Going into this, I didn't know what to expect. Was it a medieval fantasy? Futuristic? Was it a deep, psychological story? Was it more lighthearted and upbeat? These were all things I was looking forward to figuring out, and things I usually know before I start playing. Not in a long time had I gone in to a game so blindly; it was exciting, but a bit nerve wracking. What If I had committed to this game and didn't like it?
Luckily for me, that wasn't an issue at all. Despite a few frustrating in-game moments, the game overall was exactly what I was looking for in an RPG. Characters I was invested in, a magical fantastical journey, memorable locations, and an overall joy to play.
Spoilers below
The player is brought on a journey through time. You start out as the silent protagonist, Crono, heading to the festival to see the latest creation by his scientific-minded friend, Lucca. At the festival, Crono runs in to a lively young woman who identifies herself as Marle. When the two head over to see Lucca's new invention, something reacts with a pendant that Marle possesses. Crono and Marle are then teleported to an unfamiliar and strange place. A place they have never seen before. This place is later recognized as 400 years before their time.
Throughout the game, the party travels to various different eras, gaining new allies along the way: Robo, a kindhearted robot from the future; Frog, a noble frog from the middle ages; Ayla, a strong and confident woman from prehistoric times; and Magus, a powerful wizard from the time of magic.
When the party arrives in the future, they find a terrible dystopian society where the people are scared and starved and the land is in ruins. Learning that this is caused by an alien being, Lavos, the party travels through time, trying to find anyway to bring about a brighter future.
The gameplay has traditional RPG elements, such as a leveling system. The enemies are seen on the field and upon contact with them, the player is brought to a separate battle screen, where they select from a number of available actions, such as Attack, Tech, and Item. Magic also becomes available at a certain point in the game. Each character has a dominant element, which decides which spells become available to them. Magic and skills are learned by winning battles and acquiring TP (or Techical Points). The player has no control over which abilities are learned, as they are all learned in a specific order.
One interesting element of gameplay, which is uncommon in a lot of RPGs, is the combo feature. Characters will learn combo moves to perform with their fellow party members. The battle party contains three characters at a time and, depending on the party, sometimes combo attacks between all three can be executed, as long as all three have their ATB bars full. Another interesting aspect is that later in the game, the player acquires a “time machine” of sorts that will allow them to travel freely between eras without needing to find a “Gate” that allows them to do so. The game also has strong replay value, as there are a large number of alternative endings to be found by defeating the boss at different points in the game.
For all of the positives, there are of course some negatives. I didn't enjoy how late in the game it takes to acquire a certain party member. You don't get to fully utilize the character and watch him grow as much as the others because he comes in so late. Although this is a minor complaint, I found it a bit silly that even events in sidequests would always happen in one of the particular eras you are able to travel to, despite there being hundreds, sometimes thousands of years in between each era the player can visit during which these events could have happened. Once such case was when an object was stolen. The theft happened during one of the eras the player can travel, but it did not happen in any of the hundreds of years in between, all which realistically would have allowed for someone to go in and steal the item. I understand why they did it, and it certainly wasn't a deal breaker, it was just silly in some cases. There are also has a few locations I found unpleasant. Another complaint would be spending long periods of time fighting random enemies, with very little in the way of story progression happening. However, all of these complaints are very minor and overall the game was a joy to play.
This is a game I'm happy I had the opportunity to experience. It did a good job of mixing serious and investing with lighthearted and fun. It had a very strong cast of characters, even my least favorites in the bunch were still characters I enjoyed on some level. There are many interesting locations that I was happy to visit, and it did a good job of hooking my interest, making me excited to see what happens next.
I would say Chrono Trigger has very much stood the test of time. Because of its age, it focused less on the show and more on the tell, which I think is how it should be for this type of game. RPGs are largely about a story you can immerse yourself in, and this one certainly had a good one. There were a few things I wasn't used to, since I am not used to games of this age, and one of them was missing certain doors and entrance ways because I couldn't see them as easily as I could in newer games. This led to me getting stuck a few times until I learned to look for signs on the map and adjusted to it. It has a bit more difficulty to it than some modern RPGs and requires a good deal of grinding to get all of the characters abilities. I would say the game is comparable, if not superior to a lot of modern games I've played because it has such a strong focus on story and characters, as well as having interesting gameplay elements such as having your decisions affect certain sidequests. Overall, it was a great experience playing it and I can see why it's so loved. I would definitely recommend it.
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