There are two camps regarding the reception of Chrono Cross amongst the gaming community. There's the camp who echo the critics and believe that Chrono Cross is every bit as good as Chrono Trigger. Then there's the camp who thinks that Chrono Cross was a major letdown and doesn't do Chrono Trigger justice. I am firmly in the first camp. As blasphemous as it may sound, I'd go as far as to say that Chrono Cross is even better than Chrono Trigger. Its characters may not be as memorable and its storytelling is not as crisp, but it has a much deeper battle system and a breathtakingly gorgeous visual design that outdoes almost every JRPG out there.
Weirdly enough, the story in Chrono Cross is one of its weaker points, though still quite strong. Basically, you play the role of a purple-haired kid named Serge, who lives in a small fishing village called Arni in the greater archipelago of El Nido. Your girlfriend Leena sends you to a tropical beach-like area called Lizard Rock to get her some kimodo scales so that she can make a necklace out of them. The two of them then meet at the beach and have some wistful conversation when suddenly a strange force envelops Serge and he is sent to what appears to be the same beach. Only it is a different version of beach. And when Serge travels home, he realizes that he is the same village, but in a different dimension. After all, nobody recognizes him, not even his mother and girlfriend. When he talks to his girlfriend, she treats him like a stranger and tells him that a boy named Serge died 10 years ago. Serge then goes to his own grave in this new dimension. It is there that the henchmen of a mysterious antagonist named Lynx tries to capture him. But before they can, a wild blonde girl named Kid with an Australian accent comes onto the scene and helps Serge fight them off. Kid then joins your team and the two hunt down Lynx and try to get to the bottom of Serge's mysterious predicament. This leads to one of the weirdest stories you're likely to encounter in an RPG. Philosophical themes having to do with choices, time, identity and existence are all explored in an absolutely mind-bending tale that is hard to get your head around. You'll have to play the game twice to really understand it.
The story is very interesting and atmospheric (I love the contrast between the bright tropical environments and the eerie storyline), but it could have been a bit more crisply told. The substance of the story is all ready kind of confusing and the execution doesn't always help. Still, this is definitely one of the most unique and thought-provoking stories in gaming and the main characters---of which there are only a few---are well fleshed out and have interesting story arcs. Even the silent hero Serge is pretty well fleshed out despite having no dialogue.
As I said, there are only a few main characters, but Chrono Cross is famous for having tons of characters that you can recruit into your party. I believe the exact number is forty-five. The assload of recruitable characters is the subject of much controversy: some people think the developers went overboard and would have served the game better by sticking to less characters and fleshing them out more. I, however, think the character count works to the game's benefit. This is because the characters still have distinct personalities, skills, and dialects even if not all of them are particularly relevant to the overarching story. It is great fun to explore the world for people to recruit. Not to mention that the story sometimes branches off in a slightly different direction depending on who you recruit and when.
As a final note on the story, although the game does incorporate a surprising number of plot threads from Chrono Trigger, playing that game is not essential to understanding the story in Chrono Cross. The game makes clear that the events of Chrono Cross are happening the Chrono Trigger universe, but Chrono Cross feels so different that you'll wonder if that is actually true. Some people feel that the Chrono Trigger elements feel shoehorned in, but I think the Chrono Cross team did quite a good job of weaving the two tales together. The connections make enough sense even if the tone and intention of the two games are much different.
Although the story is not quite perfect, the combat system is one of the game's great assets. Chrono Trigger used a very fun and basic system that felt right at home from the very first battle. Chrono Cross's system, however, will take some getting used to, but once you've gotten over the learning curve, it is deeply rewarding. The battle system basically works like this: you have a weak attack, a middling attack, and a strong attack. The weak attack is most likely to connect, but doesn't do much damage. The middle attack is less likely to connect, but does more damage, and the strong attack does the most damage but is the least accurate. You can keep attacking as long as your character has stamina points remaining. Each action you take costs a certain amount of stamina points. Weak attacks cost less and stronger attacks cost more. In addition, you also have what is called an elemental grid. This is where the game's magic (called elements) attacks come into play. You can set elements that you buy or find into the empty slots on the grid (you get more slots as you level up) so that you can use them in battle. You can only use them once per battle, so you'll have to choose carefully at first (the only elements that you can use more than once are the consumable elements, which basically act as items like potions and antidotes and what not). You can use an element as long as you have stamina remaining, but you can't use all elements at all times. To use stronger elements, you must land regular hits to increase your element level, which gives you access to more of your grid. Using an element usually takes your character's remaining stamina points, putting the character out of action until the stamina gauge refills; you can conserve and regain stamina by defending. Furthermore, elements have certain colors attached to them. Some colors are weak against others and vice-versa. You can maximize your effectiveness by using the right color elements. All characters can use various colors, but they'll have an innate color that they have more of an aptitude with.
