Chrono Trigger community playthrough

[Joker]

Melchior was in the present, actually.

Regarding the new party member, I'm referring to

Spoiler

the Epoch

.

 

[ForceStealer]

Spoiler

Ohhh, then yes, I was wondering if we'd be getting an airship. I was thinking maybe we wouldn't given the general lack of a large overworld. (I didn't expect an independent time machine though, that's extra handy.)

 

[ForceStealer]

Chapter 10 - The Time Egg
10th Feb - 12th Feb 2015

How do you like the way the main story has wrapped up so far (and yes, I'm talking about what you did in just this chapter - you'll know what I mean when you do it )

Spoiler

It was interesting that the Chrono Trigger turned out to be an actual thing And the way you "trick" fate is rather clever, kind of amusing. What's striking to me is that this is completely optional? That's pretty crazy, it's not like you can leave Cloud wheelchair-bound and go on to beat the game.

How are you doing on opening up the sealed chests? Have you figured out the way to get ALL of the items from them (hint: each chest has more than one item it can contain)?

Yes. Due to your and Ryu's hints, I believe I'm doing it correctly, I wouldn't have thought to otherwise, I don't think. Also a neat idea, this game really went all out with the implications of time travel.

How'd you do in the Fort, and how do you like the final outcome (hint: it changes the present)?

The way the statue changes in the fiargrounds throughout the game is yet another nice touch. Also, the monsters he summons that just get thrown back into the pit from the conveyor belts as the battle music "falls apart" made me laugh.

Do you feel like there was any closure (either for yourself or the party member it affects) regarding the events of the knight's ghost sidequest?

Yes...although less so now that Frog didn't take out Magus. But I know that the true way to avenge him is to protect the Queen and take out Lavos, so I accept it. Frog is definitely my favorite character coming out of all this. It's a shame (at least so far) nothing has broken the curse on him...but that would involve changing his moveset.

 

[Flintlock]

If Ayla can kiss, why can't Glenn slurp?

 

[ForceStealer]

Chapter 11 - Sidequests

Spoiler

"In the Middle Ages, a woman's sheer determination brings a forest back to life..."
Your starting point here is the Last Village Square, 12,000 BC.

This was cool. The bit with leaving Robo behind was...pretty crazy. Neat, but nuts to think about. That in addition to being rather old when you found him in 2300, he lived an ADDITIONAL 400 years with her tilling the desert until until you pick him up, 5 minutes later for you.

Also, hot damn was that part with Lucca's mother dark. I thought for sure she was dead at first. I couldn't believe it. I also didn't realize you could move around I reloaded a couple times to try and figure it out. I found the password, but the message box didn't give me the option to put in letters. I was forced to look it up, and I would have never thought to do that.

"There's a task to be done in the Future, where machinery originated."
Your task begins at Geno Dome, 2300 AD.

This one was also dark. Chewing up people in that machine? Geez. The boss kept killing me too when I wouldn't pay attention and do an all-move and killed all the screens.

"And there's a very special stone that can shine its light on each generation, from the distant past to the far future..."
Your starting point is the far southern island, 2300 AD.

Even more time travel shenanigans. I like how this one played with the fact that you were now used to being able to simply travel between period to make what you want happen. But now, of course, someone FOUND your stone in the interim and took it! Very clever.
Really rather obtuse solution though...I had to cheat on this one as well.

"There's an object in the Middle Ages that sparkles like a rainbow..."
Here, you'll need to go to Choras Village, 600 AD.

The dungeon was kind of annoying (again). No denying the quality loot, though.
The whole thing at the castle was interesting...my gap in playing time kinda led to me having forgotten about Marle's rocky relationship with her dad, but it was nice. I especially liked how you could steamroll through all minions downstairs. I like when games where you are supposed to be a renowned badass (which is most of them) gives you a brief opportunity to really directly see your progression in a story scene that matters (as opposed to you just beating up some mooks in the first dungeon for the lulz). I could just imagine the party thundering down the corridor just tossing what were former worthy opponents aside in their rush.

"One of you is close to someone who needs help... Find this person....fast."
You'll find this sidequest in a rather unexpected fashion as you work on this chapter...

Who was this one about? Was this just for the Ocean Palace?

Chapter 12 - The Final Battle

Spoiler

Which way did you go?

Black Omen. I was eager to see that Queen get her comeuppance...I was a little bummed she didn't get to see me spank Lavos.

What party did you use? Why?

