2nd Op By

Dale Weir 9.0 RATING

If there are any blemishes in the game, they lie in the storyline and characters. Square took a very commendable route in trying to tell the story with two alternate planes. As any sci-fi fan knows, what happens in one time plane can have dramatic impact on the other. The same holds true in Chrono Cross. However, it seems that with all the jumping back and forth, the developer lost focus along the way. Certain points in the story feel tacked on -- as though they were added on the whim of a developer too enthralled with the "multiple realities" premise to heed whether or not it was appropriate. It isn't horrendous by any means, but it is noticeable. Another negative lies with the extensive number of party members. Having the selection is nice, but their sheer number means that many of the characters are not deep or interesting. I personally found a few to be pretty worthless.

All that aside, the game is one of the best RPGs I've played in a long while, and it's without a doubt the best I've played on the PlayStation. It's an example of a great mix of graphics, music and story. It may have taken Square's experimentation with Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII to learn how to make use of the PlayStation and CD-ROM technology, but it seems they finally got it right.

Public Opinion

Havblue 7.5 Rating

Generally speaking, I considered Chrono Cross to be an incredibly well made game that takes several missteps.

The inclusion of 40 playable characters watered down the quality that they would have originally had. To remedy this, the game forces character development at particular times, rendering most characters artificial. To make matters worse, you'll frequently find bizarre and ugly characters joining your party when they never should have been created in the first place. Beware the wrath of my fighting turnip!

I found the battles to be lacking in strategic depth. Because you can only use a spell once in battle, pretty much all boss fights involve using your most powerful spells in descending order as they run out. The highest level spell you have is usually the most powerful too; environmental affinities don't count for much. You basically use one strategy with all 40 characters against almost every boss in the game.

Still, the 3-strength attack system was ultimately fast paced and satisfying overall. After looking beneath that layer though, I just didn't find much to be excited about.

Make no mistake though, the graphics, the music and several of the character designs are superb. I simply never got the chance to really bond with the characters as in the original Chrono Trigger. Overall I think this is a well-crafted game, but a hollow one.

Reader Second Opinions