Diving back into Chrono Trigger / Chrono Cross

[X-SOLDIER]

So, I'm working myself up to likely dive back into this series soon, and figured I might as well preemptively make a thread about it.

Like with FFVII, the missus' never played Chrono Trigger before, and I wanted to get her to play through it. In regards to Chrono Cross – I VERY much forgot how in depth I buried myself into the mythos of the series. In doing some old internets wandering just now, I found out that a bit of story deconstruction about Harle that I posted on Chrono Compendium in 2011 got noticed by their site director in 2012 and put into a speculation section of their site.

I'm contemplating getting the 3DS version of the game as well, because – while I do absolutely LOVE ye olde Frog (which we can still play on my PS3 with sad loading times and everything), I'm really itching to be able to get the ending that connects everything to Chrono Cross as well. Decisions, decisions... (Also, I've always wanted to get all the endings myself. I've managed all but two on my PS1 runthrough of the game, which were... the Slideshow and Reptite endings, if memory serves and that'd only really be worth diving into for the DS version).

ANYHOW – Lots of thoughts and stuff and things, but I figured this'll help my motivation to stick to doing updates and stuff, and maybe some other people have opinions about the game version, etc. I'm not sure how soon we'll be starting a playthrough, but there will most obviously be a post about it here when we do.







X

 

[Flare]

Omg yesss please post more about it as you two play through the game! I grew up on Chrono Trigger, I'd love to see some reactions and thoughts on it here. I was even thinking of replaying it myself sometime soon. (Still probably won't happen for a while, who am I kidding XD)

 

[Jason Tandro]

I am presently playing the Chronicles version on my PSP. Saw ProJared's review and was like "yeah that game was awesome." Been a decade or so since I last played. I just repaired the Masamune.

So yeah definitely if you end up playing again I'll be down to see how things go. Might play Chrono Cross for the first time after this.

 

[ForceStealer]

Chrono Trigger comes out on Steam today:

Hopefully "improved graphics" doesn't mean "hideous" like it did for FFs 5 and 6. But it looks okay in the trailer.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

The updated graphics always feel a little off-putting and muddy to me, but I'm really happy this exists. Really pleased that this version exists now.





X

 

[Geostigma]

I'm seeing people say it's just the IOS port which was apparently super laggy and buggy =/

someone on reddit put a screenshot of how it holds up in game. The color work doesnt seem that bad but the textures are really bad you can clearly see where they start and end in multiple locations

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd....725/C40B65501111278BF3B23A4E028A906A9C05C4CB/

I'm pretty curious to see how it looks in motion. If those tile seams still stand out in motion then oooof that is pretty bad.

edit:

More stuffs

https://twitter.com/thatsmytrunks/status/968534796816343044

 

[ForceStealer]

And I HATE that giant mobile interface.

 

[Geostigma]

Yikes

https://kotaku.com/oh-no-chrono-trigger-looks-awful-on-pc-1823364933

 

[Shademp]

Good job PC port, you increased my desire to replay the SNES version.

 

[Ite]

The PS1 version was laggy enough!

 

[X-SOLDIER]

It the DS version still technically the best/most complete one then (the removal of Frog's "ye olde knight" dialogue notwithstanding)?





X

 

[Geostigma]

It the DS version still technically the best/most complete one then (the removal of Frog's "ye olde knight" dialogue notwithstanding)?





X

Yeah basically. The DS version gets you the cut scenes that the PS1 version had without all the lag and loading issues. Though as you note it loses the Ted Woolsey translation charm present on the Snes version

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

The DS version also has that ending (i.e. the one that re-solidifies that Guile from "Chrono Cross" is actually

Spoiler

Magus

).

 

[Geostigma]

IIRC it also has the old Playstation cut scene that establishes the Porre Army victory over Guardia and possibly kill Crono and Marle off screen that basically sets up Chrono Cross

 

[Joker]

I don't like that they included that Guile bit. That was hotly debated for years even when debunked.

 

[Geostigma]

I could have sworn I read early on they wanted Magus proper to be in CC but decided against it since it really wouldn't work out at all in the context of the two games and just renamed the character they were working on to Guile.

If my memory isn't fucking with me it really is pretty odd that they would go back on that decision. But yeah I agree making that ending was pretty awful of them.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Am I the only one who loves that they finally fixed it?

