Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition
Review
Lost Through Time
by Camrin Santchi
reviewed on PC
A lesser title?
When one hears the name Square Enix, gamers will often think of their most established series: Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, or Dragon Quest. Back in the 90's however, Square Enix created another series, which began in 1995 as the legendarily beloved Chrono Trigger, to this day considered a must play of RPGs, with characters designed by Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball fame and a plot spanning an entire timeline from the birth of civilization to the end of the world. The lesser known sequel, Chrono Cross from 1999, is now released as a remaster called Radical Dreamers Edition, which bundles Chrono Cross with the text-based Choose Your Own Adventure Radical Dreamers, which also takes place in the Chrono universe.
Chrono Cross starts with a peculiar dream that the main character Serge is having, of a strange fortress and allies he’s never met. When Serge awakens back in the beach settlement he’s lived all his life, and his dream doesn’t seem to be anything more than that for quite some time. That is, until he collapses on a beach after completing a quest and exploring the area around his home, for when he wakes up no one in his settlement recognizes him, and he discovers that somehow he has been dead for 10 years, complete with a gravestone marked with his name atop a nearby cliff. Thus begins Serge’s adventure through this odd alternate timeline, accompanied by a thief named Kid he recognizes from his dream, trying to figure out what happened and why mysterious forces seem to be concerned about the fact that he is still alive.
Interestingly enough Chrono Cross shows a clear art direction shift that fans of Final Fantasy may be familiar with. The first game in the series, Chrono Trigger, is a pixel-art 2D game, much like FFVI, while Cross is a 3D world with 3D models like FFVII, a difference that divides fans to this day, at least between fans of FFVI and FFVII, while Cross’ remastered release is actually the first that this reviewer heard of a sequel to Trigger, so either it never divided fans of Chrono or it was potentially one of the nails in the coffin when it originally came out.
Interesting JRPG elements
Chrono Cross makes use of some interesting elements of JRPGs, giving a player stamina to use for their turn which can be used to take multiple actions, which can include three types of attacks (Weak with high accuracy, standard with average accuracy, and strong with low accuracy) as well as any elemental spells that the player has equipped. Spells are utilized through acquiring ‘levels’, which is done through hitting enemies with your attacks. Once enough hits have been accrued players can make use of a spell of the proper level (Level 1 for a Level 1 Spell is one hit on an enemy, for example). Spells can only be used once in battle unless otherwise specified, meaning players need to carefully decide when to make use of their abilities.
Speaking of said abilities, gamers will note in the battle UI that there’s a series of ovals surrounding each other that are colour coded. Upon a Spell being used it shifts the centre colour to the middle and makes the new middle the colour of the spell used. For example, if Blue spells are used than the entire series of ovals could be blue-shifted, which will drastically increase the power of a blue-type spell. These in battle mechanics can take some getting used to, but provide interesting ways to try and strategize against enemies- especially if players can figure out what element an opponent is weak against in order to power it up, or know what element their enemy will use to try and weaken it by setting the field to an opposing colour. These weaknesses and abilities of enemies aren’t always easy to tell at first glance, so be wary not to put yourself in a dangerous position!
In all Chrono Cross is an intriguing cult classic brought back for fans old and new alike. Even despite the touch ups the graphics are clearly that of an older game thanks to the specific style that they chose when originally making Cross, and it isn’t a perfect remaster, some issues do appear in performance (FPS drops occur occasionally). It has an intriguing story and concept that provides a fascinating spin on the classic time travel tropes of ‘saving yourself’ since in Cross, it's already far too late, and you don’t even know why.
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7.8
fun score
Pros
An intriguing story
Cons
Can show its age despite the upgrades
