Many people refer to this game as the best JRPG ever made and with good reason. Although it came out in the 16-bit era, Chrono Trigger feels like it hasn't aged a day. With its well-realized time traveling concept, its beautiful visuals, its charming story with equally charming characters, its superb sidequests, and the fact that it bucks several archaic JRPG traditions, Chrono Trigger remains a role playing masterpiece even after all of these years. There have been other games that have flirted with the concept of time, but few have done it with such enthusiastic commitment.
Chrono Trigger, is, at its heart, another story in which you save the world from impending destruction. However, it has a unique twist. You are spiky-haired boy named Chrono. You and your science geek friend Lucca are attending a fair in which Lucca is showing off a time machine that she and her father built. You, as Chrono, meet a redheaded young princess named Marle, but through an accidental chain of events involving the time machine, Marle gets sent to the past. Another surprising chain of events later, Chrono, Marle and Lucca are thrust into in a desolate future reminiscent of the Fallout games. Then, after some wandering, you find out that a destructive force named Lavos is responsible for the destruction of the world you know so well. Like any hero worth their salt, Chrono realizes that he has to go back through time to prevent apocalypse.
That is all I'm going to summarize, but there are several clever uses of time in this story and you meet many charming characters along the way, like a courageous frog, an adorable robot and a feisty cavegirl. It isn't the deepest story in the world, but it doesn't need to be. The story is tons of fun, on more than one occasion you'll desperately want to know what happens next, and your actions can influence the story in a pretty substantial way, opening the door for lots of replay value and multiple endings.
In terms of its design, Chrono Trigger seems like any other JRPG with an overworld, towns, dungeons, turn-based combat, a party of characters that gets larger as you play through the story, etc. However, there are several key differences that both set the game apart and immunize it against digital aging. The first difference is the player's ability to see enemies in the environment before you battle them. In other words, the game does away with random encounters all together. This means that if you don't want to get into battles, you don't have to. If you want to sneak past enemies (which isn't always possible, but is most of the time), that is your prerogative. Granted, if you sneak past too many enemies, you'll pay for it later as you'll be underleveled and will get punished by the game's bosses. However, it's not very often that you're forced into combat if you just want to quickly navigate an environment.
A second key difference is the lack of clear distinction between towns and the overworld map. In other older RPGs, you enter towns through the world map and enter houses through the town itself. In Chrono Trigger, there is not a clear distinction between the overworld and towns. You can enter houses and other buildings and dungeons directly through the world map (without a middle step), giving the game a more seamless feel. And unlike many other JRPGs, the world map is gorgeous, vibrant, and detailed, giving the impression that the developers gave the overworld the kind of love that is usually reserved for towns.
Another difference between Chrono Trigger and other 16-bit JRPGs is that Chrono Trigger has a bit of fun with its shops. In other JRPGs of Chrono Trigger's era, the shops can be extremely mechanical, merely serving as a place to buy essential items. Although shops do mostly serve this function in Chrono Trigger, there are some cool little moments centered round them, making them feel more dynamic and lively. For instance, in a shop run by goblin-like baddies, the owner initially refuses to sell goods to humans. That is until you defeat one of his companions in battle. Then he decides to sell items to you, but at ridiculously high prices.
However, cool moments are not limited to shops. The game's progression is practically made of cool moments. Where old school RPGs can often be a mechanical slog from point A to point B, with a progression of events that is as predictable as any long-standing tradition, Chrono Trigger's use of time as its driving force adds some clever unpredictability and variety. Many times progressing through the game is not as simple as going to the next town or locating the next dungeon. Sometimes the player has to figure out what era to go to in order to progress, and on a few occasions, the game requires you to alter events in the past to get farther in the present era. This insures that the game does not get repetitive or predictable. Furthermore, the sidequests make even better use of time than the main quest, resulting in some of the most memorable side quests in any game in any genre. Not only do these quests reward you with needed experience and cool items, but they're rewarding in of themselves, and some of them are downright emotional and add new layers to your characters and the story. If you do decide to give Chrono Trigger a try, you owe it to yourself to check out the sidequests.
Without a strong gameplay foundation, all of Chrono Trigger's cool moments wouldn't matter. Thankfully, the game's combat system is extremely fun and doesn't feel aged in the least. One of the reasons for this is the wealth of attacks available to you. You can choose between slick looking single attacks, punchy joint attacks (called dual techs), and devastating triple attacks. This gives you incentive to experiment with different party combinations. The game also has an active time battle system, which means that you can only attack when your ATB bar is filled up. Thankfully, the ATB bar fills up pretty quickly, making the battles feel brisk and exciting. A lot of the challenge in battles is finding ways to make your ATB bar fill up at optimum speeds, so that you can thwart quick enemies.
Many players say that Chrono Trigger is an easy game and I would agree with them, but only to a certain point. Yes, Chrono Trigger is not particularly challenging overall and if you've made it through games like Phantasy Star II, nothing here is going to test your skills too much as the dungeons are not labyrinthian (they're too well-designed) and regular enemies don't put up much of a fight. However, that is not to say the game is without challenge. Some of the boss battles can be quite challenging, but never aggravating.
An area in which Chrono Trigger clearly defies the wrinkles of time is its visuals. Even in 2011, they are absolutely lovely. They're vibrant, they are clean, they are richly colored, and they are detailed. Throughout your journey, you'll travel through several eras (including the prehistoric era) and they are all very convincing due to the vast wealth of detail in the game's art design. Furthermore, this sense of detail extends to the sprites. Each one is distinctive and they each have their own way of walking and their own mannerisms, fleshing out their personalities even when they aren't talking. Enemy sprites are also well-animated, and for what they lack in menace, they make up for in personality.
The soundtrack is, just as good, if not better, than the visuals. Of course they weren't orchestrating games back in the 16-bit era, but the melodies here are unforgettable and the tracks have varied atmospheres, all fitting their respective eras. Some of the music is mystical, some of it is energetic and heroic, and some of it is beautiful and melancholy. There is even an infectious dance track that it is the theme of a character that you might not expect.
I find that most JRPGs lack replay value, but that certainly isn't the case here. Chrono Trigger will take you about 30 hours to beat on your first playthrough, but with the multiple endings and the branching story, a second playthrough is not unwarranted, which the developers seemed to realize since there is an option called New Game+ in which you keep your character stats and items when you begin a new game.
If, like me, you feel that this generation in lacking in great JRPGs, but you haven't played Chrono Trigger, there is no reason not to give this game a try. The visuals are still slick, the gameplay is still fun, and the time concept still gives the game variety and unpredictability, and a unique sense that you are shaping the events of Chrono Trigger's charming world. So rev up your time machines and set the dial to to the 16-bit era! A fantastic adventure awaits.
GAMEPLAY: 4.5/5
DESIGN: 5/5
STORY: 5/5
VISUALS: 5/5
PLAYABILITY: 5/5
VALUE: 5/5