One thing that I didn't mention here is the tech abilities that are unique to each character--essentially special moves that are unique to them. This could serve as a reason for a player to pick a specific character on top of their innate element color. Double and triple techs also return from Trigger, but pulling them off and even learning how to access them is a bit of a hassle. I almost never used them, so I didn't end up mentioning it in the video. -Mike
That's a really excellent summary and explanation of the battle system. Truly one of the best and most creative ever conceived for an RPG. I'd love to see it make a comeback.
I found the character's techs, as well as doubles and triples, were mishandled in CC. While in CT all chars had a bunch of doubles with everyone and triples with almost everyone. The fact every char in CC only gets 3 personal techs makes the combinations limited. Add the sheer ammount og characters, and I feel the designers simply abandoned the idea as requiring too much work for too little pay off.
+Sergio There are 45 distinct playable characters as opposed to CT's 7. Considering the era, this was unheard of. I found the personal techs interesting, and the inability to do a triple tech every round of combat, with everyone made things much less cookie cutter. (Take one look at pretty much any speedrun of that game for proof) It gave the Triples the same awesome vibe as Magus' stone enabled Triple Techs. Z-Slash was a wonderful Easter Egg for those with the patience to obtain it and my favorite :D In the end to each is own, but to use the term "mishandled" I think is a stretch.
Chrono Cross sure had some great music. I’m quite partial to all versions of Marbule (Home, Another, and the concert version) as well as People Imprisoned by Destiny (despite any traumatic flashbacks that particular track may or may not induce in people…)
My friend did a symphonic arrangement of Scars of Time a while back. th-cam.com/video/XcHs8k5xQr4/w-d-xo.html He's also arranging a full album from Chrono Cross that he's put quite a bit more work into. He'll be finishing it pretty soon, it's worth checking out.
Chrono Cross is my favorite game of all time. Its true, the game isn't perfect. Nor is it a "sequel" to Trigger. But its a beautiful game, with enchanting concepts, characters, art, world building, music and atmosphere. The type of game you can put on and sit infront of your tv in a dark room and completely forget the real world exists.
Forever my favorite as well. I'll never stop replaying the game. I replay it every summer and I never get sick of it. I hope I can create something someday that resonates with someone the way Chrono Cross resonated with me.
13 year old me playing Chrono Cross for the first time "I have to save Kid its the right thing to do" second playthrough "what?! I can get Glenn? well screw Kid, come to me Glenn"
Kid is still really good though. She does pretty good physical and red magic damage, and shes a thief on top of it, so she’s definitely one of the more useful characters.
Just wanna put this out there. This is my favorite game of ALL time. Best story ever. And One of the absolute best soundtracks to ever be in a video game.
Crono Cross is still my favorite PS1 rpg and in my top 5 of JRPGs i've ever played. I played it as a kid before i had even heard of Chrono Trigger, so i treated it as a standalone game. The quirky characters (many of whom were playable), the masterful soundtrack, and fun combat all drew me in. I also enjoyed the story and being able to travel between worlds. It saddens me that this game doesn't get as much love as Trigger. And the very least, i wish Square would port this to PS4 with trophies like the did for FF 7 & 9. :)
I, too, played Chrono Cross as a standalone game. Years later, when I had finally come around to playing Trigger, I just couldn't enjoy it nearly as much as everyone told me I would, and it didn't come anywhere close to being as enjoyable to play as Chrono Cross was.
I agree with all the comments above and it made me wonder...what are the other 4 in your top list? FF9 is what immediately cones to mind. But I dont know about the other 3
I think Tales of Symphonia, Final Fantasy 9, and Persona 4 are definite locks alongside Chrono Cross. 5th changes but i think off the top of my head it would probably be Pokemon Gold/Silver.
as far a as i remember, it got perfect score review from some megazines, beating Final Fantasy 9, n won several GOTY awards. But yeah the hype of FF9 overshadow this glorious masterpiece.
It never was underated it always had praisals from everyone and perfect scores on reviews something you didn't see often back in a day and mind you in an era when games were scored legit not like the passed ten years of purchased favors and paid reviews so as clickbaits. Back then it was praised and topped off even FF most people held FF9 and CC side by side the best rpg games of it's kind as the best ones and last ones to be made nothing to repeat it or expand upon. Square made a mistake not releasing this in Europe since this game would be more popular there then what it was in US. The mentality in Europe would rather appreciate this type of game then some generic run and gun, fighter or racing game that were and still are majorly popular in the west where all kind of garbage sells. We had to import this game from the west and the very reason why I chipped my PS1 so it can run imports since games like these were rare or absent. Luckily my local store were willing to import this game. And when they saw the sales potentials they even listed it even tho with a note that isn't a PAL release and wont work on our PAL systems etc. But by that time a chipped console was a popular thing so it wasn't a problem. Europe market was ready for quality but CC didn't ended up here. At least we could buy it off PS classics store on PS3 and PSP etc later on. Not sure if it's still on since I don't go online for years now on PSN.
for me, i had the benefit of playing chrono cross before trigger. it was the game for me growing up. to this day i still have the CD OST set with me, and i regularly listen to it. the music is what made me play this game.
I played Chrono Cross first as well and it's still one of my favorite games of all time. I eventually went back and played Chrono Trigger. I thought it was a great game as well BUT Chrono Cross will always be my favorite. I'm honestly not sure how anyone can think it's anything other than an amazing jrpg.
Don't listen to L B. He's just being a dick. And yes... Dicks are people who act like their opinion on a fucking video game of all things is better than yours. Cross and Trigger are both wonderful games. I don't understand how one can hate cross but love trigg but hey. To each is own. See? That's how you not act like a dick to people who have a diff opinion.
I legit teared up at the first note of music in this video. This game is so, so special to me. I know it's divisive, and I know for many people it pales in comparison to Chrono Trigger, but Cross really meant a lot to me as a tween/early teen. Looking back I think it's because of the weird body horror/depersonalization/detachment from self stuff that Serge goes through. Younger me wasn't able to understand why that mattered so much, but now that I'm older (and in therapy, and on meds, and have a diagnosis) I totally get it. Plus I'm a sucker for romance plot arcs :P The music is what sets it above and beyond, too. ETA: Hearing Scars of Time had me burst into tears. Thanks, I hatelove it!
As Chrono Cross is probably my favorite game ever I would love to see a remake of Chrono Cross or an hd remaster at the least . No game will ever be as good as Chrono Cross. The music was epic , awesome story , loved the gameplay, great graphics for the time
Thanks so much for giving a fair review of my favorite JRPG. I was in 7th grade when Chrono Cross released in NA and I was mesmerized by it. I didn't grow up with the SNES. I had the Genesis and then got a Playstation. I had never heard of Chrono Trigger before Cross released nor had a means to play Trigger. So my view of this game is different from a lot of other people's when the topic comes up. Out of the series, Trigger may be better, I did play it when I was in College and loved every moment of it. But Cross was my introduction to JRPGs and I remember waking up one day, realizing I had a snow day, and immediately sat down in front of the T.V. to play more Chrono Cross. It may be a mess with how it show's the backstory of the game, but to me, it was a fun ride. Thanks for giving it a fair review instead of bashing it like so many other fans do.
Yeah. While Cross isn't my favorite JRPG game, I can appreciated how the game tries to established and it worked out well. Even though I do think Trigger is an better crafted game, I will always have an soft spot for Cross. It is an great game nevertheless.
Im only 17 but as I was scrolling through TH-cam I saw this video and was hit with a huge amount of nostalgia for these games. They are truly great and I absolutely loved to story of them, thank you for reminding me of them
@@okagron I'm not talking about people that played it misinterpreting the story. There are very, very few games with genuinely good plot, compelling narratives, or interesting characters of any kind. CC isn't the best story put to pixels, but it could be a lot worse. What was misunderstood were the developer's intentions. Everybody placed all their own expectations on what this game should be, and very few got what they wanted. Plenty of us got something we didn't know we wanted. Not every game needs to be a recurring, episodic, service for lease. Some games, especially CT, just don't need the kind of sequel most people seem to think they do. It was the creation of a number of prolific artists at the height of their creativity. You can't just do Physical Graffiti or Dark Side of The Moon again.
Chrono Cross indeed is a truly special game. It did explore some interesting aspects of environmental injustice towards Indigenous groups caused by settler colonialism. So it seems my taking Radical Dreamer as my username, wasn't a mistake after all. Because it was a part that molded the person I am today. Several events that take place during the game highlight the role of settler colonialism in environmental injustice. Settler colonialism can be understood under the premises (i) that environmental impacts have a role in displacing Indigenous peoples, and (ii) settler colonialism has a serious impact on the socio-cultural dynamics of Indigenous peoples, directly affecting the preservation and restoration of native environments. In a certain part of the game, the player [Serge or whatever] must obtain dragon relics to enter the region known as Sea of Eden and, within it, find Chronopolis. For this, the player must find the six dragon gods and obtain their corresponding relics. Specifically in the case of the Black Dragon, contrastively to its counterparts, the entity remained for a long time in deep sleep at the island of Marbule in Another World, their dreams manifesting as a form of ‘enemies’ (specifically, Lagoonates) in Home World. The dream from the Black Dragon manifested itself in the other dimension possibly due to the demi-humans leaving the village after hunters started storming it in search of powerful Elements. After that, the demi-humans were forced to seek other ways to live, moving to the cruise ship S.S. Zelbess, owned by former pirate Fargo. Considered to be a close friend to the demi-humans in Marbule, he overexploited them in a working system analogous to a slave regime. To liberate Marbule to its previous condition, the player, along with other playable and non-playable characters in-game, must eliminate the dream of the dragon in a cleansing ritual. The ritual involves the performance of a beautiful theatrical play (Magical Dreamers - The Winds, Stars and Waves), which tells the story of how demi-humans and humans can unite and change the world. The play is used as a surrogate; the main aspect of the cleansing ritual is to perform a demi-human song that will be responsible to ‘materialize’ the dragon’s dream, so the player can slay it and awake the Black Dragon in another dimension (i.e., Another World). After cleansing the island and retrieving the black relic from the Black Dragon, the island of Marbule starts being reconstructed by demi-humans and non-settler humans alike in Home World.
This may be my favorite RPG of all time. Soooo many party members with actual personality, story impact, endings, etc. This was an absolute masterpiece.
Yea that score was what I associated Cross with for a while, since it was 1 of the only 4 games to score a 10 on the notoriously strict Gamespot rating system back in the day. After Tony Hawk 3 they didn't hand out another 10 until 2008 but I believe by that time there were plenty of new staff and management handling things anyway.
kingofthesharks Chrono Cross was one of those games, like Super Mario RPG, that comes along at the very end of the console’s life and pushes the hardware to the point where it can stand tie to toe with the hype of the next Gen. I think that’s part of why Cross deserved a ten at the time. It pushed the hardware to the bleeding edge in a way that can’t quite be appreciated in the current landscape.
I actually don't associate CC with "pushing" the PS1 hardware because I believe Square's graphics basically peaked at FF8 and kinda hovered around that for FF9/CC. To me, FF8 was the real show-off title for them, and CC had far less FMVs if I recall. Gamespot praised CC's art style more for its "more down-to-earth, personal, and "gritty" feel". All in all, CC got their GOTY award back in 2000. The only thing I can argue is that I'd place it 2nd to Majora's Mask hehe
It's less of a leap over FF8, but it is still an improvement. The 3D models do look a bit better. One boss fight in particular made me not believe this was running on a PS1. Its environments were prettier than FF8's. They were more colorful so it would be a style thing, not technical thing. Same way that I think Okami is a prettier game than FFXV despite XV being far more advanced in tech.
That's what happens when a game gets critical acclaim purely out of its predecessor's hype, the hype dies down and people realize how underwhelming the game they were showering with praise actually is.
I think it's more of a problem with the frequency in which you hear it than the actual score. I honestly think it would've been better served as a boss theme than what you hear every single battle.
Gale has the worst opening and time signature of pretty much any other battle music in a game. There are some moments where it's OK, but the fiddle is grating and it makes me actually hate combat. If there's one thing that I could change in the entire game, it's Gale.
