Square could have done better with CT's look.

[Zenning]

whats so great about improving the overworld map anyway it doesn't make that much of a difference,

The world map is like, one of the coolest features of an RPG!
It's like, when you see the map, the world just unfolds before you!
Like the open road does when you read a road map!

The way the map system was designed in Chrono Trigger, they could've just made it menu based.
Considering that you don't encounter any enemies on the map,
it essentially consists of moving around your character and selecting a location as if you were only moving around a cursor!

If they made the map menu-based, they could've cut down on a lot of programming work, and it only would've made it faster to move between locations.

Of course, such is a concept only favorable by minimalism, which you seem to advocate. I rather like spectacular world maps, so long as there's a good point to having them.

[warriorsam]

I think the main appeal of large world maps is that epic feeling of traveling the world, which wasn't really a big theme in Chrono Trigger. CT's "epicness" came from the traveling between eras, and I think the small world maps made it easier to appreciate how much the world changed from one era to another. And, plus, imagine if every era had an FF6-sized map. That would be a whole lot of walking.

I do agree about loving spectacular world maps, though. If you've ever played Ultima 6 (or any of its sequels), there's no greater satisfaction in that game than getting from one town to another and surviving. The map is frickin' huge.

[jthomp1286]

CT's "epicness" came from the traveling between eras, and I think the small world maps made it easier to appreciate how much the world changed from one era to another. And, plus, imagine if every era had an FF6-sized map. That would be a whole lot of walking.

I totally agree, I thought that's where it had its epicness too. Though, I always wanted to see a view of the town from their perspective ya know? What always kinda drew me away from other RPG's of its time were the huge maps with random battles. I hate random battles, especially if its just one after the other.

[Mystik3eb]

Mario RPG had "better" graphics, per say, but I still like CTs waaaay more. It's perfect for the game, and for Toriyama's style, as you said.

And I loved the overworld map, that was one of my favorite features. There's nothing more enchanting then walking around these worlds, focusing more on absorbing the environs then worrying about going forever to get places or worrying about battles...that was such a nice feature, and what stood out in CT more than other RPGs. Thank god they kept it in Chrono Cross.

And I dunno man...with all those timelines, I think there was actually more "overworld map" than any other game up til World of Warcraft...cuz that's alot of space, man.

[SilentMartyr]

You have to remember that the text took up a lot of space, and I would much rather have an excellent story instead of a prettier visually intense game.

[Dirtie]

But it was pretty - at least to me. I honestly think no improvements could have been made. Remember, part of the appeal of CT was the lack of random battles. The overworlds look nice and they're designed so you can get from place to place easily.