95%PlayStation

Amazing

85%Nintendo Switch

The art & atmosphere were simply astounding; pre-rendered backgrounds & tropical dreamscape environments vibrant and so much fun to explore and look at; Mitsuda’s OST was hauntingly beautiful and the excellent sound design with moments of quiet, ambient sounds only further added to the experience; the colorful characters, gorgeous portrait designs and unique in-game models mixed with a few (though not all) of their more engaging side stories and interactions left me feeling satisfied with the main cast throughout the story (though I would have liked more); the whole game felt dream-like, surreal, and incredibly unique. The story was good, not great. At times it reached amazing heights but couldn’t quite seem to consistently stay there and several times throughout seemed to falter — the ending was… strange and didn’t quite fit with the rest, though the connections (confusing at times as they were) with Chrono Trigger were admittedly really cool to see. If nothing else, the story was very imaginative and I still enjoyed it, even if by the end it left me a bit unsatisfied.

In terms of the Remaster, The QoL improvements in the RDE were hugely appreciated. The speed up, ability to turn off encounters… and the ability to immediately start at the highest element power made normal fights a breeze, & helped ensure I could keep characters alive to secure every exp gain. I did made sure to still fight every enemy at least once without using any cheats, as well as to defeat every boss fight once before (sometimes at least) resorting to fighting them a second time, using the invincibility to, again, make sure to receive all exp gains possible for all members. Except for Crisosphinx… screw that.

Defeating the final boss with the right element line up and the ____________, thereby basically bypassing the fight entirely and, as a result, unlocking the true ending was very cool. It felt rewarding and was a nice change of pace from the usual ridiculously-over-powered final bosses you typically find with these classic JRPGs.

While I do appreciate the little need to grind, I am the type of gamer that enjoys the freedom to brute force my way through a game (difficult boss fights) through the power of grinding up levels, so there were a few times where I missed the ability to do this. It did force me to learn the systems and to strategize, and the QoL features certainly aided in making this a fairly painless process, but nonetheless, I found some of the systems to not 100% be to my liking. That said, I still greatly enjoyed this unique, deceptively deep combat system and the ways they made it stand out from its contemporaries. The element system as a whole: element power levels, types/colors, mixed with the stamina system, three levels to attacks, defense… it all worked extremely well and every part felt valuable. The more I learned it, the better I felt I was at it. And that was incredibly rewarding.

In summary, despite a few frustrations and criticisms, Cross blew me away. While some of my issues with it kept it from ranking higher for me, it’d still easily one of the most unique JRPGs I’ve ever played. It both surprised and delighted me throughout the majority of my playthrough and I’m genuinely so glad I finally played it. While Chrono Trigger is still my favorite between the two, I believe Chrono Cross is absolutely a worthy sequel as well as a worthwhile JRPG in its own right. All that’s left for me to play in the series is Radical Dreamers and I can’t wait!

70%Nintendo Switch

Very enjoyable JRPG. Fun battle system that keeps you engaged and never gets boring, even when grinding. Although, it took me a long time to wrap my head around it. A long time. The game isn’t great at explaining things. The story is very convoluted and confusing. Gorgeous art design and nice music. Tons of recruitable characters adds to replayability. Quality of life additions are great. Final boss was very easy. Recommended.

90%PlayStation

92%

100%PlayStation

Um dos melhores rpg de todos os tempos!

One of the best rpg of all time!

100%PlayStation 5

Masterpiece.

Additionally the QoL features in the RD edition make this even better! Words cannot express how incredible the story, setting, and continuity is from Trigger to Cross.

70%Nintendo Switch

I first played this when it came out, but couldn’t beat it. It is impossible without following a walkthrough, due to the cryptic nature of the game. I played it mostly for nostalgia.

80%PlayStation

Good game overall. Amazing soundtrack and atmosphere. The plot is weird, mostly because, you play the game thinking that you're experiencing it, but that's not true. Roughly 80% of the plot its just semi-filler somehow. Then, right at the ending, there's walls and walls of text telling you the actual plot. Not even animated, just dialog text. It feels like the game needed another 30-ish hours to actually tell a coesive story.

