Need to get in touch with SE regarding the future of Chrono... somehow.

[LancerEvo]

So I just recently discovered in an article that SE has re-opened talks of remaking Final Fantasy VII for PS3, something that many fans have wanted to happen ever since the tech demo for the PS3 was revealed at E3 2005 (? can't remember what year exactly).

Articles (only 2; many other sources available just google it and you'll find other sites reporting the same thing.)

http://playstationlifestyle.net/2010/03/21/ffxiii-director-wants-to-make-final-fantasy-vii-remake/
http://www.digitalbattle.com/2010/03/22/square-enix-final-fantasy-vii-remake-possible/

So it seems the fans finally got through to SE and they're re-opening talks about remaking FFVII. Alright, that's fine... but what about all of us Chrono fans that have been begging on our knees for years for a new installment in the Chrono series? We've even had fan projects crushed by C&D orders and no mention/possibility that a new installment is in sight, and the best we get is a remake of Chrono Trigger with an extra ending that could potentially close the doors on some unresolved plots that were never touched upon in either Trigger OR Cross.

So basically what I'm trying to do is get in touch with SE and ask them as civilly and politely what the deal is. What more do we have to do before they see that Chrono is a highly-desired product that could use some love and attention? I'd even throw some ideas at them as to what they could do with the next installment (that is if they listen). Even if I can get a final answer, a yes or no as to whether or not we'll ever see a new game in the series, I'll be happy so long as the Chrono fanbase stops getting strung along...

Personally I feel rather betrayed by SE's favoritism of their fans; if they keep this business up it's gonna be a cold day in Hell before I give them any more of my money...

[chi_z]

here's how I look at it:
FF 13=plagiarism. They are taking credit for others' work. FF was started in 1987, none of the original staff remains. That would be like me releasing a music piece and saying my name is 'Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart'. Square Enix is releasing Final Fantasy and calling themselves Square Co LTD, that doesn't fly for me. Most of the original players in CT were absent in CC, most of whom were key players: Yuji Horii anyone?
At this day and age, if a new Chrono game came about, the only 2 left would be Kato and Mitsuda. So.....an FF7 remake, they would need most of the original staff.

Here's something I thought was cool:FF4 recently had a sequel made to it(like X had X-2), called the after years. They got the original staff! The original writer, character designer, etc.Only thing missing was the composer, uematsu. I consider it to be canon. This is what would have to happen with FF7 and a chrono game. Cross, I'm not sure yet and I may never decide if it's canon(that being said Cross is kickass in it's own right, but it seems like a fanfic, a la DB GT.)

And it's exactly like Dragonball GT. Akira(square) was long gone and done with DBZ(chrono series) and the fans were still begging for more, but he wouldn't, he had already been doing it for several years and had his fill. So some completely unrelated group(Square Enix) came in and made the shittiest anime ever, Dragonball GT, loosely based off story ideas Akira had in mind with the Dragonball series, but ultimately going in a different direction. This would be Chrono Break.

A new Chrono game, let's say with Kato and Mitsuda, but none of the others, even from Cross. This would be the equivalent of GT, it's been too long. Unless the majority of the staff working on Chrono Break were to have been around for CC or CT, then if it gets made, this camper will not consider it canon. I will consider it plagiarism and fanfic, on the level of Crimson Echoes.

It's 1997 all over again, we want more Akira-san! Well, I don't. FF has been ruined by milking it, I'd rather they not tarnish the crown jewel of RPGaming. Sorry guys, I just don't want a new one unless it's mostly Square of pre-2000 AD staff.

