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Saturday 12 January, 2008
Summary
Chrono Trigger is a classic RPG that utilizes many common practices from that era. Players navigate the game through a main World Map, with various locations that they can enter to progress the story. Enemy encounters are fought via a turn-based battle structure using an ATB (Attack Time Bar) system, and utilizes enemy location for special attacks. (ie, certain attacks hit enemies that are closer together or lined up, etc) As such, combat is fluid and tactical, with many moves taking precious seconds before execution so the enemies line up perfectly.
Gameplay
At first glance, Chrono Trigger is very clearly the predecessor of the Final Fantasy series. That combat takes advantage of mobile enemies adds a bit to fighting, but for the most part seems pretty straightforward. Cheesy dialogue appropriate to this time period (the game was released in 1995), and the limits of graphics that follow are not distracting in the least, rather they create a nostalgic feel for the game that produces most, if not all, of this game's value. Yet the nostalgia evoked certainly feels right, and Chrono Trigger is still fun to play. Noticing the relevant mechanics that have been adapted into more sophisticated games in the following generations makes playing the game feel appropriately like a step back in time, seeing as the plot itself follows the hero backwards in time. Nostalgia aside, my initial experience with Chrono Trigger is somewhat dissapointing. After progressing through very little of what I presume to be an expansive plot, I find myself stuck without any idea of where to head next. The lack of a diary or quest log makes many games of this time period difficult to understand without prior experience, and that problem seems to be highlighted in Chrono Trigger, because the characters' dialogue is insubstantial at best. To say that this is a great game would be an exaggeration, but to say that it is terrible would be unfair. Chrono Trigger appears to be a good representation of the technology and inspiration that available when it was made, and that is just about the best that can be said about a game from the First Generation of gaming.
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