Chrono Trigger Review

Chrono Trigger was released by Square in 1995 for the SNES. Ported in a lot of other consoles during the next decades by Square Enix, it finally reached our PC screens through Steam in 2018.

A timeless RPG classic as it is self-referenced, is Chrono Trigger worth playing at this day and age, or has it become obsolete? Find out through our review.

As per the usual, this review will have a Storyline, Gameplay, Visuals, and finally a Personal Thoughts section. Without further ado:

Storyline

Any JRPG worth its salts would be story-heavy, or at least have the main story quest.

You play as the main character, Crono (I’ll be using each character’s default name, but you can change them in the game if you want), who is a boy in his late teens. The game starts with Crono all excited about an event held in his town, the Millenial Fair. His childhood friend and local genius Lucca are also there showcasing her newest invention.

There, he meets and befriends a girl called Marle by helping her find her lost pendant. They watch Lucca unveiling her invention, the teleporter. When Marle goes to try it out, her pendant reacts and she is flung through a gate.

Crono, being the heroic boy he is, follows behind her, with Lucca following a while after, before investigating what happened.

Crono searches for Marle and winds up in an area much like his home, but different. He does find Marle who is confused about their lost queen. After talking with Crono for a while, she disappears and Lucca explains that they are in the past, 400 years ago, and since they thought the queen returned and never searched for her, the future is changed, hence why Marle disappeared.

The story goes on much deeper than that, that’s just the start, but I don’t want to spoil the whole thing. All in all, Chrono Trigger is an adventure through time and a group of adventures who try to save all the timelines from a recurring threat.

Gameplay

If you’ve ever played or seen Dragon Quest or any other similar JRPG, you won’t have much trouble figuring out the game.

For the newer generation: the game is a pure RPG. You have your characters, they level up by fighting, you gain gold, you can upgrade their equipment, etc etc. We’ll take them one by one.

With Crono as the ever-present leader of the party, you travel through various areas of the game. While in the overworld, you can only move to go to various areas and/or residences. In the areas, you will try to find the exit (or the end). You will probably find and fight monsters while doing so. One thing to note is that enemy encounters are not random, but instead you can see the enemies on the map. You can also dodge most of them if you’re careful.

Fighting is pretty simple. Each character has a bar below their HP which fills up depending on your Speed stat. When it’s full, you can do an action. Actions are wither Attack, Tech/Combo, and Item.

Attacking is the most basic action, you just have to choose an enemy and you attack with your weapon. There is a chance to crit as well.

The second action could simply be called Magic. You can choose one Skill your character has and use it. The skills the characters have may target more than one enemy, depending on the tech. You can learn Techs by battling monsters. If you keep a specific team comp for a lot of time, you will unlock Combos, which is 2 characters using their techs simultaneously for increased damage. Doing so takes both their actions.

Finally, Item means you can use an Item on any character. The character who uses the action loses his action, not the one receiving an item.

You have 2 resources in battle, HP and MP. HP is self-explanatory. MP is your mana. Every Tech and Combo has a cost. if you can pay it then you can use it.

As you move through the story, you’ll be recruiting more characters. But the max party size is 3 people, which means some members of your team will be left behind. There are parts in the story where some members are forced into your party.

One fun thing is the many different endings you can get, adding to the replayability of the game.

About the SFX, the game really shines there. The music of each area and timeline is perfect, and the game is sure to leave you satisfied with its various music and themes.

There isn’t much more i can say here as it’s pretty standard stuff. The magic of the older games is their simplicity.

Visuals

What do you expect from a game created in 1995? The visuals are fine of course if you’re into Pixel Graphics. For me, there is something really nostalgic in these kinds of graphics.

Of course, compared to others of its genre, the graphics are pretty good.

Also, for you anime fans. If you see any illustrations or any of the in-game cinematics, I’m sure you’ll recognize the art style.

That’s right, it’s Dragon Ball’s Akira Toriyama!

Personal Thoughts

There’s no real reason not to play this game (if you’re in this kind of stuff and don’t mind Pixel graphics).

I’m not saying it’s perfection or anything but the game is certainly quite good, with an engaging story, fun characters, and many things to do.

It’d be bad to try and find fault in something when it tries its best and doesn’t have any serious problems.

Final Verdict

Storyline: 10

Gameplay: 9

Visuals: 8

General Rating: 9/10

That’s it for my review. Have you played this game? Who is your favorite character? What about your favorite ending? Leave a comment below.

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