# Chrono Cross.



## PxMxSx (Sep 24, 2009)

My friend wants to sell me his old copy of Chrono Cross for the PSone.  He says he'll give it to me for seven bucks.  Is it as good as people say or would it be a waste of money?  Opinions would be appreciated.


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## Aurali (Sep 24, 2009)

Depends: It was a horrible sequel. A good game bye itself though.


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## PxMxSx (Sep 24, 2009)

Eli said:


> Depends: It was a horrible sequel. A good game bye itself though.



Well I never played Chrono Trigger, so I guess I won't be dissapointed?


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## Takun (Sep 24, 2009)

Eli said:


> Depends: It was a horrible sequel. A good game bye itself though.



Meh, they tried to sequel a game that didn't need one.  I agree.


Get it.  Graphics tend to be "eh" now, but the soundtrack is easily one of the top 3 videogame soundtracks ever written.


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## Taernost (Sep 24, 2009)

I'd recommend the game; the beginning is kind of slow for many people, myself included, but once the game gets started it's really a lot of fun. It has one of the best magic systems I've ever seen in an RPG, the soundtrack is great, there's a lot of replay value, and the story (though complicated) is fairly interesting, especially if you can figure out the links to Chrono Trigger (which, admittedly, can be tricky until the very end of the game, and they aren't entirely clear then either...).

Also, I'd say $7 isn't a terrible price for it, as long as there's nothing wrong it physically; last time I saw it it was still around $15 at those places that carried it, though I haven't really shopped around to see how low the prices can get for it.


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## PxMxSx (Sep 24, 2009)

Takumi_L said:


> Meh, they tried to sequel a game that didn't need one.  I agree.
> 
> 
> Get it.  Graphics tend to be "eh" now, but the soundtrack is easily one of the top 3 videogame soundtracks ever written.



Alright, I got nothing to lose.  Guess I'll snatch it.


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## Vaelarsa (Sep 25, 2009)

It's fun.

Like Eli said, if you completely disregard what it's a sequel of (although you don't have that problem, since you never played Trigger), it's a good standalone game.
Good story, good music, pretty visuals (for PS1) and whatnot.


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## BitofaDreamer (Sep 25, 2009)

Sorry, double post.


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## BitofaDreamer (Sep 25, 2009)

Chrono Cross is a bit of a love it/hate it kind of game. Some people badmouth it for being different from their beloved prequel (which, to be fair, is an amazing game.) Just because it's different doesn't necessarily mean it's bad, though. 

These are just opinions but: the combat system is very cool, the music is great, and the plot is pretty fantastic. It's dragged down by the fact that of the forty-some party members you can accumulate, only a few of them are really, honestly important to the plot. Or that bothered me, anyway. Some people dig it. 

The graphics may not be "good," but they're artistically lovely. Cross has some absolutely beautiful locations to run around in.

I dunno. I like the game. For seven bucks, it's a steal. 		



Takumi_L said:


> Meh, they tried to sequel a game that didn't need one.  I agree.



Mild spoilers for Trigger.

I'd agree, except for Schala. :/ Poor girl.


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## CinnamonApples (Sep 25, 2009)

Seven bucks? Definitely.


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## Kokusho (Sep 25, 2009)

Honestly, I hated this game. I thought it was one of the worst games I've ever played. Though seven bucks for it? That's a deal. Most copies on auction sites sell it for around $25. It's worth playing if it sounds interesting to you, so I'd say go for it. Whether you like it or not, you have a cheap game that at least sounded good


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## DragonRift (Sep 27, 2009)

Seven bucks?  Take it.  Seriously, take it.

*Chrono Cross* is by no means a bad RPG... It's just a bad sequel that veers too far off course from the atmosphere and story of *Trigger*.  It's still worth playing.  The story's engaging enough to keep you going, and Yasunori Mitsuda's score is simply amazing to listen to.

It's definitely worth $7.


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## Grimfang (Sep 27, 2009)

Definitely check it out. I miss this game. I actually never even beat it, but it's definitely one of those long epics of an RPG, with multiple-discs joy.

On an added note, I have to say that I never played the original, so I guess there's something I'm not appreciating. But a lot of people say it stands well enough on its own, just not as a sequel.


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## Takun (Sep 27, 2009)

Kokusho said:


> Honestly, I hated this game. I thought it was one of the worst games I've ever played. Though seven bucks for it? That's a deal. Most copies on auction sites sell it for around $25. It's worth playing if it sounds interesting to you, so I'd say go for it. Whether you like it or not, you have a cheap game that at least sounded good




One of the worst 

Either you play only the best of the best or you are exaggerating.


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## Rai Toku (Sep 27, 2009)

Chrono Cross...

