Chrono Trigger DS: first impressions
Recently I’ve been spending some time with the rerelease of my other favorite JRPG, Chrono Trigger. I thought I’d offer up my initial thoughts in case anyone’s feeling a bit of Mother 3 fatigue.
If you’ve played a Square Enix DS port before, you know the sort of interface changes to expect. Everything is now controllable with the stylus, including the patently ridiculous things like walking. More practically, tappable icons allow quick access to any menu, and the no-hassle inventory is a real boon. The most useful new feature, however, is simply the extra real estate — characters’ stats now appear on the lower screen instead of crowding out the lovely graphics. Nice as they are, though, the improvements fade into the background within a few minutes; then you’re just replaying Chrono Trigger.
I say “replaying” intentionally, because Chrono Trigger DS is very obviously aimed at people who have played the game before. The early NPCs in the Mayor’s House, who break the fourth wall to explain mechanics, now also go over the differences between “DS Mode” and “Classic Mode.” The game jokingly prods you towards the former, which features the stylus controls; Classic Mode, the game says, is for people who want to play “without trying anything new.” The cognitive dissonance of Square Enix’s rerelease strategy is palpable in situations like this: they go out of their way to point out how the game has been improved and revamped, but continue to insist that it’s the classic you remember from your halcyon 16-bit days.
Nowhere is this conflict more visible than in the new translation pass, which is for better or worse the most conspicuous change. Much of the game’s dialogue has been rewritten — and if you ask me, it’s largely improved. Many of the quirky translations have been smoothed over, and various errors and inconsistencies have been corrected. The Mystics are now known as “Fiends,” and Magus is “the Fiendlord”; Potions are now Tonics; and Frog no longer speaks Half-Assed Elizabethan English, for which I am especially grateful. The new dialogue feels very much in the spirit of the original, but the fresh coat of paint keeps it from feeling dated. (There is an extensive list of differences between the two versions at Chrono Compendium, but be warned that there are spoilers).
On the other hand, some of the changes are rather mystifying. Even though “Good morning, Crono!” is probably the most famous line in the game, and was even used in an ad campaign, it’s been changed in the DS version to “Crono, are you still sleeping?” I have no idea what the reasoning was there; with changes like that, it’s difficult to tell if they were aiming for nostalgia or novelty with this thing. If they’ve edited Magus’s “If history is to change” speech too, I’ll really be baffled.
On the non-dialogue front, items now have more evocative titles (“Moonfall Scythe” versus “DoomSickle”) and brief descriptions (“A scythe wielded by dwellers of darkness”). This, combined with new metagame features like the bestiary, jukebox, and video player, makes the game feel strangely self-important; it practically has its own encyclopedia. I suppose if any game deserves such treatment, though, it’s Chrono Trigger. When the game is this good, it’s hard to be cynical about the rerelease.
The pompousness must be weird! I remember Chrono Trigger as being conspicuously unpretentious, against the backdrop of roughly contemporaneous Square RPGs.
Ah, Chrono Trigger. Big fan of the series, and have completed at least one playthrough of each game in all 3 versions: the SNES version, the PS1 version, and just recently, the DS version.
I entirely agree with the fact that they should have left “Good morning, Crono!” in the game. After all, like you mentioned, they used it in the ad campaign. It’s just a tad awkward without it. Had the line been scrapped entirely, it wouldn’t feel so bad, but the marketing aspect of the line brings the strangeness into plain focus.
Also, I can’t for the life of me remember when Magus says the “If history is to change” lines. I can remember Kid saying a variation in Chrono Cross (and it’s one of my favourite lines), but Magus said it first? If you don’t mind my asking, when? If it happens when you choose to fight Magus for the second time, that may be the problem; I only fought Magus twice in one playthrough once (as confusing as that sounds) as I usually like to have him in my party, so my memory of the second Magus battle is clouded.
And in regards to the “encyclopedia” nature of the Extras, they, for the most part, come from the PS1 port of Chrono Trigger, so if there’s any blame to be had, it’s with that port. I like the Extras, though, and I still think the rest of the game holds up extremely well for its age. But I do get your point about “it’s new, but old”. It thus may be a bit strange for newcomers. But for old fans, like myself, it is quite a treat indeed. After all, there’s a new ending to be had that’s accessible in the “Dimensional Vortex” after beating the game once. I have yet to see this new ending (I’ve only just started my second playthrough on Chrono Trigger DS), but I’ve heard rumours from here and there that it ties Chrono Trigger better with Chrono Cross, and for fans, that’s a legitimately new thing to look forward to. At least in my opinion. =P
I like to pretend Chrono Cross doesn’t exist in the same universe as Chrono Trigger, so I actually don’t look forward to any changes to reconcile the two games. I prefer to just not know definitively what happens to Dalton or with Magus and Schala, the sequel disappointed me so.
