Diary of a Mute Hero (Chrono Cross)

The music is pretty much the only thing about this game that I can be bothered to do again. It's amazing.

I don't think I ever noticed the triforce on the floor until today.

I think the total is something like 44 slots, but you can't get all of them on any one playthrough, lots of "this character OR this character" paths. There's an item that you get in New Game+ that allows you to kind of warp in, or merge, character rosters from other save slots, though, so you can have a complete set (you can, in fact, have an alternate Kid in your party while she is comatose and have her save herself)

I think of it as a choice between Razzly, who's funny, and Glenn, who is probably the most useful character in the game, for lack of anyone else with significant doubletechs. Unless there's a last-minute campaign it looks like Kid is going to continue getting ignored by Serge.

if you don't use kid, i'll hate you forever.

Chrono Cross has too many characters to justify such a small party. It's a crime. Where will you ever find room for quirky awesomeness like Funguy, Nikki or Grobyc? Wasn't there a mexican wrestleman in there too? Man. Too much awesomeness.

Heh! I never tried this. I used to think you could only use the item in question at Sprigg's home, and only after Serge stops acting all catty.

Actually, as far as usefulness goes, Kid's a pretty good character. Innate Red, which lots of enemies have weaknesses again, and her Techs are very useful. Razzly, on the other hand... even though she's a good mage, and she's the only way you'll ever see Serge's Triple Tech, actually getting her L7 Tech is an exercise in frustration and infuriation. You need a very obscure and precise combination of "event flags" to even get it, made worse by having to set said flags near the beginning of the game even though you get the Tech near the end. I never did get the Tech, on account of it taking far too long to get to that point versus the risk of not setting one of the flags (and the FAQs written around that time all contradicted each other, and the official guide, on this issue.)

So yeah, Glenn's a much better choice, as he's already a powerhouse and it's relatively easy to get him to dual-wield. And you can still use Kid anyway.

When I was playing through Chrono Cross, I found that Kid, Glenn and Leena are pretty much the only characters you'll ever need, since you can get a good balance of attack power, spell power and healing from the three. Though I admit having a team consisting of [Skully], [Mojoy] and/or [Fungi] would be the funniest thing ever.

I don't know this game. Then again, I read most of the stuff in the spoilers in these things because I would never know it anyway, and it still doesn't make much sense to me. What do I know or care about fighting a certain character or getting two of a particular sword?

There is, indeed, a lucha, who has a nice little subplot/quest of his own, even.

Yeah, the characters are all over the map in terms of theme and such. Basically it boils down to, "I am going to use these guys because they are fun." And out-of-party characters are not significantly weaker than often-used characters due to the experience/level system.

Hopefully, we'll get a lot of opportunity to suggest party changes. "Use Nikki for this" or "Use the wrestler and the fairy!" or something, you know?

You guys are making Chrono Cross seem way more fun then I remember it being. I got maybe a quarter of the way into the game, but dropped it after seeing the kick in the teeth that was the 'real' ending (I had watched my friend play most of the game, so it wasn't exactly spoilers or anything). It's a pity too, considering CC had one of the strongest first impressions I've ever seen for a game.

Oh, and Poshul rocks, you fools.

I dunno, I didn't mind the ending at all.. but that's a whole other conversation, maybe we can save it for when we get there. ;D

Most of the fun for me came from the environments and the soundtrack. I enjoy the battle system and the elements. I like forging new gear instead of just buying it in shops, and how there's a bunch of accessory slots instead of just "armor" slot.

I guess it's not a game for everyone.. but I don't care what other people like, I'm pretty content with my choices. ;p (if I wasn't, the WOW subscriber numbers would drive me into a murderous rampage)

I know everyone here loves Glenn, but I think you should take some of the lesser used (and often way wacky) characters that you find later on.

Also did anyone ever use Pip? I played through the game 3 times just to use all of his forms

There's a bug with Pip's evolution and element grid that comes into play on New Game+.. my inner-OCD demond knew I had to just leave it alone, lest it consume me. -.-

My favourite "oddball" characters are Starky (alien) and Sneff. I don't think I've ever used Janice (cosplayer), or Turnip or NeoFio.

(and there's probably some debate over who's wacky/oddball or not.. Draggy's a dragon, so I'd think him pretty popular, even if he's a kid; Orcha may be a chef but he is a badass in battle, and so on)

Reflecting back a lot of the characters are pretty neat and fun. Unfortunately they really don't fit with the rest of the game. If the plot was more lighthearted and fun then most of the characters would jell well. However, it's hard to get down to serious busineess with a dancing skellington clown and a midget alien in tow.

