Chrono Cross???

[Spooniest]

Whether it's good or bad, I don't know. I was half asleep while my (now) ex-wife was playing through it for a month, late at night.

From what I gathered of the plot, it kind of ruins everything I liked about Chrono Trigger, but that's far too easy to dismiss, so I'll just say that it reminds me of my ex, which nobody can argue with.

 

[Nec5]

I think there's a whole site dedicated to defending the game with long walls of text.  If you have to defend something a game that much, you really should not bother unless it's something you just happen to enjoy arguing about..  I've never played it either but I disliked all the plot elements I've read about it.  I guess Chrono Trigger is just like the Highlander movie, everything that came after it ranged from insanity (Planet Zebes or Zebe?) to blah to bad.

[LostTemplar]

It does not feel like Chrono Trigger at all, end of story.

This is the same phenomenon that occured not only with Chrono Cross, but with a lot of titles, for instance Breath of Fire V or Silent Hill 4. At their core they are all (in my opinion) good games, but borrowing a name they don't represent is definitely not working in their favor. A series usually stands for a set of traditions, and if these traditions are broken the fans will be disappointed. It's all about expectations.

This may be a coincidence, but also note that all three series I brought up have ceased to exist (in this form) after the mentioned iteration.

If Chrono Cross wouldn't have been called Chrono Cross probably nobody would have complained as nobody would have felt "betrayed".

[Snatcher]

I enjoyed playing Chrono Cross, but that being said I thought it was far too different then Chrono Trigger which made it feel out of place.

Chrono Cross has great music, good graphics (though it hasn't aged well) and an interesting story that got me to play to the end. All in all its a great standalone game.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

I've had horrible luck* with Chrono Cross, but I haven't disliked what I played of it. It sure doesn't feel like Chrono Trigger, but still good.

*There seems to be no way I can play this game and have it not crash on me at some time. Three different CDs, and they all crash. The PSP PS emulator? Have fun having it not crash. Ugh. I want to like and also frigging beat that game, but it's like it's saying nuh-uh to me.

[DankPanties]

Chrono Cross has a truly terrible plot.  However, it's got amazing graphics and a very unique / fun combat system.  It's a game worth playing, as long as you pretend it's its own thing, and not a "sequel".  The sequel parts feel totally tacked on, I'm still convinced Chrono Cross wasn't initially even related to Chrono Trigger.  Also Cross has a tremendous character set, its playable party member roster is only eclipsed by that of Suikoden.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

Chrono Cross also this split story progression thing going for it too. Each time I start it, I see a different version of the story. Really nice detail there.

[Panzer88]

It does not feel like Chrono Trigger at all, end of story.

This is the same phenomenon that occured not only with Chrono Cross, but with a lot of titles, for instance Breath of Fire V or Silent Hill 4. At their core they are all (in my opinion) good games, but borrowing a name they don't represent is definitely not working in their favor. A series usually stands for a set of traditions, and if these traditions are broken the fans will be disappointed. It's all about expectations.

This may be a coincidence, but also note that all three series I brought up have ceased to exist (in this form) after the mentioned iteration.

If Chrono Cross wouldn't have been called Chrono Cross probably nobody would have complained as nobody would have felt "betrayed".

just like Seiken Densetsu 4 is a great action/arcade game but a terrible follow up to SD2 and SD3 if you are expecting an RPG

[SargeSmash]

Dank's right.  Of course, it kind of is, seeing as how it's a kind of re-imagining of Radical Dreamers, but in my mind, it's so tangentially connected that you can pretty much just play it, pretend it's its own thing in an alternate universe or something, and things work out just fine.

It has been a while since I played the game, honestly, so I barely remember any of the plot.  When did it come out?  2000?  Yeah, that's 12 years. 

[DankPanties]

I beat it back in 2009 IIRC.  Under ePSXe the graphics looked amazing.  But sweet holy mother of Beelzebub did that story suck all kinds of anus.

[Idkbutlike2]

Eh, I think the story is okay when taken out of context. It's just that the ties it tries to establish are dumb as fuck and are based around really minor details that no one would ever pay attention to. Overall, though, I think it's the second best PS1 Squaresoft game - right up there with Final Fantasy IX.

[SargeSmash]

I'm not sure it's their second-best...  but it's pretty darn good.  As far as traditional RPGs go, yeah, it probably is, in retrospect.  Actually, I'd put it above all the Final Fantasy games on the system.  But I like all their oddball stuff from the era, like Legend of Mana, Saga Frontier 2, Vagrant Story, and so forth.  They really had some varied output then.

Speaking of games like Final Fantasy, for some reason I have a soft spot for Legend of Dragoon, horrible localization be danged.  It may be the best Final Fantasy on the system that wasn't, you know...  Final Fantasy. 

[DankPanties]

I haven't played Dragoon yet... kinda looking forward to it someday though.  The game got so much hate I can't help but hope it's an underdog like Dragon Valor was.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

I haven't played Dragoon yet... kinda looking forward to it someday though.  The game got so much hate I can't help but hope it's an underdog like Dragon Valor was.

Supposedly, it was good but you pretty much had to do constant disc swapping. At least... That's what I've heard. I never so much as touched the game though.

[SargeSmash]

Well, it is a 4-disc game.  The game reads more like a transliteration than an actual localization job.  But I enjoyed the timed-hit nature of the combat, and there's some really, really cool CG sequences.  I don't usually glom onto those, but the ending sequence was incredible (except for the iffy voice-acting).

[LostTemplar]

I think I played the first disc of that one, but I can't seem to remember too well. I can't even recall whether I played it in English or German; but if the English "localization" was shitty, then I'd bet you the German one was just as bad.