Chrono Trigger - Cause and Mass Effect

[Lizzy Finnegan]

Chrono Trigger - Cause and Mass Effect

You can take the red pill. Or you can take the blue pill.

Or, you know, you could always take the green pill.

Read Full Article

 

[pressfarttocontinue]

Great article Liz! And I think you make an interesting point about how trying to save Lucca's mom was more emotional than Aerith dying

 

[Kross]

My first favorite game, one that I've actually played from start to finish multiple times (I've completed very few games even once), and has a soundtrack I still listen to regularly:

 

[Demagogue]

Sadly, I am horrible at completing RPGs... I think I've beaten FF1 and Deus Ex: HE and that's it. My problem is exactly this cause and effect system. I'll realize (too late usually) that I missed helping someone, or saving something and I'll restart. I could walk through the starting scenarios for most of the combinations in DA:O but don't ask me about the last fight against the blight.

It's good to know I can blame Chrono Trigger for this... hehe. I is definitely a very well built game. I find a lot of modern games seem to have a hard time making you be invested in the characters you're controlling, or interacting with. I cared with Aerith died... but more so because she was my primary healer than any attachment I had to her personally. Heck, I was sadder during the scene of Red XIII at Cosmo Canyon... Maybe it was the music.

 

[Mortuorum]

With decisions you make in the past influencing the progression of events in the future and more than a dozen possible endings, Chrono Trigger offers one of the most sought after features of any video game - replay value.

Players want replay value but it seems increasingly that developers do not. They don't want players to still be playing their last game when they release their next one.

 

[Imp_Emissary]

I should really find a way to play Chrono Trigger. Always hear good things about it.

With decisions you make in the past influencing the progression of events in the future and more than a dozen possible endings, Chrono Trigger offers one of the most sought after features of any video game - replay value.

Players want replay value but it seems increasingly that developers do not. They don't want players to still be playing their last game when they release their next one.

You'd think the growing use of DLC would have that going in the other direction (at least a little bit). After all, if they didn't stick around for the base game it's less likely they'd come back for DLC.

 

[runic knight]

Damn, it has been way too long since I last played chrono trigger. Lost the cartridge very long ago and never quite got around to finding an alternative to play it again. I'm going to have to fix that sometime.

 

[Sanunes]

With decisions you make in the past influencing the progression of events in the future and more than a dozen possible endings, Chrono Trigger offers one of the most sought after features of any video game - replay value.

Players want replay value but it seems increasingly that developers do not. They don't want players to still be playing their last game when they release their next one.

I am not nearly as confident that many players really want replayability in their games. Too many games aren't even finished if you look at the stats given from developers when they are given. Using BioWare as an example they list only 36% player completion rate for Dragon Age: Origins, yet you see a lot of people saying how important those choices are, but that still leaves 64% of the people that didn't finish the game and I can't see all 36% of the people who beat the game completing it multiple times.

Engadget Link [http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/13/mass-effect-2-has-highest-completion-rate-in-me-dragon-age-seri/]

Now I don't have a link for this part, but I have only seen estimates ranging from 15% to 25% of people completing games.

 

[R.K. Meades]

Damn, it has been way too long since I last played chrono trigger. Lost the cartridge very long ago and never quite got around to finding an alternative to play it again. I'm going to have to fix that sometime.

I know that feel. Fortunately, the DS and PSN releases were quite cheap.

I am not nearly as confident that many players really want replayability in their games. Too many games aren't even finished if you look at the stats given from developers when they are given.

Trophy rarity on PSN is a fairly decent indicator. For a niche title like Danganronpa, the trophies earned by completing the game will have a much higher earn rate than their equivalent in a big-ticket title like Final Fantasy XIII or Battlefield 4.

 

[Aramis Night]

I remember playing this game back in the day and being excited about this being the future of gaming with it's 16 possible endings(with some alternating paths through the storyline itself). Here we are 20 years later and games are struggling to give us just 1 worthwhile ending. It seems aside from sandbox games or mmo's(with no ending), games are as limiting as ever when it comes to storyline.

I really can't praise Chrono Trigger enough. The battle system was awesome with its combination attacks. The time travel cause and effect angle was very well done with actual consequences that made a difference. And the characters that mattered to you. Still one of my all time favorite games. I only wish that square was still capable of this level of magnificence.

 

[darthxaos]

The best part is, you can get every ending and branch through the magic of New Game +
You can even do stuff like solo hardmode Lavos with the mop once you've played through enough.

 

[Ncrdrg]

Dang, really throws me back. That was a fun game and there's not really any other game like it, either. That was a great read, Liz. I always picked Magus survive personally, he's so useful as a party member.

 

[Lazule]

My first favorite game, one that I've actually played from start to finish multiple times (I've completed very few games even once), and has a soundtrack I still listen to regularly:

I cri everytiem...

Ah, the best J-RPG ever made in my opinion and while its story isn't all that mature it hits you right in the feels... Its like the Never Ending Story.

And there is no such thing as boring power-leveling and endless grinding.

 

[Atmos Duality]

One of the best games of its time, still one of the best in its genre, and a reminder of how important closure is to a great game story, and game experience.

Which only serves to remind me just how few games actually offer closure these days...

 

[Grimh]

Chrono Trigger is one of my absolute favorites. I replayed it relatively recently.

I always liked the many ways and different times you could fight Lavos. You wanna fight Lavos? Yeah just touch this bucket. Or crash the Epoch into him. Or wreck his stuff millions of years ago after fighting Queen Spaceface.

Great game.

 

[Holythirteen]

Oh geez Liz. This shit is why we love you. Great stuff.

I am not nearly as confident that many players really want replayability in their games. Too many games aren't even finished if you look at the stats given from developers when they are given. Using BioWare as an example they list only 36% player completion rate for Dragon Age: Origins, yet you see a lot of people saying how important those choices are, but that still leaves 64% of the people that didn't finish the game and I can't see all 36% of the people who beat the game completing it multiple times.

Well, maybe I'm an old fart, but I don't find the "new" re-playability of games as enticing as it was in this game. I suppose you can attribute that to me not having as many games to play back then, but I would still rather replay this now than DA:O. And my nostalgia goggles can only account for so much of that.

You didn't have a completion bar saying "hey you missed something", you WANTED to go through again to relive just a fraction of the wonder this game made you feel.

Then again, nostalgia goggles.

 

[CaitSeith]

That game. So many endings. So many choices. And the trial, where the verdict was influenced by your actions in the first 10 minutes on the game (yes, I ate the old man's lunch).

 

[Tawanda]

"Often hailed as one of the greatest SNES games of all time" correction Its is undeniable the greatest SNES game of all time and in the top ten greatest game... MAY THE HEATHENS WHO DISAGREE BURN ETERNALLY IN HELL-FIRE. Also great article Lizz...and off to replay Chrono trigger

 

[StreamerDarkly]

Does the ability to choose from a finite set of paths make a shit game any better? I think not, unless you're the type of vain person who lends way too much gravity to random selections simply because you were the one who executed them. Not because they led to any unique or extraordinary gameplay experiences, mind you, but simply because you as the player were granted free will to make a choice. By this criteria, games like Depression Quest and Social Justice Warriors might just be amazing.

Christ, this uncritical celebration of "making big choices that have an impact" is like a lazy man's version of the current obsession with sandbox gaming. All you need to do is press a fucking button instead of spending the time to build something. More often than not, this is a mechanic employed to conceal a lack of real freedom and to present the appearance of depth where it doesn't exist. At least linear games are honest about their faults.