I borrowed the game from a distant relative/my older brother's best friend (we share the same great great great great grandfather, or something along those lines). As a sequel... It really does little to the story, except tell you what happened to Schala and make it clear that the dingy towns on the world map in Chrono Trigger are the equivalent of countries. Luckily, I played the game for the sake of playing a game. Very good magic system, many variations for a single playthrough (then you get the power to end the game a hundred different ways in new game +), unique battle system compared to other games I've played, and all-in-all, a good standalone title. Repeat: Standalone title. Good music, though. ^^


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## Zing (Sep 27, 2009)

Waste of money in my opinion... I got bored like two hours through, stuck around a bit longer than that.. Didn't get any better, gave up..

Chrono Trigger was way better.


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## Digitalpotato (Sep 27, 2009)

Chrono Cross to me is a mixed bag. I think the main problem with the game is just that there's little space for character development (It's what I call "Suikoden Syndrome" or "The Fire Emblem Effect") and the story...well it's just a little hard to understand. While you don't really need to know that much about Chrono Trigger, even if you do know Chrono Trigger's story, the story feels like you should have known something, but it didnt' really give you enough. The remake fills in a few plotholes, which is what I'm actually glad about. 

The gameplay is really trying something new. I'm giving it several laudes to how it's experimenting with the genre, like what Square-Enix is really known for (Face it.) but I think some of it just was a bit of a mouthful to figure out at first. It's not the worst thing Square-Enix has ever come up with, but it's not a big gude-dang-it convolted overpowering mess like the Sphere Grid was. The battle system works pretty well, as did the "elements" which I kind of liked and made the characters feel customizable without making them flat-out clones different only in a few minute stat details and their character model.

And the soundtrack IMO is perhaps one of the best ones ever. Yasunori Mitsuda does a lot of very calm music and the game's perfect for it. (Compare Sakuraba&co whose musics are basically a sugar rush) I think perhaps the soundtrack is the strongest part of the game, many of the songs just fit the scenes so well. The background music even avoids becoming an elevator tune like some other famous RPG musics have. (Sakuraba is guilty of this.)


So what I give the game is around a 6.5/10. Just as an RPG alone. As a sequel, it doesn't do a very good job of feeling like it's set in the Chrono universe with how some of his characters I just can't look at with a straight face and take seriously and how it just sort of feels like you had to play Radical Dreamers to know what was going on. It also doesn't help that someone said "it's not a sequel, it takes where Chrono Trigger left off and continues." Errr....isn't that kind of what's called a "Sequel"?


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## Taernost (Sep 27, 2009)

Zing said:


> Waste of money in my opinion... I got bored like two hours through, stuck around a bit longer than that.. Didn't get any better, gave up..
> 
> Chrono Trigger was way better.



Yeah, when I first played it I could only get about 4 hours in myself, and then I gave up on it for a year. A friend of mine heard about that and _demanded_ I get right back to it, and he more or less pushed me through the next 2 hours, at which point the plot took a _MASSIVE_ twist and from that point on I was hooked. Believe me, it's worth playing a little longer, if you could enjoy it at all.


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## Kokusho (Sep 28, 2009)

Takumi_L said:


> One of the worst
> 
> Either you play only the best of the best or you are exaggerating.



At first, the game was quite fun by chasing down Lynx and that sort of thing, but then the story deviates and just starts making absolutely no sense at all and really just kills that for it. This is the reason I say it's one of the worst. It took me FOREVER to figure out what to do with Fargo near the end of the game.

And yes, I did play Chrono Trigger before it, but never really thought of this game as a sequel, so my opinion is based on the game by itself.

tl;dr - The story's good at first, but sucks and destroys the rest of the game past that.


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## Aurali (Sep 28, 2009)

Grimfang said:


> Definitely check it out. I miss this game. I actually never even beat it, but it's definitely one of those long epics of an RPG, with multiple-discs joy.
> 
> On an added note, I have to say that I never played the original, so I guess there's something I'm not appreciating. But a lot of people say it stands well enough on its own, just not as a sequel.



I'm so fucking getting you that game grim >.> No questions asked.


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## BitofaDreamer (Sep 28, 2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-ttyCzHVSc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbEoTownSrA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn4fzRK8Ze8&feature=related

I always forget how good this game's music is.


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## Panzermanathod (Sep 28, 2009)

I guess if you want it for 7 bucks, go ahead. 


But, hell, I downloaded an ISO and only got a few hours in before deleting the ISO. I can excuse the fact it's not really a "sequel" in the truest sense, for the most part. But on its own I didn't care for the battle system and the fact there's so many characters really turned me off.

And plot be damned, if I can't enjoy _playing_ the game then why force myself to play for plot? That's why I stopped playing FF6 without finishing it.


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## Takun (Sep 28, 2009)

Panzermanathod said:


> I guess if you want it for 7 bucks, go ahead.
> 
> 
> But, hell, I downloaded an ISO and only got a few hours in before deleting the ISO. I can excuse the fact it's not really a "sequel" in the truest sense, for the most part. But on its own I didn't care for the battle system and the fact there's so many characters really turned me off.
> ...