"Chrono Cross is not a sequel to Chrono Trigger." I'll openly admit I was one of those sour fans as a youngster; thinking they had just needlessly killed off my favorite characters. It was until years later upon replaying it that I realized what a masterpiece, like Trigger, Cross was. When I realized that Cross wasn't a sequel but...a game that takes place BECAUSE of the events of Trigger and not necessarily after it. If that at all makes any sense. While Trigger is my second favorite game of all time, closely behind Xenogears for the first, Cross really did tug on the heartstrings when I played it again as an older fella. With time and understanding, seeing the paths of Cross being made by the ripples of the first games endeavors, it really painted Cross as the masterpiece it is rather than the finger-painting I first thought it to be due to my childish lack of understanding when I first played through it... God, I miss games like this. Games that made you really FEEL.
I've spent so many hours deep diving into the story of Cross, and I completely agree with you that it is a masterpiece. I don't disagree with the video in that the game kind of has a lack of overarching theme, but to be honest, I think that works in the games favor. Especially when you consider that everything that happens in Cross is because of things that happened in Trigger, so it's more of a "these people got put into this situation because of someone else's actions" kind of story. Every so often I reread through the Chrono compendium just to get a refresher and find out things that I never noticed or couldn't comprehend without more thought.
that makes a lot of sense, jason hernandez. i feel i should say something even though u probably dont need to hear it. this game was an experience, im sure, to u too, and it doesnt have to have anything to do with chronotrigger, i loved the review we both watched just here, but to be fair, i think the game is more about dreams than it is about anything else. just remember all the things you dreamt of, and try to make them real :D be yourself if that makes you happy, and a salut to u buddy
I think it's really fun how the different accents work in the game, especially from an English point of view where dialects can vary ridiculously if you drive even 40 miles away, and it was cool recognising the dialects.
The whole British Isles is like that. You can go from WEST LONDON and to the City Centre and have a completely different accent. And it has it's name too. It's called cockney
As far as I know, every country with a long-standing history is like that regarding dialects. USA is actually an exception to the rule. We have at best different accents, and only really the southern accent is different enough in its speech patterns to use for distinguishing ethnic groups in a video game, unless you want to include something like ebonics but that'd probably be in poor taste.
It actually uses an African American demographic in the game, so it applies that demographic's speech patterns to them. I fail to see how this is remotely similar to applying ebonics to dwarves, elves, or similar nonhuman race in a formally fantasy-themed game.
Man, what a journey to finish this review! It’s truly amazing how much work goes into creating a single 28 minute video. Great job, guys. Glad to be a Patron of such an awesome channel.
This game really pushed my buttons back then. I remember staying in some kind of trance for several weeks after playing this one. Truly epic game. Truly epic age.
This was such a great review. I can't think of how this game could've been handled better for such a divisive Chrono fanbase. Fair criticism and praise where due. Loved how you handled the gameplay segment and also included the self-discovery theme. Seriously, that was very meaningful. Thank you!
I love this video, the thoroughness, pouring through interviews, taking time to explain the battle system (barely anyome else does this), and coming through with a perspective rare for JRPG criticism-you aren't married to games you cover and don't overemphasize plot minutia in storytelling. I would profane it with one of my many Chrono Cross hot-takes. Accept my algorithm engagement token.
as someone who experienced chrono cross before going back to play the predecessor, I'm glad that I can appreciate both of them on their own. however, potential spoilers ahead, I would say that the secret true ending is really sudden and random and there's no way a majority of people would get the hint at the floating castle and connect the dots to reach the said ending. it also feels like it unnecessarily tried to tie back in to the previous game, which contradicts the dev's initial objective. overall the game feels like it had something distinct going on for 75% of the game, and then all of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere became a continuation of the story from their predecessor.
I've sunk more time into CCross than I care to admit, but I have no idea what you are talking about? I mean if the Time Devo/Shaela was the only thing then I would agree but the seeds for this being a direct continuation are there very early in the game. Not only does good ol' Balth appear within the first few hours of play but the connective tissue is revealed shortly thereafter. I think it would be worth it for you to go back and do a deep dive playtrough.
My comments are what I'm recalling from memory, but what i meant is on my first playthrough i killed the time devourer by attacking it, only to find out from a let's play that the hint to the true ending is in a quiet room full of floating crystals in the floating fortress and that was the only hint they gave. plus, it's quite a tedious process to try to get the colours to align just right without the time devourer trying to mess it up. I feel like this game had its own unique thing going on for a while, it has its own charm, and then it took a U-turn and became a "sequel" to its predecessor. I think Mike (is it Mike? sorry if i got it wrong.) here put it best, the developer aimed for the game to be a mere spiritual successor to CTrigger and not a direct sequel but the end product felt like it was neither here nor there. i imagine it could've been much better if it was 100% unique and different. (like how each classic FF is different from each other.) personally i prefered the little side quests of recruiting characters and getting to know their back story more than the actual main plot. i might go back one day, but for now i'm content because i've completed it twice, 100% completionist runs too mind you (including new game plus to recruit other characters.)
I mean the name of the game alone is already telling of the fact that they are using the Chrono Trigger brand. Cross was all about the parallel universe and has nothing to do with time travel at all. The end product is messy because they tried to be both things at once (a sequel and a standalone plot) which obviously resulted in both aspects suffering.
I've got CC in my slim ps2 at all times lol! :P I have to disagree with you though. I think people come out expecting CC to be a direct departure from where Chrono and the gangs story left off. It's just not, and once people accept that the better off they will be. I truly have never found the end product messy! I had no issue following the plot, it wasn't like it was written by GeorgeRR you know? I understand everyone is entitled to their individual opinion but I just can't see it! :P I respect your standpoint though :D
that's the problem that I'm seeing here, it's "supposed" to be standalone from CT right? but then they came out of left field and tie the plot and even ending back to CT. in the end it's not a direct sequel nor a standalone plot, which feels rather messy to me. it's like you got bored drinking coffee and wanted something different, you wanted cocoa, but the barista ended up making you a mocha. i respect your opinion but i couldn't see it from your perspective.
This Game, Chrono Trigger, Nier series, The Last of Us 1 and 2 (don't hate me for this), FF7, Tactics Ogre, Xenoblade Chronicles are the games that impacted me emotionally and will forever be the best games I've ever played. Though SE is rarely making these kind of games anymore, I'm still thankful that they had a phase where they made these kind of games. And also to Yasunori Mitsuda for making the music for this extraordinary game. Just beautiful. I remember seeing this video in 2018 and it has been 2 years. Time flies.
I nominate this game for best soundtrack on the Playstation. If anybody disagrees with me I will force you to play Bubsy 3D until you win. Not being made with a central theme in mind explains why the game throws that theme about deciding one's own destiny and why it is down so poorly. When you actually look at Chrono Cross' plot it is unintentionally an example of how a player's choices do not matter in a video game. No matter what choices you make, even if you don't recruit Kid, you have to go after Lynx. No matter what you do, Kid lives. You fight Lynx multiple times and when you defeat him, the game just says "no you didn't." Frankly I feel this game would been better off if it framed it's narrative like Metal Gear Solid 2 or Bioshock and deconstructed the idea of a video game narrative, it certainly has the tools for it. I also felt like this game's plot suffered from too many random ideas with no focus. You spend most of it fighting Lynx, then it's revealed the Dragons want to kill all humanity, and they after you defeat them you are told everything was about stopping Lavos. Lavos to be frank is not something to bring at the last minute because he has no real characterization beyond causing destruction, he only worked in Chrono Trigger because of how much of destructive force he was shown to be and how you needed to kill him to save the future. Bringing him back at the last minute just draws more attention to how generic a villain he is. I also really hated this game's preachy environmental message. I once saw an article that joked you that can divide every story with environmental messages into two categories; the good ones in Studio Ghibli films, and everything else. That's not true but this game doesn't help my case. There is also that plot with Porre military that doesn't really go anywhere because Lynx supplants them as a threat. I only watched an LP but I admit the sub scenario I did see with the Masamune was hurt by how it was resolved with a joke after how emotional everything else had been. Regardless I can understand the idea of a creator not holding the same attachment to their work the fans do. It's kinda like George Lucas with Star Wars, the OT holds many fond memories for the fans, for him it just reminds him of a very painful chapter of his life. All that said I feel that this game's plot is an example of why being different doesn't automatically make something better in terms of writing. The main plot feels too unfocused and doesn't take advantage of the good ideas it has, not to mention I feel it connection to CT that imply killing off its characters, or flat out showing them being killed, are just needlessly cruel shock moments. You could remove the deaths of the original characters and have the deaths be new characters in this game, and it wouldn't effect anything.
I agree the plot was disparately tied together, and Lavos didn't make sense. I can understand the sentiment that the way the original characters were killed came across as a cheap shock moment. I disagree holding it to the standards of MGS2 and Bioshock. Multi-thread storylines that fundamentally alter the course of the main plot based on player choices were not an established style back in 1999, outside of DnD-based games like Baldur's Gate, which sacrificed other elements of the game (they play completely differently to JRPGs) in order to accommodate branching storylines. These weren't done properly outside of that genre for another 5-10 years, with something like the Witcher or Bioshock, both of which were considered highly novel for doing so, precisely because these weren't established styles even in 2007. Even then, they accomplished this by focusing on a single-protagonist RPG, instead of allocating design resources to develop a large cast of playable characters. In 1999 it just wasn't trivial for a JRPG to revolve its storytelling around player decisions and would have demanded trade offs in the design resources like the games above had to make. There was no formula. CT had some experimentation with its own recruiting of Magus, but others ended up gimmicky like Suikoden 2's death. And nothing was on the scale of what you're talking about. As they were already committing to significant experimentation with the unusual battle system, as well as the risk of deviating from the prequel in terms of its huge character cast, it's even more unreasonable to expect management to further roll the dice on such a risky endeavor for its time, one greater than all the other risks they were already taking combined.
Normally the linear focus of the plot and how things progress regardless of the player's choice would not be a big deal to me. It only matters to me in this game because it has a horribly done message how everything should have the free will to choose its own destiny, after revealing that everything in the game was being manipulated by Gasper to kill Lavos. The game shot its own message in the foot. Hence why I made that remark about how it would be better off as a game that reminded the play how they don't have any free will, or it should have just gotten rid of that message period. Granted modern games including choice have their own issues whenever they make a sequel. The Witcher and Mass Effect stand as examples for me, but that is besides the point.
My memory doesn't remember much of themes in CC. In that sense, I kind of agree with the YT video's statement that CC didn't have a cohesive theme. But maybe I haven't played in so long that I can't remember. If there was a strong message of free will, then I can see why that would bother you. Maybe the bottom line is the whole way Lavos was tied in was unsatisfactory. What didn't you like about Witcher sequels regarding choice? The defaulting to a particular set of choices from the prequel?
I think what really elevates Chrono Cross from the other JRPGs of its time is the soundtrack. Even twelve years after playing it for the first time, the credits theme still makes me tear up, and no other game has ever done this to me.
Local Panther Man ruins everything but it's actually a good guy oh hey there's 6 dragons making one big boi, but actually it's the alien parasite that was merged with a girl this is totally not confusing guys
Chrono Trigger: solving a crisis, one grueling step at a time. Chrono Cross: mopping up the consequences of fixing the crisis, and cleaning up the bodies.
@@alwaysangry2232 what did you expect? did you want that Crono old main character would somehow meet serge the current main character? oh OHHH it did happen at the end right? The only reason it doesn't feel connected is because that child Crono look a like doesn't say: Hello I am the previews main character from the first game.
@@DragSlayer0 People dislike when a direct sequel doesn't pay respect to its predecessor. This went a step beyond and rewrote literally every character, concept, and location to make its story work. Dissertations have been written about all the flaws this game had, so I'm not going to post one here. But suffice to say, if this had not been a sequel to Chrono Trigger, it would have been recieved better and made more sense.
@@clivedoe9674 Well this game "Is" supposedly a sequel to Chrono trigger and I believe that if Square gave it a chance then we could've gotten more ties to the original story which would make for us the player much more sense AND in future games like the Chrono 3rd game that might've being made if it wasn't such a big disappointment for Chrono fans then it could've being both games combined.
Yeah, Cross Dialog said this: Chrono and friends saved the world, but in doing so brought a new load of bad sh*t for other people. I can't ever compare Cross and Trigger because it's the consequences of saving the world, for all the good intentions Trigger had, Characters like Shala, Magus and Luca endured hard times.
