Played it again for like the 10th time on like the 5th system I have it on it and it absolutely holds up. This time around it was the OG SNES on a Steam Deck. The original cartridge, box, instructions and everything are in a box in the basement, but that cartridge has been across the country and back with me every since I bought it through a mail order company that had its ads in EGM.
Chrono Trigger is damn near perfect. The closest I’ve gotten to reliving that game in my adult life is Sea of Stars, which I also highly recommend as it is very clearly inspired by CT.
Kjell@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I have never played Chrono Trigger, but I am currently spending some time playing old classic games. However, some games don’t age well and are mostly appreciated due to nostalgia. How easy is Chrono Trigger to get into for someone without the nostalgia, and is the Steam release worth playing?
frezik@midwest.social 1 week ago
IIRC, the steam release is based on a mobile port, and it’s bad. Maybe they fixed it since release, but I dunno.
PSX version added some anime cutscenes, which are nice. Problem is that loading times are horrible and happen as part of every battle.
I seem to remember the DS version being recommended. Otherwise, the SNES version is always good to find on the high seas.
It’s more approachable than most RPGs from the era. It has no random battles, and tends to avoid situations where you advance a character wrong and soft lock yourself. More hardcore RPG fans find it too easy, but it’s a classic for a reason.
chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world 1 week ago
The PC port is based on the mobile port, and at release it was trash. However, they have patched out all of the mobile garbage and it’s a lot better.
tal@lemmy.today 1 week ago
I think I remember seeing an article or post somewhere comparing all the versions of Chrono Trigger.
kagis
This might have been it:
geektogeekmedia.com/…/best-version-of-chrono-trig…
tomkatt@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I don’t have nostalgia for the game, tried it a few years ago but bounced off. Not sure why, just wasn’t in the mood for a HRPG at the time I guess.
I recently gave it another go, been playing it on my Steam Deck and it’s been great. I’m a few hours into it in the future currently and I think it’ll stick this time, it’s great.
Only thing is the game feels like it was really made with CRT behavior in mind. Like the game has some amazing shading and almost 3D depth to a lot of the art but without CRT shaders you don’t see it at all. If you play the Steam version, reshade goes a long way. I’m using a combination of CRT-frutbuhn, EasymodeCRT, and vibrance and it looks amazing.
testfactor@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I will say, the longer I look at that, the less confident I am that there is any difference at all, lol.
Kjell@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Thanks for the suggestions of the mods.
kratoz29@lemm.ee 1 week ago
I am about to “finish it” and I haven’t played it in one sitting for sure, I have done some pauses for months here and then and when I go back to it I always find myself lost in their objectives.
One thing I can say I don’t like, and it must be a very personal issue, is that the game work “kinda open” with not clear objectives of where you should head off then, which just increases my sense of loss.
I suppose many games of those days worked like that (like not having pointers in a map of where to go) but I just couldn’t… And if you add the secondary missions to it that involves time traveling it all just gets more confusing for me.
I am aware the game has quite good post game content, so I hope I do my best there…
In a nutshell I think this game does well for people that know it at 100% (as in, their favorite nostalgic game) but for newcomers you’ll get lost and need a guide at hand, especially if you want to enjoy it at “its fullest” doing all the secondary quests available, that is my personal experience though.
Ashtear@lemm.ee 1 week ago
It’s tough because I’m sure people that grew up playing games with map markers could certainly get lost in it, but at the same time Chrono Trigger is one of the most straight-forward games of its era/genre. There are JRPGs that came out two generations later that had a real rough time with the “find the NPC to advance the story” problem.
Depending on the version you’re playing, the post game content isn’t quite as sharp as the original stuff (it was added years later by a different team). The New Game+ mode, on the other hand, was in the original and is good stuff.
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Getting the full experience from Chrono Trigger specifically, unlike most other similar games, is getting all of the endings. The New Game+ mode will help there.
Chrono Trigger has 18 endings, if I recall correctly, including various permutations. Plus one additional one in the rereleases from the DS version forward. Some of them are only very subtly different from each other depending on which combination of character side quests you fully completed, and they all vary depending at which point your manage to defeat the final boss in the main story sequence. Several of them are significantly different interpretations of the future (or the past) post the defeat of the final boss with various for-want-of-a-nail factors causing huge changes to the outcome.
You have quite a few opportunities to fight the final boss up to and including immediately after discovering the first time gate all the way back at the beginning of the game. (Do that in New Game+ with an overpowered Crono, though, unless you want to get steamrolled instantly…)
ladel@feddit.uk 1 week ago
I played it for the first time about 10 years ago on a SNES emulator (because it kept on popping up in “best game of all time” lists), and I wasn’t disappointed. Well, I don’t think it is the best game ever, but I really enjoyed it, so I don’t think it’s a game that’s propped up only by nostalgia.
tal@lemmy.today 1 week ago
I’d kind of like to see someone review retro games on a “equal standing” with current games. That is, sure, they’re using old technology, sure, but see how they stand up to current games in terms of what you pay and the time investment in playing them.
Honestly, while I remember having fun with Chrono Trigger, I don’t know if, in 2025, I’d recommend it or any older RPG. By the standards of its time, it wasn’t very grindy, but speaking broadly, older RPGs have a lot of repetitive combat.
On the other hand, a lot of, say, older shmups are, I think, still competitive. I don’t feel like the genre has changed as much (though I’ll concede that I haven’t spent a lot of time on modern shmups). So I’d probably be more-inclined to recommend an older shmup, even though I’d say that Chrono Trigger was probably, in its time, a better Super Nintendo game than any Super Nintendo shmup.
Kjell@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Sounds promising. I’ve seen other posts of people who played it “recently” and enjoyed it.
ms_lane@lemmy.world 1 week ago
If you’ve played and enjoyed any 2D JRPG, you’ll be fine here.
NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 1 week ago
CT is one of the all time great JRPGs… if you put the effort in.
But it is very much a product of its time between missable party members and even mechanics that penalize you for opening treasure chests too soon.
Conceptually it is cool as hell that there is something like five or six main endings and then a bunch of variants and special/joke endings. But… this is a 20-30 hour JRPG and ain’t nobody got that much time. Although, different re-releases have helped speed those up.
All in all? The big set piece moments are some of the greatest in gaming. The moment to moment are… from the early 90s. I would probably recommend grabbing a totally legit dump of your SNES cartridge, playing until you get bored/annoyed, and then watching a lore video.
nore@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
Missable party members? 5~ endings?
Is this really in Chrono Trigger?
Kjell@lemmy.world 1 week ago
20-30 hour was less than I expected. On other comments it sounds like several endings can be seen in one playthrough which makes it easier to see many or all endings.
scutiger@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Unlike all the other chests, the ones that “penalize you” have an event and prompt asking if you want to open them, and in a game about time travel, it’s not too hard to figure out what’s intended.
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 1 week ago
So, are you one of those guys who denies themselves pleasure?
CidVicious@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
Part of what’s nice about the game is that it’s pretty breezy and no grinding required. As long as you don’t reel at the thought of turn-based combat it’s very low barrier to entry.
altima_neo@lemmy.zip 1 week ago
If you do play it, the best version I believe is the DS version.