Chrono Cross

Pros • You’re the good guy and the bad guy –sort of • The closest we have yet come to a truly interactive, engaging, emotional electronic artform • Great battle system and combat is mostly avoidable • Philosophically challenging • Tons of appealing characters and a fascinating world • Interesting story, revealed bit by bit - in great English dialogue • The best PlayStation graphics anywhere • Interesting monsters each with unique attacks and accompanying spell effects	Cons • Needs voice acting to truly become the interactive, emotional story that this game hints at • Last third of the game is an annoying hunt and battle an endless stream of big bosses-the combat system is interesting, but not for fifteen straight hours • Can’t turn off the recycled Final Fantasy music • Can’t turn off the cool five times, frustrating the next thousand battle effects • Fewer cut scenes than Final Fantasy VIII –can’t wait for the Final Fantasy Movie • Cheezy accents added to some characters’ dialogue • Last third of the game is full of boring, unnecessary apologetic pseudo-science trying to explain the world rather than the good story and character that drove the early game
Bottom Line If you esteem, as I do, that Chrono Cross begins brilliantly but ends weakly and is thereby, not the best PlayStation RPG of all time, we have only our own bitching about games being too short to blame. Squaresoft is pushing the bounds of electronic entertainment into artistic interactive storytelling. Besides being the most graphically bright and beautiful game the PlayStation has seen, Chrono Cross is the closest we have yet come to the experience of interactive storytelling. Players move through an engaging world full of interesting characters, all the while feeling like their decisions have consequence. The rare CG cut-scenes are astounding and further draw one emotionally into the adventure. An elemental rock-paper-scissors combat system is interesting and effective, yet not intrusive. Gamers who like turn-based battles can battle to their hearts’ content, while those more interested in following the storyline are able to mostly avoid combat, other than the important battles with boss creatures that they wouldn’t want to miss anyway. That is, until the last third of the game which is a fifteen-hour repetitive battle sequence until even the interesting combat system of Chrono Cross has lost entertainment value. Still, the weak ending isn’t enough to drown the memory of the game’s brilliant beginnings.

Chrono Cross is not only the brightest and most graphically outstanding RPG on the PlayStation –with an absolutely gorgeous world map and typically Squaresoft spectacular spell effects, it also pushes the promising envelope of interactive storytelling further and more artfully than any other game. A dark curtain of mystery is slowly raised, revealing one small glimpse at a time of an intriguing story and game world. The winsome cast of characters is varied and charming, most with interesting personalities and sub-stories of their own- although the affected accents work poorly in dialogue boxes. Chrono Cross is not as blessed with CG cut-scenes as was Final Fantasy VIII but those that are in the game are beautiful and further engross the gamer in the tale.

What’s more, Chrono Cross allows gamers to play the game how they like. Obsessive types seeking every item and character will discover a game world that abundantly rewards their compulsions. Gamers who find the combat system entertaining and who wish to run the seas red in monster blood are blessed with a rich and well-balanced combat system, itself replete with subtleties that many will miss first time through. Rarer, Squaresoft has found a way to reward gamers who simply get drawn into the beautiful world and story. Monsters are on the map and combat can mostly be avoided, which does not affect progression through the game. Characters do grow slightly more powerful by enjoining numerous battles, but actual, more important leveling up happens only after each boss battle. The game can be completed without ever concerning oneself with experience –unless you want to. One can simply be swept through the story, participating in essential (and interesting) battles, reveling in the sense Chrono Cross gives that player decisions are truly interactive, impacting the progression of the story. In truth, there are only a few possible, short alternate paths, but most conversations grant the illusion of interactivity. Brilliant! There are a couple of potentially stumping, the-item-doesn’t-work-on-this-door-or-that-door-or-any-of-those-doors-it-only-works-for-some-Fairy-Godmother-forsaken-reason-on-the-door-over-there puzzles which could trip up story-only surfers, but otherwise, Chrono Cross comes very near to being all things to all gamers. The alternate paths and host of characters available to join the player party also make this a game that many will replay numerous times.

One final kudos to the localization team. Finally, Squaresoft has taken the time and hired the people to poetically convey the story and dialogue instead of shoveling out grammatically incorrect literal translations.

The first twenty hours of Chrono Cross are absolutely sublime gaming and had the game been able to persist, it would indeed have been the best PlayStation RPG ever. Unfortunately, the game does not maintain that level, and even more unfortunately, we probably have only ourselves to blame. I’m sure that when the first pre-alpha play testers came smiling the kind of joyful, I’ve just experienced a life changing artwork smile into the room, dried tears on their cheeks –well, Chrono Cross is engaging, but not quite that powerful, although if it had quality voice acting, it may well have been- and punched the time clock, the publishing review board freaked. “The game has to be at least thirty-five hours long,” they cried. “If we deliver any role-playing game that takes anyone less than thirty-five hours to finish we’ll get killed in the game press. Every single review will say exactly the same thing, and only the same thing, ‘Too short! Too short! The game’s too fricken short!’"

“Make it longer!” they demanded and so it was done, by adding an endless stream of half-hour boss battles: red dragons, blue dragons, white dragons, four, yellow dragons, green dragons, black dragons, more…

Chrono Cross has an excellent battle system, a sort of elemental rock-paper-scissors with lots of interesting healing, status effect and field effect spells that allow for varied tactics. Physical attacks are also interesting and the stamina system effective; but, you can wear a feather groove in granite rubbing the two together long enough. And, as always, Square does not permit the gamer to turn off those gorgeous spell and combat animations so jaw dropping the first five times, dull ever after –you also can’t turn off the recycled Final Fantasy music either and most will finish playing the muted game to their own CDs. Not only is the end-game a tiresome succession of battles, but all the artful storytelling of the early game is replaced by tedious dialogue boxes laden with pseudo-scientific apologetics attempting to explain the universe of Chrono Cross whereas the early story-rich game had been correctly content to allow the gamer to simply experience and enjoy the game worlds.

Sigh. So close, and yet we have our own selves to blame. Nevertheless, even though the original sweet promise of Chrono Cross turns a little fetid, when all is said and done with Serge’s world restored, Chrono Cross is a top-notch, beautiful and excellent RPG, that will not disappoint Squaresoft’s deservedly loyal fans.

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