Chrono Trigger seemingly came out of nowhere. Squaresoft had already released Final Fantasy VI which seemed like the perfect swansong for the Super Nintendo platform. It was a huge RPG beyond the limits of what 16-bit cartridge based titles should have been capable of. So how do you top it? By bringing in more talent, of course.
Hironobu Sakaguchi (the creator of Final Fantasy), Yuji Horii (the mastermind behind Enix’s Dragon Quest franchise), and Akira Toriyama (of Dragon Ball fame) put their heads together to come up with an original, and highly ambitious new RPG. This came to be known as Chrono Trigger, and it has since captivated the hearts of gamers everywhere. Today we’re going to take a look at this one with a fresh set of eyes. Does Chrono Trigger stand the test of time? Let’s check it out.
The story here takes place in a world not so unlike our own, but with magic, medieval kingdoms, and crazy machines using limited technology. The year is 1000 AD, and the kingdom of Guardia is celebrating the new millenium with a festive fair. Our story begins as the silent protagonist, a fire haired youth named Crono, awakens and sets out to enjoy the festivities. Here he has a chance encounter with a same aged teenager named Marle, and the two participate in an experiment on display. It’s a machine intended to warp people from one pod to another. When Marle tries it however the machine reacts to a pendant she’s wearing, and opens a portal which sucks her into it. Crono, being the kind young man that he is reactivates the portal to follow her.
He discovers that he’s still in the kingdom of Guardia, but during a different time period. It’s the year 600 AD to be exact, and Marle has been mistaken for the missing queen. As luck would have it the reason she looks so similar is because she’s actually the princess in modern times, and the paradox of the forever missing monarch causes a paradox in which Marle no longer exists. Crono sets out in this new era to rescue the real queen so that the generations of royalty are not cut off. He discovers that a group of monsters have imprisoned the queen, and he along with his friend Lucca (who also follows through the time gate) set out to make things right.
Of course that’s just the start. The adventure quickly unfolds to something more grand. Upon saving Marle the trio have a chance encounter with another time gate, but one that takes them to the future world of 2300 AD. The planet has been destroyed, humanity is left in ruins, and all live is slowly withering away. They discover through a computer that an extra terrestrial monster named Lavos surfaced from the core of the planet in the year 1999 AD. This gigantic beast destroyed everything and is the reason why the world was left in ruins. The three friends decide to use their newfound time traveling abilities to stop Lavos thus saving the world from certain destruction. Of course, that’s easier said than done.
The thing that really stands out about Chrono Trigger is just how interesting the story, and villain truly are. You travel through many different time periods throughout the course of the adventure, and Lavos is an omnipresent entity. This thing has an effect on every time period, and it’s an incredibly interesting and thoughtful approach. He’s a silent antagonist and his intentions are slowly revealed as the plot progresses. Few RPGs have had a villain be an unstoppable force of nature that’s always present lurking below the surface. There’s many shades of Lovecraft in the scenario of Chrono Trigger, and I’m here for it.
There’s also a lot more humor here than in your typical Squaresoft outing. This, I believe, is because of Akira Toriyama drawing the artwork for the characters. His signature style lends itself quite well to humor. There are gag characters in just about every town you travel to, the main party often makes jokes, and many of the villains are purposely funny. It’s a nice change of pace from an era in which RPGs (especially those from Squaresoft in particular) took themselves too seriously. You even have multiple endings, and several of these are basically jokes to make fun of specific plot points.
Gameplay in Chrono Trigger is not quite as ambitious and unique as the story. This is a turn based RPG in most of the traditional senses. It uses the Active Time Battle system so each character in your party has a meter that fills up over time, and when it reaches max you can input a command. It’s not unlike the 16-bit Final Fantasy games in this sense. Each character can attack, use items, or perform a tech. The latter of these is basically the ‘magic’ or special moves we see so often in other RPGs, and each party member has different ones at their disposal. Progression is traditional with experience points awarded for victory in battle leading to levels up and increases in stats. You’re also given tech points. Upon reaching certain amounts with each character they will learn new techs. Pretty basic, eh?
Well, not so fast. Chrono Trigger may rely on the established norms of the genre but it throws a few twists at you. The biggest feature in the battle system here is double, and even triple techs. I already mentioned that each character has a unique technique list (which includes both magic spells and special moves) but when two characters know compatible skills they can be combined into one new, and often more powerful tech. This drains tech points from both of them, and uses both their turns, but it’s an interesting concept that I absolutely loved using.
