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Chrono Cross
Text Review
The understatement of this review is that Chrono Trigger is revered amongst the video game community. A more accurate assessment is that Chrono Trigger is held in such high esteem that the mere mention of its name provokes any gamer to spew out superlative-laced parlance. Indeed, rarely does a game make late teens and twenty-somethings sound like sages by compelling out of them statements like, “Yep, they don't make 'em like that anymore...” So, it'll probably be difficult to quantify the amount of pressure that was on developer Square to turn out a sequel worthy of the “Chrono” moniker. Did Square buckle under this pressure? Well, if they did it certainly didn't manifest itself in Chrono Cross, which is every bit as good as its legendary prequel.
Chrono Cross' beautiful and complex story is engrossing till the very end and can stand toe-to-toe with just about any of today's JRPGs. You're Serge, a young man from the seaside town of Arni Village who's sent to retrieve some Komodo Scales (c'mon, they're all the craze these days!) for his female friend Leena. After he retrieves these scales, he takes a trip to the plot-pivotal Opassa Beach where he's mysteriously transported to an alternate version of his world. What follows is an extremely charming tale that will confound you all the way through.
While time does play a role in Chrono Cross, you'll be doing more dimension-traveling than anything else. The alternate version of Serge's world, known as Another World, is indeed a parallel universe and very different from Serge's Home World. Both worlds contain all of the same characters, but they lead very different lives. Indeed some of the more entertaining exchanges occur when a Home World member of your party encounters his or her Another World counterpart. And speaking of party members, there are tons—45 in total—and while some are more useful than others, each of them has his own unique and interesting background.
Chrono Cross's gameplay is classically addictive. The enemies are seen on-screen so you can fight and avoid at will. Elements, the game's de facto magic system, play a huge role in battles. Each spell is highlighted in your menu screen with the color of its elemental classification (fire is red, water is royal blue, light is white, etc.), and if you use the spell of the same element (four fire spells, for instance) four times in a row, the field will become consumed by that element, so to speak, making moves of that element much stronger. Now, your elemental field can be troubled any time if another element is used, so bear this in mind when you're ready to string together four spells of the same color.
Chrono Cross is one of the prettiest games on Sony's first PlayStation. The tropical setting contains many bright and colorful locales that are just inviting to look at. But the visuals take a back seat to the game's score which is among the most beautiful I've ever heard. I mean, just about every tune in this game will crack its way into your heart. The soothing sounds of Another World's over world map, Arni Village, Home World's over world map, as well as others will probably compel you to look the OST up so you can listen to them over and over again.
While there may never be such a thing as a “perfect” game, Chrono Cross comes pretty darn close to achieving whatever “gaming perfection” is. Its sweet story, awesome battle system, beautiful graphics, and breathtaking score combine to make one monstrously-epic RPG. I really could go on and on about this game, but I'll conclude with this: anybody who doesn't absolutely hate RPGs needs to play Chrono Cross. If you're an RPG fan then Chrono Cross will reaffirm why you love the genre so much; if you're not enamored with the genre, then this may just be the game to reel you in for a lifetime. Either way, this is a game that needs to be played by anybody who calls himself a gamer.
- Nathan Jagrup
Developer: Square
Publisher: Square Electronic Arts
Platform(s): PS1
Chrono Cross' beautiful and complex story is engrossing till the very end and can stand toe-to-toe with just about any of today's JRPGs. You're Serge, a young man from the seaside town of Arni Village who's sent to retrieve some Komodo Scales (c'mon, they're all the craze these days!) for his female friend Leena. After he retrieves these scales, he takes a trip to the plot-pivotal Opassa Beach where he's mysteriously transported to an alternate version of his world. What follows is an extremely charming tale that will confound you all the way through.
While time does play a role in Chrono Cross, you'll be doing more dimension-traveling than anything else. The alternate version of Serge's world, known as Another World, is indeed a parallel universe and very different from Serge's Home World. Both worlds contain all of the same characters, but they lead very different lives. Indeed some of the more entertaining exchanges occur when a Home World member of your party encounters his or her Another World counterpart. And speaking of party members, there are tons—45 in total—and while some are more useful than others, each of them has his own unique and interesting background.
Chrono Cross's gameplay is classically addictive. The enemies are seen on-screen so you can fight and avoid at will. Elements, the game's de facto magic system, play a huge role in battles. Each spell is highlighted in your menu screen with the color of its elemental classification (fire is red, water is royal blue, light is white, etc.), and if you use the spell of the same element (four fire spells, for instance) four times in a row, the field will become consumed by that element, so to speak, making moves of that element much stronger. Now, your elemental field can be troubled any time if another element is used, so bear this in mind when you're ready to string together four spells of the same color.
Chrono Cross is one of the prettiest games on Sony's first PlayStation. The tropical setting contains many bright and colorful locales that are just inviting to look at. But the visuals take a back seat to the game's score which is among the most beautiful I've ever heard. I mean, just about every tune in this game will crack its way into your heart. The soothing sounds of Another World's over world map, Arni Village, Home World's over world map, as well as others will probably compel you to look the OST up so you can listen to them over and over again.
While there may never be such a thing as a “perfect” game, Chrono Cross comes pretty darn close to achieving whatever “gaming perfection” is. Its sweet story, awesome battle system, beautiful graphics, and breathtaking score combine to make one monstrously-epic RPG. I really could go on and on about this game, but I'll conclude with this: anybody who doesn't absolutely hate RPGs needs to play Chrono Cross. If you're an RPG fan then Chrono Cross will reaffirm why you love the genre so much; if you're not enamored with the genre, then this may just be the game to reel you in for a lifetime. Either way, this is a game that needs to be played by anybody who calls himself a gamer.
- Nathan Jagrup
Developer: Square
Publisher: Square Electronic Arts
Platform(s): PS1
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