In the ancient year of 2001/2, I bought Final Fantasy Chronicles. I bought it to own Final Fantasy IV and had no idea what Chrono Trigger was about. I played it a little bit when I kept having issues with IV, but I never gave it an honest attempt until 2003, when I spent a month getting every ending in this random SNES port. But even during that first go around, there was something that called to me. I got yelled at by my mom once for having "Wind Scene" on to do homework. Despite the controller being nowhere near me, she insisted I was playing games. We've never gotten along, but that's a story for another therapist.
But ever since I got all the endings in 2003/4, I've considered Chrono Trigger to be the greatest game I've ever played. The graphics were great, the story was investing, the battle system had so many intricacies, and the music was as good as it gets. I'm still not sure if any OST can match this thirty-year-old game. That was... until recently. I replayed Final Fantasy X in May, and I changed my mind about ol' Chrono Trigger. FFX beats it out for the same reasons above. But it's been a few years since my last playthrough of my second favorite game, so maybe it's time to take a new look at it? Does it hold up? How much can I overlook the flaws, if there even are any? How much have I changed? This'll be a controversial choice here, but I'll be playing the Playstation One port for Chrono Trigger. I own it, and I really want to play it legit. I also really liked the anime cutscenes and think they add a lot to the game.
I've gone on record as saying the sound that the pendulum makes as the Chrono Trigger logo drops to the screen is the greatest sound Earth has ever experienced. There's something about that thronk that fills me with a sense of calm and wanderlust. It's a great way to kick off this masterpiece. "Presentment" leads to the title track of the game if you let the opening scenes play out. But I want to play, so I quickly start a new game!
Birds fly over a coastline and lead us to a square. Fireworks can be heard nearby as balloons drift off into the air. A bell rings as we fade to black and wake up with a green haired woman waking up her son. This is our hero, Crono, and Lenne's bell ringing in the distance signals the start of the Guardia Millennial Fair. We've been a country for 1000 years, so it just makes sense. I get out of bed, shut the blinds, and walk downstairs. Mom informs us that our friend, Lucca, has a new invention she's showing off at the Fair today, and we've been invited. We can then head on our way but talk to her again to get our allowance of 200 gold.
"Peaceful Days" plays as we enter the world map. There are no random encounters in Chrono Trigger and nothing at all on the world map. This means we can explore to our heart's content. I open a few treasures around our starting town of Truce before crossing the Zenon Bridge and looting Porre. Even the elderly from Porre are walking to experience the Fair. I even did some adventuring in the Guardia Forest! It's not necessary, but the battle system is so fun. It gets better with more people and duel techs, but Cyclone is fun enough this early on. I also found some odd black chests "Sealing by a mysterious force." All the while, "Memories of Green" plays, and this might be the best song ever recorded. Nujabes' "Aurelian Dance" is a close second, but there's something about the 1000 AD overworld, man.
But even I have to experience the Fair at some point. I enter and get greeted with a mass of people enjoying themselves. It's a carnival with games, merchants, and whatnot about. But I'm here to see Lucca. Make your way past the fountain and Lenne's Bell, and there will be two people. They'll tell us that Lucca isn't ready, so we should enjoy ourselves. As we pass the bell, a girl will bump into us. She'll cry in pain but get up before we do. It was totally our fault (it was), so that's nice. Make sure she's okay, and we can look for the pendant. It's just to the side, so bring it to her. This is ...Marle, and she's a bit lost. She thinks we're a great dude and asks us to show her around the Fair. I like blondes, so I oblige. We chug some sodas because I'm competitive, but I also reunite a girl with her lost cat because I'm nice. I hope that old guy enjoys his lunch! After that, we go dancing. And then we beat up Lucca's robot.
"[He] is Gato.
[He} has metal joints.
Beat [him] up and
earn fifteen silver points!"
I don't know what silver points are good for, but I want them. Gato puts up a good fight, but Crono and Marle can take care of him. After this, I show Marle how strong I am and visit a few vendors. I didn't think she'd be interested in the weapons guy, but I'll see him later. Once Lucca was done setting up, Marle wants some snacks before climbing the stairs. I'm a patient man, so I let her choose in silence. Crono does a lot in silence..., and then we saw Lucca.
A small group of people were here to see Lucca's Telepod! They didn't trust it could teleport people across space, but I have faith in my friend. I happily went up to one of the pods and exited from the other. I even did it twice. All systems were green! Marle was excited and wanted to try, but something happened. Her pendant began to shine, and her body turned into balls of light. A blue hole opens up between the pods, and the lights that were Marle enters it. Lucca rushed everyone off, and her dad wondered what went wrong. Lucca also felt like she's seen her before. All that was left of Marle was her pendant. I went over to it, and Lucca got the idea that that messed it all up. Before we could do any more experiments, we'd need to get Marle back. Lucca and Tabon started the teleportation process again, and I entered the blue hole.
