75| Chrono Trigger

Released: August 22nd, 1995

Definitive Version: Nintendo DS; Also on: Virtual Console for Wii, SNES, Playstation, iOS, Android

Frequently said to be the greatest RPG of all-time, Chrono Trigger is as timeless as its premise. Released in 1995, the game broke many barriers and conventions in the JRPG subgenre. The game didn't have random battles, it didn't really have a Medieval setting, it allowed the player to make choices to effect the overarching story, and finally the game was made to be replayed as it even offered a new game plus option. While many of these things are standard in the genre today, back in 1995 these things were practically never seen before, and to have them all in one single game was revolutionary.

Chrono Trigger's plot revolves around a boy who goes to an annual festival. Not long after arriving he physically runs into a girl. Due to his generosity, or more accurately the girl's persistence, he ends up showing her around the event. Eventually the boy bumps into a friend of his who wants him to test our her latest invention, the telepod. It is more or less a teleporter. The boy volunteers and goes through unscathed, unfortunately this can't be said for his female companion when she tries it. It turns out due to her having on a mysterious pendant she ends up going back in time. Thus the boy grabs the pendant and goes through the same telepod to retrieve the girl. This is just the very tip of the story which extends far further. Throughout the game the player will go as far back in the past as the Jurassic Age to so far in the future they reach the end of time itself. The only thing that matches the variety of time periods you will explore is the set of cast and characters you will encounter. Each major character has their own unique traits and personality that is melded within the era they reside. This results in a very engaging story that manages to even stand out in the modern age of CGI-like graphics and cinematic story telling. To add on to this, the story itself seems to hit the perfect medium as it is not so thin that it is practically non-existent like most 16-bit JRPGs, but not so text heavy that it is basically a visual novel like most JRPGs in the 32-bit era. It achieves the perfect balance of telling the story and having the player's mind fill in the gaps.

The presentation of the game was second to none at the time. For starters the graphics are incredible. They look great even today, and there are some scenes in the game that makes one wonder just how this was all achieved without the Super FX chip. That said, the game just doesn't look pretty, but it also moves pretty. The animation is very smooth for a Super Nintendo game as it seems that almost every animation has at least three frames to it. The soundtrack is one of the best of the era. There is a reason why so much of the games music is still to this day recycled in so many Youtube videos. Not only are the songs catchy and memorable, but Squaresoft somehow got one of Rareware's technical wizards on board to have the sound come out clear and modern. But what really steals the show is the script. Translator Ted Woosley managed to bring modern localization standards to a Super Nintendo game. The writing is virtually free from spelling errors, the plot in the game makes perfect sense, and the characters all have weight and emotion when they speak. Keep in mind this was an era where dialog boxes would often be limited to four or five words with countless spelling errors. Ted Woosley didn't just raise the bar, he kicked it sky high.

Unfortunately, while the story and presentation of the game is timeless, the actual game design is less so. While the battle system is far ahead of most RPGs of its era, in the modern day it  is a bit dated. Battles are won by often performing the same attacks over and over again. Occasionally the game throws a curve ball by having bosses with multiple limbs and different attributes, but they are few and far in between. While the areas in the game look pretty, it is at times difficult to tell where a path and exit is. There is one particular map in the Jurassic time period that made me want to pull my hair out. Save points also can be placed in questionable parts in the game leading to some significant pacing issues as it isn't that fun replaying the same area again and again. The difficulty of the game can also fluctuate. Most of the time the difficulty is perfect, however there are a few parts of the game that I felt were a bit too difficult, specifically some of the bosses two thirds through the game. Where the game really stands out in gameplay are its choices and side quests. As said before, the choices in the game have a lot of weight to them as they can shift the story and even change the entire ending of the game. There are also multiple sides quests in the game that will force the player to explore different time periods to complete. Reading this on paper one may be worried that this may make things too confusing, but it works seamlessly while rarely holding the player's hand.

Chrono Trigger is one of gaming's most infamously legendary titles. After playing the game it is easy to see why. The plot, characters, writing, music, and graphics are all so timeless. While I concur that the game has aged well, it doesn't mean it hasn't been surpassed. The story and characters in the game are great, however being that there are twenty years worth of games that have been released in the genre since the game's initial release, a few are bound to surpass it in that category. While the story and presentation are as ripe as ever, the game design has become a little stale. The combat system is archaic by today's standards and the maps could use a little work. Overall, Chrono Trigger could indeed be called a masterpiece as its faults are few and its strengths are many. Even when comparing it to most JRPGs today it still does many things games in the genre could learn from, and that's saying something from a game that is over twenty years old that was released when its respected genre was only ten.