Most people will need to either play the game multiple times or read an explanation online to fully understand some stuff.
Also, the game doesn't tell you what to do or where to go, and a lot of things arent exactly obvious, hence, you'll need a lot of patiance or a guide. Also, some cenarios are optional or excludent, aswell as some characters.
All of this suggests that the game was, most likely, created with the idea of multiple playthroughs in mind.

Again, the game isnt bad at all, but doesnt reach its full potential. As someone said in another review, it feels like a poor man's version of xenogears.

40%Nintendo Switch

No modern QoL, the gameplay systems weren't explained in the slightest, in game movement and navigation was a nightmare of confusing perspectives and paths, and finally, the game looks abysmal.

10%Nintendo Switch

muito ruim, história sem pé nem cabeça, muito aleatória

100%Emulated

Terminei o jogo anos depois de lanaçado pelo emulador

85%PlayStation

Music, story, graphics and art style are 10/10. However, the combat system is stiff, slow-paced and unrewarding.

70%Nintendo Switch

Great soundtrack, fun battle system that becomes a bit of a slog by the end. Nonsensical story that goes absolutely off the rails towards the end

100%PlayStation

Um dos RPGs que está dentro de meu coração

90%PlayStation

Definitely a classic PS1 RPG I could put up there with the best of them, not as great as the FF trilogy, but better than some titles in my opinion like Legends of the Dragoon and Tales of Destiny. Graphics for the time are gorgeous and the soundtrack is killer. A really enjoyable combat system that takes a little bit to understand, but once mastered feels really good. The storyline, not as great as it's predecessor Trigger, was still pretty damn good with plenty of characters to add into your party. It even has a NG+ mode which I didn't realize many games around this time didn't even have that yet. Only real gripe was figuring out where you had to go in the game could get pretty confusing with warping between the two worlds, and also the battle system was just a tad on the slower side with all the animations. Amazing JRPG for the time and highly recommended.

80%PC

玩的原版毕竟重制版没中文。完成全部十三个结局，全伙伴收集，共计109小时34分。
一周目完成后停了一天，犹豫着要不要去做全结局和全伙伴收集，但突然意识到，有些游戏就和有些朋友一样，此时此刻，大概就是我和他这一生的最后一次联系了，那就尽量还是完美一点吧😂。

玩一周目时想吐槽的其实还蛮多的。和挂件一样可有可无的主线剧情；不搞剧情搞玩法，但到头来还是物理平a最高；和挂件一样的不说话男主纯摄像机工具人；和汉之云一样长期操控反派，要不是有个横艾一样长在我的点上的角色月读，游戏体验真是一路下滑；搞不清楚哪个是女主但不管是哪个都掉线时间过长；掉线时间虽然长但存在感极强的jrpg最粗犷女主候选1号，和张口铁灭的冈度一样满嘴三字经，我都有点好奇原文是啥；以及看多了真有点儿无语的jrpg剑与魔法的世界后期一转现代人类文明战后废墟世界观，还好国产仙侠这个没学😂；最后，十分奇怪的美女（背影）mv做ed；
不过速通了十来遍后，以上都不重要，有点儿毛病，能接受😂。

虽说剧情比较随便，但法鲁加船长说出“以后这船就由赛尔拜丝改为天下无敌号”的时候，突然就想起来了另外一句名台词，“这个时代的无敌女高中生，就连驾驶机器人也办得到！”，有点感动的。

如果不是前作的名头过大，这作的评价大概还会好一些。

在做完全结局和全伙伴收集后，又玩了一个周目，就是为了和这游戏里最喜欢的两个角色月读和美希完成完美结局。
可惜的是，打完最后一次最终boss战，发现完美结局里并没有给月读安排对话，可以说是非常不完美了。

顺便看了几个速通视频，感觉我努努力也能试着冲冲榜。
我看异度系列速通视频的时候都没这个感觉😂。

70%Nintendo Switch

Amazing soundtrack as expected. Story is presented in a very convoluted way and I had to look things up at the end to fill in my many questions. The tie ins to CT are nice too, even if it's all very confusing. Very cool and unique combat system, especially against bosses. When you're fighting common enemies though you might just find yourself spamming regular attacks.

