Mystified by the Cult of Chrono Trigger
Of course, anyone who has witnessed Square Enix’s recent track record when it comes to re-releasing their old RPGs and still happens to be surprised by this isn’t really paying attention. Chrono Trigger, which gained the majority of its notoriety as a classic RPG for the Super Nintendo, has already been re-released once, as part of Final Fantasy Chronicles for the original PlayStation, complete with a few bonus cutscenes created for the purpose of giving the included games a reason to live on the PlayStation.
Like a lot of kids who were just getting in to the whole “video games” thing in a big way during the time of the SNES, I simply didn’t notice Chrono Trigger amidst a sea of Final Fantasy games; my time with the SNES was limited as I didn’t own one, and the only RPGs that I ever played at my friends’ houses were variations on the Final Fantasy name (II/IV, III/VI, Secret of Mana and so on). Phantasy Star was my drug of choice, RPG-wise, and Chrono Trigger barely registered a tick on my still developing hype meter.
My question, then, is this: What makes Chrono Trigger better than, say, Final Fantasy IV? Or VII, for that matter? Why should I play Chrono Trigger ahead of more advanced fare developed specifically for the DS, like the Pokémon games or Atlus’ Rondo of Swords? It’s obviously an influential and beloved game, but why? Or would it be better, at this point, to be surprised?
I would argue that Chrono Trigger is one leanest RPGs ever made. It cuts away nearly all of the boring fat commonly associated with RPGs and polishes what is left to perfection.
For instance, there are no pointless characters in the vein of Umaro, Gogo or Cait Sith in Chrono Trigger. The main characters, enemies and important NPCs are all well developed, with proper backstories and relationships. I wouldn’t call any of them exceptionally deep, but there are no throwaways.
The same goes for the main plotline and all optional subquests. From my memory (it’s been a while) there are no time-wasting fetch quests, disconnected dungeon crawls or mandatory mini-games. Everything fits into themes and ideas presented in the main storyline, and the plot has a real feeling of consistency.
Finally, Chrono Trigger is a gloriously creative game. The different eras are unique and interesting, and present the same world under vastly different conditions. There are also many lateral-thinking time-travel based puzzles; going back into the past to change the present.
Modern RPGs pile on the features and end up with way too much noise. Chrono Trigger did simple and elegant better than any other RPG of the SNES era, in my opinion.
Comment by Matthew Gallant from Montreal, QC — July 3, 2008 @ 11:35 am