Nice retrospective, I've never been able to tear the two apart for myself. For me, both games are very intertwined that to choose one over the other would be impossible. So, I cheat and when someone asks what's your favorite JRPG I said the Chrono Series. Thanks for giving an honest but fair opinion of the game many Trigger fans seem to dismiss it out right despite all it's merits.
@@pilotamurorei as someone who played the first FF game myself when it was new, I later found FF7 to be the best environmental story the series had ever seen to that point with some very solid character development. FF6 was superior in concept, I think, but I also think that if all you can do is spit belligerence without being constructive, you have no argument to speak of. Go whine on a gamer haters forum or something. No one thinks you're smart or correct, regardless. Until you become an expert that can outpace the production or sales of the Final Fantasy franchise, you have no worthwhile opinion on this subject. Get on with your life.
@@ChrisPhoenixMusic I mean while @暗黒騎士 Ankokukishi definetly can be seen as a crazy old man shouting get off my lawn here, his points aren't completely without merit. I too loved the FF games growing up and did too love FF7 but it really did spark a change in style due to its popularity and attempts to appeal to a broader population. The replay value I experienced in some of the older games and being able to maybe switch up how I did things just for fun reduced for each subsequent game. I thought I stopped playing or dedicating time to them because they were too much of a time suck as I got older but in reality, some of the things that made me originally enjoy the genre so much were altered until it seemed to completely morph into something completely different. Seemingly forming a new niche of fans from the very original one and from there growing into its own path of genre gameplay. There's nothing wrong with that and the games are still exciting in their own ways but outside of maybe a great story with continued musical brilliance, they're not the same style of games that originally lured us in and to us it seems like a franchise that once released such captivating games that were unique in their own brilliance are now no more and in their stead we have games with named and places within the same series but completely foreign to what the series originally was.
Jeeze, this is legitimately one of the best reviews of a video game I've ever seen. You guys do quality work. Time to crack open my copy of Chrono Cross again... Haven't played it since it came out.
I love this game I actually learned to play on guitar its soundtracks when I was still in high school.. One of its soundtrack which I already I forgot is the one I always use to tune my guitar. Now 26...
I think that one of major issues I have with Cross is Serge himself. If they wanted to make a more serious sequel,that's fine,but keeping Serge a mute doesn't really help the narrative. In Trigger,making Chrono mute worked because 1)it was more a light hearted game,so I feel that the MC really didnt need dialogue. 2) We barely knew anything about Chrono himself so him talking wasnt as jarring and 3 even with the above,Chrono showed emotion through different spirited that gave us something of a throughline to show how he feels in that moment so there was a connection of sorts there. With Serge though, it's a different case since Cross is billing itself as being a darker and more serious game than Trigger. In a more serious storyline I feel like the MC never getting any kind of dialogue breaks my immersion of the story. What makes this problem worse is that we know(and get)far more about Serges backstory than we ever do with Chrono. We get a sense of what Serge's life is actually like. Because of that,its jarring when Serge never reacts to the events that's happening around him either with dialogue or expressions.It gets especially stupid when it comes to a certain reveal related to Serge later in the game. I'm just thinking, 'Why isn't there a reaction?! I think that keeping Serge a mute for this game,with this kind of plot was a mistake. The team behind this game was willing to change so much other stuff,so why not remove that so there can be insight into Serge as a character? To me it comes off as half-hearted attempt to stick with tradition.
Alicia Drigo i haaaaate this trend in jrpgs. The main character should always speak. You’re telling me a story, and now i cant even derive proper emotional connection with the character i spend the most time with. This is simply dumb and lazy, and i think there’s no good excuse for it
Actually....maybe the Demi fiend in Smt: nocturne was the only time i remotely liked this...because it made him feel kind of ambiguous and potentially sinister. But whenever there is a full team of party members traveling with you- the main character should speak
Let's admit it. The whole player is the main character thing is just an excuse not to write dialog or voice any lines. This seems to be a thing that only developers care about, but I've never heard anyone sit there and wish the main character would shut up because they it breaks their self projection onto the character. Grand Theft Auto did away with it permanently for the series starting with Vice City and even poked fun at it in San Andreas when CJ meets the character from the original and mocks him for being mute.
That's funny, I remembered his name being Crono and not Chrono but whatever, still would pronounce it the same way. I never saw CT ever being a lighthearted game like did you not see Robo's storyline and the heartbroken Lucca after being separated from 'em? Somebody come hold back these nerdy nostalgic tears of mines lol. But saying only one or the other is emotionless is complete garbage. Some say action speaks louder than words and Serge showed many times his concern for Kid which gave it a much more believable love interest development you get from them as characters as far as what I don't really get ever from Crono and Marle. But you know what? I still love the crappie outta both of these games which are indeed timeless classics. Edit: I forgot to say, after all that Crono and Marle not having much emotional chemistry and development versus Serge and Kid having way more chemistry together "in my opinion" than the entirety (I'm exaggerating a little) of CT, yet Crono and Marle was still able to have a wedding at the end? Like okay, let's just believe it can just happen like that lol. I can believe them getting married eventually it's clearly not made up outta nowehere, but where's the romance or something to make me believe it? Where is the development, the chemistry or the tension??? Agh!! (Forgive me for the rant. I absolutely love both games, but I'm sure both had things we can all use a bit more of, things the game left us desiring for more or left unanswered)
I can totally see where you are coming from, but I still prefer Serge a mute. It's an RPG still right? That kind of entails allowing the player to assume the role of their character. By making Serge have more presence personality wise and giving him dialogue would have fundamentally changed this game. As a matter of fact just thinking about Serge talking kind of ruins the game. I've also never understood what the issue was. Anytime a question is posed to the character and you answer it, you have just spoken. Just because the game doesn't show the text box the same as the other characters doesn't mean he didn't speak. I mean that's fairly common sense right? Besides, having Lynx talk through Serge should be enough :P
just wanna let you know I really appreciate your transition from Radial Dreamers "Gale" to Chrono Cross "Gale" near the end of the video. Quality content as always!
I don't care what anyone says, this game is an underappreciated masterpiece. Living in the shadow of Chrono Trigger really hurts this game. I played Cross first so perhaps I'm jaded but I personally find it hard to compare the two. I think they'r both woderful. The music is INSANE and the art style is beautiful and holds up today even.
Chrono Cross is a beautiful game with amazing visual design and music. I love the soundtrack, and the combat system. The fault is that the story is trying too hard. Too many unnecessary characters, too many unnecessary plot contrivances. Its too concerned with its own navel to tell an engrossing story.
Now I can finally stop playing this game after completing it with all the characters obtained. Harle was the hardest one to unlock, the game doesn't tell you how🤷🏻 or even if it is possible to do it. But I feel satisfied and Chrono Cross won a special place in my heart.❤ Great review,👍 I hope I can see more of you in the future.
I just played the Chrono dualogy nearly back to back for the first time. Such interesting games, but overall I have to give the nod to Trigger. The battle system in Cross is very unique, but quite restrictive and leads you to spending hours in menus across the length of the game to keep a balanced team on your first playthrough when you don't know what's coming (this also led me to not using hardly any of the 40 characters available on first playthrough because I didn't want to go through the hassle of equipping and balancing elements all over). The plot synopsis you gave about the end game really echoed my own sentiment, being that the last couple/few hours of the game are just littered with walls of text attempting to string the two games together in a very draining finale, literally up to the final battle and ending where it peaks in this regard. I appreciate deep lore and complex plot lines, but Trigger's to me just said a lot more with a lot less. The desolate future (well the overworld and domes with the suffering remnants of humanity, aka not the factories and labs) is easily my favorite area in either game, and did a phenomenal job at setting up the importance and magnitude of Trigger's plot early on, something Cross failed to do for me. I thought Cross was a pretty fantastic game, and over the course of the 2 weeks I played it I was always excited to get back into it. That being said, this game is also much longer than Trigger; my playtime nearly doubled between the two (which probably added to the fatigue of the end game lore). For me personally though, Cross exceeds as a game separated from its predecessor, and its greatest flaw is trying too hard to intimately involve it with Trigger, which to me it didn't seem to be designed to do through most of the experience (especially until Disc 2). Both games look fantastic (although Trigger, like all 2D sprite based styles compared to PS1 early 3D wins for me), and their soundtracks are both absolutely top notch. I even enjoyed the generic battle theme in Cross, as well as all of the upbeat boss themes and gorgeous overworld compositions, but I'd be lying if I said that anything hit me like the Magus fight in Trigger. All in all, two incredible games, Trigger is just the more perfect of the two IMO, its flaws are less apparent and less numerous.
I'm never against a series charting radical new directions, so long as the essence of previous works is preserved. I felt that Chrono Cross did this magnificently, and that's probably why I love it even more than CT. I'll never really comprehend some fans complete opposition to anything genuinely different or new.
The thing about chrono cross is that it well illustrates that the journey is more important than the destination. This is reinforced by the need for multiple play throughs in order to fully experience the stories. The fact that you cannot have everything in one journey that you want is just a reality of being in an adventure; being alive and living.
I also finished this game recently... for the sixth time.😅 Trying to complete this game with all characters recruited was an odyssey (yeah, I'm seeing👀 at you Harle, the hardest one to obtain).
It's crazy that both Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross had fast forward options and new game+ features that wouldn't come to more modern games and re-releases till this past decade...insane! They were so ahead of their time.
Theres just something about Chrono Cross. Its managed to burrow deep into my heart and make its home there, even just listening to the retrospective review fills me with this emotion that I have difficulty explaining.
I LOVE Chrono Cross. A game that gave me so much happiness in my lonely childhood. I feel a nice warm in my chest every time i see a video about Chrono and i immediately click it lol. I dont even know how many times i have played this game since i was a child, and every single one felt like the first time. Is like a time loop were i rediscover this beautiful and fantastic world and story and i just feel fascinated... again and again, and every time i reach the end, the very same tear comes out, extinguishing the flame in my chest, leaving my memory in darkness until the next time my inner child decides to rekindle that fire and rediscover that happiness of the "good ol' days" that is sleeping in the empty corners of my heart. I love Trigger too but Chross have a special place in my life that no other game will ever replace.
I disagree with your comments on the final monologue of Schala. It is very much not just about mankind coexisting with nature, it has also to do with the being created at the core of Lavos, fate, and the conflict between Dinopolis and Chronopolis, and what that means to the timeline that "survived". I dont agree that Kato dismissed theming. What he mentioned was the start of the development of the game, but since then it is very clear Chrono Cross developted a theme of its own. It's funny, I have way more problems with the gameplay than I do with the story. Element allocation, dozens of them in each of dozen of characters, was an absolute nightmare. Being forced to always attack at the beginning of the battle rather than going directly to magic at my will like most rpgs also became tiring.
My greatest RPG memory is pulling off the the perfect melody at the end of the game. I forget exactly what it was but it was a special way to beat the final boss. The music that played when I achieved it was amazing.
I liked the review. I just have one criticism. As someone who is debating whether to try the game or not, the fact that the part of the review that deals with story has spoilers means that I can't watch it unless I want some of the story ruined for me. I'm fine with having some spoiler stuff in the review, but I think there should have been a few minutes of general, non-spoiler talk about the story/characters/dialogue before getting into the spoiler stuff. Just a minor thing. Other than that, great job. Love your channel.
I think that the kind of reviews that this channel does aren’t really “buying advice”. They are more critical evaluations and emotional responses to the game than they are buying advice. If that’s what you are looking for, there are plenty of reviews still accessible from when the game was new.
Also, Chrono Cross isn’t really a game you play for the “story”. It’s weak and convoluted. It’s a game you play for the amazing battle system, art, “side quests”, and music.
This was a great video. More of a historical glance at the series than an opinion piece which I enjoyed. The use of citations and the overall tidy presentation was nice too. I will subscribe for more!
icebergthegamer Europe didn't get Chrono Trigger until 2008,Final Fantasy Tactics until 2007,Valkrie Profile in 2006,Tales of Eternia in 2007 and Breath of Fire III until 2007. They still have yet to get Parasite Eve or Xenogears. And most tragic of all they only got Xenosaga episode II.
Aye. It was fine for me because I had modded consoles and could read Japanese if I needed to, but for the average person Europe really got screwed for RPGs until the PS2, maybe even PS3 era. Sad times, my dudes.