[LancerEvo]

It's not like the "Dream Team" that worked on CT is missing completely. Yuji and Toriyama are both at work with Dragon Quest (which is what I'm sure is taking up all their time); don't get me wrong, I LOVE Dragon Quest, moreso than Final Fantasy; I'm willing to bet once DQ10 comes out for Wii it may free them up to get into other projects. Bring back Yasunori Mitsuda to do the musical score with help from Uematsu, who I understood took over when Yasu fell ill near the end of Trigger's development. Then again I'm not even 100% sure Uematsu's still with SE, is he? I heard he left SE in 2004 for freelance work, but he came back to help out with Blue Dragon, another game that Hironobu and Toriyama worked on... what the hell is going on at SE?!? They can bring back pieces of the team that worked on CT to make a completely new project, but they can't bring most of them back to give us a Chrono 3? UGH!!!

And as for Hironobu Sakaguchi... well, like I said I'm not too pleased with the Final Fantasy series and that's what Hiro's main focus is now, so he won't be free anytime soon. And just recently on Wikipedia I noticed FFXV has a rumored release date for 2013 so it's not too likely Hiro'll be comin back to work on the Chrono series anytime soon. Hell, just having Toriyama and Yuji come back would be enough for me.

A new game is possible, just get all these guys back together and we've got a new installment. Make it a trilogy and tie up everything once and for all. Lavos? A big threat in CT/CC, but where did he come from? Something that could be elaborated on in a sequel. I had a thought of what if the people of CT/CC all banded together and formed an organization of Lavoid Hunters, travelling across the universe in a refitted-for-space-travel Epoch/Neo Epoch and destroying other Lavoids before they get the chance to infect/manifest on other worlds and destroy time infinitely? There's gotta be a source planet. And personally I think it would be kickass to see Serge/Crono fighting side by side on the Lavoid home planet with the intentions of destroying the species for good. Why not make a Reptite playable character too? If the Dragonians taught us anything (if I'm not mistaken they're descendants of Reptites?), they're good at making weaponry (Einlanzer) and they even made their own form of magic (Elements) to counter the humans being bestowed magic by contact with Lavos/Frozen Flame/etc. So many possibilities... and maybe we'll finally see an end to Magus' search for his older sister. That happy ending has been long overdue...

[V_Translanka]

I'm not too excited as I'd rather they give us FFVI DS first...but if they can actually remake FFVII and make it suck less this time then maybe...!

Boycott it by trying to buy those Chrono Trigger statues or something, idk...

[ZeaLitY]

You would have to convince them through prospective analysis that a Chrono game would be a better investment than any other number of projects they could greenlight. The FF7 remake buzz has just helped them determine that an FF7 remake might be a profitable investment, more so than if they don't do one. They feel a Chrono game isn't, and they might be right. So to get through to them, you're going to have to 1) know Japanese; 2) somehow get Japanese executives at SE to listen to you; 3) demonstrate (in a way superior to the company's own internal analysis!) that a Chrono game would be a more profitable investment than the alternatives, given SE's capacity.

I could only ever remotely imagine this happening if you knew the relative of an executive and had a way in, or if you were a major stockholder and made a presentation at a stockholders' meeting.

[FaustWolf]

I was going to suggest buying a Crono statuette and sending SE photos of you holding the little guy hostage in front of national monuments throughout the world.

But ZeaLitY's way sounds better.

[ShoeMagus]

I'd say it would be better to get in touch with someone like Kato who might concievably have some remains of the Chrono series fermenting in his brain and might be able to convince Square-Enix that the Chrono series would be a good idea.

Though the statuettes and landmarks might help.

Incidentally, I wouldn't mind this FF VII remake. I always loved the game. I still love the graphics. I might actually have to buy a PS3 if they do this (ahh finally to be able to play Metal Gear Solid 4 while I'm at it). I really would hope that the score would be revamped and actually done fully by an orchestra.

Probably could tweak the dialogue a little bit (or get the Japanese actors and make it fully voiced! *dies*), but I can't imagine improving that much at all.

[LancerEvo]

I guess really all I can do is keep my fingers crossed huh... damn. I don't understand SE sometimes... they can get a chunk of the Chrono team together to make some crappy random 360 RPG fighting with shadows or whatever the hell they were (Blue Dragon), but they can't bring them back together for a new Chrono game? I'm confused