On the otherside was a forest overlooking a mountain that was inhabitant by imps. Make your way down, and you'll get a forced taste of how battle works here. It's turn based, but enemies can move around the active map. Nothing is random, and the movement lets us attack multiple targets if you have the correct techs. Thanks to early TP "grinding," Cyclone is one such technique. All the mobs are weak, so head to the world map. It looks kinda like Truce, but Crono's house is gone, as is the Fair! Everything is orange, and the song "Wind Theme" places. I used to play this on guitar, and it's one of the best songs in the game! Look around Trice, and we'll learn we're in the year 600 AD, 400 years in the past! Not only that, but Queen Lenne had been missing but was recently found in the mountains where we zoned in... There's a cathedral that wasn't there "before," and the Zenon Bridge is out because Magus' troops destroyed it. An NPC at the Fair told us Magus was a wizard the humans fought against 400 years ago...
With nowhere to go, head to the castle. The guards insult us a moment before they hear a voice, and the Queen tells them to let us in. The Queen is a bit less uppity than you'd expect. Follow her in, and we'll see the Chancellor get upset and leave. The King and his guards tell us the Queen went up the right tower, so climb that. Don't open the chests. At the top, the guard will let us pass, and we can enter the Queen's room. She'll dismiss her maids and reveal that she's Marle! She looks like Lenne, so everyone's been confusing the two. Suddenly, Marle will start to cry again. She'll feel her body being torn apart, and it'll start to flicker until she disappears. We quickly leave and return to the throne room. Somehow, Lucca will be waiting for us, and she'll tell us that Marle, real name Nadia, is the Princess in their time, therefore, the descendant of Lenne. She must have disappeared because the real Lenne was never saved as she was before. But if we find Lenne, we might save Marle. Talk to the King to learn about a royal heirloom that's the key to solving this.
The only place I haven't been to is the Cathedral. Inside are nuns giving us creepy vibes. Near the altar is the emblem the King spoke about. Picking it up will cause the nuns to get mad and transform into lamias. This also triggers a fight. The Nagaettes are weak to fire, so teaching Lucca Fire Throw, leading to a combo tech with Crono, can take them out in two rounds. I've never liked Lucca because she's so slow, but I just learned everything in the upcoming dungeon isn't fond of flames. I have a newfound respect for her, and I don't know what my party will be. After the four die, Lucca relaxes. As she does, another lamia will teleport in and attack her. Luckily, a frog will fall from the rafters to kill it, saving us. Lucca is surprised, at first, because the frog can talk, but he says she's a knight of the Queen, here to save her. He suggests we team up, which we can turn down, but I don't know what happens if we do. Say yes because froggy is great. He can heal! This is Glenn (GLENN!), and he rounds out our party for the Cathedral dungeon. Play the organ to reveal the secret door, and head in
Check all the rooms in here as there are plenty of EXP, gold, and tech points to get. Climb the stairs on either side first, with the right side housing some good treasure. You gotta follow one of the baddies into the Magus' Statue Room for full effect. You also hear a not fun song and get to beat up royal doppelgangers. More importantly, they let slip that the Chancellor isn't a human anymore. The real Chancellor was replaced by a monster! Do the left side, then double back around the front hallway. Then head up the middle. There are two rooms on either side of this map with skull buttons. Those drop the floor spikes in the middle room, which, after a battle, let us reach another organ that reveals the super secret door further back. Inside that is a straight shot upwards past six mobs. There's also a second save point here if you need to refresh your MP and save the game. Beyond that door is a screaming Queen being attacked by the fake Chancellor. We'll run in and tell the Queen to get behind us while we battle with Yakon!
Yakon seems to counter everything Crono does with a move that hits everyone. However, his double tech with Frog, X-Strike, does 175 damage, so we should eat it. I had plenty of tonics and wasn't afraid to use them. Yakon also has a few single target attacks, but, being the first boss, isn't that hard. Lucca can use Fire Throw since it's better than her basics. After we dispose of Yakon, Glenn and the Queen will have a moment together. They go way back. We can then open the two treasures in this room, one of which contains the real Chancellor! I don't know if you can leave him in there... We'll all return to the castle, righting the weird time based plothole of history!
The King and Queen thank us again, and the Chancellor promises to construct a penal system to prevent this from happening again. There wasn't already one? And would acts of war in a war really be affected by a jail? But how's Marle? Crono and Lucca rush up the Queen's room to see Marle rematerializes. She says how terrifying that experience was, being cold and alone. "Was it like dying?" But it's time to return home! Head back to where we zoned in, and Lucca will tell us about her Gate Key. She calls the portal a Gate and surmises to their creation. Did someone else form it? Marle says how cool Lucca is, but Lucca tries to blow it off. Marle's pretty insistent, but we'll return to this later. She also doesn't want us to treat her differently now that we know she's royalty. We jump into the blue portal and return to the Telepod experience at the Fair! That was an experience! Marle invites us to dinner at the castle later, but Lucca has to finish something first. The girls ask Crono to escort Marle home, but I'll have to do that...
...tomorrow!
It doesn't get much better than this, man! I smile like an idiot every time I hear the opening lines to "Memories of Green" and "Wind Scene." Casting double techs will never not be rewarding, and writing the early parts of this update were a kick. A love letter of sorts to one of my favorite games, and I'm looking forward to playing this for the twentieth time. I know more about Chrono Trigger than any game, movie, album, or person. I've never touched a boob, but I have played CT, and I'm betting this is better! I'll discuss the battle system tomorrow.
Also, I'll try to figure out if this is a diary exercise or a conventional update by then, too! I'M EXCITED!!!
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