Excellent video and information about this excellent game. I really love it. Cross is a masterpiece. I played it a lot of times. The problem is that people fail to see that it is not a sequel as we are used to define a sequel... but deep in the game almost at the end of the secnd disc you understand that it is a sequel just for the fact that if we do not know about Trigger we wouldnt understand everything in Cross. That is the link between both games. It is sad to see people who do not play this game because someone told them that it is way too diferent to Trigger... This is Cross, not Trigger 2. sometimes diferent is good.. and this game is objectively more complex than it's predecesor because it takes to another level the consequences of the journey made by Chrono and his firends. Greetings from Argentina and thanks a lot my friend for this video.
This was my intro to the Chrono series. Which is why I love it more then Trigger in a small amount. - Their were some aspects I question. Like the choice between Razzly or Glenn. I always pick Razzly simply because I didn't like she was implied eaten by that octopus. - There we're some areas I got lost simply because I played it when I was young, and was still trying to understand english. Overall I still enjoy it. - Kinda wish this game was on Steam now.
I really wish they would make a Chrono Trigger 2 video game which would been a great follow up to one of the greatest video games ever made. I admit I never played Chrono Cross and though the game is different in terms of design, theme and approach I have to say it is good visually although to be honest it is understandable why they would not refer to it as a sequel to Chrono Trigger as Chrono Cross seems more like a spinoff design type game which was meant to stand on its own. For me personally Chrono Trigger was a phenomenal game done by Square and I hope they manage to do the sequel one day for the new generation. If I think of Cross in terms of art and design I would say it has a unique look which is equivalent to be called a spin off series rather then a direct sequel. There isn't anything wrong with Chrono Cross anymore then the cell shaded versions of Link games in Zelda which irritated some hard core fans who preferred a more realistic link in Zelda games. Cross is just different then Trigger but I do like their styles even though I am a bigger Trigger fan.
when are we gonna get an HD remaster with trophies!!!! One of my favorite PS1 games. I remember my friend telling me about it, so long ago. I played through this after I had played Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 9 so my expectations were HUGE. Just like my nipples.
I think the biggest theme is choice, compared to Trigger's theme of change. Cross also had a theme of harmony. With one's self and those around you. Through the making of friends, through the realization of self, through the acceptance of nature, the embracing of technology, and becoming satisfied with what you already have instead of obsessing over what you don't.
I played Cross before Trigger, as I wan't really into RPGs during the time I was buying games for the SNES. In fact, Super Mario RPG was the first I completed. It really sparked my love of the genre right before I got a Playstation, which was an embarrassment of riches for RPG fans. So long story short, I played Crono Cross without having ever played Trigger, and really enjoyed the hell out of it. Great music, art style, and battle system even if the characters and story left a little bit to be desired. Then I played Trigger. Cross simply cannot stack up when judged either as a sequel or on it's own merits. I feel like what Square should have done was take "Crono" out of the title and not make any mention of the connections to Crono Trigger before release. Start introducing the elements from Crono Trigger about a third of the way through the game and by that time everyone will have had time to formulate an unbiased opinion. That way Trigger fans would (presumably) like the game and then get the excitement of "Oh, shit. This game is a spin-off of Chrono Trigger. Neat!" instead of coming in with unreasonable expectations and huge biases.
Hey man, don't feel embarrassed by your Super Mario RPG; a friend of mine introduced me to that game and I freakin' love it. At the time, I honestly thought he was lying to me because I was a huge Mario fan and thought no way in Hell is this real lmao. I will tell you I play all the Mario & Luigi games along with Super Paper Mario to keep that kind of energy alive. I too am a collector of RPGs, gotta play'em all sort of mentality which is why I watched this video. A friend of mine told me Chrono Cross is incredible and I have to experience it. After watching this video and once I beat Threads of Fate, this will be added to my list for sure. Brave Fencer Musashi was also one of my favorite games at that time along with Tomba 1 and 2. When I saw that PS2 released Brave Fencher Musashi, I purchased it but level design wise, it was very disappointing. I don't know why Square Enix didn't build off of Mega Man Legends 2. That would have served as a better template for action RPG.
SIDE NOTE: a friend of mine super into music gave me the soundtrack to Chrono Trigger and it is awesome. I will have to listen to Chrono Cross OST as well since I too am a musician/ songwriter/ composer.
i'm sorry, but u know what man? the only reason i found this game as a child was the fact that it had chrono in its name. i come from a non-english speaking country (and video games helped out with that) and the only way i would have ever played this game was to think of it as some sort of extension to chrono trigger. i would go on and tell u how i liked chrono trigger even more than this, but to be entirely fair, i also never saw them as related as soon as i realised how different both gameplays were from each other. so i don't want to knock on your comment, i just want u to know, the name really helped the game in some sort of way. and, to you. like everyone here. i want to say, this is to all the radical dreamers :D
This was a fantastic game. Some of the best music ever made for a game soundtrack. The best ending's song, RADICAL DREAMERS, will bring a tear to your eye.
My first Jrpg game and This game make me want to learn english if didn't learn, i will never know that you need to kill 3 komodo dragon to get the komodo scale for leena. Edit: Glenn a.k.a Toad is OP
I know I'm late to the party but personally I love systems like FF7 and Chrono Cross where most characters play the same and change depending on how you equip/allocate them. This lets you freely choose whomever you like best without detriment. Unlike FF13 for instance where the best party is locked to being Lightning, Fang, and Hope (the 3 characters I hated the most). Using any other team makes a huge difference negatively, which is awful.
This is my first rpg, and even teached me english. I remember whining because i cant get the game in spanish, then trying to play it while reading a dictionary.
Chronology cross is one of my favorite games of all time, it is so unique the feel the music, art. They didn’t just take FF and rinse and repeat. Never understood the hate it got just assumed fans wanted more of the same characters
In some ways, I consider myself quite lucky. I actually played Cross before Trigger, so I was blown away by it. Of course, CT also became one of my favourite games, and I'm very happy to have gone back and played it. But I never had the hangups my other friends had because I was free from the sequel bias. I am a-okay with that.
I played through both Trigger and Cross again this past year. It had been quite a few years for both. Still absolutely loved Chrono Trigger but it was such a chore getting through Cross. It was not enjoyable. I thought all the characters were boring and flat and the story convoluted even by JRPG standards. The battle system, while unique, was boring. Some great music in Cross still. 90's era RPG music is still the best for any video games music. I just remembered enjoying this game when it came out but I just don't know why anymore. It was not a good game. I also replayed Xenogears recently after about 10 years and it's still pure gold! One of the greatest games ever made in my opinion.
Man. I was obsessed with JRPG's growing up (FF6/7/8, Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross being the highlights), but I haven't really been into the genre since then (Persona 5 being the exception). I've been binging your videos and you really helped sparked my interest again and I'm currently replaying Chrono Cross for the first time since release! Live A Live is next. Keep up the great work!
This looks like it's being rendered at a higher native resolution that a PlayStation. Did you capture this from emulator or does the game look like this off PlayStation 3?
To see someone dedicate such a well done and beautiful video to Chrono Cross warms my heart. You gave some amazing constructive points, but also praised it for what it really is meant to be and Im so happy I could cry. So many people think Chrono Cross is a terrible sequel, but just like you said it really isn't that much of a sequel and more of a tribute to it honestly. I wish more people could appreciate the game for what it is like you
Thank you for the time you put towards this review, it's simply amazing and well put. This is a great PS1 game and one I hold pretty high in the JRPG lists, specially as a Chrono series fan. One thing I do have to say, though... You don't enjoy Edge of Death either? It is, in my humble opinion, a pretty good battle theme (boss theme, rather).
It's not that I don't like the battle music (except Gale, which I despise), but rather that I don't feel it works as well as it could in context. Listening to Dragon God on its own is amazing, as is Fate. As for Brink of Death (or Edge of Death I'm not sure which it is), it was 'ruined' for me by this video. Every time I listen to it I can't unhear Data singing to it. th-cam.com/video/ARWw80QgmU4/w-d-xo.html
I'd like to think that your (mine too) perspective on how choice/consequence made it look bad on the part of recruiting Glenn was because we knew how to recruit him before we played the game (at least for me). But imagine diving into the game without that knowledge and focusing on Kid's storyline - I think almost everyone would have chosen to find a way in saving her even if that meant killing the last of the hydra. Doesn't sound too good because that also meant killing the dwarves. But if we played several playthroughs and chose the latter to leave Kid, we'd realize that we didn't have to kill that last of hydra and the dwarves to save her. I think that was the impact the game was trying to achieve -- do you save the party member you've been so attached to despite killing lots along the way just to save her, or let her succumb to her fate (not knowing she'll be saved by someone who had the antidote anyway). The kid in me wouldn't have thought of the massacre that will unfold just because I tried to save Kid, a party member I didn't want to lose. It was only after these years reading and watching reviews that I realized that.
I LOVED this game when I was a kid, hate that people always act like it was such a letdown. I thought it was fantastic and had so much replay value with all the characters and different dialogue you can get depending who's in the party. The graphics were also some of the best on PS1
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
One thing that I didn't mention here is the tech abilities that are unique to each character--essentially special moves that are unique to them. This could serve as a reason for a player to pick a specific character on top of their innate element color. Double and triple techs also return from Trigger, but pulling them off and even learning how to access them is a bit of a hassle. I almost never used them, so I didn't end up mentioning it in the video. -Mike
@@RocketshipSails Don't worry, when he talks about the story he gives a warning and a minute mark if you wish to skip that section
That's a really excellent summary and explanation of the battle system. Truly one of the best and most creative ever conceived for an RPG. I'd love to see it make a comeback.
I found the character's techs, as well as doubles and triples, were mishandled in CC.
While in CT all chars had a bunch of doubles with everyone and triples with almost everyone.
The fact every char in CC only gets 3 personal techs makes the combinations limited. Add the sheer ammount og characters, and I feel the designers simply abandoned the idea as requiring too much work for too little pay off.
Now try beating the final boss playing the song with the Chrono Cross.
Tell how is that easy?
+Sergio There are 45 distinct playable characters as opposed to CT's 7. Considering the era, this was unheard of. I found the personal techs interesting, and the inability to do a triple tech every round of combat, with everyone made things much less cookie cutter. (Take one look at pretty much any speedrun of that game for proof) It gave the Triples the same awesome vibe as Magus' stone enabled Triple Techs. Z-Slash was a wonderful Easter Egg for those with the patience to obtain it and my favorite :D In the end to each is own, but to use the term "mishandled" I think is a stretch.
Scars of Time is one of my favorite pieces of music in the history of games.
Same.
Mitsuda's supremely talented.
Chrono Cross sure had some great music. I’m quite partial to all versions of Marbule (Home, Another, and the concert version) as well as People Imprisoned by Destiny (despite any traumatic flashbacks that particular track may or may not induce in people…)
It's very good indeed. I think you will also like the intro track of Xenosaga ep 1, which is by the same composer.
@@lostn65 Hell yeah, I love Xenosaga Episode 1. Der Wille zur Macht!
My friend did a symphonic arrangement of Scars of Time a while back. th-cam.com/video/XcHs8k5xQr4/w-d-xo.html
He's also arranging a full album from Chrono Cross that he's put quite a bit more work into. He'll be finishing it pretty soon, it's worth checking out.
Chrono Cross is my favorite game of all time. Its true, the game isn't perfect. Nor is it a "sequel" to Trigger. But its a beautiful game, with enchanting concepts, characters, art, world building, music and atmosphere. The type of game you can put on and sit infront of your tv in a dark room and completely forget the real world exists.
/.ᴊayne
Ya bro
Good for you. I love Chrono Trigger. But I do want to give Cross a shot one day.
Couldn't agree more. Though FFVII will always be #1 for me, CC is a very, very close second.
Forever my favorite as well. I'll never stop replaying the game. I replay it every summer and I never get sick of it. I hope I can create something someday that resonates with someone the way Chrono Cross resonated with me.
The Trigger parts to me feels like they're DLC's.
Interesting. But unnecessary. :D
13 year old me playing Chrono Cross for the first time
"I have to save Kid its the right thing to do"
second playthrough
"what?! I can get Glenn? well screw Kid, come to me Glenn"
Screw Korcha too x)
Same
Kid is still really good though. She does pretty good physical and red magic damage, and shes a thief on top of it, so she’s definitely one of the more useful characters.
this summed up my playthroughs perfectly. She was never seen again after my first playthrough.
