Chrono Trigger is a JRPG (Japanese-style role-playing video game) created by Square (now Square Enix) in 1995. Chrono Trigger was a critical and commercial success upon release and is frequently cited as one of the best video games of all time. Chrono Trigger was the third best-selling game of 1995, and because of its remaining popularity, can go for quite a bit of money on the modern resale market.

Pros:

This game takes very little time to get going. A small lull for a brief trip through the town’s “fair”, which doubles as a small tutorial and WHAM you are traveling through time. That is pretty much the basis of this game, time travel through this world to a hand-full of epochs to ultimately stop a god like bad-guy named Lavos. The combat system is way ahead of its time for classic JRPG. Battles don’t just randomly happen, based on who’s in your 3 person team you can combine their abilities in various ways for some awesome double or triple action. The boss battles are really awesome too, each one has a specific way you have to learn how to beat them. The best part of this whole game though really is the characters and their back stories. Each time frame has a character you get on your team after you play a character specific story line, which creates a connection and great character development. And you jump back and forth through some pretty awesome eras, solving the problems of that specific time, in that time, or even using another timeline. The main antagonist (not Lavos) is actually a vital player in the various timelines and you can kill him *spoiler alert or even have him join your party (I recommend the latter). The music is pretty damn great too.

Here are a bunch of fun fact:

Cons:

Wow, that’s a large pros section and to be honest I could go on, but as for cons, it’s hard to find some… seriously. I mean it’s a JRPG so you have to be into that. Some complaints are that it’s too short or too easy, and I might agree, but if so only ever so slightly, which doesn’t make it bad. From time to time, you may feel directionless in such a large world with so many timelines. I think my only real complaint is that of all really popular retro games, and that is that the resales price is getting kind of fucking crazy. I have seen USED copies of this game get close to $300 and it only looks like its going up… supply and demand I guess. Thank god you can get it on some other systems and if you are thinking about playing this game, which I obviously recommend, get it cheaper on another system (the DS version has cutscenes). The quality of the game will not be ruined if it’s not the original format, regardless of what some puritans will tell you.

BEST RPG EVER?

Now, there is a pretty big argument online as for what is the best classic RPG of all time and it’s usually between Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 6 and Final Fantasy 7. Chrono Trigger, I feel, is actually a bit better than Final Fantasy 6 because it has so much of the same, but CT does most of it better. The battle system in CT is not randomized and you can combine your teammates in different ways for better and different combos. The characters development and immersion is on point, if not better, than FF6 as well. Most importantly, CT’s story line is better, especially in regards to Magus. The history of this world is fed to you in scattered pieces like a classic Quentin Tarantino film, and all that death and destruction that people rave about with FF6 is also found in CT. LAVOS! Now FF6 is a fantastic game, but I personally think the only thing that it really has on CT is the music. But you know, that’s just like my opinion… man. As for FF7? Well, you will just have to read that review to find out what I think.