It's hard to look at the jewel case for Chrono Cross without its predecessor Chrono Trigger coming to mind. Revered by many as one of the best RPGs of all time, how can you really step up to the sequel without expecting perfection? After all, how can you follow up Chrono Trigger's perfect blend of light-hearted humour, fun battles, and endearing characters? Chrono Cross isn't the same game. To be fair, it shares very little in common with Chrono Trigger outside of some plot elements. As you proceed in the game the plot becomes more intertwined with the plot from Chrono Trigger, which is a nice touch if you've played Trigger repeatedly. Then again, you might also be a bit disappointed given how little of the game is actually referenced. Cross even teases you by including a number of characters that actively mimic Chrono Trigger characters - for example, a swordsman named Glenn (who, while a decent character, is only a shadow of Frog) and a little cave girl named Leah who seems to be channeling Ayla. Did Ayla and Kino's marriage pay off in the form of Leah? We'll never know. Despite its disconnect from Chrono Trigger, the plot in Chrono Cross is handled extremely well, juggling the previously mentioned references along with a whole host of new characters and a number of twists. It is interesting throughout its length and doesn't really have any low point to speak of. Everything else is completely unique. Battles are handled with enemies visible on-screen (you can avoid them if you wish with the only penalty being a shortage of cash) and the typical RPG wipe to the battle screen. There is no active-time meter here, as the battles are handled in a turn-based fashion - your characters can execute 1, 2 or 3 stamina point attacks which are ordered both in terms of damage and chance of hitting. Each character has 7 stamina points to play around with, and they increase as other characters (or enemies) take their respective turns. Spells exist in the form of elements, items you clip into character's element grids. They range from level 1 to 8 and some have the ability to fit in slots above and below their recommended slot with a resulting rise or fall in effectiveness. During battles, successful melee attacks increase your element meter by however many stamina points that attack was worth - ie, landing a weak, medium, and strong attack successfully will net you 6 points in your element grid. You can cast spells whenever your meter is on or above that spell's level, and casting it removes the respective number of points from the meter. Each element can only be cast once per battle, which makes careful element planning essential to a number of battles, and also means you have to balance melee with magic attacks. Magic attacks are also linked with characters - characters have their own special tech skills that are entirely unique, as well as an innate colour affinity. The game balances white and black, red and blue, and yellow and green elements, which means that if you're up against a blue-innate boss, you'll want to cast as many fire-based spells as possible as they do the most damage. Melee damage is also affected, as if you attack a black-innate enemy with the main character Serge (who is innately white) he will do more damage than a blue party member would. The same goes for enemies attacking you, which means you have to balance the affinities of your party before engaging a tough enemy. You can also escape from any battle whenever you want, even against bosses. Made a mistake in choosing elements or characters? Just pull out of the fight, re-organize, and engage him again. Experience points are also absent from Chrono Cross. After the first few post-boss battles you'll find your characters gaining a handful of status increases (usually hitpoints), but the only time your abilities truly increase occurs after beating a boss. The game's levels are represented as stars, which also dictate the number of times you can cast summon elements before resting. The music and sound both work well. None of the music tracks are as memorable as Chrono Trigger's, but they are still well done and fit the game. One positive to the music is that the instrument samples are of a high quality, resulting in MIDI-style tracks that often come across as if they were orchestrated. And finally, the characters. They run the gamut from crazy warped plants and animals to soldiers and cyborgs. The total count is over 40, although the vast majority of the characters are pretty useless in practice. Most of them aren't really paid much attention to in the story - a handful have significant roles, of course, but characters such as Funguy and Turnip are just as useless in the plot as they are in battles. Still, there are enough good characters that complaining about extras seems a bit silly. There are easily 10 very effective characters that you'll find yourself using again and again, and whether you even try out the other characters or not doesn't matter much. If the game really has any fault it's with regards to difficulty. The early portions of the game are often significantly harder than those that fall later. The final set of bosses, as an example, put up less of a fight than many of those that you come across half-way through. However, coupled with avoidable enemies that lack of difficulty means that you won't be stuck on any portion of the game for too long. The whole experience keeps moving at a brisk pace and ensures you won't get bored. It's not Chrono Trigger, and it's not really a sequel either - it's more of a vaguely similar game that exists to compliment the Chrono Trigger universe. Either way, viewed as a lone entry into the RPG genre or directly compared to Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross is still a great game. It does away with the tedious aspects that plague console RPGs and builds on the good parts. And it sure knows how to build.
Other Helpful Reviews for Chrono Cross (PSOne Books)
Gameplay: 10/10 This storyline revolves around ideas of parallel / tangent universes, time travel and other philosophical ideals. The game play consists of two main parts: the adventure and the battle system… Bat... Read Full Review
By now, if you class yourself as a fan of role-playing games, you should have heard of the legendary Chrono Trigger. Released in 1995, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Chrono Trigger was instantly recognised ... Read Full Review