Too bad Magus and Schala never reunite Properly as Glenn is just another copy pasted character in the end.
Just wanna put this out there. This is my favorite game of ALL time. Best story ever. And One of the absolute best soundtracks to ever be in a video game.
same
My favorite as well. It was an experience in my life I will never forget
i still do a full playthrough and then a follow up new game plus at least once a year
Couldn't agree more. Though FFVII will always be #1 for me, CC is a very, very close second.
Should I play it?
Crono Cross is still my favorite PS1 rpg and in my top 5 of JRPGs i've ever played. I played it as a kid before i had even heard of Chrono Trigger, so i treated it as a standalone game.
The quirky characters (many of whom were playable), the masterful soundtrack, and fun combat all drew me in. I also enjoyed the story and being able to travel between worlds. It saddens me that this game doesn't get as much love as Trigger.
And the very least, i wish Square would port this to PS4 with trophies like the did for FF 7 & 9. :)
I, too, played Chrono Cross as a standalone game. Years later, when I had finally come around to playing Trigger, I just couldn't enjoy it nearly as much as everyone told me I would, and it didn't come anywhere close to being as enjoyable to play as Chrono Cross was.
Same here. I like Trigger but not as fun as Chrono Cross was.
I agree with all the comments above and it made me wonder...what are the other 4 in your top list? FF9 is what immediately cones to mind. But I dont know about the other 3
I think Tales of Symphonia, Final Fantasy 9, and Persona 4 are definite locks alongside Chrono Cross. 5th changes but i think off the top of my head it would probably be Pokemon Gold/Silver.
Hmmmm thanks, I've never played the persona games I'll have to give them a shot
Chrono Cross is so underrated it breaks my heart
it breaks mine, too.
as far a as i remember, it got perfect score review from some megazines, beating Final Fantasy 9, n won several GOTY awards. But yeah the hype of FF9 overshadow this glorious masterpiece.
it breaks mine too :(
squares handling of Chorno IP breaks mine
It never was underated it always had praisals from everyone and perfect scores on reviews something you didn't see often back in a day and mind you in an era when games were scored legit not like the passed ten years of purchased favors and paid reviews so as clickbaits. Back then it was praised and topped off even FF most people held FF9 and CC side by side the best rpg games of it's kind as the best ones and last ones to be made nothing to repeat it or expand upon. Square made a mistake not releasing this in Europe since this game would be more popular there then what it was in US. The mentality in Europe would rather appreciate this type of game then some generic run and gun, fighter or racing game that were and still are majorly popular in the west where all kind of garbage sells. We had to import this game from the west and the very reason why I chipped my PS1 so it can run imports since games like these were rare or absent. Luckily my local store were willing to import this game. And when they saw the sales potentials they even listed it even tho with a note that isn't a PAL release and wont work on our PAL systems etc. But by that time a chipped console was a popular thing so it wasn't a problem. Europe market was ready for quality but CC didn't ended up here. At least we could buy it off PS classics store on PS3 and PSP etc later on. Not sure if it's still on since I don't go online for years now on PSN.
for me, i had the benefit of playing chrono cross before trigger. it was the game for me growing up. to this day i still have the CD OST set with me, and i regularly listen to it. the music is what made me play this game.
You played with Go-Bots before you played with transformers so you think Go-Bots don't totally suck.
Mitsuda is freaking amazing
I played Chrono Cross first as well and it's still one of my favorite games of all time. I eventually went back and played Chrono Trigger. I thought it was a great game as well BUT Chrono Cross will always be my favorite. I'm honestly not sure how anyone can think it's anything other than an amazing jrpg.
Don't listen to L B. He's just being a dick. And yes... Dicks are people who act like their opinion on a fucking video game of all things is better than yours.
Cross and Trigger are both wonderful games. I don't understand how one can hate cross but love trigg but hey. To each is own. See? That's how you not act like a dick to people who have a diff opinion.
I legit teared up at the first note of music in this video. This game is so, so special to me. I know it's divisive, and I know for many people it pales in comparison to Chrono Trigger, but Cross really meant a lot to me as a tween/early teen. Looking back I think it's because of the weird body horror/depersonalization/detachment from self stuff that Serge goes through. Younger me wasn't able to understand why that mattered so much, but now that I'm older (and in therapy, and on meds, and have a diagnosis) I totally get it. Plus I'm a sucker for romance plot arcs :P
The music is what sets it above and beyond, too.
ETA: Hearing Scars of Time had me burst into tears. Thanks, I hatelove it!
mee too omg. The Dream that Time Dreams is a masterful adventure
Same. Only three games that can do this to me. FFVII, IX AND CC.
Yeah same...
What’s a tween?
The Girl that Stole the Stars, and Radical Dreamers literally give me goosebumps every time I hear them.
As Chrono Cross is probably my favorite game ever I would love to see a remake of Chrono Cross or an hd remaster at the least . No game will ever be as good as Chrono Cross. The music was epic , awesome story , loved the gameplay, great graphics for the time
I agree about the remake or remaster, but considering how long it took them to do FF7, I really doubt Chrono Cross is ever going to happen
There is Nvidia leak that Remaster is probably coming to PC too!!!!
Sweet I just baught a new computer
Soon my friend soon.
Chrono trigger
Thanks so much for giving a fair review of my favorite JRPG. I was in 7th grade when Chrono Cross released in NA and I was mesmerized by it. I didn't grow up with the SNES. I had the Genesis and then got a Playstation. I had never heard of Chrono Trigger before Cross released nor had a means to play Trigger. So my view of this game is different from a lot of other people's when the topic comes up. Out of the series, Trigger may be better, I did play it when I was in College and loved every moment of it. But Cross was my introduction to JRPGs and I remember waking up one day, realizing I had a snow day, and immediately sat down in front of the T.V. to play more Chrono Cross. It may be a mess with how it show's the backstory of the game, but to me, it was a fun ride. Thanks for giving it a fair review instead of bashing it like so many other fans do.
Yeah. While Cross isn't my favorite JRPG game, I can appreciated how the game tries to established and it worked out well. Even though I do think Trigger is an better crafted game, I will always have an soft spot for Cross. It is an great game nevertheless.
Man, the soundtrack and atmosphere of this game is next level.
this is my personal GOAT.
Ah yes, me too, the greatest of all time, the game of all time, the GOAT...
Im only 17 but as I was scrolling through TH-cam I saw this video and was hit with a huge amount of nostalgia for these games. They are truly great and I absolutely loved to story of them, thank you for reminding me of them
Chronocross was brilliant. I loved every second of it.
Easily one of the most underrated, misunderstood games of all time.
It's not really misunderstood. From a story standpoint is a complete mess that nullifies what the cast of CT accomplished.
@@okagron I'm not talking about people that played it misinterpreting the story. There are very, very few games with genuinely good plot, compelling narratives, or interesting characters of any kind. CC isn't the best story put to pixels, but it could be a lot worse. What was misunderstood were the developer's intentions. Everybody placed all their own expectations on what this game should be, and very few got what they wanted. Plenty of us got something we didn't know we wanted. Not every game needs to be a recurring, episodic, service for lease. Some games, especially CT, just don't need the kind of sequel most people seem to think they do. It was the creation of a number of prolific artists at the height of their creativity. You can't just do Physical Graffiti or Dark Side of The Moon again.
Chrono Cross indeed is a truly special game.
It did explore some interesting aspects of environmental injustice towards Indigenous groups caused by settler colonialism. So it seems my taking Radical Dreamer as my username, wasn't a mistake after all. Because it was a part that molded the person I am today.
Several events that take place during the game highlight the role of settler colonialism in environmental injustice. Settler colonialism can be understood under the premises (i) that environmental impacts have a role in displacing Indigenous peoples, and (ii) settler colonialism has a serious impact on the socio-cultural dynamics of Indigenous peoples, directly affecting the preservation and restoration of native environments.
In a certain part of the game, the player [Serge or whatever] must obtain dragon relics to enter the region known as Sea of Eden and, within it, find Chronopolis. For this, the player must find the six dragon gods and obtain their corresponding relics. Specifically in the case of the Black Dragon, contrastively to its counterparts, the entity remained for a long time in deep sleep at the island of Marbule in Another World, their dreams manifesting as a form of ‘enemies’ (specifically, Lagoonates) in Home World. The dream from the Black Dragon manifested itself in the other dimension possibly due to the demi-humans leaving the village after hunters started storming it in search of powerful Elements. After that, the demi-humans were forced to seek other ways to live, moving to the cruise ship S.S. Zelbess, owned by former pirate Fargo. Considered to be a close friend to the demi-humans in Marbule, he overexploited them in a working system analogous to a slave regime.
To liberate Marbule to its previous condition, the player, along with other playable and non-playable characters in-game, must eliminate the dream of the dragon in a cleansing ritual. The ritual involves the performance of a beautiful theatrical play (Magical Dreamers - The Winds, Stars and Waves), which tells the story of how demi-humans and humans can unite and change the world. The play is used as a surrogate; the main aspect of the cleansing ritual is to perform a demi-human song that will be responsible to ‘materialize’ the dragon’s dream, so the player can slay it and awake the Black Dragon in another dimension (i.e., Another World). After cleansing the island and retrieving the black relic from the Black Dragon, the island of Marbule starts being reconstructed by demi-humans and non-settler humans alike in Home World.
I love this game, so many memories! the soundtrack is amazing too.
This may be my favorite RPG of all time. Soooo many party members with actual personality, story impact, endings, etc. This was an absolute masterpiece.
Yasunori Mitsuda is such a legend. Such a great musician.
Except that his name is Yasunori Mitsuda
@@lucasgill7819 He made a mistake yet he got 76 likes on his comment. Just proving the fact there are idiots in big numbers roaming these pages.
need a remastered for the ps4 as I would love to play it again
Get an emulator I beat it a few years ago
No, it needs a remaster for Game Boy Advance
Such an oddly forgotten about game. I remember it scoring a 10 on Gamespot back in the day.
Yea that score was what I associated Cross with for a while, since it was 1 of the only 4 games to score a 10 on the notoriously strict Gamespot rating system back in the day. After Tony Hawk 3 they didn't hand out another 10 until 2008 but I believe by that time there were plenty of new staff and management handling things anyway.
kingofthesharks Chrono Cross was one of those games, like Super Mario RPG, that comes along at the very end of the console’s life and pushes the hardware to the point where it can stand tie to toe with the hype of the next Gen. I think that’s part of why Cross deserved a ten at the time. It pushed the hardware to the bleeding edge in a way that can’t quite be appreciated in the current landscape.
I actually don't associate CC with "pushing" the PS1 hardware because I believe Square's graphics basically peaked at FF8 and kinda hovered around that for FF9/CC. To me, FF8 was the real show-off title for them, and CC had far less FMVs if I recall. Gamespot praised CC's art style more for its "more down-to-earth, personal, and "gritty" feel". All in all, CC got their GOTY award back in 2000. The only thing I can argue is that I'd place it 2nd to Majora's Mask hehe
It's less of a leap over FF8, but it is still an improvement. The 3D models do look a bit better. One boss fight in particular made me not believe this was running on a PS1.
Its environments were prettier than FF8's. They were more colorful so it would be a style thing, not technical thing.
Same way that I think Okami is a prettier game than FFXV despite XV being far more advanced in tech.
That's what happens when a game gets critical acclaim purely out of its predecessor's hype, the hype dies down and people realize how underwhelming the game they were showering with praise actually is.
Just hearing the music from CC brought my childhood flooding back. I freaking love this game!!
I don't know...I happened to thoroughly enjoy the battle music.
Yea it's not that bad. My favorite battle theme of all time has to be the one in Unlimited Saga, though.
The first time I heard it, it was a little disgusting to me, like how is this a battle music. But then it grew on me and I like it too.
I think it's more of a problem with the frequency in which you hear it than the actual score. I honestly think it would've been better served as a boss theme than what you hear every single battle.
Gale has the worst opening and time signature of pretty much any other battle music in a game. There are some moments where it's OK, but the fiddle is grating and it makes me actually hate combat.
If there's one thing that I could change in the entire game, it's Gale.
Hell no. Gale made every battle fun for me.
"Chrono Cross is not a sequel to Chrono Trigger."
