Deeply involving RPGing across two dimensions (Chrono Cross (PS))

Member Name: RussellC

Product:	Chrono Cross (PS)
Date:	18/09/00 (894 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Deeply plotted, superb gameplay and stunning graphics.

Disadvantages: It'll show up the flaws in many other RPGs

Well after roughly 37 hours of gameplay spread over the last few weeks I've finally completed Chrono Cross and what a fantastic RPG it has been. The second title to be released in the US as part of Square's 'Summer of Adventure' it's a shame that we are unlikely to see the title released over here. Visually it will appeal to anyone who's enjoyed Sqare recent Final Fantasy titles, but in my opinion it shows a greater depth of gameplay then either FF7 or FF8. There's more freedom to the game, things are definately a lot less linear and the plot is entertainingly complex (yes, far more so than either of the recent FF games).

Immeadiately the game starts you're thrown into the action, finding yourself in charge of Serge a yougn boy leading a group of 2 others through a tower apparently racing to encounter Sir Lynx. Just going with the events surrounding you, you explore the tower, fight a few creatures and activate a transporter pad. This takes you to a large door which you open and suddenly experience a series of bizarre visions. The next moment you wake up in the small village of Arni. Speaking to your mother you learn that you are late to meet your girlfriend, Leena. Rushing to meet her, she demands you fetch her some Komono scales to make a necklace. Dutifully you head off to fight the lizards and get the scaes, before meeting Leena on the nearby beach. It's at the beach that things really start to pick up, Serge hears a strange calling and suddenly finds himself falling only to wake up later on the beach. Returning to Arni he soon discovers this isn't the same world he was in a while ago, everything seems identical except that he died when he was younger in this world.

This is where the adventure really picks up, as Serge sets out to find just what has happened to him. It isn't long before he encounters Kid a young girl seeking revenge on Sir Lynx for killing a friend and one of Serge's accomplaces d
uring the raid on the tower that started the game. The plot thickes as we learn of frozen flames, six mythical dragons and the existence of these two worlds in which Serge apparently plays a key role. It isn't so far into the game before Serge can return to his own world, but by then he is so embroiled in far bigger events that he doesn't have a chance to settle back into ordinary life. Instead Serge must save the world from the apparent threat that Sir Lynx represents. However things will get a lot more complex before he gets chance to do this and not very much turns out to be as it seems.

If anything where Chrono Cross really wins is in plot, it's complex and deep, perhaps suffering a little from the Japanese RPG's habit of preaching on how mankind abuses the Earth, but none the less entertaining. It does get very complex, especially once the two worlds are involved, often with certain events only being performed on one or the other. The worlds are identical in terms of locations though the locations themselves may vary and this adds a lot of interest to a game. Half the puzzle can be determining which world you should be exploring a location in. Any plot filled with time travel and dimension crossing is likely to be convoluted and this is certainly the case for Chrono Cross. By the end of the game it turns out that an awful lot of events all tie in to events of Serge's life. Fortunately much of these revelations are only hinted at until the last few hours when you're so busy rushing to save the two worlds that you don't worry about being confused. It really isn't a barrier to enjoying these games.

Graphically Chrono Cross is excellent, generally resembling FF8, but with slightly better visuals I feel. As some one used to the Dreamcast's higher resolution I coudn't help thinking how much the title would benefit from being on the DC or PS2, it would look superb in a higher resolution. However locations are
varied and colourful, clearly a lot of time and attention have been spent on the design (as you'd expect from Square). The world map is detailed, but easy to use, though in general you won't be spending that much time on it. The games music matches it's visuals with a number of excellent tracks, the opening theme being one of my favourites. Sound effects are distinctly Square with a nuber of them being familiar from the last two FF games. All in all the presentation is superb, for a game without the hype of Final Fantasy (in the West) this more than matches in quality.

Gameplay manages to outclass the presnetation. Controls will be familiar to anyone who's played FF7 or 8 and the game can be picked up in a matter of minutes. Combat isn't time based, but rather stamina based and uses a system of elements for magic, perhaps comparable with FF8 junctionign system. The elements and stamina add a degree of complexity to combat that rewards intelligent and thought out battle strategies. Get your strategy right and combatting bosses becomes a lot easier, relying on the player to keeps their wits and carefully choose their attacks. The use of magic and summoning spells results in typically impressive graphics. All in all it ensures that combat never gets tiresome, which is a problem that some RPGs need to deal with. To make matters easier there are no random encounters, so if you don't want to fight a creature just avoid it. Characters only level up through fighting with bosses so you really could get by without many fights, but the spoils from fighting are needed fro upgrading your equipment.

Puzzles tend to be of the usual RPG fare, find a person or object, bring it to a certain location or perfrom some other similar task. The existence of two worlds as mentioned adds some interest as you may need to perfrom the task in one world or the other. There's a large number of other characters who can join your party, some of them i
ntroducing potential subquests. For example a blacksmith tells you of a rainbow material that makes very good weaponry. When you find some you learn that you'll need to bring the blacksmith from the other world and find a good enough hammer to make this weaponry. It's quite entertaining to bring the same people from the two worlds together, but in this instance I didn't find the hammer before completing the game. These side quests along with several periods where the game is very nonlinear makes for a much more interesting RPG than I've experienced of late. Mush of the time I wasn't railroaded down a particular course or another, but free to wander and discover things at my own pace.

Upon completion of the game you can make a Game+ save which enables you to play again, but with all the party members you'd found and with your much higher levels right from the start. If you want to find everyone who can join your team and explore every little nuance of the game you'll need to do this. I haven't started down this path yet, but I suspect I'll give it a go soon as Chrono Cross has been so enjoyable. Chrono Cross is based 20 years after the events of the SNES game Chrono Trigger. I've never played Chrono Trigger, but I knew it was a fan favourite and this was what prompted me to buy Chrono Cross. Having enjoyed the game so much I've now downloaded a SNES emulator and a copy of the Chrono Trigger ROM so I'll get to find out even more about the events in this world. It's a definite sign of quality when a game can create such a desire to replay it and to explore its world further, if only more RPGs were this involving.

If you hadn't guessed by now, I really loved Chrono Cross and whole heartedly recommend it to any Playstation owning RPG fan. I haven't enjoyed an RPG this much since I import Lunar from the US, but it's a shame I have to import these games to enjoy them, if only more were releas
ed in the UK. If you enjoyed either of the Final Fantasy outings on the Playstation then I think you might find this an even more rewarding game and anyway it'll help tide you over until FF9 makes an appearance. Highly recommended for anyone who likes RPGs and likes them with some depth.

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