Direct questions to: James Fan

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Chrono Trigger

http://www.stanford.edu/~jamfan/ct/ct.html [3/1/2001 12:09:53 PM]

Direct questions to: James Fan

Center Frame

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This webpage represents an online version of my game review of Chrono Trigger for STS145. My intent inproducing this companion resource was to provide a more complete experience for the interested reader.Within this webpage, you the reader will be able to browse about all that is Chrono Trigger -- the producersresponsible for creating the video game, the story driving the gaming experience, and the gameplay mechanicsthat differentiated from all of the other RPG games out there.

In addition to my own analysis concerning the game, the website also includes outside resouces dealing withChrono Trigger. You may want to explore the links provided in the Miscellaneous section for more information.

Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions you may have. Enjoy.

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Help

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Square, a well-knownJapanese consolegame maker,released ChronoTrigger during theSeptember of 1995.Best known for theirimmensely popularFinal Fantasy seriesof RPGs, the mostrecent of which wasFinal Fantasy 6 (FinalFantasy 3 in theUnited States) at thetime, Square hadalready built aformidable reputationas a leading consolegame manufacturer.With Chrono Trigger,it seemed they wereexploring newterritory byintroducing newelements into thegenre.

Led by producerHironobu Sakaguchi(Final Fantasy) andcharacter designerAkira Toriyama(Dragon Ball Z), thedevelopment team forChrono Triggersought to create agaming experiencetranscending theboundaries of thegenre. Withcomposer YasunoriMitsuda (Xenogears,Chrono Cross) at thehelm and Yuji Horii(Dragon Quest)developing theenvironments andscenery, fans wereguaranteed a stellar

Origins

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gaming experience.The final productwould deliver on all ofthe hype and evensurpass theexpectations placedupon it, eventuallybecoming one of thelast great RPGs forthe Super Nintendo.

onward to the story>>

Origins

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Like all Square RPGs,Chrono Trigger derivedmost of its appeal from thewonderfully writtenstoryline driving it behindthe scenes. Equally ascomplicated andunpredictable as the storiesof the Final Fantasy series,the plot of Chrono Triggerrevolved around the maincharacter, aptly namedCrono. Throughout theentire game, Crono spokenary a word, forcing theplayer to imagine andcreate his own identity.Taking the role of a silent,unassuming young man,the game player wouldgradually find himselfdrawn into a conflict oftremendous proportions,eventually spanning notonly the globe, but timeitself. The game beginsinnocently at the site of theMillenial Fair in 1000 AD, acarnival thrown in the plazaof Crono's hometowncomplete with game boothsand bustling market tents.Soon after arriving at thefair, Crono bumps into amysterious girl namedMarle who asks for hisassistance in guiding heraround the festivities. Thetwo arrive at the displaybooth of the inventorLucca, a close friend ofCrono, where she'sshowcasing a simpleteleportation device.Fascinated by the bizarredevice, Marle asks to try itout only to find her pendantreact violently to the

Story

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teleportation process,which results in hermysterious disappearance.The only sign of her leftbehind is the strangependant. Intrigued by theinexplicable glitch in thedevice, Crono and Luccagrab the pendant and jumpinto the teleporter in anattempt to discover thewhereabouts of Marle.What follows is amagnificent journeythrough the threads ofhistory.

The two friends findthemselves 400 years intothe past in the year 600AD, eventually findingMarle and discovering thatshe is of noble blood - infact, they realize that she istheir own princess from1000 AD, also known asPrincess Nadia. Here in theDark Ages, however, she ismistaken as PrincessLeene, her ancestorhundreds of years ago.With the aid of a noble frogknight, one of many colorfulpersonalities introducedthroughout the course ofthe game, they are able torescue Marle and bring herback to the correct timeperiod. Upon reaching thepresent, however, Crono iscaught by the castle guardsand forced to answer tocharges of kidnapping thePrincess. Aided by Marleand Lucca, Cronomanages to escape thecastle prison. The partyretreats into the nearbyforest for refuge, wherethey stumble upon anothertime warp that whisks them1300 years into the future.The future in 2300 ADoffers a bleak landscape