I'll openly admit I was one of those sour fans as a youngster; thinking they had just needlessly killed off my favorite characters. It was until years later upon replaying it that I realized what a masterpiece, like Trigger, Cross was. When I realized that Cross wasn't a sequel but...a game that takes place BECAUSE of the events of Trigger and not necessarily after it. If that at all makes any sense. While Trigger is my second favorite game of all time, closely behind Xenogears for the first, Cross really did tug on the heartstrings when I played it again as an older fella. With time and understanding, seeing the paths of Cross being made by the ripples of the first games endeavors, it really painted Cross as the masterpiece it is rather than the finger-painting I first thought it to be due to my childish lack of understanding when I first played through it...
God, I miss games like this. Games that made you really FEEL.
I've spent so many hours deep diving into the story of Cross, and I completely agree with you that it is a masterpiece. I don't disagree with the video in that the game kind of has a lack of overarching theme, but to be honest, I think that works in the games favor. Especially when you consider that everything that happens in Cross is because of things that happened in Trigger, so it's more of a "these people got put into this situation because of someone else's actions" kind of story. Every so often I reread through the Chrono compendium just to get a refresher and find out things that I never noticed or couldn't comprehend without more thought.
that makes a lot of sense, jason hernandez. i feel i should say something even though u probably dont need to hear it. this game was an experience, im sure, to u too, and it doesnt have to have anything to do with chronotrigger, i loved the review we both watched just here, but to be fair, i think the game is more about dreams than it is about anything else. just remember all the things you dreamt of, and try to make them real :D be yourself if that makes you happy, and a salut to u buddy
I think it's really fun how the different accents work in the game, especially from an English point of view where dialects can vary ridiculously if you drive even 40 miles away, and it was cool recognising the dialects.
Where do you live where accents differ within 40 miles!? That's barely a different city.
The whole British Isles is like that. You can go from WEST LONDON and to the City Centre and have a completely different accent.
And it has it's name too. It's called cockney
As far as I know, every country with a long-standing history is like that regarding dialects. USA is actually an exception to the rule. We have at best different accents, and only really the southern accent is different enough in its speech patterns to use for distinguishing ethnic groups in a video game, unless you want to include something like ebonics but that'd probably be in poor taste.
@@Blaisem so GTA san andreas is poor taste?
It actually uses an African American demographic in the game, so it applies that demographic's speech patterns to them. I fail to see how this is remotely similar to applying ebonics to dwarves, elves, or similar nonhuman race in a formally fantasy-themed game.
Whenever i hear "Time's Scar" i cant help but shed a few tears from how emotionally moving it feel.
Man, what a journey to finish this review! It’s truly amazing how much work goes into creating a single 28 minute video. Great job, guys. Glad to be a Patron of such an awesome channel.
Thank you for your support. Glad you enjoyed it!
This game really pushed my buttons back then. I remember staying in some kind of trance for several weeks after playing this one. Truly epic game. Truly epic age.
This was such a great review. I can't think of how this game could've been handled better for such a divisive Chrono fanbase. Fair criticism and praise where due.
Loved how you handled the gameplay segment and also included the self-discovery theme. Seriously, that was very meaningful.
Thank you!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on it and bringing that angle to my attention!
I love this video, the thoroughness, pouring through interviews, taking time to explain the battle system (barely anyome else does this), and coming through with a perspective rare for JRPG criticism-you aren't married to games you cover and don't overemphasize plot minutia in storytelling. I would profane it with one of my many Chrono Cross hot-takes. Accept my algorithm engagement token.
as someone who experienced chrono cross before going back to play the predecessor, I'm glad that I can appreciate both of them on their own. however, potential spoilers ahead, I would say that the secret true ending is really sudden and random and there's no way a majority of people would get the hint at the floating castle and connect the dots to reach the said ending. it also feels like it unnecessarily tried to tie back in to the previous game, which contradicts the dev's initial objective. overall the game feels like it had something distinct going on for 75% of the game, and then all of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere became a continuation of the story from their predecessor.
I've sunk more time into CCross than I care to admit, but I have no idea what you are talking about? I mean if the Time Devo/Shaela was the only thing then I would agree but the seeds for this being a direct continuation are there very early in the game. Not only does good ol' Balth appear within the first few hours of play but the connective tissue is revealed shortly thereafter. I think it would be worth it for you to go back and do a deep dive playtrough.
My comments are what I'm recalling from memory, but what i meant is on my first playthrough i killed the time devourer by attacking it, only to find out from a let's play that the hint to the true ending is in a quiet room full of floating crystals in the floating fortress and that was the only hint they gave. plus, it's quite a tedious process to try to get the colours to align just right without the time devourer trying to mess it up.
I feel like this game had its own unique thing going on for a while, it has its own charm, and then it took a U-turn and became a "sequel" to its predecessor. I think Mike (is it Mike? sorry if i got it wrong.) here put it best, the developer aimed for the game to be a mere spiritual successor to CTrigger and not a direct sequel but the end product felt like it was neither here nor there. i imagine it could've been much better if it was 100% unique and different. (like how each classic FF is different from each other.)
personally i prefered the little side quests of recruiting characters and getting to know their back story more than the actual main plot.
i might go back one day, but for now i'm content because i've completed it twice, 100% completionist runs too mind you (including new game plus to recruit other characters.)
I mean the name of the game alone is already telling of the fact that they are using the Chrono Trigger brand.
Cross was all about the parallel universe and has nothing to do with time travel at all.
The end product is messy because they tried to be both things at once (a sequel and a standalone plot) which obviously resulted in both aspects suffering.
I've got CC in my slim ps2 at all times lol! :P I have to disagree with you though. I think people come out expecting CC to be a direct departure from where Chrono and the gangs story left off. It's just not, and once people accept that the better off they will be. I truly have never found the end product messy! I had no issue following the plot, it wasn't like it was written by GeorgeRR you know? I understand everyone is entitled to their individual opinion but I just can't see it! :P I respect your standpoint though :D
that's the problem that I'm seeing here, it's "supposed" to be standalone from CT right? but then they came out of left field and tie the plot and even ending back to CT. in the end it's not a direct sequel nor a standalone plot, which feels rather messy to me. it's like you got bored drinking coffee and wanted something different, you wanted cocoa, but the barista ended up making you a mocha.
i respect your opinion but i couldn't see it from your perspective.
This Game, Chrono Trigger, Nier series, The Last of Us 1 and 2 (don't hate me for this), FF7, Tactics Ogre, Xenoblade Chronicles are the games that impacted me emotionally and will forever be the best games I've ever played. Though SE is rarely making these kind of games anymore, I'm still thankful that they had a phase where they made these kind of games. And also to Yasunori Mitsuda for making the music for this extraordinary game. Just beautiful. I remember seeing this video in 2018 and it has been 2 years. Time flies.
I nominate this game for best soundtrack on the Playstation. If anybody disagrees with me I will force you to play Bubsy 3D until you win.
Not being made with a central theme in mind explains why the game throws that theme about deciding one's own destiny and why it is down so poorly. When you actually look at Chrono Cross' plot it is unintentionally an example of how a player's choices do not matter in a video game. No matter what choices you make, even if you don't recruit Kid, you have to go after Lynx. No matter what you do, Kid lives. You fight Lynx multiple times and when you defeat him, the game just says "no you didn't." Frankly I feel this game would been better off if it framed it's narrative like Metal Gear Solid 2 or Bioshock and deconstructed the idea of a video game narrative, it certainly has the tools for it.
I also felt like this game's plot suffered from too many random ideas with no focus. You spend most of it fighting Lynx, then it's revealed the Dragons want to kill all humanity, and they after you defeat them you are told everything was about stopping Lavos. Lavos to be frank is not something to bring at the last minute because he has no real characterization beyond causing destruction, he only worked in Chrono Trigger because of how much of destructive force he was shown to be and how you needed to kill him to save the future. Bringing him back at the last minute just draws more attention to how generic a villain he is.
I also really hated this game's preachy environmental message. I once saw an article that joked you that can divide every story with environmental messages into two categories; the good ones in Studio Ghibli films, and everything else. That's not true but this game doesn't help my case. There is also that plot with Porre military that doesn't really go anywhere because Lynx supplants them as a threat.
I only watched an LP but I admit the sub scenario I did see with the Masamune was hurt by how it was resolved with a joke after how emotional everything else had been.
Regardless I can understand the idea of a creator not holding the same attachment to their work the fans do. It's kinda like George Lucas with Star Wars, the OT holds many fond memories for the fans, for him it just reminds him of a very painful chapter of his life.
All that said I feel that this game's plot is an example of why being different doesn't automatically make something better in terms of writing. The main plot feels too unfocused and doesn't take advantage of the good ideas it has, not to mention I feel it connection to CT that imply killing off its characters, or flat out showing them being killed, are just needlessly cruel shock moments. You could remove the deaths of the original characters and have the deaths be new characters in this game, and it wouldn't effect anything.
I agree the plot was disparately tied together, and Lavos didn't make sense. I can understand the sentiment that the way the original characters were killed came across as a cheap shock moment.
I disagree holding it to the standards of MGS2 and Bioshock. Multi-thread storylines that fundamentally alter the course of the main plot based on player choices were not an established style back in 1999, outside of DnD-based games like Baldur's Gate, which sacrificed other elements of the game (they play completely differently to JRPGs) in order to accommodate branching storylines. These weren't done properly outside of that genre for another 5-10 years, with something like the Witcher or Bioshock, both of which were considered highly novel for doing so, precisely because these weren't established styles even in 2007. Even then, they accomplished this by focusing on a single-protagonist RPG, instead of allocating design resources to develop a large cast of playable characters.
In 1999 it just wasn't trivial for a JRPG to revolve its storytelling around player decisions and would have demanded trade offs in the design resources like the games above had to make. There was no formula. CT had some experimentation with its own recruiting of Magus, but others ended up gimmicky like Suikoden 2's death. And nothing was on the scale of what you're talking about.
As they were already committing to significant experimentation with the unusual battle system, as well as the risk of deviating from the prequel in terms of its huge character cast, it's even more unreasonable to expect management to further roll the dice on such a risky endeavor for its time, one greater than all the other risks they were already taking combined.
Normally the linear focus of the plot and how things progress regardless of the player's choice would not be a big deal to me. It only matters to me in this game because it has a horribly done message how everything should have the free will to choose its own destiny, after revealing that everything in the game was being manipulated by Gasper to kill Lavos. The game shot its own message in the foot. Hence why I made that remark about how it would be better off as a game that reminded the play how they don't have any free will, or it should have just gotten rid of that message period.
Granted modern games including choice have their own issues whenever they make a sequel. The Witcher and Mass Effect stand as examples for me, but that is besides the point.
My memory doesn't remember much of themes in CC. In that sense, I kind of agree with the YT video's statement that CC didn't have a cohesive theme. But maybe I haven't played in so long that I can't remember. If there was a strong message of free will, then I can see why that would bother you.
Maybe the bottom line is the whole way Lavos was tied in was unsatisfactory.
What didn't you like about Witcher sequels regarding choice? The defaulting to a particular set of choices from the prequel?
you missed everything about this game.
@@BinaryDood No, dragonstorm hit it all pretty much on the head; this game was a mess.
I think what really elevates Chrono Cross from the other JRPGs of its time is the soundtrack. Even twelve years after playing it for the first time, the credits theme still makes me tear up, and no other game has ever done this to me.
Local panther demon ruins *everything*.
Doctors hate him! Man revives himself in different dimensions.
Local Panther Man ruins everything but it's actually a good guy oh hey there's 6 dragons making one big boi, but actually it's the alien parasite that was merged with a girl this is totally not confusing guys
Schala: It was just a prank, triggered fans :P
:')
th-cam.com/video/ynu15nDsC0Q/w-d-xo.html
Chrono Trigger: solving a crisis, one grueling step at a time.
Chrono Cross: mopping up the consequences of fixing the crisis, and cleaning up the bodies.
with barely any connection at all
@@alwaysangry2232 what did you expect? did you want that Crono old main character would somehow meet serge the current main character? oh OHHH it did happen at the end right?
The only reason it doesn't feel connected is because that child Crono look a like doesn't say: Hello I am the previews main character from the first game.
@@DragSlayer0 People dislike when a direct sequel doesn't pay respect to its predecessor. This went a step beyond and rewrote literally every character, concept, and location to make its story work.