Then it appears that we are at odds: I consider Chrono Cross to be a beautiful sequel to Chrono Trigger. It can stand on its own two feet as its own game, but it is still heavily tied to Chrono Trigger. One of my favourite games.
Ok, then to reconcile my earlier post: for those who enjoyed both Trigger and Cross, the new ending is rumoured to tie them together better, and that’s a good thing for those specific fans (myself included).
It is entirely optional, though, so those who want to ignore any ties to Cross still can.
Grobstein: It is a bit weird. It feels a bit like watching a rerun of a famous sporting event on ESPN Classic, or an episode of Pop-up Video. The original material is still there, but the extra stuff makes it a sort of meta-experience. I’m still enjoying myself, though; like The Unknown, I like the game enough that I can get into this stuff.
The Unknown: The quote I’m referring to is from one of the Chrono Trigger endings. You can read it here (spoilers, naturally). Thanks for your information about the extras; I’ve never played the PS1 port. It’s been fun to see all of the video clips for the first time!
Aman: I’ve never played Chrono Cross, so I’ll have to defer to you guys on the new ending. From what I’ve read, though, I don’t think I’d be too keen on it…
They’ve undeified Spekkio! He’s now just the “master of war.”
Woohoo! I can read your blog again for a bit!
I’m enjoying it, but as you said, it largely feels this was a gift for myself. I’m finding Frog’s dialog much more palatable this time as well. As for the encyclopedia, I enjoy it, especially as it’s easily ignorable if so desired.
It has been ages since I’ve played, and I never memorized much, so many of the changes are likely flying past me, and not much has caught my attention (the few things you mentioned).
I have the PS1 version, but never played it, so watching the videos for the first time myself. Slightly weirded out by how muscular Crono is in them. Frog also looks much more sage-like than I painted him in my mind (I keep picturing cute little frog thing, and he’s certainly not in the movies). They’re amusing and, again, a nod to those who played the game previously.
Dan Bruno: Ah, thanks for pointing me toward the quote. It had been bothering me that I couldn’t remember it. Now I know why: I’ve read about that ending before, but I have never actually experienced it (yet) in-game.
Matthew Gallant: Kind of surprising, isn’t it, considering that now Nintendo doesn’t necessarily have to intensely worry over religious references like in the past? Either as a “God” or a “Master”, though, Spekkio can still kick my ass if I’m not careful. =P
Friendly Neighborhood Antagonist here, hows it been?
Chrono Trigger,
Chrono Trigger,
Chrono Trigger,
Chrono Trigger,
And more Chrono Trigger.
Ive seen it on snes, went through most the endings, then did the same thing on the PS edition, seen the cutscenes so thats that, would i play it again for the SINGLE extra dungeon and the SINGLE extra ending? Maybe.
But whats really got me jaded with Square enix, is how the bloody company shuts down the fan made 3d version of chrono trigger and instead launches another bloody port. Why couldn’t they finance it and launch THAT on the DS. They surely took their time to remake Final Fantasy 4, they could have just backed the Chrono 3d dev team with some funding and programmers and BOOM.
Its an interesting issue, S-E recently started their 3d-remakes when the DS came on, i wonder, if that fan project has been noticed by S-E around the DS period, would it be picked up and funded?
Radical Dreamers was acknowledged in Chrono Cross, even if the game splits the fanbase, S-E still made a gesture towards them back then, so why not be as generous with that Fan Made chrono trigger 3d dev team.
Anyhow, not that Chrono Trigger is a bad game, nah, its epic, Alpha and Omega back then and wont be forgotten for its original story design. Seriously, Amazing.
BUT, how many times can you re-release the same product.
*looks at Final Fantasy 1 and 2 remakes for PSP-DS*
Huh….ok nevermind. S-E sure knows how to milk, bring us a Remake album then !
“Radical Dreamers was acknowledged in Chrono Cross, even if the game splits the fanbase, S-E still made a gesture towards them back then, so why not be as generous with that Fan Made chrono trigger 3d dev team.”
Are you implying that Radical Dreamers was a fan-game? Because I’m 99% sure that Radical Dreamers was an official Square title released for the Satellaview, the satellite modem add-on for the Super Famicom that released downloadable games over their satellite feed. It’s true that the English translation of Radical Dreamers is fan-made, but the game itself is a real Square product.
Regardless, I agree that the 3D Chrono project was awesome, but things like that are always iffy. I’m sure the dev team knew that going in. It would be nice if Square played nice, but this isn’t the first time something like that has happened in the entertainment industry.
Mokuu: I understand your displeasure with Square Enix’s rerelease madness, but I have a hard time holding it against them.
