Chrono Cross is a masterful RPG that mixes gorgeous aesthetics with an engaging cast and plotline.
In 1995, the men behind Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Dragon Ball joined forces to create what has become an endearing classic, one of the best games of the 16-bit genre, and an RPG standard for the ages. This game was the seminal Chrono Trigger. Five years have passed since then, and the team behind the sequel has changed dramatically, but Chrono Cross exceeds all expectations. Following in the footsteps of a classic, Chrono Cross is even better than its seminal forbear. It is the greatest role-playing game of all time, a crowning achievement for what games can accomplish.
Wasting no time, Chrono Cross hits the ground running with a fantastic CG cutscene, the dynamic events set to thrilling music. From the color pallette to the character design to the Celtic-flavored soundtrack, the tone for the entire game is set with this stirring prologue.
The soundtrack as a whole is astonishingly good, with real instruments continuning the evolution of game music away from the bleeps, bloops, and MIDI sounds of yesteryear. Yasunori Mitsuda returns, having worked on the soundtrack for Chrono Trigger with Final Fantasy veteran composer Nobuo Uematsu. Here he flexes his creative muscles confidently, employing both original melodies that tug at the heart as well as referencing tunes from the Super Nintendo classic that came before it. As part of Chrono Cross' general plot conceit of two dimensions, he also seizes the opportunity to rework different versions of themes within Cross, having a melody play one way in one dimension and another in the next. From the opening, soothing strains that move into the chugging, churning spell of "Scars of Time" to the final tracks of the game and everywhere in between, Mitsuda is not only at his own personal best, but at the best in the business. This is a soundtrack that not only enhances the gameplay but also stands on its own after the player shuts off their console. That it ties into the very story of the game on top of all this is nothing short of incredible. Sound isn't just a component of the game to be judged on its own; it's intrinsically tied to the entire expeirence and, when playing the game, cannot be separated from it.
Accompanying such powerful music is the game's stunning visuals. After the lush CG opening movie, the players are brought back to the world of grainy PlayStation graphics. Luckily, Chrono Cross has art direction in spades, salvaging a system pushed to its very limit with effective use of color and textures. The palette is bright and lively, with lots of vibrant greens and blues, slashes of yellow and red interspersed throughout. This is not only appeasing to the eye but actually ties into the game's core gameplay conceits as well, weaving through the experience beyond what the player sees and melding into what the player does. The character design is also well-done and varied, not only detailed and unique but also drawing inspiration from every possible source. Party members range from bartenders to wrestlers, homebodies to plant life, voodoo dolls to canines. Not content to simply be pretty to look at, Chrono Cross is more than willing to take a few chances with sights that many an RPG gamer will find they have not yet seen. A majority of the game is played with 3D characters on pre-rendered backgrounds that hold up well, but the battle scenes, which take place on now-standard 3D battlefields, look surprisingly good as well.
Chrono Cross also delivers a very unique battle system quite unlike any before it. Each member of the player's three-person party has a maximum of seven stamina points. At the start of the battle, they are all at full stamina, and the player can choose attacks of varying strength and accuracy (which are inversely related to each other). Each successful attack charges the player's element points, which allows them to cast increasing strength of spells from the player-sorted spell grid, which is established before combat.
There are two kinds of elements players allot on their character's grids; consumable and normal. Each character (and the enemies you fight) have an innate element as well, as the world of Chrono Cross is very much based on six elements... water, fire, earth, wind, light, and dark. These are not only exploitable strengths and weaknesses, but also playa very large role in defeating the game.
If the heart of an RPG is the battle system, its soul is the cast and plot, and Chrono Cross delivers. While it does become a bit obtuse near the end, Chrono Cross has an engaging storyline, and that storyline is made more personal and more important by the characters you meet. Since more than 40 characters in the game can join your party, you will find that Chrono Cross is not about six random people who must band together for world salvation... Chrono Cross is about people who live in this world, who want to help save it, not just hope the ragtag band of misfits do so. RPGs are rarely remotely realistic, but in Chrono Cross, at least it's an issue for all of the land, not just the select few who choose to shoulder the responsibility.
Replay is always an issue in RPGs, and Chrono Cross delivers much more than msot games in the JRPG subgenre. With a few divergent plot points, many optional sidequests and bosses, and the opportunity to restart the game after beating it for more endings, Chrono Cross is a game you beat and then dive right back into for more.
When all is said and done, Chrono Cross is an astounding RPG accomplishment, a mix of the nuts and bolts that make a game worht playinga nd the aesthetics and heart to make the player care. No game is perfect, but when it comes to RPGs, Chrono Cross is as close to perfection as I have ever seen.