Messages

1

Time, Space, and Dimensions / Re: What determines a rewrite or a split?

« on: November 11, 2018, 01:11:11 pm »

I have my own theory on why there was a dimension split: what differentiates Schala's saving of Serge from any of Crono and co's activities in Trigger is that Schala intervened from the "outside" within the Darkness Beyond Time; most likely through the Frozen Flame. The only problem with this theory is that is doesn't explain why sending people out of the DBT doesn't cause a split (like Magus and Kid), but if I had to guess, it's because Schala's intervention in saving Serge was more severe - what, with a magnetic storm being created and such.

As for why Serge... Well, there is the idea that it was proximity to the Frozen Flame that let Schala hear the toddler's cries, but I do like Kodokami's theory that it is because Schala/Kid and Serge have a bond that transcends time - soul mates, you could say, since they got together in one timeline under different circumstances. Whether Belthasar was aware of the Radical Dreamers timeline at first or if even Schala herself was or not is up for debate, but the Guru of Reason likely exploited it for his master plan regardless.

2

Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Re: So, what's the big deal about a direct sequel anyway?

« on: April 02, 2017, 02:44:52 pm »

Lavos' origin from deep space has always intrigued me.
Did he come to Crono's planet by accident, by choice, or was it told?
Lavos' survival is clear, but let me throw in something more...
Was it planned by the Lavos entity itself, or possibly from a larger hierarchy within Lavos' species?
If so, was Earth detected by long-range sensors before "Lavos" was sent, or was Lavos sent to seek out planets at random?
There are a lot of similarities to Lavos and The Borg from Star Trek.

Nothing in either game really confirms it, but I've always assumed that Lavos spawn just wander randomly through space until they find suitable planets for habitation. (Mother Brain's speech mentions the spawn "finding" new homes, implying their destinations are unknown at the time of departure, but there's really no way she could know such a thing with certainty.) If that's the case, "our" world was simply the victim of bad fortune rather than malevolent design. However, it's entirely possible that a supremely powerful elder Lavos could detect such worlds across interstellar distances and guide its children to them.

I further assumed that since they have the power to escape their home planets' gravities in the first place, the Lavos spawn could easily have some means of altering their trajectories once in space, allowing them to avoid stars, black holes, and other dangers; perhaps even using them for gravity assists. Even with such speed boosts, the unfathomably vast distances involved always led me to wonder how old Lavos already was when it arrived.

Anywho, nostalgia and the unexplained fate of CT's team within CC is the major reason. Those who  played CT have a "bond" with the original cast. Many of us grew up with them, and they were apart of our childhood when life was less complex and everything was a mystery. The fate of the original team is something everyone wants to know about, even though it is implied they presumably died long ago. How did they die? Where? Are they even dead, or did Dalton seal some of them away somewhere? Where was Magus? What happened to Lucca? Crono and company may have completed their mission, but their fate is unknown, and thus, their stories incomplete. I direct sequel (or remake) of Trigger could tie in key elements to Cross, reintroduce the original cast, give us more facts about Dalton and Porre, and the Fall of Guardia, with Dalton presumably defeating the last wielder of the Masamune and how it became a major plot vessel during the events of El Nido.

I'll second this, although I disagree with the assessment that a new Chrono game would have to follow the original cast. I'm not certain that a new Chrono game would even be a good idea; Square's track record in recent years is pretty deplorable. A series that thrives on subtlety is probably far beyond their abilities at this point, although handing it off to Tokyo RPG Factory remains an option.

In any event, since I think we're unlikely to see another Chrono sequel after 17 years of waiting, I think a Chrono Cross remake would be much more feasible. The original was obviously quite rushed in its later stages, creating all kinds of narrative problems. A remake with more careful pacing could easily tie up all the loose ends you mention, plus address CC's own plethora of unanswered questions. An extra dungeon or two would work wonders, adding a few hours to spread out the massive infodumps and reveal that information in a more natural fashion. As an added bonus, it could even have a sweet extras feature like the PS1 and DS versions of Chrono Trigger.

