Chrono Cross for Sony Playstation

Chrono Cross had a strong legacy to live up to. The original Chrono Trigger for Super Nintendo was an instant classic, gathering a large following of fans and revolutionizing role playing games. When a sequel was announced, fans seemed skeptical about Square's ability to deliver another classic, for several members of the original Chrono Trigger "dream team" were not working on Chrono Cross. Square however, accomplished the unthinkable and created a masterpiece that does not disappoint relative to its predecessor in any way.

Chrono Cross is set several years after the events in Chrono Trigger. Many things have changed since then: the small merchant town of Porre has become a military nation and the kingdom of Guardia has mysteriously fallen. These events have little effect on the land of El Nido, an area previously unvisited in Chrono Trigger. The people live peacefully in a small fishing village. You are Serge, a young man from the village, trying to please your girlfriend, Leena. After finding a gift for Leena, Serge is suddenly transported to a parallel time continuum. In this alternate continuum, Serge died 8 years ago, and he is unknown to any of the villagers. Serge meets a new friend, Kid, and becomes entangled in a rivalry with her archenemy, Lynx. Lynx appears to be the cause of the displacement of time and desires to have Serge for an unknown, ominous purpose. The plot of Chrono Cross begins to branch off in complexity, growing more intriguing and immersive as the game progresses. The characters experience mind-blowing revelations regarding time and existence. Veterans of Chrono Trigger will be surprised to discover multiple ties to the original game in Chrono Cross.

Chrono Cross is a delight to play. It is continuous, streamlined and well balanced. The pre-rendered backgrounds are vibrant and lush with an abundance of brilliant green and blue colors. 3D character models are exquisite and animate with lifelike smoothness and emotion. Special effects during battle are heavy on the eye candy and never cease to amaze the player. The music is equally superb, thanks to the skills of composer Yasunori Mitsuda. Mitsuda has mastered the Playstation's library of musical instruments. Every piece of music enhances the scenario it's being played in. The only lackluster piece is the generic battle music, which sounds unpatriotic and slightly annoying. It isn't a significant problem once you get used to it; however, it could have been much better.

Many standard grievances of role playing games have been eliminated in Chrono Cross. You can see all enemies on the overhead maps, instead of walking around and being attacked at random intervals. If you wish to fight, you can run straight into a group of monsters. You can also try to avoid them, but they will chase you down to the best of their abilities.

Fighting monsters will garner a great deal of wealth, so it is advisable to do battle with them often. Should you not fare well in a battle, the option to run away is always open, even when you are engaging boss enemies. You may run away to recuperate your strength and engage in the fight again. Keep in mind that while you recover, the enemy will also recover, so be prepared to enter battle with a fresh strategy. After battles, Chrono Cross has an automatic healing feature. You can opt to have the computer automatically heal your characters for you, using an assortment of magic spells and items available. This saves a great deal of time and eliminates tedious post-battle trips to the menu system in order to heal wounded characters. Magic usage and physical attacks are perfectly balanced with a revolutionary new combat system. Instead of spending magic points, characters use "Elements". When you successfully use a physical attack, your Elemental grid increases, allowing you to use Elements. An Element can be used once per battle, and it drains power from the grid after it is used.

Physical attacks will recharge your grid, enabling you to use another Element power. Characters attack in the order of their "Stamina" level. Physical attacks are rated on the scale of Weak, Medium, and Strong, each increasing the Elemental grid by their respective amounts. Weak attacks are likely to hit the enemy and use up less stamina, while Strong attacks are more cumbersome but inflict significantly more damage and charge the Elemental grid to a greater degree. This wonderful balance of spells and physical attacks is unlike anything seen in a role playing game yet. Battles with enemies are actually fun, not tedious as in most role playing games, and they require improvisation and strategy.

Chrono Cross has only one possible problem, which is the large cast of characters. Granted, a large cast helps variety, but Chrono Cross has such a large group that it is difficult to keep track of everyone. This is only a minor issue, as each character has a fully developed background and purpose, preventing any of them from being uninteresting.

Chrono Cross is a true masterpiece. It easily outshines Square's previous Playstation titles, including the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy series. Considering that the developers had to live up to almost unattainable expectations in creating a sequel to a renowned classic, Square has done a terrific job.

Good: Original, exciting storyline. Beautiful graphics. Wonderful music. Innovative battle system. No random enemy encounters.

Bad: The cast of characters is too large.

Developed by Square Soft
Published by Electronic Arts
Release date 8/15/2000
Reviewed by Davis Lentz

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