But You're Still Hungry...For More Let's Play Chrono Trigger!

Welcome, people of 2011 AD, to my Let's Play of Chrono Trigger! Chrono Trigger is one of the most critically acclaimed RPGs of all time, and consistently manages to make Top 100 lists. There are even people who say that Chrono Trigger is the last good JRPG (OK, crazy people)! I will be playing the Super Nintendo version of the game with the original translation, as a warning to all of you Woolsey haters out there. I can't personally comment on the quality of the translation, seeing as how I've never played much of it myself. This isn't a blind LP though, I have played through the DS version of the game and gotten most of the endings. Considering how similar the two are though, what this really translates to a few extra comments like, "huh...didn't see that in the DS version". I will be getting ALL of the endings, doing ALL of the sidequests, and in general trying to do everything I can in this game. So let's get started playing Chrono Trigger (or watching the snazzy intro that precedes the actual playing of Chrono Trigger, anyways!

♫Main Theme♫

Pretty awesome opening, eh?? Nowadays, having an epic opening isn't an uncommon feature for JRPGs; hell, it's practically mandatory. But while most feature an animated opening, such as even the DS port of Chrono Trigger, the SNES version uses in game graphics for its opening. Not to mention that this was all in 1995, where the most advanced opening (for a console game) for a game was Final Fantasy VI, which while awesome looking, was pretty much a sprite moving up against a Mode 7 background (video below).

Final Fantasy VI Opening (Starts at 3:40)

While at the time Square made the most of what they could do with the SNES hardware with past Final Fantasy games like the airship scene in Final Fantasy IV, I'd say Chrono Trigger's opening was far better than Square Soft's past efforts. I wouldn't say it had more animation, but it definetely had a more "epic" feel, to use that cliched word. It felt more like what you'd see at the opening of a movie, with credits flashing in to tell you who was responsible for creating this game. I actually prefer this opening to the animated one, although your mileage may vary.

Well, that was a lot of time spent just talking about the intro! Don't worry though, we'll delve into the depths of Lavos Chrono Trigger next time, in-

Chapter 1: Millenium Fair

P.S. Although to be fair, the openings of FFIV/FFVI aren't really comparable with Chrono Trigger, as they're more like cutscenes than a reel of "Best Of" moments. I'm just trying to highlight what made Chrono Trigger's opening more impressive than similar efforts of the time.

P.P.S. Also, I'm still an LP novice, so any help/helpful tips/scathing remarksproductive comments would be appreciated.

Table Of Contents
Chapter 1- The Millenial Fair

There better not be any renaming business here.

Also, hopefully Chrono Cross isn't going to be insulted constantly. Because I actually liked that game.

Or, to be more exact, I liked a fourth of the characters and the basic plot, convoluted as it may be. Everyone else and the side things can go right to hell.

Man, I'm looking forward to this LP, and its straightforward narrative with a small cast of characters who all matter!

Jebus, that opening has so much kinetic energy that just hopping from screenshot to screenshot still gives you that Wow! Excitement! Adventure! Now is the time to smite evil and save the universe! feeling, even without any actual movement.

I absolutely love this little game but never dedicated enough time to get more than the standard "hero saves everyone, gets the girl" ending with Magus alive, who just happens to be my favorite bruiser of all the party members. I am most definitely looking forward to the nuts and bolts of getting the other endings.

Dude! It's 'P.S.S.' If you're going to be LP'ing a venerated game like Chrono Trigger we shall all demand impeccable grammar and spelling from you, Refa!

But seriously, it's looking good so far. All the screen shots look good, if a bit on the small side. I'll be looking forward to this LP.

Too late!

Of course not. I'm keeping all of the original names here (although I might actually rename the characters with their real names after its found out through the storyline; I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, though).

Are you going to be upset if I, er, ignore Chrono Cross? Because I've never played that game.

it's 'P.P.S.' :{

D'oh!

Nuts to that. Name all of the characters Percy. Or Lavos.

Seriously, though. A BoF2, FF2, FF6, and CT LP going on at the same time? Astounding.

Name everybody Lavos.

If only the Secret of Mana LP hadn't been abandoned... :-P

I did something like that once with FF7. All the men were Sephiroth and all the women were Jenova. It led to several amusing sessions of recaps of the adventures of The Sephiroth Crew (and Jenova, Too!) in an IRC channel I frequent.

As noted elsewhere, name the Epoch "Bitch" for my personal juvenile amusement.

Not to mention FFIII : [

But for all I know that LP was never abandoned, and TheSL is still just grinding his way up the Sylx Tower.

Bigger screenshots please? Those are fine when I'm browsing from my phone, but on my computer I have to squint.

Truth is, everyone ignores Chrono Cross. The game's fun, but the story's a piece of junk.

Man, whatever. The opening to Lunar 2 was amazing and frankly blew away anything on the Super NES, except possibly Final Fantasy VI.

Of course it did.

Man, do you even know how many more graphics the Sega CD had then the Super Nintendo?

I bet you don't. I bet you don't even know how many graphics it had.

Its not a fair comparison!

Changed the screenshots. Let me know if you think they should be bigger, it'd be much less of a hassle to update them now than say, halfway through the LP.

Unfortunately the new screenshots are slightly blurrier.

Better that than some take thats.

It you increase the size by 2x using "nearest neighbor" (or whatever the equivalent is in your graphics program) you will get pixel-perfect doublesized screenshots. That's been my method throughout Dawn of Souls and FF2.

IrfanView has a button that will automagically double-size a shot, and a filter (Hermite? I think?) that will do so preserving all those gorgeous SNES pixels. I think it can even be automated, so you can just point it at your screenshot directory and watch everything fall right in line.

I second the x2 screens, and I am super excited for this LP.

I managed to upload the double sized pictures (which look a lot better), but...ugh...Photobucket is so frustrating.

I'll be your best friend if you use PNG instead of JPG.

Oh yeah. Check the picture with Epoch and look at the background.

Yeah. The main deal with Chrono Trigger's visuals wasn't how good they were, it was how CONSISTENT they were. It was the only RPG at the time where the concept art, exploration sprites, battle sprites (on both sides mind!), status screen close-ups and map screen sprites, and cutscene visuals looked (and in most of those cases, actually were) the same.

This is particularly striking when you compare it to, say, any SNES FF, where you've got your cute little map sprites cruising around, then you get in a fight and suddenly here's this giant static scraggly dude who doesn't come anywhere close to looking like your party... and then you open the menu screen and... dude these weirdos don't even have the same hair color as their sprites!

All that said though? The clip show intro doesn't hold a candle to the whole march towards Narche scene. And even without the Sega-CD on the table, the Phantasy Star series had been doing the whole screen filling illustrated intro schtick of theirs since game one, a decade prior.

LETS TAKE THIS OUTSIDE, BUB.

But Chrono Trigger does have cute little map sprites cruising around...

Your wish is my command (although looking at the pictures, it doesn't seem to have made much of a difference...).