Chrono Trigger

Story-wise, this game is absolutely magical. Art-wise, it's transcendent - beautiful designs and music that sends it into the stratosphere. I think that the finest thing about it is how every twist and turn of the plot is accompanied by an equally titanic shift in atmosphere - there's not a single aspect of this game that can be mistaken for another, even within the same time period or portion of the game. It's not as long as some games in the genre, but it just feels immense because every single story and gameplay moment is precision-designed in a way that could only have been done with the innovations of previous 2D JRPGs. As much as it changed the kinds of stories games could tell, it feels like a very polished work (at least with the translation of the DS port; the original English-language SNES translation is a bit clunky, if charming).

I'm not much of a JRPG guy. I don't mind them, but you won't see me getting excited over the next installment of Final Fantasy or Xenoblade Chronicles. Chrono Trigger is the JRPG that is made for people like me. People who don't want extremely long, multi-disc runtimes, annoying random encounters, and simple one-note combat. People who want to cut straight to the chase, no fluff or frills. Chrono Trigger is the quintessential JRPG.

First, let's talk about writing. Some of the best video game characters ever written appear here. Frog and Robo are my stand-out examples for this (and were not so surprisingly my permanent party members throughout the game).

Sure, the "very human robot" is a bit of a cliche, but the way it's delivered through Robo is incredible. Whether it's the iconic campfire scene, spending four hundred years cultivating Fiona's Forrest, the Mother Brain encounter, or the heartstring-tugging realization that Robo will never exist in the future the party has created after defeating Lavos. He gives his existence for a timeline he'll never exist in.

Then there's Frog, formerly Glenn. A Squire under the legendary knight Cyrus, the two form a close bond. But Magus ends up killing Cyrus and cursing Glenn to become a Frog. He becomes overwhelmed with guilt over Cyrus's death and exiles himself from the kingdom he served to protect. He eventually learns to let go of the past and overcome his insecurity. Frog even faces Cyrus's killer but (up to player choice) spares Magus, as he realizes revenge won't bring him back.

These characters are masterclasses in writing, but there are a few minor blemishes in terms of character writing. I think the silent protagonist trope doesn't work well in a game like this. With party members constantly bouncing dialogue off each other, it'd be nice if Crono said any himself, though I still think he's a good character. Crono sacrificing himself came out of left field and truly proved his selflessness. I believe many JRPGS fail to prove the hero's worth and how much they're willing to give up to complete their goals.

Ayla is pretty easily the worst character. She's just pure comic relief, "me no talk so good" caveman-type character, which doesn't mix well with the more interesting characters. She barely gets any character development, too. More time on the burner would've done her wonders.

And the main story is wonderfully written, too—themes of fate, sacrifice, and of course, friendship crop up. It's all written in a surprisingly mature way. The game knows when to let its guard down and be a bit silly too, but never gets in the way of the seriousness of the plot. And it helps that it can be pretty funny too. A lot of it seemed very anime-esque; it indeed helped that it has artwork and cutscenes animated by the legendary Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball fame.

Combat is where I expected this game to falter. Besides Pokemon, I don't think I've felt anything more than "it's alright" of a battle system of a JRPG. Not here, though. The combat in Chrono Trigger is the gold standard of JRPG combat. Actual, meaningful decision-making, really tough but fair bosses (no stat check bosses), and something I thought I'd never see, no random encounters.

The music here is unbeatable, and sorry, but the soundtrack smokes anything ANY Final Fantasy game has to offer. "A Strange Happening," "Battle 1", "Ruined World," and of course "Secret of the Forest" are up there in terms of the best video game tracks ever written.

What can I even say about the sprite work? This is one of the prettiest games I've ever played. They did a fantastic job of making every area distinct and memorable. The characters are hyper-detailed and look incredible.

Chrono Trigger is one of those games that shows what the right people are capable of making. It oozes soul, personality, and love out of every pixel on the screen. It consistently ranks in people's favorite games ever made, and can you blame them? Chrono Trigger is one in a million, a true piece of art, and one of the posterchilds of video games as a medium.

They simply dont make em this good anymore. A perfect distillation of everything a 16 bit era RPG could do right. Dense, well written, fun combat, insanely good soundtrack, and art by Akira Toriyama. A perfect storm rivaled only by some of the other legends of the genre like the Mother games.

Alguns passos à frente de seu tempo, no gameplay e na narrativa.

Como esse jogo é empolgante, meu deus. Prova cabal de que não é necessária dificuldade para acelerar o coração do jogador.

É tudo impecável aqui. Que bom que eu escolhi este como meu primeiro JRPG, que venham mais.

Chrono Trigger, the spawn of an all-star collaboration between Squaresoft, Dragon Ball's author Akira Toriyama, and Dragon Quest's creator Yuji Horii, is a densely-packed work that excels in its charming characters, narrative details, and memorable moments that flow like clockwork. The courtroom scene and campfire scene - in particular, can very well rank among the greatest cutscenes of all time. Much of these strengths lie in its time travel feature (quoting A Link to the Past) and its influence over side quests, loot, and multiple different endings (not just 2 or 3) with a notable attention to detail. Adding to that recipe are unique, clever arrangements and implementations of battle encounters, dungeon variety, puzzles, etc. All expertly crafted and strikingly polished, with a stellar soundtrack. The combat is nowhere near as strong, but it does employ a unique, top-down on-map battle perspective, mostly centered around AOE and team compositions on top of its ATB system. Simple, with enough intriguing mechanics to experiment with, but the game's surrounding factors often leave combat in the background, which limits much of its potential.

That weakness - however, may ultimately be a consequence of its greater aspects. By reducing the focus on combat, Square set yet another benchmark to the JRPG canon for later generations. The story-focused format refined by the likes of Dragon Quest V, Phantasy Star IV, and Final Fantasy VI has finally reached formal perfection.

This probably is my one experience crying with a game (my memories are very layered and crossfaded, sadly), but god, what an experience it was...

A pitch-perfect game, designed with a lot of heart, and dealing with the humanity (essence) throughout history, and it shows all of it. From the sensible, even if rudimentary relationship of the characters in ancient history, to the future and hopelessness of the post-apocalypse, this game really shows range, and all of it (the combat system, the story, the music, the design, the characters) contributes to a certain feeling of empathy, not only towards your personal acquaintances, but to others, as they are as human as you.

What a beautiful, beautiful game.