Chrono Trigger

What a game! I am gonna try to get through this review without saying things like “there’s nothing left to say, it’s all been said”

• Prior to this, I had never played all the way through Chrono Trigger. I had started it a few times, got some ‘fake’ endings a few times, got busy, dropped it, etc. This play through was all the way through, with one of the ‘good’ endings.
• If you like RPGs, I think there is good good reason why this one has earned its’ place in the conversation of “all time greats.” If you only played 1 RPG in your entire life, it would be hard to do better than this one.
• As usual with internet posts about Chrono Trigger, you have to say what your final party was! I went with Frog, Magus, and Best Girl Ayla. I did manage to save Crono before beating the game, but once the party opened up, never really used him again
• This, by the way, is one of the most fun things about the game: After you have every party member, and can go anywhere you want, and are very powerful, you don’t just have to plow straight into the final boss. There is plenty of stuff to do in the world, so you actually have time to enjoy all your new powers! And even collect more stuff which you are actually rewarded for, it’s not just filler.
• If I had to say 1 bad thing about it, it is that the Black Omen dungeon is really, genuinely terrible design. Fighting the same weak monsters over and over again, which does nothing but waste your time, is quite a grind. Feels unnecessary.
• Almost nobody ever writes a “time travel” story which makes sense in any way. And almost no JRPGs have a plot which makes sense in any way. This is both. And yet…. They have pulled it off. The story completely works. The characters are well written; some lovable, some not. The settings, even throughout time, are coherent and believable. It’s an amazing achievement.
• Which is a good thing, because the gameplay itself is overall pretty easy. You never get that feeling of dread where you might be walking into a dungeon without enough items. Or fighting for your life, barely clawing your way across the overworld hoping you don’t get killed. But you don’t care that the gameplay is so easy, because the story and the beautiful sprite work and the music are all so damn good.
• Chrono Trigger released late in the SNES’ lifetime, and it shows. The things that they were able to pull off, graphically, are amazing. You almost don’t even believe what this little console can do until a real A-team demonstrates it like this.
• We need to talk about “RPG anxiety.” Are you one of those people who is always fretting when you’re playing an RPG? Wondering if you missed some big important item that you won’t be able to get again? You don’t necessarily want to use a walkthrough but you can’t stand the thought of missing something? If you are that sort of person, this game is for you. There are not any big, important items which are “missable.” You can play the game by itself, without needing any other materials, and enjoy yourself and relax. Yes, there are several endings, but they don’t exist for the purpose of making you do or collect a bunch of random stuff. They exist for comedic effect, replay value etc.
• Speaking of replay value, I’ve never tried the NG+ mode on here but the game is so good that I can see myself taking a swing at it.