Also: if anyone here says that Guile is really Magus I'm going to punch them in the face.

Huh, and I thought I was the only one with an irrational like of Glenn.

Well, maybe it's not so irrational, but what is it then that we all like about him? His LOOSE connection to Frog? That swordsmen are just cool? Is it something in his character (he does have a bit for a member of this cast)?

He's human, he's got sword(s), he's not a "silly" character.. he certainly fits in with the main players a little better. He's standard-RPG-guy, you know?

Plus there's the fact that he's, you know, probably the strongest character in the game once you get both swords.

But then I had a tendency to always go with the characters who had a crazy attack stat, like Grobyc, Zoah, etc. Never really used Leah, though, for some reason.

Okay, but is that "I like Glenn" or "I like Glenn's stat numbers"? Because those are two different things. Are you saying that if he WASN'T the strongest character, you wouldn't use him at all?

I LOVED ZOAH BECAUSE HE TALKS LIKE HES YELLING HAW HAW!

And for those who didnt use Neo Fio and Turnip you missed out on this.

I always wondered what "serious" characters like Viper or Norris, or CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK, thought of fighting alongside a ten year-old who doodles on enemies and throws tantrums, a living voodoo doll, or... Korcha.

...nevermind. Korcha's fashion sense is disturbingly similar to ZOAH'S, so I better stop thinking about it.

The gimmick about Chrono Cross' characters is that it intends to show how, under certain circumstances, anyone you meet can be convinced to join your cause. It's a refreshing and novel approach, compared to 90% of RPGs where the party is on its own and hardly anyone else lends any kind of help. The downside is, because those characters individual plotlines pretty much stop once you recruit them (unless they're one of the Big Four,) it's impossible for the game to accommodate them, and they become little more than an accent and a different battle model.

The Missing Piece artbook said there were plans for it, but the entire backstory was dropped in favor of the Cast of Thousands.

Frankly, I'm satisfied it was dropped, and that Guile is his own character. Shoehorning Magus into the story with any sort of dignified approach to his character would have required a near-total rewrite.

And Luccia is actually Lucca! Nevermind she works in an entirely different field, has a Frau Blucher accent, and looks totally different.

He's got the same name as Frog, he can dual-wield, and he and Serge share Chrono and Frog's dual tech. Pure badassery. I actually liked a lot of characters in this game. Fargo is also pretty sweet because he's a pirate.

The great thing about Greco is the fact that they weren't content to just make him a Mexican wrestler. No, they had to make him a luchador priest.

When I realized how bad/nonsensical the plot was, I decided to pay it essentially no attention, which really did a lot for my opinion of the game. Because that aside, it's got amazing music, a fairly enjoyable battle system and it still looks pretty damn good, honestly. I think it was trying too hard and it fails to be as cohesive as most RPGs, but I look back on some of the best moments (I loved the FATE battle) as fondly as almost any other game's.

I always make room for Grobyc. and sometimes Nikki, because he's a pretty lady. and Orlha, because she's ORLHA.

you know what? Chrono Cross is really pretty fantastic.

Well, no, I like his character design too, and plus there aren't that many sword users in the early game(expect for awful, awful Pierre). And yeah, there's also the Trigger connection(however insubstantial) and his being one of very few characters who can double tech.

And I think Zoah's all-caps is supposed to represent how his voice would echo inside that helmet? I guess?

You know, that's it exactly. I came to this game without the benefit of having played trigger, so all i saw was pretty graphics, a really clever combat system that hasn't been replicated, and the best non suikoden soundtrack i've heard. And i couldn't tell you a damn thing about the story, except that there was a cat somewhere, but otherwise, yeah, fun times.

I like Pierre a lot. I gues I just can't so no to a fop.

A comment on the graphics: I was listening to the soundtrack today, and I thought to myself how some of the songs sounded like they should have been from Xenogears. I'm confusing RPGs from different console generations, I said to myself. Then I realized that Chrono Cross actually was on the PSX. I honestly thought for a while that it was an early PS2 game. A testamony on the game's excellent graphics, or just on my confused and rattled mind?

Of course Guile's not Magus. Guile is his CAT!

Well, Guile is a Magus. That's got to count for something.

I'm ashamed to say that when I played through this game, I only used the "serious" characters, like Glenn, Karsh, Guile etc. In my defense, I was a foolish young man who didn't want "stupid kid characters" in my big epic adventure.

I regret being that person.

Use Turnip and Starky. You have to.

I loved this game so much, yet I remember so little of it.

You could get Harle in the party permanently using that thing in New Game +, right? I think I'd already done everything else several times over by the time I learned of that and didn't have the patience left to try.