Well if the hype-machine consumed you before you picked it up it was going to underwhelm you no matter what. Also, it being an older game now, I'm sure it wasn't quite all that and a bag of chips like it was back then.

However, it does have a good and original story to it that I believe competes with many games today. Just don't think about it so much or it will never please you. If you are all about recent games such as Kingdom Hearts 2 and Final Fantasy VII your expectation should not be "Chrono Trigger will be my favorite game of all time," because I highly doubt it will be.

Just keep playing until the end and then you either like it or not I suppose.

As for Chrono Cross, others will tell you it is better, some say it is the same, and others say it is horrible. Yes, I know that all games have those three opinions, but this one is in particular highly debatable among fans. Just read some reviews on it and make the best judgment possible based off their opinion for yourself.