Has anyone ever thought about this?

[jamesexia]

Hi! I have been wondering if anyone's ever thought about what the Chrono games could have been if they had been given more time and money. Take Chrono Trigger, what if they had been able to include Singing Mountain or the expanded Sealed Pyramid? What if Chrono Cross's second disc hadn't been rushed, and had been three or even four discs instead?(Of course, all the loophples filled in as well! ) I really think these games would have been even greater then they are now. But I can't help but draw comparisons between Cross and Xenogears in the way Square handled their development. Sorry if this has been discussed somewhere else, but it's been bugging me for SOOO long!

[Blackbird]

For Chrono Cross I just hope that Serge is not a silent protagonist , 'cuz its very difficult to read his emotion when he only nod or shook his head all the time  ,

and maybe can add more development of the relationship between Serge, Lynx, Kidd


sorry for my bad english...

[jamesexia]

No worries! And even though Cross is my favorite, I totally agree with you about Serge! It would have made the game far better, and more interesting. I keep drawing comparisons between Cross and Xenogears because of the fact that both games second discs just feel so rushed. Sadly, I don't think I could trust Square-Enix to do a really good sequel to the Chrono games. They seem to want to make RPGs that are all about big fancy graphics and not about really good gameplay or story. By the way, I really like the way the Compendium is so nice to newcomers, and not judgemental like alot of sites on 'net. (WHOOPS! Forgot to mention that both Cross and Xenogears were being developed at the same time as FFIX and FFVIII respectfully. I can't help but think that Square should have left them alone, but oh well )

[Blackbird]

yes, i feel that chrono cross is  lacking of character development, but its still a good game I guess, 

I keep drawing comparisons between Cross and Xenogears because of the fact that both games second discs just feel so rushed. Sad Sadly, I don't think I could trust Square-Enix to do a really good sequel to the Chrono games. They seem to want to make RPGs that are all about big fancy graphics and not about really good gameplay or story.

yes, for Xenogears half of disc 2 is only narrative text zzzzzz, now I think about it, I also miss the old squaresoft  , FFXIII is a good game but I personally dont  feel attached with any of the character hahaha (but I still have hope for FFXIII versus, please don't ruin that game Square-Enix  )


hahaha, yes, I, myself is a newbie here, and actually its my first time to join a game forum like this,

[Mr Bekkler]

From what I recall, Chrono Trigger didn't lack time or money in its development(except in the 30 day deadline for the english translation), but the issue with the extra quests that could have been was limited storage capacity on the snes cartridge.

As far as Chrono Cross is concerned, I'm not sure more development time would have necessarily resulted in a better product either, considering how much time was spent on creating the characters I think they would have just made even more PCs rather than flesh out the existing ones or try to execute the plot better. There's also the possibility that the team worked better under pressure, and without a strict deadline it would have been worse. Of course I'm not saying that's definitely true as there's no way to prove it (without a... parallel universe...) but it is a possibility that the crunch time made the game better. I for one am glad that the information in the text dumps at least made it into the game. If they had just skimmed over those parts and left the info out nobody would understand it and at least half of the Trigger connections would be lost.

[jamesexia]

How could I have not remembered that? Anyway, Mr. Bekkler, you're right about the fact that they would have probably just kept making more PCs. Lord, can you imagine if it had been 80-100 characters instead(with the same three member team setup )? It makes me realize that if a game like Xenogears had had more time, it would have probably ended up much like Neon Genesis Evangelion(hey, we all know it was going in that direction) . If I remember correctly, didn't Kato also work on that show? And wasn't there some kind of scandal involving some of the staff stealing money from it? Anywho, thank you for pointing out that for me.

[ZeaLitY]

Indication from the interviews and developer material is that Cross suffered from "disc 2" syndrome, where time constraints didn't allow for the team to finish the game as planned. Some people theorize this is why "Belthasar did it" was used as a plot convention to tidy everything up. More time would have allowed the plot to be more naturally unraveled.

[Berf]

Indication from the interviews and developer material is that Cross suffered from "disc 2" syndrome, where time constraints didn't allow for the team to finish the game as planned. Some people theorize this is why "Belthasar did it" was used as a plot convention to tidy everything up. More time would have allowed the plot to be more naturally unraveled.

While more time to expand the late game would be absolutely necessary to avoid the storytelling abomination that is Opassa Beach, I feel the early game still needs a lot more foreshadowing. For example, why is the Kingdom of Zeal not mentioned at all? It would be very easy to do so when exploring the history of the Flame, and would tie everything better later on when it's revealed Kid = Schala.

[Prince Janus]

Cross and Dreamers wouldn't have even happened as we know it. They'd be something else. It is said that the events regarding Schala were dummied out of Trigger due to time constraints and that there was supposed to be a sidequest to save her, for Magus. The very fact that there wasn't totally rewrote the game world in a drastic way for both sequels. Don't get me wrong: I'm sure the games would have happened, but they'd very likely be totally different.

[Acacia Sgt]

Cross and Dreamers wouldn't have even happened as we know it. They'd be something else. It is said that the events regarding Schala were dummied out of Trigger due to time constraints and that there was supposed to be a sidequest to save her, for Magus. The very fact that there wasn't totally rewrote the game world in a drastic way for both sequels. Don't get me wrong: I'm sure the games would have happened, but they'd very likely be totally different.

Huh, this is the first I'm hearing this. Is there any more info about it...?

[Prince Janus]

apparently Gaspar mentions it when listing off sidequests, but the way it is said keeps it a little ambiguous, and most people still thought he was referring to Magus, just not in the context of his sister.

 To paraphrase, "One of you knows someone who needs help. Find this person, fast."

  However, There are others who insist this was a localization error, and it's actually just a footer to his speech. "Each of you knows someone who needs help. Find these people."

  Keep in mind though this was 1995, and while it's clear that the Dream Team had no small obsession with Magus and Schala (going so far as to openly refer to him as Janus sometimes, Kato....), it's not clear exactly *what* they were planning to do with the girl. It's possible that a sequel like Radical Dreamers was completely anticipated then, but Trigger treats her fate rather abruptly. Hardly anyone mentions her after you lose her. It wouldn't be such an issue if we had another Chrono title that finally wrapped it up for *both* of them and gave us some other end to wonder about (like Kid and serge)

http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Translation_Differences.html#Gaspar_.28One_if_you_is_close_to_someone....29

[Acacia Sgt]

I don't know. I've seen people pointing out that it was merely Gaspar telling you that you can ask the rest of the party for more info (and that the English translation erroneously gave it whole different meaning), since they do give more specific lines than Gaspar, and I think even the screen browses over the places to boot. Keep in mind the original line does say "You should try asking", so it's highly likely it does mean asking your party members.

Also for the fact that the line changes once you've done them all, I think.

[Prince Janus]

...maybe. Maybe. I don't remember there ever being a change, which was kind of weird.

[Acacia Sgt]

Well, either way, the original wording of the line still highly points to referring to talking to the party members.