Whenever I think back on this game, I always think “Why, again, was this considered one of the best RPGs in the genre?” I remember particular things, like how there’s no very powerful antagonist like say, Kefka or Sephiroth (Queen Zeal was hardly an antagonist, and Lavos can’t even talk…your first real antagonist elect can even become one of your party members). I remember things like how static the majority of the main characters are, or how liberally the game chalks things up to coincidence, particularly with where time warps lead you and where you find them. These, for whatever reason, are the things I remember when I try to sit and remember Chrono Trigger.
Then I go and relive the experience.
Recently, I’ve managed to get one of my best friends up here at university started on the game - he just made it to the End of Time. I can scarcely believe how I forget how good the game is. It’s not just that the characters, while largely static, are fun and impressive within their scope. It’s not just the simple realization that you don’t need a powerful antagonist to have a powerful conflict…a really powerful plot - moreover, that having several people in several places with several problems really enriches the experience and makes it more alive. It’s not even just the fact that sometimes, coincidence in fantasy can be a really exciting, spontaneous element when done right, which Chrono Trigger does (a BAD example would be, say, Final Fantasy 8).
None of that stuff necesarily matters. All of that stuff exists in a game I’m replaying recently called Kartia, and while Kartia is definitely scores better than most people give it credit for, to compare it to Chrono Trigger would be ridiculous. It’s the execution…the way the game, as a sum of its parts, is pulled off is simply amazing.
When we stop our sessions, I’ve recently began to look up Chrono Trigger-related stuff on the internet. When I saw this picture of the bad ending…
…I never imagined that the impact of seeing it again after several years would actually make tears stream down my face. I imagine it’d be hard for anyone who experiences sensations with any sort of vividity to not get excited about how…exciting this game can be. It truly excites my boyish spirit - I’m happy to see Crono and co. succeed, and I’m scared to see what happens if they don’t. The fact that you KNOW what happens if they don’t is perhaps one of the biggest reasons - that’s a lot of responsibility! It brings back memories of how nervous I was when I first did the final boss sequence at age…I think I was eleven? No fucking song with any electric guitar could produce the same amount of adrenaline that I had pouring through me.
When I think about that, it really bothers me to think about the absolute shit that people pass off today as good RPGs, like Kingdom Hearts 2 and Final Fantasy 12. Gimme a fuckin’ break.
Yeah. Chrono Trigger rules. It’s not nearly as indestructably perfect as people think, but it no doubt deserves to be revered as one of the best RPGs of all time. …Not that any of you don’t already know that. I just rediscovered it recently, and had to talk about it.