INTRO - Hello escapist community, I'm glad to finally getting around to joining after being a long time lurker, hopefully I'll manage well here.
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INTRO II: INTRO HARDER - Let me admit that I indeed have a SNES emulator, on it I have a plethora of classic games. However for some reason, like stupidity, I never got around to getting the RPG classic, Chrono Trigger. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't , because Chrono Trigger may be one of the greatest RPG in existence, but it is even better on a handheld.
GAMEPLAY: How many of you people of played pokemon? Remember back when you when you first started out, with your level 12 Charmander, and you enter a cave only to find... nothing but endless scourges of MOTHERFUCKING ZUBAT, every three steps FUCKING ZUBAT.
Chrono Trigger plays nothing like that because it incorporates a unique combat system, it resembles a turn based combat system, but plays in real time. It cuts out unnecessary bullshit, like the battle screen transitions, and no real random battles when you're exploring the overworld.
This streamlined combat system is even better for a handheld, making it much more easy to pick up and play, without losing you're attention. HINT: The speed stat is the most important in this game, it determines how many times to slash a monster in the face before he unloads fireballs at you.
However it also has a plethora of side quest, although they only appear half way into the game, they incorporate time travel, so the quests are kindly of like "Where's Carmen Sandiago" only across time, and the fact that there are demons at every possible turn.
STORY: I could go on about how much I love the plot and characters of this time travel epic, but what impresses me the most about this games story it;s thematic storyline and its seamless integration into the gameplay.
Unlike most JRPGs, which have cliche's like "the chosen ones" and prophecies and such, Chrono Trigger goes against that. The main theme of Chrono Trigger is that there is no ultimate predetermined destiny, only what we make of it. This fits with the gameplay, because Chrono Trigger has no defined ending, there are 13 seperate ending in Chrono Trigger all based on your actions. 13 different destinies, not controlled by the developers, but rather by the players themselves.
NEGATIVES: There isn't really any nitpicks with Chrono Trigger itself, but rather this DS port. The original Super Nintendo Chrono Trigger came out about 13 years prior to this DS port, however it was ported in 1999 to the PS1, which didn't add much except new animated cutscenes, the DS port retains these (The cutsccenes clearly resemble Dragon Ball Z, probably because the creator of Dragon Ball was the character design of Chrono Trigger).
However in 13 years the port developers did nothing to enhance the graphics, which as good as they are, would be been better if they at least made this port 32 bit, still using 2D sprites, but more detailed than the 16 bit SNES sprites, all of which is easily capable by the DS.
The game also has an amazingly good soundtrack however it is still quite outdated, utilizing the old Super Nintendo sound capabilities, instead of updating the sound for the DS. I don't want remixes, but they could have at least polished the soundtrack so it still doesn't unnecessarily sound so old.
CONCLUSION: Chrono Trigger is fittingly a timeless classic, and while the DS port doesn't utilize all of capabilites of the DS, its streamlined gameplay and interesting story, make this perfect for the handheld, where you can pick up and play whenever and wherever you want and don't have to worry so much about save points and such.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
INTRO II: INTRO HARDER - Let me admit that I indeed have a SNES emulator, on it I have a plethora of classic games. However for some reason, like stupidity, I never got around to getting the RPG classic, Chrono Trigger. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't , because Chrono Trigger may be one of the greatest RPG in existence, but it is even better on a handheld.
GAMEPLAY: How many of you people of played pokemon? Remember back when you when you first started out, with your level 12 Charmander, and you enter a cave only to find... nothing but endless scourges of MOTHERFUCKING ZUBAT, every three steps FUCKING ZUBAT.
Chrono Trigger plays nothing like that because it incorporates a unique combat system, it resembles a turn based combat system, but plays in real time. It cuts out unnecessary bullshit, like the battle screen transitions, and no real random battles when you're exploring the overworld.
This streamlined combat system is even better for a handheld, making it much more easy to pick up and play, without losing you're attention. HINT: The speed stat is the most important in this game, it determines how many times to slash a monster in the face before he unloads fireballs at you.
However it also has a plethora of side quest, although they only appear half way into the game, they incorporate time travel, so the quests are kindly of like "Where's Carmen Sandiago" only across time, and the fact that there are demons at every possible turn.
STORY: I could go on about how much I love the plot and characters of this time travel epic, but what impresses me the most about this games story it;s thematic storyline and its seamless integration into the gameplay.
Unlike most JRPGs, which have cliche's like "the chosen ones" and prophecies and such, Chrono Trigger goes against that. The main theme of Chrono Trigger is that there is no ultimate predetermined destiny, only what we make of it. This fits with the gameplay, because Chrono Trigger has no defined ending, there are 13 seperate ending in Chrono Trigger all based on your actions. 13 different destinies, not controlled by the developers, but rather by the players themselves.
NEGATIVES: There isn't really any nitpicks with Chrono Trigger itself, but rather this DS port. The original Super Nintendo Chrono Trigger came out about 13 years prior to this DS port, however it was ported in 1999 to the PS1, which didn't add much except new animated cutscenes, the DS port retains these (The cutsccenes clearly resemble Dragon Ball Z, probably because the creator of Dragon Ball was the character design of Chrono Trigger).
However in 13 years the port developers did nothing to enhance the graphics, which as good as they are, would be been better if they at least made this port 32 bit, still using 2D sprites, but more detailed than the 16 bit SNES sprites, all of which is easily capable by the DS.
The game also has an amazingly good soundtrack however it is still quite outdated, utilizing the old Super Nintendo sound capabilities, instead of updating the sound for the DS. I don't want remixes, but they could have at least polished the soundtrack so it still doesn't unnecessarily sound so old.
CONCLUSION: Chrono Trigger is fittingly a timeless classic, and while the DS port doesn't utilize all of capabilites of the DS, its streamlined gameplay and interesting story, make this perfect for the handheld, where you can pick up and play whenever and wherever you want and don't have to worry so much about save points and such.
