Chrono Cross
For: PlayStation
Genre: RPG
Reviewed by: Escee (Brandon)
Developer: Square EA
Publisher: Square EA
Released:8.15.00
 
Chrono Cross had high expectations to hold up. It was the sequel to the best RPG ever created, by many sources, Chrono Trigger. Let me start off by saying that it met those expectations. Some may say that Chrono Cross, while good, failed to meet the standards of its prequel. I must say that I believed that Chrono Trigger was amazing in every way, except for one. It was too short. It had lastability, but the length of the actual game was too short. Chrono Cross solved that issue, being on the the longer RPGs I've played in a while.

In Chrono Cross, you take the role of a teenager named Serge. One fateful day, Serge stared death in the face as a great wave at the beach hit him. He had exactly a 50/50 chance of surviving this disaster, and this created a parallel universe. In one universe, he was alive; in one universe, he was dead. This was the way that fate would have things. But somehow, Serge fall into the wrong dimension, the dimension in which he was supposed to be dead. Now he must embark on a journey to find his way home. But that is just the beginning. While you are trying to find your way home, you will stumble upon an evil plan, and you must thwart it to save the world. I won't spoil the whole story for you, so I'll leave it at that. But trust me, this is one hell of a story. Amazing.

The battle system is one of my favorite battle systems ever. I absolutely loved the fact that your magic, in the form of "Elements," was replenished after ever fight. The annoyance of managing my Magic Points was removed, but I still had to manage my Elements, as they could only be used once each per battle. Thus, all the skill of battle was still retained, but the annoyance was gone. Another major plus was that, like it predecessor, Chrono Cross had no random battles. You could see your enemy on the screen, and, if you wished, try and avoid them. But the real issue with random battles is their annoyance, and not only are Chrono Cross's battles non-random, but they are damned fun almost every time, especially with the Element system.

Chrono Cross, besides being a very long game that keeps you hooked the whole time, also has tons of replay value. Like Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross has a New Game+ mode, which starts you out with all of your previous Elements and equipment, as well as letting you go straight to the final boss at any time. By defeating the final boss at different times during the game there are tons of different endings to the game you can get your second time around. Plus, in Chrono Cross you also can also collect tons of allies to fight in your party (and I mean tons: there are over 40!!) and it is actually impossible to get all of them your first time through the game, so if you want to get all of them you have to go through the game again. Replay value. Of course, this brings me to another point. The fact that there are so many characters means that basically, only about 3 of them are actually developed, including Serge. While the game has a great storyline, there are no developed characters to really drive that storyline. Other than that, the game is basically perfect. The graphics are outstanding for PlayStation, and the soundtrack is one of the best soundtracks ever in a videogame.
 
Graphics
For PlayStation, the graphics are outstanding. Being a game made by Square, it obviously has great-looking FMV sequences, but the graphics are also top-notch in game as well.
 
Sound
Chrono Cross has one of the best soundtracks ever heard in a videogame, and is accompanied by great sound as well.
 
Gameplay
Along with Panzer Dragoon Saga, this is one of the most fun and fulfilling RPGs I have ever played.

Control
The game doesn't use a rotating or configurable camera, and the controls are perfect.
 
Lastability
For an RPG, you couldn't ask for more lastability.
 
Ratings

1.15.1

click on the above screenshots for larger versions.
 
images from zdnet and ign