“Innovation requires risk-taking, and risk-taking breeds failure and genius.” When teaching my history courses I always say this. Chrono Cross is a masterpiece born out of actual genius. It was risk-taking in it’s purest form.
So Square decides to make a sequel to Chrono Trigger what do they do? Make an absolute game that bears zero resemblance to a part two of Chrono Trigger!
Instead of having a single protagonist you can recruit up to 45 party members. Fight against the complexities of international politics instead of saving the world from certain doom. Question the nature of destiny and whether you can truly choose your own path. Instead of a linear storyline Chrono Cross features parallel dimensions and questions about existence.
This was Square taking a massive gamble on the next generation of consoles. The fact that it works at all is a testament to just how crazy they were to even try.
Chrono Cross: What It Actually Does
You play as Serge a young fisherman that gets stuck in a world of time-traveling adventure and international conspiracies. The game takes place across two worlds, your Home World and the Other World. Each character has an alternate version of themselves in the opposite world. A lot of the conflict within the game is derived from the power struggle between the different nations. But the main conflict centres around choice vs fate and if humanity has the free will to determine their own destiny.
The element system is really unique. Rather than having an MP system like most RPGS, elements are used to grant magic and abilities to your party members. The double and triple shifts determine which character is active and how they will mesh their magic and/or physical attacks together. You are also able to switch out characters mid battle allowing for endless amounts of strategic possibilities. The element system is deep but never feels overbearing.
You can recruit 45 different characters to be part of your party. Each individual member has their own personality and story development. Only certain characters will be available to you during each world. Some characters will only be available to you if specific requirements are met. Every member has their own backstory and motivations for traveling with you. This allows for an extreme amount of diversity when it comes to how you can play the game. Depending on which party members you choose to include in your party there will be different play styles.
Why this Sequel Was Willing to Take Risks
I love Chrono Cross for what it did historically. It showed me that just because a game was successful does not mean the sequel needs to replicate what made it great- they needed to be daring and take the game into a new direction instead of copying what made the original successful.
Chrono Trigger was about saving the world from destruction. Chrono Cross is about if you can change the course of the past, and if it is right to change it. Two very different questions.
Chrono Cross asks these questions through it’s story and it’s mechanics.
The element system plays into the philosophical questions the game makes you think about. By mastering elements and using them in new ways you will develop different strategies for taking on battles. The mechanic as a whole was reflecting the games philosophy that there are many paths you can take and many choices you can make.
The Ambition That Works…For the Most Part
The story is meant to be complicated. Between the multiple dimensions, reincarnation, and philosophical questions about fate and choice. The story even throws some crazy twists at you that are unexpected. While not all of the information you learn toward the end of the game feels satisfying it’s ambition is impossible to deny. This JRPG wants you to understand it on a philosophical level rather than just take you on a hero’s journey.
The music composed by Yasunori Mitsuda is phenomenal. There is an extensive list of music styles and sounds from orchestral pieces, to techno songs, to instrumentals from around the world. Each song perfectly fits the mood of what is happening in the game. The opening theme song is instantly recognizable and it sets you up on what the game will feel like.
Each party member is developed through your interactions with other characters. None of your 45 party members feel like useless character stereotypes. The writing for each individual character really set’s them apart from each other. (The voice acting in certain versions helped as well.)
Is Chrono Cross Still Worth Playing Today?
The story is fascinating and enjoyable to experience. There are still tons of characters to play as. The element system is still fun to play with and figure out. The music is amazing. Graphically the game has aged, but it still looks and plays like a Dreamcast game.
Everything in the game is paced perfectly. Story beats happen when they need to. Your characters develop as you play throughout the game. Even the difficulty scales up when it needs to. When you play Chrono Cross today you begin to understand why fans still go crazy for this game and praise it for its creativity. Even though it went to far away from its predecessor.
Whether you love the outcome or not, Chrono Cross proves that the developers wanted you to understand what they were trying to say as opposed to just telling you how the story ends.
Why Taking Risks Are Important
Chrono Cross is important to me because it showed me that risk-taking can work in video games. Not every risk will pan out, but if you do not take risks at all you’ll be left with a mediocre game. Chrono Cross took the risk of being nothing like Chrono Trigger and for the most part that risk paid off.
Chrono Cross inspired me how developers should approach games when it comes to sequels. Being creative is not about repeating what made your last game successful- it’s about taking that success and creating something new and daring. Many modern games understand this because of Chrono Cross’ willingness to go in a direction that no other RPG game would take at the time.
Backward compatibility shaped our perspective on minimalism in gaming
Verdict
Chrono Cross is a JRPG that proves you should be daring when creating a sequel to your franchise. With 45 possible party members there are endless possibilities. The element system is enjoyable and thought provoking. The story will have you questioning your philosophy on life. The music is top notch. Every single character feels like they have been developed enough to care about.
Chrono Cross is not Chrono Trigger 2. Chrono Cross is Chrono Cross, a game that wanted to be something different because it paid respect to the original by being daring and innovative as oppose to emulating what already worked.
Risk-taking results in games like Chrono Cross, an amazing experience that will engulf you for 100+ hours.
If you’ve never played Chrono Cross, pick it up and play it as its own unique game. Do not think of Chrono Cross as a sequel to Chrono Trigger. If you played Chrono Cross and hated it, play it again. Try and understand what Square was trying to accomplish when they created this game. If your making a sequel to your game, study Chrono Cross as an example of how to respect your original game while paving your own path.
Rating: 9/10 – The sequel that dared to be something completely different.
Cheque out our list of the top PS1 games of all time.
Joe’s a history teacher who treats the console wars like actual history. A lifelong Sega devotee from Phoenix, he writes with passion, humor, and lingering heartbreak over the Dreamcast. Expect strong opinions, bad puns, and plenty of “blast processing.”
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