Crono, Frog, Marle. Before Chapter 11 they were definitely my most comfortable party. However, the sidequests all went a long way to familiarizing (refamiliarizing me) with the other party members. (earlier in the game I had Crono, Frog, and Ayla for a pretty long time). Still though, I was extra confident in this team's ability to heal, the aforementioned damn awesome triple tech, and the dual tech combos between everyone.

How did your battle go?

Relatively smoothly, I chewed through quite a few Megalixirs, but I could have used fewer honestly. I'm just always a little trigger happy with those puppies in the final battle.
The imitating-previous bosses thing was a little tedious, though easy. And the going inside thing then had me drawing parallels from both Jenova AND Sin. And the fake-out in the final battle with the side thing being your real target was a bit of a twist. And that final battle could hit hard, I'm glad for the equipment setup I had, but it went well. Cool music, too.

Thoughts and reactions on the ending?

It was nice. Pulling the other people from the other periods was nice, and I liked imagining the people from the distant past being completely amazed at the current time. (I guess the same could be said for the holed-up future guy.) The parade was fun, it's not often these games actually let you see your party be celebrated for their accomplishments (FFX is one that occurs to me).
And I also liked that the sad goodbyes weren't necessarily over. Although the party seemed awfully cavalier about your mom and pet just vanishing into a completely unknown time and place.

Do you plan on seeing any of the other ~dozen endings?

I don't think it's on my immediate docket, but I definitely want to try some of that out. Especially the one where you beat him right out of the gate.

Most importantly...did you have fun?

I definitely did. I'm super thrilled that after probably a decade of starting and being distracted that I have finally finished this game. And I absolutely understand why it's so lauded. It did a lot of very impressive things, both for it's time and in general. The way it fully explored the implications of it's setting and premise, the sprite and combat animations, and the variety of combat strategies, everything.

I'm sorry it took me so long, but, really, thanks so much for running this Omega. I appreciate it

 

[Joker]

Spoiler

Who was this one about? Was this just for the Ocean Palace?

Spoiler

Lucca's mom, aka the darkest sidequest I've ever seen in a game. The fact that you can be directly responsible for crippling her...shudder.

 

[The G'randiest' Daddy]

So, thread bump! We finally managed to get this done, RL was just crazy. Airling's will be up soon too. We didn't spoiler-tag because it's been so long already since this all came to a close for most of you

Chapter 10 - The Time Egg
[*]How do you like the way the main story has wrapped up so far (and yes, I'm talking about what you did in just this chapter - you'll know what I mean when you do it )

I freaking knew I'd get Chrono back! HELLZ YEAH CHRONO!!!!

[*]How are you doing on opening up the sealed chests? Have you figured out the way to get ALL of the items from them (hint: each chest has more than one item it can contain)?

Ooh, the items... I sold all the "old" items, and just used the "new" ones, I mean they're a bajillion times better!

[*]How'd you do in the Fort, and how do you like the final outcome (hint: it changes the present)?

It took googling for me to know what would have happened had I not destroyed that slime, so now I'm glad I did! Having nice mystics is great

[*]Do you feel like there was any closure (either for yourself or the party member it affects) regarding the events of the knight's ghost sidequest?

Yes I do. Frog seems to be happier now about everything that happened, and I like the fact that Cyrus is proud of Glenn.

Chapter 11 - Sidequests[*]How'd you do? Spoiler tags, please!

Most were dead easy! I just totally failed the special one... Oh man, I feel really bad for that. But I honestly had no idea what I was supposed to do until it was too late - and I had no easily accessible saves to go back to.

Chapter 12 - The Final Battle
[*]Which way did you go?

I went through the Black Omen, I wanted some last grinding and to get the full story.

[*]What party did you use? Why?

Chrono - Marle - Robo. Three reasons - Lifeline, Cure Touch, and Haste. NOTHING COULD KEEP ME DOWN!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[*]How did your battle go?

There were some tense moments, and a bit of frustration as it took me a while to realise that the damn right floaty was the real target, but it was reasonably easy.

[*]Thoughts and reactions on the ending?

I am now sappy. Sad because they don't stay together, happy because they could still go visit and everything turned out well.

[*]Do you plan on seeing any of the other ~dozen endings?

Possibly via the wonder of youtube, I haven't the heart to go through all that again, at least not just yet.

[*]Most importantly...did you have fun?

Despite taking this long, yes, I absolutely did!! Thanks for running this!

