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Review by: thegreatmonkey
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Reviewers Score:
9 / 10
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Posted: December 11, 2005
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Chrono Cross
System: PS1 (backwards compatibility with PS2, in case you didn't know)
Genre: RPG
Difficulty: medium
Rating: 9/10
Chrono Cross is the sequel to the wildly popular RPG Chrono Trigger.
While the game has not met the same acclaim or sales figure as Chrono
Trigger, Cross still proves itself as a great game.
Graphics (8/10)
This game was released in 2000 on the playstation console. The
graphics are very good: better than FFVII, if that means anything to
you. There are a few cut scenes, which are brilliant, and some of
the bosses (mostly the larger ones) are beautifully animated. The
world map and idle walking, however, look as you would expect.
Sound (8/10)
Once again, the sound here is very good, yet not extraordinary.
The battle and boss music are catchy and sound similar to the Chrono
trigger music. It's enjoyable to hear, but not a great strong
point or anything. No talking, just text, but there is an ending
song.
Storyline (9/10)
By the end of the game, you'll probably be on google looking for info on
what just happened. There are so many plot twists, especially at
the end, that it's hard to keep up. Is this a problem? No way!
It's fantastic. Basically, this story line has little relation to
Chrono Trigger, yet you can draw parallels when you do some of the side
quests and figure out the story fully. It should be noted,
however, that there was a planned third game in the Chrono cycle, yet it
is on hiatus or has been cancelled. The third one would supposedly
tie all the loose ends together and make the games seem much more alike.
anyway, it's a long game, and like I said, it never falters on plot
twists or movement, so there's a lot that you would just have to figure
out for yourself. Here's a rough sketch:
You start out as Serge, a 17 year old boy who is living a good life on a
sea side town. You go out one day with your girlfriend to the
beach (after getting her lizard scales for a necklace or something), and
while she's talking, you pass out. Or something... you're not sure
what happened. When you come to, you find that no one in the
village knows you. Yet they're still all there, even your mother.
You find out that a young boy name Serge died 10 years ago. while
visiting his grave, you are attacked by soldiers who were told to bring
you in to Master Lynx. You fight them alongside a girl named Kid,
who jumps down to help you. The rest of the story is about you trying to
find out what happened, and later, trying to save the world.
If you don't understand the game by the end, don't bash it for being
confusing or not having enough Chrono (although he and all the other
main Chrono trigger characters, except frog and ayla, appear in some
form). Thinking about the story, paying close attention, and maybe
looking at a plot summary on the internet will help. It's
confusing if you're just clicking away at text.
Gameplay (9/10)
Chrono Trigger is very unique. First off, there isn't an xp
system. it's strange: You gain xp for fighting a boss, then
gradually get more when you fight enemies... It may sound like it's a
normal type of RPG, but it's not. you have to play it,
unfortunately, to truly understand. Let's just say that you can't
level up by fighting hundreds of monsters in the wild: plot movement
dictates your level really. Also, there are 45 characters.
yes, 45. truth be told, you have to beat the game 4 times to get
them all, but still. It's because of this that you need the
strange xp system. each character speaks in their own dialect as
well, which is kind of enjoyable to watch. Also, you assign the
spells that one can cast. Each person has a color: white, black,
green, yellow, red, or blue. there are also abilities that
correspond to the colors. for example, you buy the ability water
(which is, naturally, blue) and assign it to a blue colored player.
it would work better than if it were assigned to a red colored player.
there' s a rock paper scissors thing going on with these colors as well.
As you progress, you gain higher "levels" to place more
powerful spells on. each spell can be used once per battle.
Some of this may seem confusing, so it's really one of those "you
gotta try it" things, like Katamari Damacy.
Replayability (8/10)
When you have to beat the game 4 times to get all the characters,
there's a certain degree of replay. When there are 9 endings,
there's an even greater degree. Like in Chrono trigger, you start
with the time egg (see? relation to Chrono cross is present.), and also
a new feature: a device which allows you to speed up time. boss
battles take about 1 minute when they should have taken 20 (when you
factor in the fact that your level is also much higher, since you don't
lose level or items in new game plus). This game has one of the
highest replayabilities around.
Overall (9/10)
I loved this game. yes, I know, some of you have played it and are
probably saying "IT SUCKS! I COULDN'T EVEN BE CHRONO!" Well,
it's true: it's not the sequel you would have expected. however,
in terms of enjoyability, it's the same as Chrono trigger. And
that's a tough thing to say, when Chrono trigger is as great as it is.
There are not as many side quests, yet the character finding makes up
for it. Also, there's the whole matter of endings as well. I
would recommend highly that you pick up this game, even if you haven't
played Trigger. it's awesome, cheap, and won't disappoint. |
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