7 bucks for a absolute classic RPG.
Save 100% at edgeemu.net
ROMs. Chrono Trigger works great on emulators.
Any reason to play on Steam instead of ROM + emulator?
You’d own a legal copy, and it’s about as good as the DS version without the weird DS emulation (multiple screens).
…I’ve already bought this game a bunch, but why not have another avenue in playing it? Truthfully I’ll still probably play the SNES version.
Any device capable of running the Steam version is more than capable of running the SNES version for free.
Im playing through the SNES version right now… just got ayla
Is this your first time playing it? Or, like many people, at least 10th playthrough.
I’ve played before but it’s almost like I never did since I barely remember anything. There are some things that stick out to me at times like finding out what happened in 1999. What’s really made playing all these retro games fun for me is being able to get achievements through RA
Fellas you don’t need to buy a 30-year-old game
Why not? It’s better than a lot of recent games.
The game is 30 years old. It should be in the public domain at this point. No one who worked on the original team is going to profit from this at all. It’s not immoral to download a ROM for this game and play it for free. And with save states etc.
It’s just your best option honestly. There is no moral or practical reason to pay money for this product.
Whether it’s moral is a completely separate discussion. I merely said it’s better than a lot of other games, so it’s worth the amount they’re asking, as in, if it was released today, I’d be happy to pay that price. Whether it’s moral to ask that amount is a separate thing entirely.
I personally believe copyright should return to the original length of 14 years plus an optional extension of another 14 years (Copyright Act of 1790). I’m guessing a lot of video game companies wouldn’t bother renewing after 14 years because it likely wouldn’t impact sales too much.
However, the current law of the land is 70 years after the death of its creator. So it’s illegal to pirate it, and depending on how you personally define morality, that alone could make it immoral. I certainly wouldn’t report anyone for it, but if the product is still worth its asking price, why wouldn’t I purchase it?
My personal rule is that I’ll only pirate if I can’t legally purchase it from the rights holder on a currently supported platform (I.e. a platform that’s currently being sold). Since it exists on PC, I prefer to buy it. However, many games don’t, so I’m happy to pirate them because I really don’t see the point in tracking down second hand copies, which has absolutely no way of benefitting the rights holder.
Obviously you can make your own decisions, I’m just providing the facts and my opinion. The fact is that it’s protected by copyright and it’s available for purchase from the rights holder on PC and mobile. My opinion is that it’s worth the asking price given the quality vs games today.
Fair enough. I disagree about it being worth spending money on like that, but your opinion is very well thought out, and I respect your position. To be honest 7 dollars is a pretty reasonable price. Thank you for sharing!
Need?
Agreed, especially for $8 no less. And square enix has enough money.
Conversely, it’s worth buying to support sales to encourage SE to make more ports if this is your thing.
what’s Chrono Trigger?
It’s a JRPG that originally came out for the Super Nintendo; it was generally considered one of the best games on that platform.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrono_Trigger
For example, this top-25 list has it at #2:
https://www.gamesradar.com/best-snes-games-all-time/
This has it at #3:
https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/50-best-super-nintendo-snes-games-of-all-time?page=5
This has it at #2:
https://www.ign.com/lists/top-100-snes-games/91
This has it at #3:
It’s also still generally considered the top JRPG among genre fans.
The game has a knack for being both accessible to newcomers and still being revered by experienced players.
As an outsider to the genre, how grindy is it?
I’ve watched some jrpgs as letsplays and it really seems the genre likes massive number of random encounters and grinding these encounters in hopes of exp or rare items. …and tbh it looks so tedious.
How much, if any, does this game have? Optional or not.
It’s not grindy at all. There are no random encounters and if you just get through the encounters you can not skip, you should still be appropriately powerful to defeat the bosses (barring Lavos, the final boss, which you can take on at multiple points, some of which are next to impossible when you first run into them).
Of course, you can also just spend a day fighting the tutorial robot until you’re max level.
I finally played it for the first time a couple of years ago when the initial covid lockdowns granted me large chunks of free time. I was playing for a while, but never found myself intentionally grinding. Unlike a lot of games of that genre/era, it varies up the environments/enemies and progresses the story enough to grant enough xp while going the things you need/want to do anyway.
For a bit of context, just before Chrono Trigger, I tried playing through Phantasy Star II, a Genesis game from a few years earlier in the same genre/era…and I got maybe 15-20% through the game before realizing it was too grindy and just uninstalling it. I’m not coming into this with infinite patience or anything.
It’s really not that grindy. There are multiple different endings, and if you want what most consider to be the best/most complete ending you’ll be playing for a while, but then then you don’t really need to spend any time xp milling
Game length isn’t an issue. It’s mostly a question about meaningful content to me.
I really wouldn’t like to do same thing over and over (eg. Kill 100 of x, or whatever). But it’s a wishy-washy distinction since I do enjoy diablo-like arpgs too. So… :D
But I take this game is more about story than combat mechanics… Is it? But there probably is quite a bit of combat regardless.
Combat mechanics are pretty important to the game, but it’s not all that grindy. It’s not like FF where you may need to grind encounters a bit if you were a bit too efficient getting to the next area. You can also avoid most fights on the over world if you’re just backtracking for some reason.
I played about half of the game or so and bailed when I got frustrated with a boss fight (Magus) and thought I would need to grind. But after complaining online and getting helpful responses, I think it was probably a skill issue. I have very little tolerance for grinding and thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the game and intend to play it again sometime.
