Why Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is one of the "worst remasters" on current consoles and PC

sportskeeda.com:

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is out right now for modern consoles and PCs. Square Enix's latest remaster of their PS1 1999 cult classic allows modern gamers to experience this 23-year-old JRPG with enhanced visuals. However, the reality is not as clear-cut.

YouTube channel Digital Foundry conducted an in-depth analysis of the remaster and the conclusion was less than flattering for developer Square Enix. Simply put, there are a myriad of issues with the game, involving both visuals and overall performance. Worst of all, it's not even a true remaster at all. This article will provide more details about this comparison.

The visuals of the game will be looked at for starters. Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition employs an AI to reconstruct the textures to upscale them, and unfortunately, the end result is rather lacking. The PS1's original pre-rendered assets are of very low resolution. Thus, there are various visual artifacts where the AI tries and fails to conjure up enhanced textures.

With Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, Square Enix offers two visual modes: Classic and New. The former disables these AI upscaled textures and the original pixelated assets take their place. However, the sharper player character models contrast rather strangely with this raw, pixelated look. The latter uses newer textures, which end up looking very blurry. Ideally, the Classic Mode is the go-to option here, and not just for better and more authentic visuals.

The updated character models (and certain 3D assets) for the New mode look much better than the blockier PS1 renditions. One can clearly see the added detail and new textures, as shown in the image above. However, they seem to be rendered at 900p as a whole