For the stuff I didn't like about the base game: like I said the sorry is presented in a very convoluted way. The UI is HORRIBLE, you'll spend way more time than needed going through menus because of this. I get the game's age though here but wow this was frustrating. Any time you want to redo some element configurations you'll find yourself rebuilding everything. And it's real slow to move through it all as you build out your element configuration. Very charming characters even if there are way too many of them, most whom don't matter at all.

Overall I had a really good time with the game, it was my first time playing it. But it was very frustrating dealing with these glaring issues.

90%PC

An amazing followup to chrono trigger, I love it. It's almost as good as the first game.

100%PlayStation

CC is a beautifully crafted, stubbornly unique experience at every turn. There's no other game like it, nor should there be. The setting of El Nido Archipelago and its lovingly detailed, endlessly gorgeous map screens are emblazoned on my brain, courtesy of Yasuyuki Honne's stunning art direction. Yasunori Mitsuda's 67 track OST is often regarded as the greatest JRPG soundtrack ever composed, even by the game's haters. Like much of Mitsuda's work, it deliberately eschews the usual orchestral style adopted by contemporaries in the field, instead favoring an eclectic blend of styles from around the world, Celtic, African, etc. Tying into the theme of dual dimensions, there are "Home" and "Another" versions of multiple area tracks, Home songs usually taking a cozier, lighter tone where Another World's music tends toward more subdued, sober pieces.

The audiovisuals are a perfect complement to Masato Kato's wistful, at times whimsical, almost always melancholic scriptwriting. The moodiness of this game is palpable at every stage, effortlessly evoking feeling and sensitivity in the hearts of players who take to it. A common complaint thrown at Cross is that its story is told in an overly convoluted way, that it withholds critical plot details far longer than it should, but I personally feel these cryptic qualties are exactly what maintains its dreamlike mystique till the end. Contrary to what some say, the answers to most questions the game leaves you with do exist - you just might have to apply some mental effort, try a replay, or do a little searching on the Chrono Compendium to fully grasp them.

So where do I stand on whether CC is worthy of calling itself a sequel to Chrono Trigger? Well...I fell in love with both Chrono games as a child, the two of them equally sparking my imagination and altering my conception of what artful game design could look like. I know lots of people can't get past Cross' tonal shift, the way it explores logical consequences of Trigger's events in a darker fashion. I know plenty of people dislike it for daring to try a whole new battle system, for having 45 playable characters instead of a tight knit party of 7, for supposedly not having the same depth of characterization as a result. However, much as I love Trigger dearly, I disagree on all these points.

I think Cross taking place 20 years later in another corner of CT's world is brilliant. I think the initial jarring disconnect from its predecessor is ingenious given the way that loose ends from Trigger slowly bubble to the surface and eventually take center stage in the narrative's conclusion. I think upending any expectation of formula and experimenting with entirely new mechanics, while remaining true to the "Chrono feel" that only Kato and Mitsuda's collaboration can truly bring, was absolutely the right direction to pursue. I think telling a more mature and troubling story to show another side of events was fascinating, and I vehemently reject the notion that Cross' characters are less complex for having more of them. Sure, there are joke characters and bit players, but as beloved as Trigger's cast is, I think it's ridiculous to suggest that characters like Harle, Kid, Fargo, Karsh, Glenn, even Van and Razzly aren't every bit as nuanced or developed. Heck, I would argue that Serge himself is one of the best silent protagonists ever created, thanks to wordless moments that reveal depths to his character you wouldn't guess at first glance. His struggle with identity in a world that refuses to accept he even exists is something that resonates with me to this day.

And the battle system? Well, it's up there with my personal faves. The six Elements and their Field Effects offer layers of strategy that put other RPGs with more traditional setups to shame, and when you really dig in and truly understand how buffs/debuffs, physical attacks, grid allocation, and Summons can be utilized to run circles around most bosses, it's a joy to behold your own mastery on display. If there's one major complaint I might have about Cross, it's that the game is a little too easy once you really know what you're doing. But I still love combat to pieces and I absolutely adore the revolutionary QoL features it brings to the table, things hardly any other turn based game has bothered to try. You can escape from any fight (even the final boss), you get prompted to heal at the end of encounters, you don't even need to grind at any point because Star Levels are doled out from bosses only. Its systems are just as groundbreaking as CT's were on the SNES, and hold up just as well imo.