Another one of nuances of the battle system is something called a "field effect." If three of the same colored spells are used consecutively, the battlefield will become that color and allow characters with the same innate color to gain a stats boost or use special summon spells that can only be used if the field is a single color. The field effect is very useful and can help against stronger enemies, but you don't really have to mess around with it if you don't want to.
The battle system may sound convoluted from my description, but it is actually quite intuitive and players will feel right at home within a couple hours. Again, Chrono Cross's battles might not be as instantly fun as Chrono Trigger's, but they are far more rewarding in the long run. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that Chrono Cross has the best turn-based system out there.
The pacing is superb as well. The game successfully balances out slower moments with thrilling and tense ones. Furthermore, there is a great amount of variety and surprises in the way scenarios play out and the game constantly throws curve balls at you and uses dimension-hopping (you'll be traveling between two different dimensions regularly) just as creatively as Chrono Trigger used bouncing between different time periods. It is fascinating to hop between the two different dimensions and observe the differences and similarities. The differences seemed to be based on choices, which can have quite a beautiful effect. For instance, in one dimension, you meet the son of an ex-painter. The father is quite wealthy and he and his son live in a big gorgeous house by the sea. Yet the son is unhappy because the father ignores him and looks down on painting, urging him to get into accounting because being an artist does not pay well. In the other dimension, however, the father is poor, but is dedicated to painting and the son is trying his hardest to assist him and help scrounge up money to pay the rent. Seeing two different choices (to paint or not to paint) lead to two different outcomes is utterly captivating.
Another area in which Chrono Cross succeeds is in avoiding many of the less popular aspects of JRPGs. There is no grinding whatsoever due to the star leveling system. Basically, the game gives you a new star level every time you beat a boss, increasing your stats. Fighting regular enemies will give you extra stat bonuses, but these bonuses will eventually stop until the next star level is reached. By controlling your growth, the game makes sure that you are always at an appropriate level to fight the game's enemies and bosses. And due to the massive amount of characters, your star level applies to your whole group, getting rid of the necessity of grinding up new additions to your party. This way, you won't shy away from switching party members in fear of having to level them up to match the rest of the party. Furthermore, like Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross doesn't have random encounters. Enemies are represented as avatars moving about the environment. The only way you'll trigger combat is if they run into you or you run into them. And unlike Chrono Trigger, the game lets you avoid almost everything and it also lets you run away from any battle---even boss battles---with a 100% success rate. So if a battle is not going your way, you can run away, regroup, and try again. This kind of convenience ensures that you'll go through the game with few roadblocks. Not to mention that the game can automatically dig through your healing elements to patch you up after battle. The amount of effort that the developers went through to make the experience smooth and convenient is truly commendable.
As satisfying as this all is, Chrono Cross's greatest strength is in its visual design. The archipelago of El Nido is jawdroppingly gorgeous. Everything has a lived-in tropical look that is an absolute visual treat no matter where you are in the world. There are stunning beaches, tranquil fishing villages, a town made of coral, cruise ships, pirate ships, jungles, etc. My favorite location is Termina, the biggest city in the game. It has a kind of bright white Mediterranean look about it that I found particularly striking. Furthermore, the city hustles and bustles in a very natural way that is a stark contrast from the more mechanical cities found in other JRPGs. All this combines and results in an atmosphere that is at once gorgeous and mysterious and which shimmers with a kind of seductive aquatic beauty. The character models are also stunning. I am still amazed that such crisp, well proportioned models are possible on the original PlayStation.
The sound is nearly as gorgeous as the art. The tunes in Chrono Cross are very gentle and acoustic, further emphasizing the game's organic feel. Moving and tranquil melodies abound and the music is so well recorded that you could mistake it for orchestration. Sound effects are also expertly done, allowing the player to bask in the game's sounds as well as its sights.
At about thirty-five to forty hours, Chrono Cross is not especially long, nor is it particularly challenging (only a few boss fights will give you any real trouble), but it has tons of replay value. You can start the game on new game plus and take different paths, leading to slightly different story branches. Plus, I doubt all the characters can be attained in a single playthrough, so there is much to be had in playing this game several times. Plus, there is plenty of optional content for people who like to sink their teeth into the experience.
Chrono Trigger's legacy is such that any sequel was likely to face a mountain of scrutiny. After my playthough of Chrono Cross, I was pleased to know that the developers not only matched Chrono Trigger in sheer goodness, but managed to outdo it in many ways. If you're expecting Chrono Trigger part two, you'll be extremely disappointed, but if you're looking for a adventure that is at once beautiful, unique, and thought-provoking, look no further than Chrono Cross.
GAMEPLAY: 5/5
DESIGN: 5/5
STORY: 4.5/5
VISUALS: 5/5
PLAYABILITY: 5/5
VALUE: 5/5