I just finished playing through Chrono Cross, a RPG video game on the Sony Playstation. It was a sequel to Chrono Trigger, one of the most popular games to come out for the Super NES. I've played that too and both are awesome games with unique gameplay and plots.
The purpose of this post though is that as worthy as Chrono Cross is as a sequel, not everyone thinks that way. In fact, having seen some of the opinions across the Internet, this game is either loved or hated by Chrono Trigger fans. Like with ANYTHING on this Earth not, everyone is going to like what some others will. However, I'm in the mood to defend this game so that others can give it a chance.
Chrono Cross has some of the best graphics for its time. The backgrounds are detailed and colorful and the characters have enough definition to make them stand out. The game has a unique battle system that I haven’t seen duplicated in other games of its type. Also, the plot really keeps you wanting to know what’s going to happen next, especially towards the end.
So why do die hard Chrono Trigger fans dislike it then? It mostly comes down to the fact that this isn’t the sequel that fans wanted. They wanted to play the same characters and go through the same type of scenarios that were found in the first game. Basically, they wanted more of the same. When they didn’t get that they called foul and some even refuse to acknowledge Chrono Cross’s existence.
In Chrono Trigger, players could travel through time to change events that would happen later in the game’s history. This was actually integral to the plot and handled pretty well. In Chrono Cross, this idea was taken in a different direction. Instead of time travel, the player traveled between dimensions. Events that happened in one dimension often affected things in the other and vice versa. It did what a sequel is suppose to do by adding something different while still keeping elements of the original.
The plot also expands on the story that was presented in Chrono Trigger. In my opinion the plot in Chrono Trigger, while fairly original, was simple. The player learns of a major catastrophe that will happen in the future and he must travel through time to prevent it. Granted, there are several subplots that develop along the way but the overall goal of the game remains the same. The player even learns the main goal within the first few hours of play. In Chrono Cross however, the plot is vastly more complicated and surprising. For a good portion of the game the player is always guessing as to what is happening around him. The main goal is ever changing and the final objective isn’t reveled until the very end. I will say this though that the story of Chrono Cross can drag during the middle parts of the game and that the end has so much plot crammed in that it can overwhelm the player. It’s one of those games that has to be played again to understand.
These are just some examples I pulled from the games to show how they differ and connect. I would suggest playing both games to form your own opinion. Don’t read too much into another players' reviews since some are very biased against their own likes and expectations. While that may be the very nature of a review I feel that in this case fanaticism got out of hand and expectations were just too high. The fans felt that this sequel owed them some sort of due and felt that they were neglected. It's very much what happened when the new Star Wars movies were announced and then released. They weren’t the movies fans expected so naturally they disliked them without giving the movies a fair chance.
Just like with Star Wars, Chrono Trigger was such a loved game that any sequel would undoubtedly gain a lot of hype. With just about anything that receives hype it's almost always a letdown when the final product is revealed. When players found out that they couldn't play the characters from the first game and that time travel wasn’t a part of the gameplay, many disliked it even before they started playing it. Which is a shame because they let their expectations ruin a solid gaming experience.
I’m happy to say that I gave both games a chance and came out satisfied. Hopefully others will do the same.