You quit 6? D:   Do you not like rpgs D:


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## Panzermanathod (Sep 28, 2009)

If i want RPG's I have other choices. Like FFT, or Grandia 2, or Xenogears, or Terranigma, or Valkyrie Profile, or Legend of Dragoon...

I'm not dissing the plot, I'm just saying if I can't enjoy playing the game I'm not going to force myself to see the plot through. I did with with Grandia TWICE (the first time I quit near the end of the game), and it was kinda painful.

Besides, I found Grandia 2 to be far superior in every aspect over the original. The only think the original did better was have a longer play time. Then again I had to grind too much in the first Grandia. And I don't like grinding for long periods of time.




I'm looking at you Legend of Legia.


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## Kokusho (Sep 28, 2009)

Panzermanathod said:


> If i want RPG's I have other choices. Like FFT, or Grandia 2, or Xenogears, or Terranigma, or Valkyrie Profile, or Legend of Dragoon...
> 
> I'm not dissing the plot, I'm just saying if I can't enjoy playing the game I'm not going to force myself to see the plot through. I did with with Grandia TWICE (the first time I quit near the end of the game), and it was kinda painful.
> 
> ...



Well, I can understand not really liking 6 because the story does kinda get dull after everyone splits up, so don't you worry, I'm with you against all of them even if I did enjoy playing it! lol

As for grinding in Grandia, I don't really remember having to do a lot of it, but games have different difficulties for everyone. Like Etrian Odyssey was really difficult for me, but for others it was a breeze. It all depends on how ya play. I liked Grandia 2's plot and characters better, but I enjoyed the first one's gameplay more. Both are still bad ass.


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## Panzermanathod (Sep 28, 2009)

As I said, I never said anything about disliking FF6's story, although when I did quit the story wasn't really "pulling me in", but story wasn't the reason why I quit. I just got bored with playing FF6 (and FF5 for that matter, but I got far father in that game than I did with FF6).

And I loathed... absolutely loathed Grandia's method of stat building. I'm seriously confused when I hear people say they enjoyed Grandia's gameplay more than Grandia II's. They more or less play the same, except in Grandia I'm forced to use spells and weapons I don't necessarily want to use just to gain extra stats and skills. Water was the worst starting out as the first spell was heal, which only affected one target, unlike the others that, if I remember correctly, can affect multiple targets.

If I wasn't willing giving Grandia a second chance I would have simply read the rest of the plot and left it at that, but using spells and weapons just to get bits of points to stats was painful. I far preferred GII's method when you simply gained points for skills. Hell, leveling up in Grandia was kinda depressing for me because it usually took a long time and when I did level up it was less like actually doing something and more like "Okay, I got free stats on top of the stats I'm grinding to get".


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## Bandy (Sep 29, 2009)

*I wish I could get that game for 7 bucks. *


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## Rai Toku (Sep 29, 2009)

Bandy said:


> *I wish I could get that game for 7 bucks. *



Seconded.


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## Panzermanathod (Sep 29, 2009)

I've seen CC go for 10 buck at a local used game shop. But as I said, I didn't like it when I had it for free. I wasn't going to buy the thing. 


Oddly enough I haven't played a good PSX RPG ever since my friend in college gave me Xenogears and Legend of Dragoon. In between that and now I played Chrono Cross, Grandia, Granstream Saga, Alundra II, FF6, FF5, Shadow Madness, and probably a few others were, in their own ways, lacking enough in some fashion to keep me from finishing most of them (I did finish Grandia and Alundra II, though).


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## Imperial Impact (Sep 29, 2009)

Panzermanathod said:


> I've seen CC go for 10 buck at a local used game shop. But as I said, I didn't like it when I had it for free. I wasn't going to buy the thing.
> 
> 
> Oddly enough I haven't played a good PSX RPG ever since my friend in college gave me Xenogears and Legend of Dragoon. In between that and now I played Chrono Cross, Grandia, Granstream Saga, Alundra II, FF6, FF5, Shadow Madness, and probably a few others were, in their own ways, lacking enough in some fashion to keep me from finishing most of them (I did finish Grandia and Alundra II, though).


 Go play BoFIII and BoFIV


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## Panzermanathod (Sep 29, 2009)

Maybe. I want to play, enjoy, and beat another RPG.

Oh yeah, I remembered Thousand Arms. I didn't finish that either, but only because I had no way of changing disks when the ones I was using were burnt disks. That was a rather decent RPG, although the battle system really boiled down to trading blows considering that, although you and your enemies have "parties", it was really just 1 on 1 battles with my allies just cheering me on until I chose to put them into the team.

I mean that literally... they do cheer you on.

Dating system was kinda odd, though. I guess when you're dating multiple girls you have to learn how to bullshit and lie out your ass. I mean, even some of the girls ask you why you date so many girls and you have a chance to say something along the lines of "You're the main one I'm seeing". 

That one girl who talked in third person was freaky.


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