Story

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plunged into darkness byan unknown force. It ishere where they meet upwith one of the roboticdenizens of the future,whom they affectionatelyname Robo. Robo explainsto the party the events thattranspired to lead up to thedestruction of the world,revealing the existence of adestructive alien forcenamed Lavos thatimplanted itself into thecore of the planet in65,000,000 BC. Hiddenmiles underneath thesurface, Lavos fed off ofplanet's energy for millionsof years before erupting tothe surface in 1999 AD, aninfamous day referred to asthe Day of Lavos when theworld was torn asunder.

Through a series offantastic events, Crono'sparty time-hops from periodto period, learning moreand more about Lavos ateach stop and taking stepsat each point to alter thefuture and prevent the Dayof Lavos from ever fulfillingitself. Their travels takethem to 65,000,000 BCbefore the arrival of Lavoswhere they must aid theyoung human race infending off the Reptites, arace of intelligent reptilianscompeting for the planet'sresources. Afterwards, theyfind a portal that transportsthem to 12,000 BC to thewondrously advancedcivilization of Zeal stationedon floating islands in thesky. Here, they encounterthe Queen of Zeal whothey find has beencorrupted by the presenceof Lavos. Apparently, the

Story

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civilization of Zealdiscovered Lavos long agoand created a device calledthe Mammon Machine thatwas able to harness thepower of the gigantic beast.The party learns of theQueen's scheme to absorbthe power of Lavos herselfand breaks into her fortressin order to destroy theMammon Machine. Theymanage to penetrate intothe heart of the fortresswhere they defeat theQueen and eventuallycome face to face withLavos himself. Forced tofend off the perturbedbeast and aided by thebenevolent daughter of theQueen, Princess Schala,the party assembles toattack Lavos. He proves tobe far too powerful,however, and Crono iskilled in the ensuing battle.Forced to abandon thecrumbling fortress, Schalateleports the rest of theparty out of harm's way.With the aid of the wisesages of Zeal who survivedthe assault, the party isable to obtain the itemsnecessary to jump back intime and save Cronobefore the fateful battle.With their leadermiraculously revived, theparty is able to gather theweapons necessary todefeat Lavos and areeventually able topenetrate to its core wherethey defeat the infernalbeing and release theenergy of the planet thathad been consumed overits existence. The world issaved, it seems, but theoutcome leaves enoughplot holes behind to leavethe fate of the world in aslightly precarioussituation.

Story

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Story

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Developed during the finalyears of the SuperNintendo's life span,Chrono Trigger wascharacterized by the samecolorful and vibrantgraphics that foundthemselves into most of theRPGs at the time. Theworld was represented intwo different manners: (1)the overworld, and (2) thesmaller towns anddungeons that comprised it.The overworld took the formof a large world mapcontaining key areassurrounded by genericscenery and wilderness.Each of these key areascould either be a town,which was a haven for theadventurer and containedinns, shops, and otherfacilities designed to aid thehero, or a dungeon, whichwas populated withmonsters and trapsdesigned to keep the herofrom some ultimate goalthat resided at the heart ofthe dungeon. The playerwould travel from area toarea, discovering new onesand possibly revisiting pastareas in order to satisfy thecurrent goal as designatedby the structured storyline.At any point in the game,the player could access astatus screen with the pressof a button, which containedinformation on the state ofthe characters in the party.Most of the charactermanagement was centeredaround the status screen,which contained severalnested menus that allowed

Gameplay

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the player to equip variousitems, including weaponsand armor. There were alsoinformative menus thatlisted details on thedevelopment of eachcharacter and their physicalattributes, which providedthem with new skills andabilities that would assistthem in battle.