I could go on eternally but I'll leave it at this: Chrono Cross is my favorite game ever made, till time's tide washes me away. The Radical Dreamers edition on PC is the current definitive version, now that the FPS issues have been officially patched and other fan mods exist to upscale cutscenes and such. Please go play it~

80%PC

Iconic Game from Square and good sequel of Chrono series.

60%PlayStation

The first 50% of the story is almost entirely filler but the last couple of hours are full of endless exposition dumps delivered by visions of Chrono Trigger characters who are implied to have all died. Although it takes place in the same world 20 years later the theory of time travel is changed to make the previous game's protagonists' actions not save the world at all. They just created a mess for the new characters to clean up. Chrono's ultimate weapon from the first game is now, without explanation, the ultimate evil weapon that corrupts anyone who touches it. These sort of plot points give the impression the creators actually resented Trigger and didn't want to make its sequel. This isn't limited to the story - Trigger's positional battle system is thrown out and replaced by an equippable magic system that makes all the characters play exactly the same and makes you take 20 minutes re-equipping magic and accessories every time you want to swap in a new character. To be fair none of the characters are interesting enough to be worth using so you can just ignore all but the first three. Not even the main characters get any development in the entire 50 hours, with the only changes being when characters are shockingly revealed to be related to each other (I can remember at least 3 times this happened).

Along with the Cross-specific issues it also has the typical JRPG guidebait like characters you can only recruit by doing obscure actions and sidequests where you have to take each character to a specific room which could be anywhere in the world (and there are no clues) to get their ultimate attack. It's also unneccesarily hard to interact with NPCs and items in the world because your character always seems to end up facing in the wrong direction. Battles are even more of a chore when the unskippable opening flyover and unskippable three summary screens take up a minute every time, including for battles you run away from. It was a good idea to have a fast forward button but it's limited to new game plus which is going to be a slog even at double speed. Trigger's bonus endings had unusual requirements and were relevant to what point in the story you finished them at; Chross's are all unlocked in the same way and are pointless "comedy" skits or scenes that are supposed to have actually happened in the story but the developers couldn't fit them in due to the previously mentioned incompetence.

I can't blame Cross fans for finding it a little unfair to compare it to Trigger all the time. After all, most of the developers were inexperienced as the dream team was long gone and the Xenogears main staff left to form Monolith Soft. But comparisons are unavoidable when they've chosen to use the Chrono name and write and market it as a direct sequel. Composer Yasunori Mitsuda was the only one able to make his part of the game worthy of the name, but having one of the best soundtracks out there is nowhere near enough to make up for the story and the gameplay being so inferior.

65%Emulated

While apparently attempting a highbrow version of Chrono Trigger's time travel design, Chrono Cross is more linked to the 'open' approach of SaGa than a proper followup, with a hefty amount of optional unlockable characters and their related side quests. However, there are two key differences: Stressing its theme of choices and their consequences meant that many characters can be rendered permanently missable, and its alternate realities mechanic created room for some truly innovative ideas. But like SaGa and Star Ocean before it, the large cast and their mostly inessential nature comes at the price of gameplay depth, instead relying on minor side quests to identify its otherwise faceless roster, and it wasn't compensated by a feature tying them all together à la Suikoden, either. Part of it is due to the battle system - a strange amalgamation of Xenogears and Final Fantasy VIII, and its surrounding elemental system providing much of its linearity. Despite its vast customization options, the hyper-focus on elements via type weakness and field effects ruins its potential, paring down strategies and limiting 'builds' to simply rotate depending on the boss/dungeon, even if the merger of spell tiers, attack levels, and stamina is a novel approach to combat.

Chrono Cross' greatest strength turns out to be the plot, albeit a little muddled. Bits of philosophical concepts and existential discourse are peppered all throughout the story, instead of - say, the final boss (as most JRPGs are wont to do) that creates a disorienting but compelling means of storytelling. Its overarching themes lead to some memorable dungeon designs/aesthetics and truly heartfelt moments both during and even outside the main storyline.

100%PC

Chrono Trigger cucks love to bash this masterpiece

100%PlayStation

This is my fifth time beating Chrono Cross over the past twenty years. And I can say without any doubt it is my favorite game of all time. The setting, music, background art, the characters, the weirdness and existential dread of the nature of existence all make for a game unlike any other.