Dissertations have been written about all the flaws this game had, so I'm not going to post one here. But suffice to say, if this had not been a sequel to Chrono Trigger, it would have been recieved better and made more sense.
@@clivedoe9674 Well this game "Is" supposedly a sequel to Chrono trigger and I believe that if Square gave it a chance then we could've gotten more ties to the original story which would make for us the player much more sense AND in future games like the Chrono 3rd game that might've being made if it wasn't such a big disappointment for Chrono fans then it could've being both games combined.
Yeah, Cross Dialog said this: Chrono and friends saved the world, but in doing so brought a new load of bad sh*t for other people.
I can't ever compare Cross and Trigger because it's the consequences of saving the world, for all the good intentions Trigger had, Characters like Shala, Magus and Luca endured hard times.
Nice retrospective, I've never been able to tear the two apart for myself. For me, both games are very intertwined that to choose one over the other would be impossible. So, I cheat and when someone asks what's your favorite JRPG I said the Chrono Series. Thanks for giving an honest but fair opinion of the game many Trigger fans seem to dismiss it out right despite all it's merits.
I watched this to remember how I used to feel when playing chorono cross.
The ending song makes grown man cries
The music and cut scenes were masterful and beautiful. Gameplay did not quite live up to chrono trigger but the game was good in its own right.
Oh, PlayStation Squaresoft. I miss ya.
Don't we all
*Sigh*
@@pilotamurorei as someone who played the first FF game myself when it was new, I later found FF7 to be the best environmental story the series had ever seen to that point with some very solid character development. FF6 was superior in concept, I think, but I also think that if all you can do is spit belligerence without being constructive, you have no argument to speak of. Go whine on a gamer haters forum or something. No one thinks you're smart or correct, regardless. Until you become an expert that can outpace the production or sales of the Final Fantasy franchise, you have no worthwhile opinion on this subject. Get on with your life.
Wooo you got butthurt over how i hate FF7 fanfucks for ruining the franchise. Piss off.
@@ChrisPhoenixMusic I mean while @暗黒騎士 Ankokukishi definetly can be seen as a crazy old man shouting get off my lawn here, his points aren't completely without merit. I too loved the FF games growing up and did too love FF7 but it really did spark a change in style due to its popularity and attempts to appeal to a broader population. The replay value I experienced in some of the older games and being able to maybe switch up how I did things just for fun reduced for each subsequent game. I thought I stopped playing or dedicating time to them because they were too much of a time suck as I got older but in reality, some of the things that made me originally enjoy the genre so much were altered until it seemed to completely morph into something completely different. Seemingly forming a new niche of fans from the very original one and from there growing into its own path of genre gameplay. There's nothing wrong with that and the games are still exciting in their own ways but outside of maybe a great story with continued musical brilliance, they're not the same style of games that originally lured us in and to us it seems like a franchise that once released such captivating games that were unique in their own brilliance are now no more and in their stead we have games with named and places within the same series but completely foreign to what the series originally was.
Jeeze, this is legitimately one of the best reviews of a video game I've ever seen. You guys do quality work. Time to crack open my copy of Chrono Cross again... Haven't played it since it came out.
This video is very well put-together. Cheers!
I love this game I actually learned to play on guitar its soundtracks when I was still in high school..
One of its soundtrack which I already I forgot is the one I always use to tune my guitar. Now 26...
I think that one of major issues I have with Cross is Serge himself. If they wanted to make a more serious sequel,that's fine,but keeping Serge a mute doesn't really help the narrative. In Trigger,making Chrono mute worked because 1)it was more a light hearted game,so I feel that the MC really didnt need dialogue. 2) We barely knew anything about Chrono himself so him talking wasnt as jarring and 3 even with the above,Chrono showed emotion through different spirited that gave us something of a throughline to show how he feels in that moment so there was a connection of sorts there.
With Serge though, it's a different case since Cross is billing itself as being a darker and more serious game than Trigger. In a more serious storyline I feel like the MC never getting any kind of dialogue breaks my immersion of the story. What makes this problem worse is that we know(and get)far more about Serges backstory than we ever do with Chrono. We get a sense of what Serge's life is actually like. Because of that,its jarring when Serge never reacts to the events that's happening around him either with dialogue or expressions.It gets especially stupid when it comes to a certain reveal related to Serge later in the game. I'm just thinking, 'Why isn't there a reaction?! I think that keeping Serge a mute for this game,with this kind of plot was a mistake. The team behind this game was willing to change so much other stuff,so why not remove that so there can be insight into Serge as a character? To me it comes off as half-hearted attempt to stick with tradition.
Alicia Drigo i haaaaate this trend in jrpgs. The main character should always speak. You’re telling me a story, and now i cant even derive proper emotional connection with the character i spend the most time with. This is simply dumb and lazy, and i think there’s no good excuse for it
Actually....maybe the Demi fiend in Smt: nocturne was the only time i remotely liked this...because it made him feel kind of ambiguous and potentially sinister. But whenever there is a full team of party members traveling with you- the main character should speak
Let's admit it. The whole player is the main character thing is just an excuse not to write dialog or voice any lines. This seems to be a thing that only developers care about, but I've never heard anyone sit there and wish the main character would shut up because they it breaks their self projection onto the character. Grand Theft Auto did away with it permanently for the series starting with Vice City and even poked fun at it in San Andreas when CJ meets the character from the original and mocks him for being mute.
That's funny, I remembered his name being Crono and not Chrono but whatever, still would pronounce it the same way. I never saw CT ever being a lighthearted game like did you not see Robo's storyline and the heartbroken Lucca after being separated from 'em? Somebody come hold back these nerdy nostalgic tears of mines lol. But saying only one or the other is emotionless is complete garbage. Some say action speaks louder than words and Serge showed many times his concern for Kid which gave it a much more believable love interest development you get from them as characters as far as what I don't really get ever from Crono and Marle. But you know what? I still love the crappie outta both of these games which are indeed timeless classics.
Edit: I forgot to say, after all that Crono and Marle not having much emotional chemistry and development versus Serge and Kid having way more chemistry together "in my opinion" than the entirety (I'm exaggerating a little) of CT, yet Crono and Marle was still able to have a wedding at the end? Like okay, let's just believe it can just happen like that lol. I can believe them getting married eventually it's clearly not made up outta nowehere, but where's the romance or something to make me believe it? Where is the development, the chemistry or the tension??? Agh!!
(Forgive me for the rant. I absolutely love both games, but I'm sure both had things we can all use a bit more of, things the game left us desiring for more or left unanswered)
I can totally see where you are coming from, but I still prefer Serge a mute. It's an RPG still right? That kind of entails allowing the player to assume the role of their character. By making Serge have more presence personality wise and giving him dialogue would have fundamentally changed this game. As a matter of fact just thinking about Serge talking kind of ruins the game. I've also never understood what the issue was. Anytime a question is posed to the character and you answer it, you have just spoken. Just because the game doesn't show the text box the same as the other characters doesn't mean he didn't speak. I mean that's fairly common sense right? Besides, having Lynx talk through Serge should be enough :P
Love your comments on the music of this song... the opening and end credit songs have always held a special place in my heart.
just wanna let you know I really appreciate your transition from Radial Dreamers "Gale" to Chrono Cross "Gale" near the end of the video. Quality content as always!
I don't care what anyone says, this game is an underappreciated masterpiece. Living in the shadow of Chrono Trigger really hurts this game. I played Cross first so perhaps I'm jaded but I personally find it hard to compare the two. I think they'r both woderful. The music is INSANE and the art style is beautiful and holds up today even.
Chrono Cross is a beautiful game with amazing visual design and music. I love the soundtrack, and the combat system.
The fault is that the story is trying too hard. Too many unnecessary characters, too many unnecessary plot contrivances. Its too concerned with its own navel to tell an engrossing story.
Now I can finally stop playing this game after completing it with all the characters obtained. Harle was the hardest one to unlock, the game doesn't tell you how🤷🏻 or even if it is possible to do it. But I feel satisfied and Chrono Cross won a special place in my heart.❤
Great review,👍 I hope I can see more of you in the future.
I just played the Chrono dualogy nearly back to back for the first time. Such interesting games, but overall I have to give the nod to Trigger. The battle system in Cross is very unique, but quite restrictive and leads you to spending hours in menus across the length of the game to keep a balanced team on your first playthrough when you don't know what's coming (this also led me to not using hardly any of the 40 characters available on first playthrough because I didn't want to go through the hassle of equipping and balancing elements all over). The plot synopsis you gave about the end game really echoed my own sentiment, being that the last couple/few hours of the game are just littered with walls of text attempting to string the two games together in a very draining finale, literally up to the final battle and ending where it peaks in this regard.
I appreciate deep lore and complex plot lines, but Trigger's to me just said a lot more with a lot less. The desolate future (well the overworld and domes with the suffering remnants of humanity, aka not the factories and labs) is easily my favorite area in either game, and did a phenomenal job at setting up the importance and magnitude of Trigger's plot early on, something Cross failed to do for me.
I thought Cross was a pretty fantastic game, and over the course of the 2 weeks I played it I was always excited to get back into it. That being said, this game is also much longer than Trigger; my playtime nearly doubled between the two (which probably added to the fatigue of the end game lore). For me personally though, Cross exceeds as a game separated from its predecessor, and its greatest flaw is trying too hard to intimately involve it with Trigger, which to me it didn't seem to be designed to do through most of the experience (especially until Disc 2). Both games look fantastic (although Trigger, like all 2D sprite based styles compared to PS1 early 3D wins for me), and their soundtracks are both absolutely top notch. I even enjoyed the generic battle theme in Cross, as well as all of the upbeat boss themes and gorgeous overworld compositions, but I'd be lying if I said that anything hit me like the Magus fight in Trigger. All in all, two incredible games, Trigger is just the more perfect of the two IMO, its flaws are less apparent and less numerous.
I remember playing this back in the day. Such a classic. Trying to figure out the battle system/elements was awesome. Had a lot of fun with this game.
I'm never against a series charting radical new directions, so long as the essence of previous works is preserved. I felt that Chrono Cross did this magnificently, and that's probably why I love it even more than CT. I'll never really comprehend some fans complete opposition to anything genuinely different or new.
The thing about chrono cross is that it well illustrates that the journey is more important than the destination. This is reinforced by the need for multiple play throughs in order to fully experience the stories. The fact that you cannot have everything in one journey that you want is just a reality of being in an adventure; being alive and living.
This brings so many memories back.. thank you.
This was really satisfying to watch after beating the game recently. Thanks for the great analysis.
I also finished this game recently... for the sixth time.😅 Trying to complete this game with all characters recruited was an odyssey (yeah, I'm seeing👀 at you Harle, the hardest one to obtain).
Getting Molested By Clowns In Hell should have been the name of the battle theme.
with tickle feathers lol.
It's crazy that both Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross had fast forward options and new game+ features that wouldn't come to more modern games and re-releases till this past decade...insane! They were so ahead of their time.
CC OST is magic.
Regarding battle music: the battle with miguel "people imprisoned by destiny" suits the context beautifully imo.
Theres just something about Chrono Cross. Its managed to burrow deep into my heart and make its home there, even just listening to the retrospective review fills me with this emotion that I have difficulty explaining.
Thanks, Mike!
I LOVE Chrono Cross. A game that gave me so much happiness in my lonely childhood. I feel a nice warm in my chest every time i see a video about Chrono and i immediately click it lol. I dont even know how many times i have played this game since i was a child, and every single one felt like the first time. Is like a time loop were i rediscover this beautiful and fantastic world and story and i just feel fascinated... again and again, and every time i reach the end, the very same tear comes out, extinguishing the flame in my chest, leaving my memory in darkness until the next time my inner child decides to rekindle that fire and rediscover that happiness of the "good ol' days" that is sleeping in the empty corners of my heart. I love Trigger too but Chross have a special place in my life that no other game will ever replace.
Really liked this game back in the day. Xenogears FF7 Chrono Cross and Legend of Dragoon were my favorites.
I disagree with your comments on the final monologue of Schala. It is very much not just about mankind coexisting with nature, it has also to do with the being created at the core of Lavos, fate, and the conflict between Dinopolis and Chronopolis, and what that means to the timeline that "survived".
I dont agree that Kato dismissed theming. What he mentioned was the start of the development of the game, but since then it is very clear Chrono Cross developted a theme of its own.
