The greatest RPG game to date. Every true RPG lovers dream.
I first heard about this game through a friend who had lent me Vagrant Story (another great RPG classic) and after playing that, I thought that it would be hard to top. But it caught my eye the minute I looked at the cover and read a synposis of the plot.
I quickly called my nearest EB Games, at the time, and sure enough they checked and had oneee copy left. My mom wouldn't drive me so I rode my bike in excitement and purchased the last copy, that I still have to this date.
And that was the beginning of the rest of my videogaming life.
No game since Chrono Cross has moved me or impacted me as much. Everything about the game stunned me. The graphics at the time, the gameplay and fighting mechanics were so innovative as I had been used to turn-based, FF style fights. The story was immense and so captivating that I feigned about a week of being sick just so I could stay home from school to play the game.
The graphics. Some of the best graphics for the PSX at the time. The maps were beautiful and fully detailed to the last pixel, although sometimes a tiny bit difficult to navigate. The fighting cinematics were surreal, with some of the special attacks enveloping the whole screen in a beautiful display of vibrant colours. The cutscenes were top of the line CGI at the time and would still be considered decent to this day.
The battle mechanics. Straying from the normal FF style turn-base fighting, Chrono Cross used a turn-based style of its own, with percentages deciding the success rate of your attack and a stamina bar gauging how much you can attack. Although this might sound far fetched, it delves a lot deeper than this but would take a while to explain. But trust me when I say it's marvelous.
Finally, the story. This game has by far the best story any RPG has ever had. I won't say anything about the story other than that it has nothing to do with Chrono Cross. If you decide to pick up the game, you will enjoy every last detail of the story for yourselves.
Overall, this is a must own for any RPG fan. Even newcomers to RPGs should pick this up as well. Any gamer who values a great game should own this.
By far, the greatest RPG game, and possibly game in general, to date.