Review: Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition

destructoid.com:

There are a lot of opinions around Chrono Cross. Finish Chrono Trigger and ask someone about its sequel, and they’ll probably either tell you that it’s not as good or that it simply shouldn’t be compared to the original. To their credit, it’s a complicated subject. Chrono Cross is a sequel, but it’s not. It’s not necessarily the same thing as, say, Final Fantasy VIII not being a sequel to Final Fantasy VII in terms of narrative continuity. There are blatant links connecting the two games. But it’s not Chrono Trigger 2.

Then you’ll find people who think Chrono Cross actually ruins the story of Chrono Trigger. Developers have stated that they just wanted to make a new game in the same vein, but if so, why connect them at all? I guess the bottom line is that Chrono Trigger is a SNES JRPG and Chrono Cross is a PS1 JRPG, and they both absolutely look and feel the part.

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition (PC, Switch [Reviewed], PS4, Xbox One)Developer: Square Enix, D4Enterprise Co.,Ltd.Publisher: Square EnixReleased: April 7th, 2022MSRP: $19.99

Chrono Cross is the story of Serge. One day, he’s sucked into an alternate timeline where he’s been dead for years. Despite this, people are looking for him, and things kind of get weirder from there.

As I said, it’s your typical PS1 JRPG. If you played Final Fantasy VII-IX, you mostly know what you’re in for. The combat system is different but still turn-based. The enemies can be spotted in the world, so there’s no real random battle system. There’s an emphasis on recruiting a number of optional characters to slot into your party. The backgrounds are pre-rendered with the polygonal characters treading over top of them. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing that Chrono Cross is an