I haven’t played a ton of JRPGs (see grinding comment), but it plays like a typical JRPG game in combat mechanics (cooldown instead of turn based, but otherwise similar) and has a similar amount of grinding as Ys Origin (I think I needed to grind for <5 min like twice in the entire game). It’s really well designed to avoid it, and while combat is a central part of the game, you’re not forced to go through waves of easy encounters and it keeps the story moving along.
One of the biggest reasons why Chrono Trigger has been so influential is because it had no random encounters. Instead, it has a large set of encounters that fire when the player reaches them in the dungeons. A lot of these are skippable if desired, some require a degree of pathfinding to avoid, and some aren’t avoidable. The gameplay flows around this, and being among the first to do it, there are a couple of slow areas.
A player that knows what they are doing can proceed through the dungeons without having to stop and grind, although there are some difficulty spikes along the way (especially if you swap out to a character you haven’t been using). The endgame sidequests are technically optional, though you’ll probably want the xp/tech points/loot.
I wouldn’t call enemies on the way as grinding, but those you need to repeatedly fight without real progression def. are.
But all in all sounds good, maybe I do need to check this game out, finally
I’m with you in regards to JRPGs and grinding in particular - the story and other gameplay of Like a Dragon kept me around to the end, but ended up watching the end on YouTube instead of grinding up for the final gauntlet.
All that said, I love Chrono Trigger. Great story, solid combat for what it is, totally recommend as one not-big-on-jrpg-type to another.
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned in this thread yet is that Chrono Trigger is going to be 25 hours or less for most first-time players. That alone probably makes it less intimidating to spend an hour or two towards the end getting ready.
is the steam version worth playing?
How’s this port?
Good, worth the price if you don’t want or have emulation as an option. There were bug fixes after a rocky start and is based off the DS version. Other reviews will say the DS version is a “definitive version” because:
- It includes cutscenes from the PlayStation release.
- Includes bonus content and a new ending.
The PC and DS versions also feature a new English translation. Fans of the original (i.e. me) will notice the difference. The SNES loyalists will be the biggest detractors for this version. But I don’t think there’s a substantial argument against newcomers playing this port other than bias and nostalgia.
It includes cutscenes from the PlayStation release.
I don’t know how many people will agree with me, but I never liked the Chrono Trigger out-of-game art at all – the characters have a kind of Dragon Ball Z appearance to them that I never liked much (didn’t like the DBZ series, either), and the cutscenes appear to be done in that art style. The in-game Chrono Trigger graphics I’m fine with, though.
And it’s not because I dislike Square’s out-of-game art of the time. Yoshitaka Amano’s Final Fantasy VI concept art is pretty distinctive and famous, and I love the Secret of Mana promo art.
All that being said, based on that video review of the different versions I linked to, it sounds like the PC version on Steam also has the cutscenes (see 8:52).
I don’t know how many people will agree with me, but I never liked the Chrono Trigger out-of-game art at all – the characters have a kind of Dragon Ball Z appearance to them that I never liked much (didn’t like the DBZ series, either), and the cutscenes appear to be done in that art style. The in-game Chrono Trigger graphics I’m fine with, though.
Surely you’re aware they’re not merely in that style, but in fact the character designer was Akira Toriyama, the mangaka who wrote Dragon Ball, right?
Like it’s not in the style of Akira Toriyama, it’s that the character designs are by Toriyama. Toriyama also did the character designs for the Dragon Quest games.
I wasn’t, but that’d explain why I don’t like the style.
I mean, yeah, the author of the DBZ series Akira Toriyama was the core designer on the game, so it’s bound to have heavy DBZ vibes.
I count myself among the SNES loyalists so I wasn’t a fan of the cutscenes either when I played the DS version. They feel so clunky and forced when shoved into an SNES-era game.
The best example happened in the middle of the game (no spoilers). There’s a pivotal scene featuring a character who unlocks the true potential of their weapon. The original features some quaint Mode 7 flashing lights with a music swell, but I always liked the moment.
Cue the modern version. Right before that big moment, the screen goes black. Now there’s a bit-crunched PS1-era FMV playing that shows the whole scene. Screen goes back to the game. Now we get to watch the entire scene again with in-game graphics.
They feel weird. I’m an old man now who likes to complain. I would just download the ROM to play on the PC. I also have to recognize that people don’t want to do that and it all amounts to personal opinion.
I played it on SNES so I’ve never seen the FMVs. I’d actually love to see them without also having to miss out on the classic sequence. I think the FMVs actually might justify buying the discounted port of the player wants them.
I’d agree with that. I’m not a fan of Toriyama’s style in manga/anime but I think his exaggerated features and use of color are well-suited for sprite work. Probably also part of why I didn’t like the later Dragon Quest games.
I ended up greatly preferring Yasuyuki Honne’s style in Chrono Cross.
The DS bonus content is pretty crap though…
Makes you realize just how tight the original game is because the new stuff didn’t have the same tight design.
There’s a Chrono trigger+ out there that restores cut content and adds a new time period to an original ROM, it’s done much better imo.
Based on the conversation there, sounds fine, though a variety of opinions.
EDIT:
For more details:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxzFLfx0-tM
Which Version of Chrono Trigger Should You Play? - All Ports Reviewed & Compared!
That’s a year old, so it may not be current for the Steam port, but it talks about the differences in the various variants.
Eh, it’s a 30 year old game and a 5 year old port, I doubt much has changed since that video was released.
