I’m born in 1992 so this game is a bit before my time. I started playing it and got completely hooked. It’s an absolutely fantastic game that would still hold up as a quality indie game today.
Music is amazing. Characters and character development is amazing. Story is very good. Combat is genuinely fun instead of feeling like a chore that cuts you off from the game. Art style is amazing.
I was surprised how much quality they could fit onto the SNES back it the day, it’s a really good game and everyone with a potato can ploy it.
Pro tip: Remasters have some UI unpleasantness so it’s best to stick to SNES emu version. I tried the Android and they used some native android font that ruined the immersion a bit. There’s also a tight running section that’s particularly unsuited for the mobile version. SNES is best, as originally intended.
For those who love Chrone Trigger however are looking to spice it up, there is the Chrono Trigger: Jets of Time randomizer.
Start with random characters, random bosses, random mobs, and random end game objectives.
That’s interesting! May play it again, with this… Perhaps on my phone, not sure if I could muster the discipline to actually play on my PC.
Chrono Trigger has all the elements done right- 10/10 music, 10/10 art style, RPG and battle systems that were innovative for the time and are still fun to play today.
But I think what sets the game apart as a timeless classic, a masterpiece, is its deep themes of existentialism. Marle has has a fake persona and a mistaken identity, yet we can still see her real self. Crono, as an avatar for the player, is sentenced to death and spared in the last moments. Robo, after being freed from his original programming, asks “Is this what it is like… to die?”
And that’s all just in the first act.
The ideas of Sartre, of Nietzsche, and perhaps most of all “Being and Time” by Heidegger were presented in a way that my 10-year-old self could comprehend and enjoy. But it’s not dumbed down for children, my 30-year-old self can still find deep meaning in the narrative and themes.
Plus, time travel is cool.
I agree with everything you’ve said and reading this comment filled me with joy, but I’m still hungry…
Absolute GOAT of all RPGs without a doubt.
If you happen to stumble on the DS version, that is a pretty good port too.
I second that if for no other reason than the encyclopedia functions. Before we had retroachevements to track things like endings, it gave me a sense of completion getting all the entries.
Chrono Cross, despite being a 3D game made in the late 90s, has also aged pretty well if you want to give it a play too. If the game style doesn’t look to your liking the soundtrack is still great.
That one is interesting in its own right, although you kind of have to appreciate it for what is instead of as a sequel. The ties to Chrono Trigger are very subtle at first.
I swear I’m the only one that can’t figure this game out. I’ve given it a dozen tries and always get stuck not knowing how to progress.
I played without a guide, and I think I got stuck like that in a couple places later on but eventually got through it. Honestly though if you’re stuck and no longer having fun figuring it out just use a guide so you can see the rest of the game, nobody said you had to be that kind of patient gamer.
The thing is, I don’t know where I am, too far back, mobs two hit me, too far forward, no progress… Bleh
If you gave me a screenshot of anywhere at anytime in the game, I’d be able to tell you where to go next lol
Heck the first thing I ever posted to reddit that blew up was a walkthrough of the level shown in this meme:
I think like 93 million bc, there’s a cave gorilla that’s basically two shotting all my characters. Or I can go to a festival present day where the princess doesn’t want to talk to her dad.
If this is before you get your Gate Key back: You gotta get through the caves by dropping down a bunch of holes; at that point in the game there’s only one path to progress. There are ways around MOST of the bao baos (those big gorilla guys), but you’re gonna have to fight a couple. They are the strongest things down there and also the only thing not weak to lightning magic. You may want to grind on Gato to get some more levels; especially if you have avoided most encounters.
Focus on the bao bao first. They take slightly more damage from magic than physical attacks. I like to have Robo here because he can dish out damage and do full party heals. Ayla and Crono are required here, but they also have an excellent duo tech that deals lighting and physical damage to everything in a wide area.
The boss at the end is a Triceratops and you’ll get your Gate Key back while being introduced to another boss you’ll fight a bit later.
I was in the wrong era, lol. I had to go to 600AD and I was way over leveled. I’m currently on a mission called Tata and the frog after getting the broken matamuse
Oh lol. That’s what the meme earlier is part of too lmao
I remember getting a bit lost there too. If I’m not sure where I’m going after 15 minutes of wandering I just look up a guide. I did that 3 times I think which for sá open world without quest markers is an incredible feat.
My claim to fame: played through that running section on an iPod touch in 2010.
Only took about an hour. I had more free time, back then.
One of my all time favs. Secret of Mana and A Link to the Past are right up there too.
Link to the past has some strong core memories connected to it, let me tell you
You might want to try Sea of Stars, it is fairly similar and also very good (but quite shorter)
Definitely a great game and gave me my chrono trigger nostalgia.
I love chrono trigger, though I’m pretty young so my first time playing it was the Nintendo DS version in 2017. That soundtrack too… I get such warm feelings when I hear it.
I was also a latecomer to this game (played it in college). The time jumps were crazy!
That fucking rat
Until Dwarf Fortress came along, Chrono Trigger was my all time favorite video game.
Thanks for your post. I’m nearing the end of dragon quest XI and have been wondering what my next jrpg would be.
I think this is it as it has been on my list for some time. I played a bit of it like 15 years ago, it I have no idea how far I had gotten into the game.
Never played it but I’ve listened to some of the soundtrack and it is awesome
