Cross is a sequel for fans of Trigger who grew up and needed a meatier version of the Chronoverse, which is likely why I liked it. Though I won't deny that working on Xenogears certainly had an effect on Kato.

So against my better judgement I chose to go with Nikki cause I've only done his quest once and that was my first playthrough way back in 2000. So my memory was pretty fuzzy about the whole deal. I've come to the conclusion that Nikki might be the worst choice of the trio in gameplay terms. Not only is his quest the most annoying of the three but frankly, Nikki sucks as a party member. Low accuracy, worse damage, and he's not even a great mage compared to Leena who herself isn't even top tier in that department. His attitude also kind of sucks as well since he really cranks up the prima donna aspect more than Pierre who is at least smacked around in the plot for his hubris for comic effect.
Exactly. So I rescued the "Star" traipsed through an obnoxious swamp into an even more annoying cave and finally reached the mansion. I've collected Kid, Poshul, Leena, Mojo, and Nikki so far. Viper Manor is at least entertaining, but I wish Nikki was a more useful party member, which you would think he would be since most of the enemies are Red Innate and he's Blue, but it's really working the other way around here. On the brightside, I've been getting a ton of awesome White Elements for Serge and I've collected several useful materials for weapon/armor crafting once I get out of here.

I kind of forgot how pushy Kid is as well, and how quick she is to fighting her way out of a situation. Not to mention I forgot that she has some obsession with treasure that makes her do stupid things like the obvious trap that gets you into Luccia's lab. Thankfully she's a good party member and Pilfer is a great ability, but I'm starting to remember why I preferred Harle.

I'm starting to think I may go back on my word about choosing the Save Kid route, not because I need Glenn, but more because my bad vibe concerning choosing Nikki will likely come back when I have to deal with Korcha. I'm starting to remember that my one gripe during my first playthrough was the lack of decent party members only to discover it was because I simply kept making bad choices in my first playthrough. With the exception of the ending, altruism usually gets you the short end of the stick in this game.