60%PlayStation

The first half of the game was really good and I was enjoying almost everything in the game. Halfway through however at a critical point in the story, the flaws in the game stood out more with the story just dragging on and on and getting seemingly less interesting as they revealed more and the combat feeling more and more pointless and easy.

The music is pretty good, but that's to be expected for this Era of Square and the wide roster of characters is a awesome aspect of this game that gives it replay value however I would have loved if I could at least use more of them at one time or even switch them out on the flgly to make combat more interesting and fun, they could have done more with the elemental weaknesses and strengths to give some more depth to combat as it got very monotonous.

I like the ideas this game has but the story that's akin to a poor man's Xenogears, simple and easy combat, unbalanced enemies where you can go from a siege of easy foes to a randomly hard hitting boss that still can't even put up a challenge, this game needed more in its design to make it a true classic. Even the elemental organizing was fun at first but as I went on they became less and less used as I found them to be underpowered in comparison to just using physical attacks that did just as if not more damage consistently.

90%PlayStation

PORTUGUÊS
Um lindo jogo, com lindos gráficos e gameplay, com certeza um dos melhores jogos que já joguei para geração de Playstation 1, eu ainda prefiro Chrono Trigger em termos de história e narrativa, em Chrono Cross a história me parece ser um pouco confusa para entender tudo o que está acontecendo e o porque precisamos fazer certas coisas ou pegar certos itens. Mas com certeza é um jogo com muita alma e esmero, principalmente, para as trilhas sonoras, até mesmo os mapas e cidades tem musicas espelhadas de sua versão da dimensão paralela
Dica: Na batalha final use o elemento Chrono Trigger na ordem certa para desbloquear o final verdadeiro.
Enfim, um ótimo jogo para todo fã de RPG de qualidade

ENGLISH
A beautiful game, with beautiful graphics and gameplay, certainly one of the best games I've ever played for the Playstation 1 generation, I still prefer Chrono Trigger in terms of story and narrative, in Chrono Cross the story seems to me to be a little confusing to understand everything that's going on and why we need to do certain things or pick up certain items. But it sure is a game with a lot of soul and care, especially for the soundtracks, even the maps and cities have mirrored music from their version of the parallel dimension
Hint: In the final battle use the Chrono Trigger element in the right order to unlock the true ending.
All in all, a great game for any quality RPG fan

90%PlayStation

A personal favorite with some shortcomings when it comes to the later story beats

70%Nintendo Switch

Battle system is an interesting idea but not fun to play. All of the story is told in three scenes scattered throughout the game.

80%Nintendo Switch

Performance issues and some annoying encounters held it back a bit (radical dreamers edition on NSW), but overall fantastic.

100%Nintendo Switch

Better then chrono trigger

100%PlayStation 4

Platinum trophy

90%Nintendo Switch

Classic game. The port could've been done better but it adds some features that balance it.

80%PlayStation

Loved this game as a standalone. It is a terrible sequel tho because the connections to the first game feel very vague and open a thousand more questions than they answer.
Pros:
- The Fighting system is unique and the bosses stay difficult enough for it to stay enjoyable until the end.
- The first act was one of the best-paced and well-thought-out experiences.
- The great dungeon design with a few puzzles in combination with no random encounters made exploration a lot more fun for me.
- I like the two Main characters.

Cons:
- The story is enjoyable but falls apart quickly when you think about it in more detail.
- The Rooster of 44 characters makes it impossible for most to have any real depth. I really enjoy jrpgs with a focus on the characters so I didn't enjoy this approach.
- Illusion of Choice at the beginning of the game sets wrong expectations.

70%Nintendo Switch

If I could describe this game in one word - Schizo

70%PlayStation

What a mess of a game this was! I like the characters/designs, music, graphics/art, even the combat to an extent. The story is a hot mess that introduces more questions than it does answers to Chrono Trigger's story. Everything is explained in such a confusing way to make matters worse.

80%Nintendo Switch

Note: I don't use it's age against it as design philosophy back then is different. My opinions will be nuanced from the usual.