It's funny, I have way more problems with the gameplay than I do with the story. Element allocation, dozens of them in each of dozen of characters, was an absolute nightmare. Being forced to always attack at the beginning of the battle rather than going directly to magic at my will like most rpgs also became tiring.
Love Chrono Cross! Such an epic game
My greatest RPG memory is pulling off the the perfect melody at the end of the game. I forget exactly what it was but it was a special way to beat the final boss. The music that played when I achieved it was amazing.
I liked the review. I just have one criticism. As someone who is debating whether to try the game or not, the fact that the part of the review that deals with story has spoilers means that I can't watch it unless I want some of the story ruined for me. I'm fine with having some spoiler stuff in the review, but I think there should have been a few minutes of general, non-spoiler talk about the story/characters/dialogue before getting into the spoiler stuff. Just a minor thing. Other than that, great job. Love your channel.
Unfortunately with this game in particular, it's almost impossible to talk about the story without spoiling it.
I think that the kind of reviews that this channel does aren’t really “buying advice”. They are more critical evaluations and emotional responses to the game than they are buying advice. If that’s what you are looking for, there are plenty of reviews still accessible from when the game was new.
Also, Chrono Cross isn’t really a game you play for the “story”. It’s weak and convoluted. It’s a game you play for the amazing battle system, art, “side quests”, and music.
This was a great video. More of a historical glance at the series than an opinion piece which I enjoyed. The use of citations and the overall tidy presentation was nice too. I will subscribe for more!
Still sad we never got Chrono Cross in Europe. :/
Crystalisanguiem wow I didn’t know it wasn’t released in Europe.
I was unaware as well. Sorry man.
icebergthegamer Europe didn't get Chrono Trigger until 2008,Final Fantasy Tactics until 2007,Valkrie Profile in 2006,Tales of Eternia in 2007 and Breath of Fire III until 2007. They still have yet to get Parasite Eve or Xenogears. And most tragic of all they only got Xenosaga episode II.
Aye. It was fine for me because I had modded consoles and could read Japanese if I needed to, but for the average person Europe really got screwed for RPGs until the PS2, maybe even PS3 era. Sad times, my dudes.
its ok though you got Terranigma
Thank you for shinging such a positive light on my favorite games of all time. :)
Excellent video and information about this excellent game. I really love it. Cross is a masterpiece. I played it a lot of times. The problem is that people fail to see that it is not a sequel as we are used to define a sequel... but deep in the game almost at the end of the secnd disc you understand that it is a sequel just for the fact that if we do not know about Trigger we wouldnt understand everything in Cross. That is the link between both games. It is sad to see people who do not play this game because someone told them that it is way too diferent to Trigger... This is Cross, not Trigger 2. sometimes diferent is good.. and this game is objectively more complex than it's predecesor because it takes to another level the consequences of the journey made by Chrono and his firends. Greetings from Argentina and thanks a lot my friend for this video.
This was my intro to the Chrono series. Which is why I love it more then Trigger in a small amount.
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Their were some aspects I question. Like the choice between Razzly or Glenn.
I always pick Razzly simply because I didn't like she was implied eaten by that octopus.
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There we're some areas I got lost simply because I played it when I was young, and was still trying to understand english. Overall I still enjoy it.
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Kinda wish this game was on Steam now.
Thank you for the timestamp to avoid spoilers.
I'm not a big fan of RPGs or turn-based gameplay, but this and its SNES predecessor still call my attention. Eventually, I'll play both.
This game has some of the best music not only in video games but just in general.
This is the most comprehensive and we'll produced review of Chrono Cross I've seen. Keep it up!
Made my day to see you in this comment section :)
I really wish they would make a Chrono Trigger 2 video game which would been a great follow up to one of the greatest video games ever made. I admit I never played Chrono Cross and though the game is different in terms of design, theme and approach I have to say it is good visually although to be honest it is understandable why they would not refer to it as a sequel to Chrono Trigger as Chrono Cross seems more like a spinoff design type game which was meant to stand on its own. For me personally Chrono Trigger was a phenomenal game done by Square and I hope they manage to do the sequel one day for the new generation. If I think of Cross in terms of art and design I would say it has a unique look which is equivalent to be called a spin off series rather then a direct sequel. There isn't anything wrong with Chrono Cross anymore then the cell shaded versions of Link games in Zelda which irritated some hard core fans who preferred a more realistic link in Zelda games. Cross is just different then Trigger but I do like their styles even though I am a bigger Trigger fan.
when are we gonna get an HD remaster with trophies!!!! One of my favorite PS1 games. I remember my friend telling me about it, so long ago. I played through this after I had played Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 9 so my expectations were HUGE. Just like my nipples.
I think the biggest theme is choice, compared to Trigger's theme of change. Cross also had a theme of harmony. With one's self and those around you. Through the making of friends, through the realization of self, through the acceptance of nature, the embracing of technology, and becoming satisfied with what you already have instead of obsessing over what you don't.
I played Cross before Trigger, as I wan't really into RPGs during the time I was buying games for the SNES. In fact, Super Mario RPG was the first I completed. It really sparked my love of the genre right before I got a Playstation, which was an embarrassment of riches for RPG fans. So long story short, I played Crono Cross without having ever played Trigger, and really enjoyed the hell out of it. Great music, art style, and battle system even if the characters and story left a little bit to be desired. Then I played Trigger. Cross simply cannot stack up when judged either as a sequel or on it's own merits. I feel like what Square should have done was take "Crono" out of the title and not make any mention of the connections to Crono Trigger before release. Start introducing the elements from Crono Trigger about a third of the way through the game and by that time everyone will have had time to formulate an unbiased opinion. That way Trigger fans would (presumably) like the game and then get the excitement of "Oh, shit. This game is a spin-off of Chrono Trigger. Neat!" instead of coming in with unreasonable expectations and huge biases.
Hey man, don't feel embarrassed by your Super Mario RPG; a friend of mine introduced me to that game and I freakin' love it. At the time, I honestly thought he was lying to me because I was a huge Mario fan and thought no way in Hell is this real lmao. I will tell you I play all the Mario & Luigi games along with Super Paper Mario to keep that kind of energy alive. I too am a collector of RPGs, gotta play'em all sort of mentality which is why I watched this video. A friend of mine told me Chrono Cross is incredible and I have to experience it. After watching this video and once I beat Threads of Fate, this will be added to my list for sure. Brave Fencer Musashi was also one of my favorite games at that time along with Tomba 1 and 2. When I saw that PS2 released Brave Fencher Musashi, I purchased it but level design wise, it was very disappointing. I don't know why Square Enix didn't build off of Mega Man Legends 2. That would have served as a better template for action RPG.
SIDE NOTE: a friend of mine super into music gave me the soundtrack to Chrono Trigger and it is awesome. I will have to listen to Chrono Cross OST as well since I too am a musician/ songwriter/ composer.
i'm sorry, but u know what man? the only reason i found this game as a child was the fact that it had chrono in its name. i come from a non-english speaking country (and video games helped out with that) and the only way i would have ever played this game was to think of it as some sort of extension to chrono trigger. i would go on and tell u how i liked chrono trigger even more than this, but to be entirely fair, i also never saw them as related as soon as i realised how different both gameplays were from each other. so i don't want to knock on your comment, i just want u to know, the name really helped the game in some sort of way. and, to you. like everyone here. i want to say, this is to all the radical dreamers :D
This was a fantastic game. Some of the best music ever made for a game soundtrack. The best ending's song, RADICAL DREAMERS, will bring a tear to your eye.
My first Jrpg game and This game make me want to learn english if didn't learn, i will never know that you need to kill 3 komodo dragon to get the komodo scale for leena.
Edit: Glenn a.k.a Toad is OP
That soundtrack brings so many memories! Make a sequel!
I know I'm late to the party but personally I love systems like FF7 and Chrono Cross where most characters play the same and change depending on how you equip/allocate them. This lets you freely choose whomever you like best without detriment. Unlike FF13 for instance where the best party is locked to being Lightning, Fang, and Hope (the 3 characters I hated the most). Using any other team makes a huge difference negatively, which is awful.
This is my first rpg, and even teached me english. I remember whining because i cant get the game in spanish, then trying to play it while reading a dictionary.
I actually love the battle themes XD and they do bring that sense of danger to me
What are you talking about Chrono Cross battle music is some of the best battle music ive heard in any JRPG. its literally some of my favorite tracks
Chronology cross is one of my favorite games of all time, it is so unique the feel the music, art. They didn’t just take FF and rinse and repeat.
Never understood the hate it got just assumed fans wanted more of the same characters
In some ways, I consider myself quite lucky. I actually played Cross before Trigger, so I was blown away by it. Of course, CT also became one of my favourite games, and I'm very happy to have gone back and played it. But I never had the hangups my other friends had because I was free from the sequel bias. I am a-okay with that.
I played through both Trigger and Cross again this past year. It had been quite a few years for both. Still absolutely loved Chrono Trigger but it was such a chore getting through Cross. It was not enjoyable. I thought all the characters were boring and flat and the story convoluted even by JRPG standards. The battle system, while unique, was boring. Some great music in Cross still. 90's era RPG music is still the best for any video games music. I just remembered enjoying this game when it came out but I just don't know why anymore. It was not a good game.
I also replayed Xenogears recently after about 10 years and it's still pure gold! One of the greatest games ever made in my opinion.
i would fight you, but ur probably right, older games just dont work anymore, but when they came out, they were goddamn artpieces tbh
Watching this made me remember just how much I liked this game when I played it all those years ago.
Hey man have you ever thought about reviewing the original nier?
Man. I was obsessed with JRPG's growing up (FF6/7/8, Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross being the highlights), but I haven't really been into the genre since then (Persona 5 being the exception). I've been binging your videos and you really helped sparked my interest again and I'm currently replaying Chrono Cross for the first time since release! Live A Live is next.
Keep up the great work!
Maybe not peril, but "Dragon God" hit the epic encounter music note really well.
While it's a good theme I don't find it to be a good battle theme
You are so well spoken. Great video with well done research! Thanks for making this.
So glad you covered the music! If this game only existed to have this sound track, it was worth it.
This looks like it's being rendered at a higher native resolution that a PlayStation. Did you capture this from emulator or does the game look like this off PlayStation 3?
To see someone dedicate such a well done and beautiful video to Chrono Cross warms my heart. You gave some amazing constructive points, but also praised it for what it really is meant to be and Im so happy I could cry. So many people think Chrono Cross is a terrible sequel, but just like you said it really isn't that much of a sequel and more of a tribute to it honestly. I wish more people could appreciate the game for what it is like you
Thank you for the time you put towards this review, it's simply amazing and well put. This is a great PS1 game and one I hold pretty high in the JRPG lists, specially as a Chrono series fan.
One thing I do have to say, though... You don't enjoy Edge of Death either? It is, in my humble opinion, a pretty good battle theme (boss theme, rather).
It's not that I don't like the battle music (except Gale, which I despise), but rather that I don't feel it works as well as it could in context. Listening to Dragon God on its own is amazing, as is Fate. As for Brink of Death (or Edge of Death I'm not sure which it is), it was 'ruined' for me by this video. Every time I listen to it I can't unhear Data singing to it. th-cam.com/video/ARWw80QgmU4/w-d-xo.html
Ha, I knew that would come up somewhere.
I'd like to think that your (mine too) perspective on how choice/consequence made it look bad on the part of recruiting Glenn was because we knew how to recruit him before we played the game (at least for me). But imagine diving into the game without that knowledge and focusing on Kid's storyline - I think almost everyone would have chosen to find a way in saving her even if that meant killing the last of the hydra. Doesn't sound too good because that also meant killing the dwarves.
But if we played several playthroughs and chose the latter to leave Kid, we'd realize that we didn't have to kill that last of hydra and the dwarves to save her. I think that was the impact the game was trying to achieve -- do you save the party member you've been so attached to despite killing lots along the way just to save her, or let her succumb to her fate (not knowing she'll be saved by someone who had the antidote anyway).
The kid in me wouldn't have thought of the massacre that will unfold just because I tried to save Kid, a party member I didn't want to lose. It was only after these years reading and watching reviews that I realized that.
I LOVED this game when I was a kid, hate that people always act like it was such a letdown. I thought it was fantastic and had so much replay value with all the characters and different dialogue you can get depending who's in the party. The graphics were also some of the best on PS1