Chrono Trigger - PSX

Yes. I know the game is on SNES. But I played the game on my PS3, with the thanks of the Playstation Store. IF there is something that I should be aware of, that makes my review wrong, do not blame me, but rather, the porting process.

I'm mostly kidding. This game is in its full form. So stop freaking out.

Actually, for a bit of backstory before I start. For the longest time, I prided myself as a guy who loved RPGs, and loved playing them. But there were three very notable games I had yet to play (as of May of 2012) that were all RPGs. Final Fantasy VIII, Earthbound, and Chrono Trigger. This was mostly in part because I never owned a PSX or a SNES. I played several RPGs for the SNES on Vizzed in the past couple years. But I never touched Chrono Trigger or Earthbound, for unknown reasons. Probably because I knew the story or characters, and felt like it'd be cheating a little to know the plot. KG, one of my closer friends on this site, urged me to play Chrono Trigger, calling me several unpleasant things. Rather than have her bug me forever (love you Kage ), I chose to buy the game on PSN (so I could play it without an internet connection... smart move, I lost mine ).

So without further ado, the "much anticipated review".

Graphics - 7

Fairly standard for an RPG of it's time. Reminds me of several RPGs, including Final Fantasy VI, which was also a rather nice looking game. There are no bonus points for this, but I do rather like the design of the game world, and the design of the characters. The world is separated, much like our own, into continents separated by a large mass of water, that you cannot cross until later in the game. The cool thing is that the developers actually knew what they were doing. Because you can believe the shifting of the continents as they grinded apart, and in some cases grew. It was a nice touch, and shows me they actually cared about the work. The character design was interesting in several cases, most notably the main character, Crono, and my personal favorite design, Magus. I just wish Crono looked less Dragon Ball Z-ish. Because I thought he was going to go Super Saiyan during every cut scene.

Sound - 7

I wasn't a huge fan of the majority of the sounds, but there were a few decent tracks of note, most notably the catchy battle theme that I can't get out of my head. The ambience was mostly non-existent, which isn't a bad thing, that's really more of a modern thing. I honestly don't have much to say on this subject. Really average.

Addictiveness - 8

I wanted to finish the game at least. Chrono Trigger clicked on several things, and once you finally get to a certain point in the game, the jets turn all the way up, and you get really excited for what will happen next. There are several low points though, which you can't ignore. One of these low points is particularly depressing. The battle system. I have to be a broken record, since this is always a problem in any RPG I play. The battle system is usually highly uninspired, and doesn't really grab me. I often tried to avoid battles, because I was getting minimal EXP, and the battle system was very mundane once I had the most powerful skills. I often finished battles in a single attack... so it got really repetitive, really fast. Other than that though, there were very few points about the game design that had me feeling like I should stop playing.

Depth - 6

Someone will have to tell me what I was doing wrong, because I found almost nothing in terms of legitimate side quests. Or maybe I was doing side quests under the assumption it was the story. In which case, the story score would need to go down, and the Depth score has to go up. There was the trading game, the carnival stuff, and the little chests with the weird symbols on them to open... but really, not that deep of a game beyond the story. I spent a ton of time LOOKING for things to do. So either I'm retarded, or I did everything, which is disappointing.

Story - 9

I'm not sure what I can say without spoilering the story for anyone else. I don't want people turned off to playing the game, just like I was for the longest time, because someone else told me a lot of the plot. But it involves time travel, a robot, a couple blob things, a big evil death lord that shoots lava, and a girl in a loin cloth. Need I say more?

Difficulty - 3

I'll give this game credit. It's a little harder than a large majority of RPGs, simply because you can't always just "press x to win". The enemies can do a lot of damage, and you will often be spending half of major boss battles healing yourself, and trying to get on a roll. Some bosses have special abilities that will destroy you if you don't think, like one in a cave that you have to hit with lighting before attacking a few times, or it'll come at you like bees on a hot summer day. There's also the ability to fight the "final boss" fairly early in the game, which some (like me) will stupidly attempt to do, just to see if the game will actually allow them to. It's a fun addition, and doesn't add to the difficulty, but worth noting.

Overall - 8.5

OK, I'll be honest. I came in expecting a lot more than what I got. Mostly because this game was very hyped by a lot of my friends. It was a good game, and a good RPG, but I've played better. I've played better games that looked like this (Final Fantasy VI). I've played better RPGs in the same month (Final Fantasy VIII). I've played better games starring guys who look like they belonged in Dragon Ball Z (Dragon Ball Z: Buus Fury). That's not to discourage anyone from playing this. It's a great game for sure, but there are better if you are looking to play a classic and want the best of the best for your collection. Play it, enjoy it, move along. It earns my stamp of approval, but remains off my top 5 RPG list for the time being. (I still need to play Earthbound too, and that's even MORE hyped by OTHER friends than this was.)

Most sidequests, like the Son of Sun and Mother Brain quests,
don't become playable until near the end. And there's always New Game +,
and the famous 12 endings.

BtotheH :

I think it was a straight port, so the graphics are probably the same.

legacyme3 : It sucks that you aren't staff anymore. You write pretty awesome reviews and I really like to read them. Nice job.

ender44 : (sorry, summoned you to the wrong thread!)

Maybe one day, I don't like quotas. I like reviewing at my own pace.