Postives:
- The narrative is deeper and a lot more complex than Trigger, while I prefer the simplicity of CT since there are parts I don't understand; I appreciated and the enjoyed the story Cross told.
- The world building is interesting and vast. It expands on what Trigger laid out a little bit.
- The music is phenominal and sounds ahead of it's own time. Very calm yet atmospheric...except the main battle theme lol
- Combat system is complex at first but it becomes simple when you understand how colours work. Completely different from Chrono Trigger which uses it's own version of Final Fantasy's "Active Time Battle System".
- Kid is best girl.

Negatives:
- I really hate how you can't tell when the enemy is about to attack, usually this is made simple with set turn order but since you can switch between active characters as long as they have sufficient 'action stamina' it's hard to tell.
- Because there are a lot of characters in the party you can recruit (Around 40-50ish max) there is little development between the characters, but some of the backstories you can delve into were good and one of them legit made me really sad.
- This is a remaster issue but the game has framerate issues and in battle there's occasional input delay.
- The FMV cutscenes are very low resolution therefore pixelated, however I can understand trying to restore them would be difficult. But I can recall the remasters of FFVII, VIII and IX having crisper FMV's, so I don't know why it's a problem here.
- There isn't much clear direction on where to go, while I can understand discovery is a part of classic RPG design but sometimes it's vague; Trigger was much more clearer than this.

100%PlayStation

Replayed in 2022 - the Radical Dreamers edition.

40%Emulated

Despite a strong and promising concept, the narrative is particularly flawed with consistently cryptic direction and a lacking presence in disc 1, only to evolve into a convoluted mess in disc 2. Most of the callbacks and loose tie-ins to Chrono Trigger feel unwarranted and shoehorned in simply because the game fails to coherently address the connections between the two titles. As if that wasn’t enough, there are a whopping 45 playable characters, the vast majority of which are severely underdeveloped and offer nothing but another butt to warm the bench. While the battle system has some interesting mechanics, the pushover difficulty, restrictions on character growth, and functionally identical party members make the combat inconsequential and boring.

The big takeaways from Cross are definitely the fantastic soundtrack, the gorgeous FMVs, and the relaxed atmosphere of the colorful island setting, but there are too many problems with the story and gameplay for the presentation alone to carry the weight.

100%PC

Excellent!

60%Nintendo Switch

Not bad, but I guess I could have enjoyed it better when younger. Also, the Radical Dreamers port is just an emulator and It works pretty bad, with low framerates in most fights/locations when there's too much models for It to handle.

90%PC

Great music. Story has plenty of ties to trigger. Many characters, many you can miss. Battle system has potential, wish it was a little deeper. Nostalgia bombing

100%PlayStation 4

9.5/10

60%PlayStation

it's alright. kinda too long and the cast is too large.

100%PlayStation

An absolute masterpiece. I had one of the soundtrack songs (Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World) played during my wedding ceremony.

80%PlayStation

Convoluted and unfocused plot, repetitive battle system and slow pacing. Graphics and music are perfect though. And some bosses, especially the final boss, are pretty clever.

90%Emulated

Flawed Masterpiece. Wonderful aesthetics.

90%PlayStation

A brilliant but flawed game. I love this game dearly, but it would benefit greatly from an HD remake to update it to 21st century standards, and improve its ties to the Chrono Trigger storyline. If you are going to play this game in its original PSX form, take advantage of emulator features to improve the graphics and fast forward through repetitive animations.

100%PlayStation 3

A masterpiece, aged like fine wine.
Graphics are eye candy, more appealing then most ps2-ps3 games
Soundtrack is the best ever created for a videogame.
With a deep intruguing storyline and a great variety of characters, everyone with own little agenda.
Great gameplay full of innovation, new game +..... multiple endings, stellar replay value, but most importantly a immersive atmosphere like almost no other games.
Chrono cross is better then Chrono trigger in every way except maybe for characters
Graphics 10
Music 10
Story 10
Characters 9
Gameplay 10

70%PlayStation 3

What a letdown, wow! This game has so much potential. The world design, story, and soundtrack all create a beautiful, dreamlike vibe that's intoxicating, in this tropical paradise. The soundtrack, specifically, is a 10/10 and one of Square's best ever. It's all let down however by its combat and pacing. Whether you think this game is a direct sequel to Chrono Trigger or just a spinoff, it's a disappointing, flawed followup regardless.