A remake of CT would almost certainly be a misstep in my opinion; the game is perfect as it is.

Agreed; Chrono Trigger doesn't require improvement. Chrono Cross, however, badly needs a remake, and I think that the ending added to the DS enhanced port of CT was meant to set one up with an amnesiac Magus. Some of the plot threads were just plain forgotten in the original: like how was Serge the "Assassin of Time"? What exactly was the Dead Sea and why did it form? Then there's stuff that isn't adequately explained or addressed like when did Kid travel back in time to save Serge, or what Schala and Kid's link is. More character development for the characters who are actually important/could be important would be nice, too, even if that involves cutting some 'fat'.

It would probably be the Tokyo RPG Factory who would do the job; although Silicon Studio would be capable of it were they not busy with the Bravely series. I would imagine that Kato would need to be hired to write it and Mitsuda to compose the score.

3

Characters, Plot, and Themes / Re: Did Mitsuda Resolve the Schala-Kid Debate with the To Far Away Times album?

« on: April 02, 2017, 10:54:07 am »

I doubt that's the reason. The Reptite Timeline ending was more extreme I'd think, and yet it did had an ending. And even then, they reused maps and even the early game events, only difference was just with reptites instead of humans (except the reptite runner in the fair who was now a human).

As an aside, I've most likely forgot previous discussions over the years, but at the moment I do find it a bit surprising that point of the game didn't had a custom ending. Ah, would've been interesting to see...

Good point... Hrm; it's hard to gauge what exactly would have changed about the world in that ending. Schala probably took over the throne since Queen Zeal probably would be comatose after losing Lavos, so she probably would have fired Dalton and stopped the enslavement of the Earthbound Ones. Still... the world would probably still be ruled by the Kingdom of Zeal in some form, so Guardia, Porre, Choras, etc. wouldn't exist as we know them.

The topic of Zeal ending has been discussed previously, though .

4

Other Topics and the Prerelease / Re: Leveraging Nostalgia

« on: April 01, 2017, 04:44:10 pm »

Besides the problem of solid sales numbers not being guaranteed, there is the issue of most of the CT "Dream Team" no longer being a part of Square Enix. Since it's extremely unlikely that they would be able to get all of them together, Square would need to put a new one together if they have any plans on making a new Chrono game... Or at least get Kato involved.

That being said, stranger things have happened. Shenume III or however it's spelled is coming out; you'd think a new Chrono game would make just as much sense... It's possible that Nintendo could convince Square to make a new game, but then they'd want to release either a port or a remake of Chrono Cross for it first since that has yet to be released on Nintendo consoles.

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Characters, Plot, and Themes / Re: Did Mitsuda Resolve the Schala-Kid Debate with the To Far Away Times album?

« on: April 01, 2017, 03:26:46 pm »

She always tries to be a good person and do the right thing, but her life gets ruined in almost every timeline, and through no fault of her own.

The only exception I can think of is the Zeal timeline, in which Ocean Palace Lavos is defeated. In that case, Zeal never falls, the malignant influence of Lavos is ended so the Queen goes back to normal, and the Zealians are forced to revert to elemental power and a more sustainable lifestyle. However, this is not canon and it's highly unlikely.

Yeah. It says a lot when Schala's happy ending is being reborn as someone else- a decision she herself made in Radical Dreamers... Although even as Kid, tragedy follows her like the plague. At least she gets Serge at the end.

Saving Zeal would be a cool ending, but the effect it would have on the timeline would be too extreme to fathom. They'd have to make completely new locations since the art of magic was never forgotten by mankind, Zeal would still be around in some form... That's probably one of the reasons they never made an ending of beating Lavos at that point in the game.

I've probably said it already, but the merging/reincarnation angle never sat well with me.

