A Perfect Swansong to the 2D Era
Enter Chrono Trigger. The game that swept the genre skeptics of their feet and smashed all the stereotypes of the genre into bits and pieces. Not only was this the very revolutionary game,fans of the genre had dreamt of,it was probably the best they would ever play for a long time to come. Chrono Trigger had a lot of expectations riding on it,and it was natural. As the brainchild of two behemoths in JRPG, SquareSoft and Enix Corporation popularly named as the Dream Team,Chrono Trigger was expected to combine both Square and Enix's best talent into one amazing game.
With Hironobo Sakaguchi and Yuji Horii,believed to be the founders of modern-day JRPG,at the helm of development,Chrono Trigger was the perfect synthesis of Square's storytelling prowess, and Enix's evolutionary thoughts on battle systems.
Chrono Trigger broke the mold in nearly every aspect. Armed with an awe-inspiring story,stunning 2D graphics,a revolutionary battle system that synthesised aspects of action and turn-based RPG to thrilling affect, and memorable cast of characters, Chrono Trigger became a force to be reckoned with in the gaming world.
GAMEPLAY: 10/10
From it's many revolutionary aspects,perhaps the most vital and biggest revolution was in it's gameplay. The common complaints by the skeptics of the genre had been random battles,tedious leveling up,and linear plot. Chrono Trigger tossed all those criticisms out,by bringing in a completely fresh battle system that combined few of traditional JRPG gameplay concepts,and few of it's own,to make Chrono Trigger,one of the very first JRPG,that wasn't a burden to play.
In Chrono Trigger,enemies are visible on the same screen as your character sprite,and hence you can either choose to fight them or avoid the confrontation altogether. This makes adventuring the vast worlds of Chrono Trigger,a lot more easier,and a lot more enjoyable. If the player comes in contact with an enemy on the screen,the battle screen will directly enter the play without any transition,another new in the genre. Once in the battle screen,you will instantly notice,that enemies don't attack from a mile off. They are clever,and have their own formation and only attack when they're near your character. This makes the gameplay of Chrono Trigger,not only more believable,but also feel more realistic.
As far as the battle system goes,Chrono Trigger keeps the Active Time Battle System intact,while replacing the so-called magic in Square's Final Fantasy,with special abilities called Techs. Each character has a tech which is unique to them. Early on,these techs are pretty simple and do a fair amount of damage on the enemies.But,as you level up,some of the newer techs you learn can be combined with the techs of fellow characters in your party to create Double or Triple Techs. Not only the visuals of these Techs are good,these techs are very satisfying to perform. One of the key advantages of Chrono Trigger's gameplay was that leveling up,your other characters which were not in your party was no longer necessary,as they leveled up by a certain percentage along with your active party characters. This eliminated the grinding part,where many gamers had to train their whole party before the final boss battle.
STORY AND CHARACTERS : 10/10
Chrono Trigger broke some more mold even in the storytelling aspects. It departed from the traditional JRPG cliched stories of rebellion and cliched characters. Not only this time-trotting saga of Chrono Trigger enthralled one and all,it also brought along some memorable characters with it. A silent protagonist, Crono, lives in 1000AD where the Millenia Fair is being celebrated. He meets up with a young girl,Marle,who is actually the princess,while going to his friend's Luca's new invention. When Luca's machine accidentally transports Marle,to another dimension,Crono is forced to save her. This are some nitpicky beginnings to a great epic,which leads to some really breathtaking places.
In their adventures,Crono and his group,tag along many interesting and memorable characters,like the swordsman-turned frog named Frog,the prehistoric tribal leader,Ayla,a futuristic robot with the heart of gold,Robot and finally,a very popular optional character,the evil Magus.
One of the most important revolutions of Chrono Trigger,for which it is remembered even till this date,is for it's non-linear storyline.Packed with 13 different endings Chrono Trigger's story isn't the "Final Fantasyish" kind of story by any stretch of imagination. It is certainly filled with various twists and turns throughout. It isn't the emotional JRPG story that will make few cry and few feel sorrowful. It is a thrill-filled time-travelling adventure,that delivers loads of memorable moments,something which fans of the genre crave for. The New Game + which is the feature which allows you to start the game once again,but with the same set of characters,with which you beat the previous game. This not only means that there is virtually no extra leveling up needed,and it only makes it much more easier,and fun,to complete the game's other 13 endings.
MUSIC: 10/10
Perhaps one of the very few SquareSoft games,to not to be fully composed by their famous music composer,Nobuo Uematsu, Chrono Trigger instead credits it's music,to Yasunori Mitsuda,a freelance musician. And,what a soundtrack he composes. Sure,it may not be something of as grandeur and emotion as Uematsu's in FFVI,but Mitsuda's at times soft,at times full of energy soundtrack perfectly suits the mood of the game. As usual the overworld themes,are one of the best of the game,and they amaze you everytime you hear them. It's time-travelling melodies,are equally amazing too.
OVERALL:
There aren't really many flaws you could find in Chrono Trigger's design.It was made to be a revolutionary game in the genre,that would provide some inspiration to it,as it made it's move to transition into 3D world. Chrono Trigger was much more than that though. It was a swansong not only for SNES,but for the entire 2D era itself. It's one of the very few games,that hasn't lost a bit of sheen over the years,and perhaps never will.
Chrono Trigger is indeed,a perfect swansong to the 2D era,that brought revolutionary change into a genre,stagnated by repetitive games.