There are some weird parallels to Paper Mario Sticker Star with the combat here... The magic system has been changed into a deck building system, called "Elements," and the leveling system is altered for the worse. The elements system is just too complicated for how little depth it has. You're encouraged to change your loadout for every boss, which is a time sink. Summoning is more trouble than it's worth until you get some end-game spells, while techs and traps basically require a guide. I never used a tech and didn't even know they were in the game until I looked at a guide. Simply loading up your team with spells of the boss's weakness is always a viable strategy, and even that is often unnecessary given how easy the game is. The leveling system is also a dud in my opinion. They clearly couldn't decide between having a fixed leveling system and allowing grinding so you get this overcomplicated hybrid that I won't try to explain. They leaned toward a fixed system because of the 45 characters, as they needed to keep this massive roster roughly even as you progress, but the optional grinding will still push you to stick with a certain party. Characters also don't level up if they're dead after a boss which is always infuriating, especially given there's only 3 revive spells in the whole game! The combat just doesn't gel with me in this game. It's too complicated, isn't very satisfying, makes standard encounters a tedious waste of time, isn't well-balanced, and more. I'm fine with the combat deviating from Trigger but this combat system just isn't good IMHO.

The other massive problem is the game's pacing. It's a slow game in general. Like most PS1 Square games, it takes forever to get in and out of battles, and the animations can go on forever, which is a stark contrast to Trigger's snappy battles. The story doesn't go anywhere for the first 90% either, barring one major twist at the halfway point. It's just "stop the evil cat man" for most of its runtime. Most of the game is spent on diversions and the overindulgent 45 recruitable characters. This is something that's only there for completionists and will have a detrimental effect on the game for everyone that isn't a completionist. Almost none of these characters are important and most agree the game would have been better with a smaller, more focused cast. The dual-world concept is a great idea as well but is ultimately just a lazy excuse to have to play most dungeons twice. While the game is painfully slow for the first 90%, things suddenly change dramatically after that. At this point, the game remembers it's supposed to be a Chrono Trigger sequel/spinoff and starts assaulting you with plot twists and connections to Trigger. It's all really cool and I loved all of this as a Trigger fan, but it's just not presented well. This stuff should have been spread throughout the journey. Like the combat, there are too many ideas here and it can't make up its mind whether it wants to be a Trigger sequel or something totally new, and suffers immensely for it. Trigger fans will be let down by that first 90%, while non-Trigger-fans will be confused out of their minds at the ending. Like Xenogears and FF8, there's so much to love here but Chrono Cross similarly bites off way more than it can chew.

50%PlayStation Vita

This game is a complete mess, from top to bottom. I remember buying the game when it first came out, and playing it back then, but I don't remember at all whether I liked the game or not. 15 years later, I remembered the barest of details about the game or the plot, and decided to give it a replay. Despite also playing its predecessor when it first came out, I've never particularly been a huge fan of Chrono Trigger. I was hoping that Cross would be a game that I would like, but its just not.

The battle system is easily the most annoying implementation of a turn-based system, where the enemies are capable of interrupting your turn constantly, and there are a lot of annoying percentages associated with every attack. The difficulty is incredibly unbalanced, with most of the game being a cakewalk requiring no strategy at all, and then all the sudden there are a handful of boss battles that require meticulous planning.

Further, most of the characters are superfluous. I never bothered using any other characters once I found a team that more or less worked fine (which seemed to mostly be any combination). There are dozens of characters, and no real reason to bother using any specific ones.

And finally, the plot. Its a complete mess. Beyond the typical JRPG nonsense stories, this one goes a step further by trying to be as different as it can from its predecessor, while also trying to constantly name-check characters or even the title itself to remind you that you're supposed to like it because of Chrono Trigger. Even more audacious is the second disc, which clearly suffers from Xenogears syndrome and is mostly just a series of boss battles and exposition dumps, where most of the story is introduced and explained. The second disc and the first disc almost feel like different games. I did, however, enjoy the interesting plot development over the second half of the first disc. Ultimately, the plot felt incomplete and incoherent. What a waste of potential.