What’s your definition of a “10”?
More than a few people would call a “10” “perfect” and basically leave it at that.
And for most people, that’s fine and dandy.
But I subscribe to a belief that it’s a little more nuanced than that.
For me, a score of 10/10 isn’t an indication that a thing is actually flawless per se. It’s more of an acknowledgment of supreme excellence.
Think of it this way: A person can get 8 or 9 out of 10 questions on a quiz correct, but then nail the extra credit and still end up with a “perfect” score, even without a flawless performance.
Did the thing we’re talking about do what it set out to do in a special and exceptional way? And probably more importantly, at least to me, is how did it make me feel in the process? Thusly, a “10” is essentially the highest possible recognition or superlative, NOT a designation of perfection or flawlessness.
And can we acknowledge, at least a little bit, that perhaps nothing is perfect, and that when evaluating anything, it’s basically impossible to separate from that evaluation how a thing makes us feel?
How we react to a thing informs how we speak of it after the fact. And yes, that’s more of an undefinable thing, and yes, that complicates things greatly, but it’s not a thing we can ultimately avoid.
It’s how a game like Air Zonk can rank higher on this list than Ms. Pac-Man. One game is objectively more important historically and more universally well regarded and … well, tough cookies. Air Zonk makes me happier.
Chrono Trigger, our No. 26 game on the countdown (and another game that makes me happy), is a game that often gets lauded with the “perfect” moniker, and you can easily see why.
Its mix of story, characterization, game design, and enjoyment it engenders while playing are almost universally considered among the best in the genre. And moreover, it’s REALLY difficult to find anything to complain or quibble about here.
There just aren’t a lot of flaws in this game.
Does that make it perfect?
Not in the slightest.
It’s a wonderful game, and it should be experienced by everyone. That’s why it’s here.
But it ain’t perfect.
Let’s establish that now, so that inflated expectations don’t ruin the game for you.
Chrono Trigger at a glance:
Genre: RPG
Released: 1995
Platform: SNES
GamesRadar’s “2nd best Super NES game of all time”
Funny those … inflated expectations.
My adoration for this game’s sequel, Chrono Cross, should be well established by now (it checked in at No. 1 on this very countdown!).
Despite my love for it, that game very famously … wasn’t received well by Chrono Trigger super fans.
At release (and in the subsequent decades), it was thought that Chrono Cross deviated too much from the original game’s light adventure and tone, from its simple, yet satisfying battle system, and from its lovable ensemble cast of main characters, a group one could accurately call “tight-knight” both in terms of their closeness to one another and in their actual (limited) numbers.
Cross went into heavier and darker places thematically, introduced a battle system that was gloriously complex, and inundated us with a roster of characters so large it’s literally impossible to collect them all in a single play-through.
So yes, Cross deviated from the much beloved Chrono Trigger significantly, and as such, it didn’t deliver for a lot of fans.
So, why did it click for me? Well, probably at least in part because I played Cross first. I didn’t have all that baggage from having played Trigger first and the accompanying vast array of expectations that couldn’t possibly be met. I was free merely to experience an exciting new game without having to worry about my own demands of it.
It became and remains my favorite game of all time.
I suppose the natural follow-up question to Cross not being a disappointment is whether Trigger, by contrast, let me down in any way after having played Cross first.
If I’m honest … maybe a little?
The games are really different from one another.
REALLY different.
So much so, I don’t know that a person can play one without being affected by the stark differences present in the other.*
* There are a lot of reasons why, with three of the big ones listed above (tone, battle system, and character roster), though I believe a person could go through all of the ways they differ and probably still be writing about the two games a week from now. The easiest way to sum it all up – and I say this lovingly – is that Cross is really fucking weird. It’s a bit of an ask to have someone accept all of its idiosyncrasies … whether you’ve played the first game or not.
But really, truly, and ultimately, my own personal (slight) disappointment in Chrono Trigger stemmed less from how different it is and primarily from the hype surrounding the game and talk of it being perfect.
It didn’t live up to perfection when I played. It seemed a little shallow to me. The pacing was off. And in some respects it seemed less ambitious than I’d been told it would be.
I don’t think any of those things would have been quite so noticeable to me without a misguided notion of perfection coming into it.
Thusly, here I am, doing my best not to wreck anyone else’s enjoyment of either game by acknowledging that each game is absolutely incredible, that each game barely resembles the other, but also that neither game is perfect.
Are we clear on this point?
Good.
Because that all having been said, if ANY game can lay claim to flirting with perfection, it’s probably Chrono Trigger.
And it was almost destined to be that way from the start.
Developer Square assembled its own version of the “Dream Team” in an effort to put this thing together. Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series, joined forces with Yuji Horii of Dragon Quest fame and Dragon Ball author/artist Akira Toriyama to give the game a dynamite creative force at the outset.
Two of the best composers in the world, Yasunori Mitsuda and Nobuo Uematsu, teamed up on the score, and basically I could go on for another five paragraphs here about all the awesome people who worked on Chrono Trigger. The short of it is, if you were a badass creative force in video games in the mid 90s, you probably had at least a 50:50 chance of being attached to this game in some way.
