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11-02-05 12:59 PM
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Slay

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Posted on 06-02-05 03:57 PM Link | Quote
I must first state that I love this game. It's probably my favorite RPG to play, even if I may list others as being the "best RPG, in my opinion," Chrono Cross is the only one I can continually come back to and enjoy, mostly because of the combat system. One gripe I've always had about RPGs is the lack of interactivity in the battles. You simply choose the "Attack" command and watch your character run up to the enemy, hit him, and then run back in place. It's pure RNG that determines the degree of success of your attacks. Not in Chrono Cross. I love the increasing percentile of success, three-tier of power basic attack system, how you could switch between enemies in the middle of an attack, and the Stamina system made this even more perfect. In most RPGs, you have your fighter types attack, you have your mages spam their most powerful magic until they're low on MP, and you have your thieves or what have you enact their special abilities. It's predictable, it's almost universal, and if you ask me, it's boring. The Elemental Allocation system added depth and stragety to this already fantastic base combat system.

( vague and casual spoilers follow, nothing too revealing, but steer clear if you plan on playing the game any time soon )

But gameplay alone would simply make Chrono Cross fun. It's true greatness lies partly in the amazing storyline. Most RPGs are content with throwing together a rag-tag crew of self-labeled "adventurers," (who have ambiguous and questionable motives for remaining in a group) giving them an enemy to face and the potential end of the world to deal with. A comet, the release of some ultimate evil. RPGs are a predictable and fairly uniform genre of gaming, mainly because Final Fantasy has attained such wild success, and everybody else merely tries to emulate that success by emulating the games themselves.

Chrono Cross, however, has a fascinating, thought-provoking and rather unique plot. There is a wonderful plot twist at every turn; the existence of FATE, Lynx's identity, Serge's role in this all, the relation between the Homeworld and Alternate dimensions. Just as you think you've got the game figured out, you're proven wrong. You think you're traveling to an alternate dimension (or timeline, I forget how they worded it, exactly) but yours ends up being the "wrong" one, you persue and try to kill Lynx at the urging of the Seven Dragons, only to find out that you've been manipulated, and in a greater sense, you're the bad guy and the antagonist is the good guy.

But this is all event-based, and purely event-based tales are boring. Just grab a history book and begin to read, see how fast you lose interest. Despite it's ridiculous amount of playable characters, Chrono Cross retains a great amount of character-driven intrigue. It's fun to see how the characters interact, learning about their histories and insights into their personalities. And all this is accomplished while your lineup is constantly being tossed around and your main character is speechless.

I can't say how much I love the fact that the antagonists aren't portrayed as monstrous inhuman figures who cackle to themselves about how they love being evil and want to spread darkness throughout the lands. When you become the antagonist at a point, you really gain insight into the enigmatic character of Harle, for example, who in other games would only be used as a right-hand-man to the main antagonist, and never be developed. Other games treat your adversaries as mere obstacles for you to overcome (a tradition that actually stems from tabletop roleplaying, but that's another topic), while in Chrono Cross the antagonists are treated as actual people. The writers of the story really wanted to show the fact, I think, that everyone has their own personal convictions in what they're doing, everybody is doing what they think is right or must be done, and in that sense, "evil" does not exist in the way we traditionally think it does; there are no "heroes" or "villans" in real life, just people with conflicting viewpoints.

There is also an indescribable something nostalgic to the overall feel of the game. I find it hard to explain. Perhaps it's the sunny tropical atmosphere, as portrayed by the character art and the in-game graphics. Perhaps it's the musical score, which right from the begining induces strong feelings of carefreeness and adventure, with it's gentle calypsonian rythms and windy notes and tones.

For many reasons, however, people tend to hate this game with ardor and zeal. I wonder if it's simply because it has the name Chrono attached and has almost nothing pivotal or significant to do with Chrono Trigger. Chrono Cross, as I see it, is it's own game. If you go into it expecting Chrono Trigger 2, expecting a new Magus and a new Crono, with a new Lavos and new Guardia, then maybe you're not ready to play. I would strongly reccomend to people to play Chrono Cross. If you're hesitant to get into RPGs, this will give you a great first experience, if you want something fresh, you'll find it here, or if you're generally bored of how generic and static videogames have become, this might invigorate you. I say this because I'm sure few people have played Chrono Cross, especially compared to the amount of people who have played, say, Final Fantasy 7 or Lunar, or even to an extent Warcraft III or Diablo.