 

[Airling]

Chapter 9 - I've waited for this...

How do you feel about magic as it is depicted in Chrono Trigger? In particular, what are your thoughts on the "haves vs. have-nots" in Antiquity?

The physical depiction makes me giggle, the way they spin around and have their hair blown around etc. As for have and have not, it felt 70x exacerbated by the way those who had it treated those who didn't.

The Prophet revealed! Did you have any idea of who the mysterious figure might be?

Yes, from the moment I saw him I suspected it and my conviction grew stronger every time we saw him.

Did the Ruby Knife's fate come as a shock to you? What thoughts do you have on the way they tied every time period together with it (save 2300 AD)?

Not really. Very little did since I expected the unexpected. The tying together of everything was so well done that I had trouble remembering what the difference was between some of the times (mostly 600 and 1000 though, sinse they're so similar.)

How did you react to how things played out in Zeal? How do you feel about it now that you're done with the chapter?

Is... I mean... He can't be gone forever, right?

How did your end of chapter play out at North Cape? Why?

Refused to fight. We just saw the man's mother go insane and his sister possibly die. Seemed wrong to fight him.

Where do we go from here, as the saying goes?

To do ALL the side-quests!

Chapter 10 - The Time Egg

How do you like the way the main story has wrapped up so far (and yes, I'm talking about what you did in just this chapter - you'll know what I mean when you do it )

It was odd, but we got Crono back, so whatever!

How are you doing on opening up the sealed chests? Have you figured out the way to get ALL of the items from them (hint: each chest has more than one item it can contain)?

I'm pretty sure I missed a bunch. But the ones I did get were really useful until the end of the game. But only if one doesn't open them in the past, and go back in the future, as instructed.

How'd you do in the Fort, and how do you like the final outcome (hint: it changes the present)?

It was pretty easy, and the future effect was welcome.

Do you feel like there was any closure (either for yourself or the party member it affects) regarding the events of the knight's ghost sidequest?

Oh it was touching and lovely. Kind of surprised Cyrus didn't get a huge fright at seeing Magus walking around with Glenn, since I had him in my party at the time.

Chapter 11 - Sidequests

How'd you do? Spoiler tags, please!

Spoiler

I finished all of them, but found out later that I had “failed” at the thing with Lucca's mum. I'd thought it was a flashback in which I couldn't do anything. Oops.
Had a bit of trouble figuring out where to go with the sunstone when it wasn't there.
The sand monster in that desert hole was one of the most difficult, infuriating creatures I came across in this game.

Chapter 12 - The Final Battle

Which way did you go?

Black Omen. I smelled XP that way.

What party did you use? Why?

I found this decision very difficult since I had sort of had my heart set on Crono/Lucca/Robo for a long time. But in the end Antipode 3 and Life 2 won, and it was Crono/Lucca/Marle.

How did your battle go?

Oh god. After a whole game of minimal party-extinction, I was suddenly dying at least once a boss-fight.

Thoughts and reactions on the ending?

I died once while fighting Lavos' second form. That was, of course, an ass ending. “But the future refused to change”. Loaded up and won second time round. Nearly cried when Robo left.
I'm a bit confused by the animated bit added at the end of the PS version. I may have missed scenes, but it felt like no romantic aspect was ever indicated between Crono and... anyone, and suddenly he's getting married.
And Lucca picks up what I can only assume to be baby Marle?

Do you plan on seeing any of the other ~dozen endings?

I'm not yet sure how to do that, but I would be quite interested in seeing it, yes.

Most importantly...did you have fun?

SO MUCH! When the winner wasn't one of the games I'd voted for, I was a little apprehensive. But I decided to live a little, and I'm so glad I did.
Thank you for all the work you put into this for us Kimble!

 

[Joker]

Airling: that part of the ending ties into the plot (and a big sidequest) in Chrono Cross.

 

[Airling]

We're totally doing that next, right?

 

[Flintlock]

Next January, if people vote for it.

 

[Lex]

January? As in, one a year? We've been doing two a year have we not?

 

[Flintlock]

Yes, but the next one (in July) is going to be a Final Fantasy game:

You can nominate whatever game you want, in other words. As I'm planning to run two community playthroughs a year, I will make sure at least one of them is a game with "Final Fantasy" in the title, but the other one can be any suitable game. A suitable game is one which has a story, a clear beginning and end, and a save function - so no sports games, sandbox games, MMOs etc. RPGs are a safe bet, Final Fantasy or otherwise.