Many of their games came out well over a decade ago, and there are millions of video games who aren’t even that old yet; millions more were not interested in RPGs then, or didn’t have the right console, or didn’t play them for any number of other reasons. Why begrudge Square Enix the opportunity to introduce more people to their games?
It’s true that some fans might not see enough extra material in these rereleases to justify another purchase, but that’s not true of everyone. (I’ve purchased Ocarina of Time three times now, and none of them have any extra features!) So this is not a groundbreaking release, but for those wanting to revisit Chrono Trigger I think it’s fantastic.
As for shutting down the fan project: it’s a shame, but as The Unknown says, it’s fairly common for developers to protect their intellectual property that way. And I’m personally glad that they kept the 2D graphics, actually — they still look great to me!
The Unknown:
Its hard to count it as a serious “game” in the series, i mean, some of these endings are crackpot, the game itself is text based compared to the sprite based Chrono Trigger, then only people who had that modem add-on AND knowledge of the Japanese language could actually understand whats going on. Actually, the games didn’t seem to be officially released at all nor integrated to CT psx as planned before the release.
This doesnt make it fan-based but it sure makes it underground, maybe even more underground than the Chrono Ressurection project :D.
Dan Bruno:
I kinda find their methods to be lazy, simple ports, no treats added then ship out the next day. For a game like FF3 and 5 which we could barely get our hands on back in the day, its a fun idea to do a straight on port, FF4 was their golden mark as they redid all the graphics and added voices with extra cut scenes. But simple ports are getting to be the same thing : Add an extra dungeon and ship it as fast as you can. With all the money they are acquiring, couldnt S-E do more? They got the ball rolling with FF4, are they going to drop it with their next “re-releases”. Not saying that Chrono Trigger aint worth a re-revisiting (since alot of people jumped on the PSX version for those cutscenes) but how many times can people take a “new version” of a game they probably finished 8 times already yet no serious bonus content.
Mokuu: Again, I don’t think everyone relies on bonus content to make rereleases worth their while. It certainly didn’t influence my decision. I’m willing to accept that I have lower standards, though. :)
Mokuu: I’d say Radical Dreamers is less underground than the 3D CT project. After all, they included dialogue from it in CC, and they claimed that it was possibly an alternate reality.
Radical Dreamers was the official sequel to CT when it was first released, regardless of how widespread its release was. The only reason it is no longer canon is that its makers (who made CT) were unhappy with how it turned out. So they made CC, which is based quite a bit on Radical Dreamers (and actually uses the phrase itself in game), and called Radical Dreamers an “alternate reality”. It may not be canon anymore, but it was an honest to goodness game, regardless of its distribution or text-based nature.
And about the Radical Dreamers endings being crackpot: there are quite a few endings in CT and CC that are purely for comedic value. The alternate endings of the Chrono series are always meant to be fun, regardless of whether it’s fun in that it’s a different perspective, or fun in that it is a wacky situation. The alternate endings are never meant to be canon (at least not yet, anyway, if the Chrono series gets picked up again).
I apologize for the Radical Dreamers rant. I just have a deep respect for it. Sorry. =P
And about re-purchasing games that are merely ports: there were plenty of games that I had tried as a child but hadn’t purchased, so I’m glad when they re-release a game so that I may purchase it for the first time. Ideally, though, re-releases should be on things like the Virtual Console, where the opportunity is there for it to be future proof. And in the case of CT, I bought it for the DS mainly because it had everything that the PS1 port did minus insanely long load times.
Ok, this comment went on for way too long. I’ll shaddap now. =P
The Unknown:
Seeing that you are a Fan of CC, we’ll never be on the same side XD. CC had me breaking the box around the end of the game, so lets stay away from that grey zone or lets take it out in Soul Calibur 4 with custom made CT and CC characters.
Now about the re-release, I simply wish SE would have added more candy to a game released for the 3rd time. I mean, they manage to release certain ports without that 25-40% extra content which used to be a strict requirement by the higher-ops. And why couldnt they port games they never released before, SEIKEN DENSETSU 3.
*GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASP*
If Seiken Densetsu 3 was released for the DS, add multiplayer, translation, maybe remake the character portraits and a few Secret of Mana fan extra. Boom. You get a happy ending for many maaaaany gamers. (Cause it was never officially released here and was translated by ROM translators)
Maybe doing a touch up on “Live-A-Live” Interesting concept, poor execution yet never officially released in the US.
Dan Bruno :
LOWER STANDARRD *points finger of shame.*
Just kidding, there could be multiple factors/interests, being a fan, working in the industry, havent had games ruined for you, played good games recently etc.
BUUUUUUT, what i wanna know is what would you add to this game to make it the perfect port or make it “the next big thing” for game ports or re-release.