Chrono Cross is the second game in the series spawned by Chrono Trigger on the SNES, but this time, it was produced solely by Squaresoft, the "Dream Team" having disbanded.
The story begins with a young lad named Serge on a quest to find Komodo Scales for his domineering girlfriend Leena. But something strange happens at Opassa Beach and Serge finds everything has changed. No-one knows him anymore and he hears word of the death of a young lad years ago who shares his name. Teaming up with a mysterious young girl named Kid, he struggles to find his way to the bottom of the mystery...
The battle system is original, incorporating a stamina bar and the usage of elements rather than magic. It seems a bit confusing at first but with a bit of practise, it's easy to get the hang of.
Again, the graphics are excellent, this time fully rendered in 3D. The Nobuteru Yuuki-designed characters look excellent and they flow smoothly across the screen against the equally gorgeous backgrounds. The special effects are awesome as well, some of them are literally breath-taking when you see them, not to mention the gob-smacking FMV scenes.
Music is where I differ with most people about this game. Whilst there are some absolutely amazing tracks such as Time's Scar and People Seized With Life. However, most of the aquatic-themed tunes seem far too placid and limp for my tastes whist others seem to be so trite and uninteresting.
The plot for Chrono Cross is far darker than that of its predecessor. It takes in racism and environmental concerns, not to mention the deceit and the passion that has become Squaresoft's forte in their more recent games. A lot of people complain that the plot is too hard to follow and that it packs most of it into the last few hours of game play but I found neither of those as problems. As long as you concentrate on what's happening it's fairly clear and as for the packing, it gives the ending a far more explosive ending. However, I do feel the final boss is badly introduced. You only find out what it is right before you have to go and fight it which seems rather silly to me.
This game comes with the New Game + function as its predecessor did and Chrono Cross uses it to the full. It has multiple endings, a vast range of characters of which you cannot collect all of them the first time through and the game is full of nifty little secrets you could spend ages looking for and never find.
This game has an excellent story and it draws you in quickly, not letting you go, even when you finish it. I don't care what anyone else says, I love this game but the music stops it from getting ten out of ten for me.
The biggest complaint a lot of people have with this game is the sheer number of characters, and while it may be obscenely large, the point is, they're just in there for fun, to offer the player some variety. Here's a short AIM conversation I had to illustrate exactly what I mean (Names have been changed to protect Roogle's identity... crap!):
Some Retard: You liked Chrono Cross?
Me: yeah, it was a good game
Me: not as good as CT, but still good
Some Retard: ... a freaking turnip joins you.
Some Retard: A TURNIP
Me: so?
Some Retard: How can you like a game where mushrooms go with you
Some Retard: And dead clowns
Some Retard: And Mexican wrestlers
Me: Best kind of clown
Some Retard: I was waiting for a dog to join the party or something
Some Retard: OH WAIT
Me: Poshul XD
Some Retard: Well, at least plants didn't join
Some Retard: OH WAIT
Me: Neo-Fio
Some Retard: Well, at least inanimate objects didn't join
Some Retard: OH WAIT
Some Retard: They come to life and then join you
Me: Mojo
Some Retard: At least everyone and their mom didn't join
Some Retard: OH WAIT
Me: Macha
Some Retard: At least aliens didn't join or something, 'cause that'd be weird
Some Retard: OH WAIT
Me: Starky
Some Retard: Well, at least the a bartender didn't join, or, like, the doctor or something
Some Retard: Hey, WAIT
Me: Doc and Orlha
Some Retard: They might as well have had random townspeople join the party, too
Some Retard: You might as well tell them you join the party, too
Some Retard: Since Chrono Cross has everyone and anyone join
Me: here's the thing though, just don't have them join your party then
Me: it's absolutely no excuse to lambast the game just because of that
Some Retard: ...
Some Retard: That's a great idea
Some Retard: I never thought of that before o_O
Some Retard: Hey
Some Retard: The game might not be so bad after all
Some Retard: I think I forgot they were optional :p
The thing that lowers this game just below the standard of its predecessor though is the fact that Chrono Cross just isn't as fun to play as Chrono Trigger is. By no means is CC a bad game, I love it! I just happen to love CT more.
Score: 9.5/10
-- Spatvark
Wow, what a game! Many people who have played and loved to death Chrono Trigger are quick to bash Chrono Cross, but this game is probably one of the best playstation RPG's out there. Chrono Cross is markedly different from its prequel, and is probably one of the most inovative RPG's to ever hit the market.
The storyline in Chrono Cross is much darker than that of Chrono Trigger. This game was made by many of the same people who made Xenogears, and you can definatly see its influence on the plot. The story may seem confusing at first, and this may be a turn off for some. This is a game that certainly needs to be played more than once to make sense of the plot.
However playing the game more than once is quite easy. This game uses a New Game+ feature allowing you to play through the game again with your original ending stats/items. This is necessary, as it is impossible to dop everything your first time through, you must make irreversable choices.
The battle system in this game shows the most departure from traditional RPG's. There is no ATB system or anything like that. Your characters, and enemies each have a 7 Stamina points at the start of each battle, they can attack for a loss of 1, 2, or 3 points at a time, or cast magic/techs for a loss of 7. As long as they have positive stamina points, they can keep using commands, when it reaches zero, another character or enemy will then have a turn. If another chareacter makes a move, everybody else's stamina will gain 1 point, allowing them to have a turn later. Magic is cast through the use of elements. All elements are equipped before battle, and are placed in a grid of x rows, and up to 8 collumns. Each collumn is labled by level 1 - 8. In battle, each physical attack you do raises the level of magic you can cast, and each spell lowers the level by the level of the spell cast. Also, one space in the Level 3, 5, and 7 collumns are reserved for each characters "techs", which are special moves that only that character can use. This game also doesn't use a traditional level up system, and battles aren't random, allowing a player to skip normal enemies, and not be punished.
The graphics and sound are also amazing. The music was written by Yasunori Mitsuda. It is themed well for the game's tropical atmosphere, and it also contains some remixes of songs from Chrono Trigger. The music is just perfect for the game. The one word to describe graphics is detail. The backgrounds, etc. are so incredebly detailed, for example, fight on the beach, you will see tidepools, look closely at the tidepools and you will see fish swimming. Whoever did these backdrops sure took there time to do it right.
So, overall, Chrono Cross is one of the best RPG's to come to North America, if you can, you should play it now.
Overall: 10/10
-- bennator0
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