Masato Kato always wanted it, but they ended up not having the time/resources to properly finish it. Guile even still has dialogue for that sub-plot, and Lucca's letter

Spoiler

asks whether Janus is there with Kid as she reads it.

If I understand correctly, the scuttled "Chrono Break" project was also supposed to address it all, but then that never got the resources it needed to even be developed. The extra ending for the DS version was just righting a cosmic injustice.

 

[Geostigma]

Ahh I didn't know it was more of a time resources thing. I legitimately thought they last second opted out due to story/lore issues.

With that thought process in mind it was more of an implementation issue for me that irked me.
If he was meant to be Magus it just felt so half assed , they didn't make him a more "primary" character in the cast and the path to get him is very easy to miss, especially for a first play through where the Pierre path almost feels like the only way in if you don't explore Termina thoroughly and don't run into Nikki and Guile.

After that he gets relegated to just being basically a battle member and doesn't play into the story at all. Even characters like Korcha end up being more of an impact to the plot.

So with me thinking all along that he was scrapped and Guile was hastily cobbled together due to them purposefully choosing not to have Magus in due to story issues (rather than time/money) it felt really weird seeing them come back around and say "Oh yeah he's Magus after all" it almost felt like a retcon.

If they really are righting a wrong it definitely does change the context completely though.

 

[Joker]

CC was based on Radical Dreamers, which DID have that plot point, but it was removed, and then they added stuff to clearly indicate that they aren't the same person. I prefer it that way (Magil and Gil).

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

What indicates they aren't the same person?

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Here's pretty much everything you could want one way or another:
• https://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Guile.html
• https://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Magus_(Guile_identity).html





X

 

[Joker]

What indicates they aren't the same person?

I've read a ton of FAQs and guides and so on for this game (I started writing one at one point), and the best one (imo) was written by gamefaqs user ToastyFrog. At any rate, I've seen a few sources (I'll copy some into spoiler tags below) speak further on this.

Spoiler

d. IS GUILE ACTUALLY MAGUS?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Probably not. However, according to Andrew Vestal ([email protected]),
in Radical Dreamers (the text-adventure from which Chrono Cross derives some
of its story) the Guile character was named "Gil." He was a masked mage with
long white hair and at the end of the game, you discovered he was actually
Mahou (Magus) looking for Sara (Schala). Obviously, this was changed for the
revised game for a number of reasons; but Guile does indeed resemble Magus - a
powerful black mage with long white hair who floats as he moves. Their
personalities seem a bit different, though, with Guile seeming much more
gregarious than Magus. Additionally, their ages don't seem to match up - Guile
is 27, and Magus would probably be older by this point. Good guesswork,
though. As a side note, Guile was called "Alf" in the Japanese game - similar
to Janus' (Jacky's) cat Alfador. I think it's a mind game by Square. (A NOTE:
Radical Dreamer's Gil character is officially named "Magil" in English, based
on the text in Chronopolis from the alternate-reality memoirs. Further means
by which to debunk the myth)

13. Is Guile who I think he is..?

Depends, who you do think he is? Guile is similar to a character named Gil
from Radical Dreamers (see above), whom at the end of the game, was revealed
to be Magus, who'd been searching for Schala. However, while there are several
pieces of evidence pointing to Guile's being Magus in Chrono Cross (the long
hair, the Black/Shadow affiliation, the floating when he runs, etc), it's never
explicitly stated that he IS Magus. So he's probably not.

It also bears meantioning that Guile's name in the Japanese Chrono Cross was
Alf (A'ru'fu), perhaps a clever jab at Magus/Janus' cat Alfador, whose fur is
the same color as Guile's hair. Coincidence? At any rate, along with the
Chronopolis RD text that refers to "Magil", not "Guile", this pretty well
disproves the Magus/Magil/Gil/Guile theory...

He's only mentioned in CC in Lucca's letter to Kid, but they're definitely not the same person. (thought they were originally intended to be)

 

[Shademp]

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Looks like it might be getting the help it needs: http://steamcommunity.com/games/613830/announcements/detail/1652133167148114465




X

 

[ForceStealer]

Chrono Trigger PC Looks Way Better Now

Good job, Square. Now FFs V and VI, please. That's not to sound ungrateful, though. I'll probably pick this up now just to encourage it