So play the game why don't you?
*cue chime*

Xeolord

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Posted on 06-02-05 09:45 PM Link | Quote
Play the game? Well I've beaten it about 5-6 times by now. ;P

Yes, Chrono Cross is indeed one of the best RPG's out there, in my opinion. Like Slay said, the Combat and Battle System was very different, unique and awesome. But the thing I really liked about the games combat, was the Element System and how they were used, and how they linked to the Element Grid. By the end of the game, you would have so many magic attacks you wouldn't even know what to do with them, and I'm not even counting New Game+ here.

Aside from that, there are two things about Chrono Cross that I think is better than any other RPG out there.

- The Art. The backdrops, backgrounds, and setting in this game are so incredible, organic, and fantasized, that this is seriously a major factor as to why I love going back to play this game. It's "beautiful". The only other game out there that I think can match up to it's Art, would probably have to be FFIX.

- The Music. Chrono Cross in my opinion has the best videogame soundtrack out there, period. My only complaint is that the battle themes weren't too epic, but how can I complain when I get all of those other tracks?

As for the storyline, it is tricky. It's a game where you'll really have to pay attention, or you'll probably soon be lost. Thus is why I'd recommened it's more than just a single play through.

My biggest complaint about the game, is the length. It truly isn't that long of a game, first time probably took me a little over 20 hours to beat, then the other times probably between 15-20.

But you can argue that fact, since there is in fact a New Game+ feature.

Chrono Cross is easily a very solid RPG, and if you have not yet played it, you really are missing out.
Armor of Halo

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Posted on 09-05-05 11:10 PM Link | Quote
just one thing to say chrono cross IS one of the best RPG's out there and if someone doesnt like it they must not like RPG's
Dracoon

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Posted on 09-09-05 10:54 PM Link | Quote
I keep losing interest for some reasons, especially a while after...

Spoiler:
You become Lynx, it just goes downhill untill you change back.


Yeah, for some reason I just lose interest around then and quit. I've been near the end several times.
Bella

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Posted on 09-10-05 12:37 AM Link | Quote
I have yet to beat this game. I barely remember what happened. I should since my sister beat it and says its a very good, sexy game. I will beat it when I have time. I have a few games to play and finish but I'll get around to this one one of these days.
Xeolord

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Posted on 09-10-05 05:42 AM Link | Quote
Originally posted by Dracoon
I keep losing interest for some reasons, especially a while after...

Spoiler:
You become Lynx, it just goes downhill untill you change back.


Yeah, for some reason I just lose interest around then and quit. I've been near the end several times.


Although I agree it has it's slower moments, once you get past them the game is incredible.

I've also heard that one before, I really don't know what it is that makes the "Playing as Lynx" part in the game so boring to some people, heck I thought Lynx was cooler than Serge.
Dracoon

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Posted on 09-10-05 10:35 AM Link | Quote
I think its the point that you don't have all the things you suddenly had, you're a dark element fighter, and it seems you have to redo things and try and get pointless things. Going through the dragons is uninteresting for some reason, its kinda weird.

I own the game, might play it again soon, just to try and actually beat it this time since I've beaten CT now.
xZeaLitYx

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Posted on 09-10-05 09:46 PM Link | Quote
Amen to the topic. My only real complaint is the overflow of characters. Not for their own sake, but because the overflow is what prompted them to remove Guile's backstory as Magus and essentially make him a bastard with no history.
Xeolord

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Posted on 09-12-05 05:00 AM Link | Quote
Originally posted by xZeaLitYx
Amen to the topic. My only real complaint is the overflow of characters. Not for their own sake, but because the overflow is what prompted them to remove Guile's backstory as Magus and essentially make him a bastard with no history.


That was a disappointing part, really I was hoping to see more of a story revolved around Magus -somehow-.

That, and a handful of the characters seemed kind of useless / pointless. The dog at the beginning? Sure, it was useful then, but after that who really stuck with it? ...

And so on.


(edited by Xeolord on 09-11-05 08:00 PM)
(edited by Xeolord on 09-11-05 08:00 PM)
SpamLord
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Posted on 09-16-05 11:29 AM Link | Quote
I loved Chrono Cross, it's one of my favorite games. The vast amount of characters to recruit was great, but my biggest problem was a SPOILER:








I had trouble using the characters I got back after becoming Serge again, they were considerably weaker. I still went back to using Glenn though, because I'm a big Chrono Trigger fan. When Lucca's house was burning down I was devastated.








I still haven't beaten it though, I had to return it. I always seem to become unmotivated near the end of a game.
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