One of Chrono Trigger'sstrongest selling points wasits promise of an innovativebattle system. Rather thanopt for the traditional setupwhere battles are initiatedby random encounters andcarried out through simpleturn-based commands, thedesigners of Chrono Triggercreated a system thatpromoted playerinvolvement to preventeach battle fromdegenerating into atiresome process. Theremoval of randomencounters accounted for alarge portion of the successattributed to the game.Instead of introducing somemathematic formula thatwould randomly force theplayer into an enemyencounter every few steps,the designers chose torepresent the enemiesgraphically on the screenmuch in the same way thatthe hero's character isrepresented. This way, theplayer can choose to avoidcontact with the enemy ifhe's trying to move quicklyfrom Point A to Point B.

The changes run evendeeper into the battlesystem. Once thrust intobattle, the player has

Gameplay

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several new abilities at hisdisposal in addition to thesimple fight/magic/item/runrepertoire. While severalRPGs before hadintroduced the feature ofspecial abilities bestowedupon the characters,Chrono Trigger expandedon that feature andintroduced the existence ofSpecial Techniques, orTechs for short. Not onlycould these Techs beperformed by individualcharacters, but they couldalso be combined amongmultiple characters to formDouble and even TripleTechs that inflicted massivedamage on the enemiesthrough a series of flashyeffects and pyrotechnics.These combined Techswere also influenced by theplacement of the charactersand enemies; for example,certain abilities affectedlines of enemies in relationto the location of thecharacters, whereas othershad a circular radius ofeffect. In order to maximizethe effect of the Techs, theplayer would have to takeinto account the location ofthe enemies with respect toone another so that asmany enemies as possiblewould be included in itsarea of effect. This resultedin many new battlestrategies; for instance, theplayer could strategicallydefend the enemies' attacksand lure them into aclumped placement thatwould maximize thepotential for a specialattack.

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features >>

Gameplay

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In addition totheinnovativebattlesystem,ChronoTrigger hadmuch tooffer towardsextendingreplay valuethrough theinclusion ofoptional sidequests andhiddensecrets. Oneof the morepowerfulpartymembersthat could beincorporatedinto thegroup wouldnot joinunless someextrarequirementhad beenfulfilled.Certainspecialitems,generally farmorepowerfulthan thoseobtainedalong theregularcourse ofthe game,werewell-hiddenin some ofthe game'smore difficultside quests

Special Features

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whichinvolveddifficultinvestigativework,fighting morepowerfulenemies,etc. Perhapsthe mostcompellingsecrets toobtain of allwere themultipleendingsoffered bythe game.Upondefeatingthe finalboss, theplayer wouldbe given theoption torestart thegame withhis existingbuilt-upcharacterandpossessions.This wouldof coursemake thegameconsiderableeasier, but itwould alsoallow theplayer todefeat thefinal boss atany point inthe gamethrough theinclusion ofa specialwarp thatwouldtransport theplayer to thefinal battlewhenever hewished. By

Special Features

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defeatingLavos in themiddle of thegame beforecertainevents hadtaken place,the playercould viewone ofseveralalternateendings, allof whichoffered adifferenttake on theoutcome ofthe world.

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gameplay |how did it

makehistory >>

Special Features

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Chrono Trigger would goon to become one of themost successful gamesdeveloped for the SuperNintendo platform,endearing itself in theminds of many gamerswho considered it an equalto the renowned FinalFantasy brand ofstorytelling. The characterdesigns were thoroughlymemorable and helped tocreate a fantastic, yetbelievable environmentthat offered as compellingof a story as that of anywritten novel.Furthermore, it introducedthe notion of an RPG withreplayability though itsmultiple endings. Thegame was consideredsuch a success that itwould go on to inspire asequel for the SonyPlaystation named ChronoCross that would buildupon the universe createdby Chrono Trigger andaddress several of the plotgaps while introducingnew characters and lands.Several other RPGs wouldattempt to emulate ChronoTrigger in its usage of adynamic battle system,while others would offermultiple endings through asimilar process. Somewould find success in theformula, while otherswould implement it poorlyand emerge with amediocre product. In anycase, by creating ChronoTrigger, Square set a newstandard for all RPGcompanies, themselvesincluded, and gamers all

History

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around were left with afond remembrance ofCrono and hiscompanions.

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find more info >>

History

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Miscellaneous

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