The triple techs are among the most powerful in the game, but instead of relying on just two party members these use all three. Unfortunately there are very few three way attacks in Chrono Trigger and so only a few party combinations will have access to one. Meanwhile you’ll always have access to at least one double tech because they’re super common with almost every character having at least a few with each other one. This ‘team up’ feature is really cool and adds further considerations when determining the make of your party.
Unfortunately this leads me to the weakest part of Chrono Trigger. Your party can only consist of up to three characters at once. Four or even five was the norm at the time, and this definitely felt like a limitation. On the bright side you can customize your party by choosing who to bring with you. There are six possible party members with a seventh optional one who joins near the end of the adventure. For the most part you’re stuck with Crono (he is the protagonist, after all) and sometimes story events will dictate your second and even third slots. Near the end of the game you can choose for all three slots who you would like to use.
The characters themselves are some of my favorites in any RPG, ever. Crono himself is a bit bland. He uses sabers and sword techniques, and is the typical strong fighter lead. Marle is focused mostly on healing with a secondary strong point in attack spells. Lucca is entirely offensive and uses guns which is kind of cool. Frog is a humanoid frog knight armed with a broadsword, and is my favorite character of the bunch. Robo is truly unique in that he doesn’t use magic, but instead relies on techs with his laser abilities. Ayla is a cave woman from the prehistoric ages who also has no innate magical abilities but makes up for it with her strength.
What’s interesting about these characters is that they are truly unique from one another. Each has an exclusive type of weapon that no other party member can use (though armor and accessories are shared), as well as an innate element they’re designated to. At a specific point in the story the characters learn magic as well as their standard techs, but each is stuck to a specific kind. For example, Crono is lightning element, Marle and Frog are water, Lucca is fire while Robo and the optional character are shadow. Ayla is the only party member not designated to one. In typical fashion enemies have strengths and weaknesses against these affinities so you may want to plan to switch between characters periodically.
Chrono Trigger does a fantastic job with many of it’s battle scenarios. While early on you can simply attack until you win, after magic is introduced some enemies are impervious to physical attacks and others spells. This requires you to use a mix, and while it can be annoying sometimes it’s at least a nice change of pace. Additionally there are some instances where different strategies have to be used. Some of the normal enemies will counter when they have an ally which requires you to take one out ASAP. Other instances have enemies that counter by attacking all enemies, but will do the same when struck by one of their allies. It’s actually really refreshing because it’s clear that a lot of thought was put into many of these everyday encounters.
One of the more interesting elements in the game that I haven’t touched upon yet is how battles start. Encounters are not random. Instead you can see every enemy on the field before you fight them. When a battle starts you aren’t whisked to another screen. Instead the encounter occurs right where you stand with almost no transition. At the time this was truly unique and inspired. It also helps in some surprising ways. My only complaint here is that with Chrono Trigger’s execution to battles is that so many of them are unavoidable. It completely defeats the point of being able to see enemies when you can’t dodge the encounters. A random encounter solution would actually have worked better in my opinion.
A point of contention is the game’s length. Chrono Trigger is very short by RPG standards. If you complete every side quest, and grind your party the game can still be completed in less than twenty hours. On it’s own that would be unacceptable considering how expensive Chrono Trigger was at release. Fortunately there are a few things to make it last longer. For one thing after completing the story you can start over via a new game plus option. This was one of the first RPGs to offer this feature, and it’s still amazing here. This allows you to start from the beginning of the story with all of the experience and items you collected the first time around.
Chrono Trigger also features multiple endings. At several points in the game you can challenge Lavos and if you win you’ll get a different ending based on the events of the story up to that point. Of course your first time through you won’t be able to beat him until the very end because his stats are always the same, but that’s where new game plus comes in handy. Some of these endings lean heavily into the game’s humor and are actually genuinely funny. Even those who aren’t completionists will surely want to see a few alternate endings to this amazing game.
It was going to be tough to surpass Final Fantasy VI in terms of graphics, but in my opinion. Chrono Trigger does just that. Honestly this could pass for a 32-bit title. The characters are loaded with sprites which makes them incredibly expressive. They also animate exceptionally well. Where the game really shines is in the background tile work. Some of the scenery is downright gorgeous. What’s more is that the game uses so many different art styles based on each time period. While the world map is small it’s impressive that they basically had to re-create it with new graphics five times for the different time periods.
The music is just as impressive. Nobuo Uematsu was, in a surprising move, not brought in as the lead composer. While he did a few of the tracks the majority was crafted by newcomer Yasunori Matsuda. A lot of the music absolutely transcends what I thought the Super Nintendo sound chip was capable of. It genuinely sounds like real instruments including the piano and xylophone. It’s all amazing music, and this is easily one of my most favorite soundtracks of all time. Chrono Trigger must be heard to be believed.
