing choices was pretty cool, and I also appreciated how they expanded the universe of the first game without relying too much on it. I definitely wouldn't say it is a bad game, but it definitely doesn't stand the test of time like CT does.

As far as a sequel goes, things are looking pretty slim. Apparently Square trademarked the name "Chrono Break" years ago, but then let it expire. But with Square's recent milking of its Final Fantasy franchise and porting CT to the DS, I guess never say never.

11/28/2009 1:54:40 AM

I still have this sitting in my living room. I've not beat it or CT. I tried to play CT on an emulator, but the ROM had graphical issues and I couldn't complete it.

11/28/2009 10:22:01 AM

^ damn, it'd be worth it to find another rom or emulator that runs it properly. that's one of my favorite games of all time!

11/28/2009 10:41:08 AM

I fired this game back up because of this thread. The battle music is definitely raping my ears, but otherwise I'm enjoying it quite a bit. It's nice to see the little tie-ins into Chrono Trigger even early in the game. I'm using a FAQ which I didn't do (mostly) last time, so I'm finding a lot more secrets. There's a hidden room with a piece of the Epoch ship in it.

The prerendered backgrounds hold up pretty well IMO. They're pleasant to look at even though they're low-res.

Can't believe it's been ten years since this game.

12/9/2009 11:01:07 PM

what emulators can play chrono trigger well? someone help

12/9/2009 11:04:37 PM

http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-DS-Lite-Cobalt-Black/dp/B001290A3U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1260418069&sr=8-1

+

http://www.amazon.com/Chrono-Trigger-Nintendo-DS/dp/B001E27DLM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1260418100&sr=1-2

12/9/2009 11:08:43 PM

does that sand in your vagina burn ?

12/9/2009 11:17:46 PM

Emulators played it just fine for me when I played back through it years ago (I also own a legit copy). I used ZSnes IIRC.

12/9/2009 11:22:07 PM

http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-Chronicles-Chrono-Trigger-Playstation/dp/B00005LOXE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1260419380&sr=8-1

12/9/2009 11:30:04 PM

ZSNES plays anything well

12/10/2009 1:46:58 AM

Man I really want to replay Chrono Cross now. I will agree that the battle music is indeed horrendous but the rest of that soundtrack is so good.

Going back to the first post, I remember the first time I played Final Fantasy Tactics I absolutely hated it. I had never messed with any of the Strategy RPGs prior to it (Shining Force, Tactics Ogre, etc.) and so I didn't quite understand the mechanics moving over from the traditional FF games. I put it down and came back to it like two years later once I had a little more patience to spare, and loved it to death. While the translation left much to be desired, the gameplay has that perfect balance of being involved and enjoyable without being overly difficult or time consuming that was a common problem with others that I had tried.

I think i've played through it now at least 4 or 5 times and it remains one of my favorite games to this day.

12/10/2009 2:23:39 PM

For those interested, xPSXe 1.7 emulates Chrono Cross almost perfectly.

12/10/2009 2:58:02 PM

^^I had a similar experience with FFT a few months ago. I got the game when it came out, and I suppose I was just too young for it then.

12/11/2009 6:27:37 AM