Now, saying this team might have been destined for success isn’t to imply that they had some kind of amazing plan at the outset or that it would be in any way easy. They still had to put in the work.
Thankfully, they had a lot of creative freedom to come up with whatever they wanted.
As an example, the theme of time travel, which plays a major role in the game’s story, was a concept the team had to gravitate toward over time, not something they settled on (or even 100% desired) immediately.
But that creative freedom is what probably helped the game become what it ultimately did. No restrictions or directives allowed everyone to collaborate together in service to the overall quality of the game.
This concept, of collaborating toward a greater good, is present in ALL aspects of the game. From story, to graphical design, to music, to combat engine, and so on and so on.
Everything here works, because it was allowed to work.
The end result is, put most simply, an action-RPG with real-time battles that tells an easy-to-understand story about a likable group of characters trying to save the world from certain destruction. Oh, and while they’re at it, not change history (because of the whole time travel thing) in such a way that they inadvertently kill themselves or anyone else in the process.
Sounds pretty good, right? And the time travel implications certainly impact the philosophical questions that will pop up afterward. But I think there’s an even deeper, more encompassing message at play here.
I circle back to that idea of “collaborating toward a greater good.” The game is meta in that way, as the developers absolutely were doing that … and then they created a game about characters trying to do the exact same thing.
Friendships are forged that have an authenticity or realness about them, and then those friendships are incorporated into the gameplay. Pair two characters with one another during the storytelling scenes and you’ll see them connect in ways you don’t always get in games like this. But then pair them again on the battlefield, and you’ll unlock attacks that are specific to that pairing, furthering your chances at success.
The whole game is like this. Throughout the duration, the player is encouraged to experiment with different relationships, and then nurture those relationships in pursuit of ultimate success.
Dream Teams, indeed!
The idea that we can only succeed through cooperation is an alluring one. As is the idea of adoptive family: of discovering our own humanity through our connections with others. We can find healing in those relationships, and accomplish great things in the process.
I LOVE this stuff.
Of course, another part of the appeal of Chrono Trigger (beyond the theme of cooperation or the less descriptive, yet accurate, “it’s good!” in reference to basically everything) is how seamless battles are. A turn-off for some folks when it comes to RPGs is a heavily menu-based shift in perspective that can grind the action to a halt. Chrono Trigger has no such shift to begin with as battles take place on the same world map your characters were previously navigating, and the battles are conducted in what is essentially real time, with inaction getting punished by your opponent.
The end result is a more present, action-oriented approach to battles that provides more urgency, and for many people, more enjoyment.
What’s even better is that many of these battles are optional, as the player can see enemies on-screen and avoid them as desired. So there are fewer forced battles the player has no control over.
How the game unfolds is essentially up to you. You can customize your own experience.
Customization is a big deal in Chrono Cross. I adore it there. And though it’s more limited in scope with Chrono Trigger, it’s still here. Being able to play the game in different ways – which by the way unlock different endings and end-of-game rewards – is absolutely a vital piece of the experience. I would go so far as to say customization is an essential component of any “Chrono” game.
So yeah, great themes, battles and customization … pair that stuff with an epic story, wonderful music, and vibrant visuals (all of which are also essential to the Chrono experience), and you’ve got an absolute winner.
So what makes it worth playing today?
Let’s say you’re a fanboy of one of the amazing creators of this game, or at minimum a fan of their other work (e.g. Final Fantasy, Dragon Ball Z, Chrono Cross, etc.). Then this is one of those absolute must-play games.
But even if you aren’t…
Play Chrono Trigger for the story and themes.
Chrono Trigger is a fun adventure with a dynamic group of people doing “save the world” stuff, and for my money, there’s not a whole lot better in this world than that.
Looking back on it now, there’s a real sort of “Guardians of the Galaxy” kind of vibe to these characters and their coming together to find healing and success with one another (a little less vulgarity and 70s pop hits, but whatever).
This type of story is uplifting, because it’s easy to see yourself in a flawed character, and it’s massively appealing to feel like you’re part of something bigger than yourself.
We can all do big, important things in the right circumstances.
The game is short and clean and doesn’t overstay its welcome, and because like Final Fantasy VI it is representative of a style of game (mid 90s 16-bit RPG) at its absolute peak, there is basically no reason not to give it a go.
Chrono Trigger is an RPG that “isn’t like other RPGs” and is therefore an easy recommendation for all fans of video games, even folks who typically don’t like the genre. This is the rare RPG that can win over non-RPG fans thanks to how it plays.
But even if it weren’t special in that way, it’s still a best-in-class experience. I can name few RPGs I’d play over this one.
Like RPGs?
Play it.
Don’t like RPGs?
Play it.
Dave’s Score: 10/10
Check out the whole Retro Gaming Essentials list here!
How to play
- Original hardware on SNES
- Final Fantasy Chronicles (PlayStation)
- Wii Virtual Console
- PlayStation Network
- iOS, Android and Windows
- Nintendo DS
- Steam