Thankfully, the fact that multiple realities can technically exist helps take the sting out of the whole thing. With the Time Devourer technically ceasing two exist, Schala would probably be whisked straight to 1000 AD in stead of the gap between dimensions. From that point, there are at least two outcomes for future timelines:

1. One where Schala's prayers are heard by the Frozen Flame before she's whisked out of the Ocean Palace and she reincarnates into Kid mid-transit.

2. One where Schala is whisked away before the Frozen Flame can grant her prayers, and she arrives in 1000 AD as herself.

The first option may ultimately be the kinder one, as she'll have a life unrelated to her old one, gaining the necessary life experience that will ease the transition of her eventual returning memories.

The second one would be far more difficult for her, as she would end up living with the knowledge that the blood of her kingdom is technically on her hands without the emotional buffer of reincarnation.

We've seen in Radical Dreamers how the former would eventually resolve However, I feel the latter would have more of a payoff as Schala learns to accept the past and eventually learns (the hard way) how to forgive herself and seek her own happiness, and I hope they go this route in a future game or story.

...of course, one could always just ignore the above and go the fanfiction route.

*cough*shamelessselfpromotion*cough*

Nothing wrong with a little self-promotion; that is why I almost always use my FanFiction.Net pen name (Michael Mario) as my username whenever I can ... except here; though not out of trivial concerns. I'm an fan fic author myself planning out a potential 10-chapter Chrono fic loosely based on this album.

My head-canon is that Kid/Schala/Schala "Kid" Zeal is stuck in the Darkness Beyond Time for a little while as per the song because apparently, Belthasar planned out everything but getting her out of there immediately, but frees herself... Or either Belthasar or Janus personally intervene to rescue her. Or going with a more fan fiction-y route, Serge does it with the Chrono Cross to weave her back into the main timeline.

6

Characters, Plot, and Themes / Re: So... why in the world wasn't Another World sent to DBT when Serge was rescued?

« on: April 01, 2017, 02:58:22 pm »

No one's really sure. By normal time travel rules, Another World should have been discarded. Short answer to that is "Belthasar did it." Long answer... Again, no one's really sure, but Kodokami came up with a nice theory in the Time, Space, and Dimensions section that I'll leave a link to here:

https://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php?topic=12517.0

7

Time, Space, and Dimensions / Re: Theory: Time Eggs Break Time

« on: March 31, 2017, 06:40:28 pm »

Well, Kid having Schala's memories unlocked would explain why she suddenly knew about the Counter-Time Experiment, Terra Tower, the Dragon Gods, etc. when she gave out that plot dump before going into a coma; the Dragon God was eaten by the Time Devourer. Makes sense.

The theory in general seems to make perfect sense. Only hole in it is that I don't think it was outright said that Kid used a Time Egg to save Serge. Would make sense if she did, though.

8

Characters, Plot, and Themes / Re: Did Mitsuda Resolve the Schala-Kid Debate with the To Far Away Times album?

« on: March 31, 2017, 06:15:50 pm »

Schala is a tragically screwed-over character.

Yeah, the Schala "Kid" Zeal merger is kind of disturbing since the game doesn't really give us a solid explanation as to why that needed to happen. I mean, it's said that Schala created Kid because she realized that she was losing her sanity, so maybe she transferred that mind to Kid in lieu of the Frozen Flame turning her into an infant in the game Radical Dreamers? Which would make the fusion akin to RD Kid regaining her memories as Schala in that same game... Hrm.

Although speaking of Schala getting tragically screwed over, the album has an official English version of the song Radical Dreamers (a very beautiful I'd recommend giving a listen on YouTube, btw) whose lyrics make it a lot clearer as to what happened to her after the ending:

Radical Dreamers Lyrics (English):

The shadows of the past consume my heart
A knowing light is trembling in those tender arms
I've come so far only to be apart
Wandering to every corner of time

Your sorrow found its way into my life
A million years across another sky
A nameless face searches for you day and night
Treading alone into the edges of time

Hope is fleeting, fainter than evening dew
Through the gloom I search for you
Endless darkness echoing far and wide
But I'll always be here on your side

A promise lies behind an open door
The faintest glimmer of the light to your soul
The name you used to call me you know no more
Precious I know, you'll be wherever I go

Let this silent prayer reach beyond the stars
Through the dark to where you are
Hope is fading, memories washed away
Still I'll find you one day

Chrous
Dreamer, dreaming, dream
Live the life you dream
Dreamer, dreaming, dream
Searching for you, till I find you

Dreamer, dream your dream
Live the life we dreamed
Dreamer, dreamed about you, dreamed
Searching for you, till I find you

Let this burning flame light the frozen stars
Take me now to where you are
Ever searching, wandering into the vast
Till I find you at last

Lead me to your heart

9

Lavos, the Planet, and other Entities / Re: So, what IS the Black Wind?

« on: March 30, 2017, 03:02:00 pm »

So it was just... natural think?

Well, as natural as a seventh-sense can be, at least (aura sensing being the sixth) .

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Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Re: What would Break have even been about? Time? Dimensions? Something new?

« on: March 30, 2017, 09:42:27 am »

Hi! Name's Michael Zeal- usually go by Michael Mario... everywhere else, really, but I opted for a more Chrono-esque name for this site  .

If I had to guess, a Chrono Break would have you travel between multiple alternate 'possibilities- like the Reptite Dimension, or maybe a timeline where Zeal wasn't destroyed, or where the Fiends/Mystics won the war with Guardia. Normally this would be impossible since discarded timelines are immediately sent to the Darkness Beyond Time, but someone (likely Lavos in some form) is subverting that process in an attempt to "Break" time and reshape reality in their own image.

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Lavos, the Planet, and other Entities / Re: So, what IS the Black Wind?

« on: March 29, 2017, 09:23:49 pm »

My thought is that the Black Wind is the wind that blows from the Darkness Beyond Time. It is an omnipresent force in the Chrono universe that whispers omens from beyond time to those receptive to it that let them know when extraordinary dangers are close at hand. Only the Zeal royal bloodline possesses the power to hear the Black Wind, but Kid can't hear it due to her magical powers being dormant and Queen Zeal become deaf to it when she became enraptured by Lavos's power.

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Characters, Plot, and Themes / Did Mitsuda Resolve the Schala-Kid Debate with the To Far Away Times album?

« on: March 29, 2017, 02:01:17 pm »

I know that this topic- what happened to Kid and Schala at the end of Chrono Cross- is hardly new. If anything, it seems to be one of the most frequent debates in the fandom... But I couldn't help but notice something as I was listening through the "To Far Away Times" arrangement album, and then came onto the site and read Yoshida's insert.

   

To Far Away Times
    Come to think of it, I've wanted to make an album like this for a while now. Of course, it didn't always have a title like To Far Away Times. When Chrono Cross was released, I wondered, "What happened to Kid, or Schala, after the ending? Was she able to cross time and meet Serge?" I was sure the players felt the same way. The characters, each with his or her own grand story to tell, are what make the Chrono series unique. Kid and Schala, however, were particularly prominent characters in both games and are very special to me; so, for a long time, I waned to reapproach them from a musical standpoint. The Chrono Cross soundtrack has three discs entitled "Cause," "Unveiling," and "Change," and I dreamed of one day adding another called "Connection" as Kid and Schala's album. That dream has at last been realized here as To Far Away Times. This album, connected to my own feelings towards Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, has finally given me closure. Kid's journey doesn't end here, though. It transcends time and continues on into eternity. Until the day we meet again, Kid.
    Yasunori Mitsuda

Perhaps it's just my imagination, but Mitsuda doesn't appear to be referring to Kid and Schala as separate people in that last sentence. The album's theme being "Connection"; specifically i.e. Schala and Kid's connection, though less specific as to what it means as the implication of those highlighted words in my eyes. What do you think: is Mitsuda telling us that the official stance of the developers is that Kid merged with Schala at the end of Chrono Cross?