Xenogears

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Haha, noooo. (I'm laughing nostalgicly, not derisively)  In my opinion I wouldn't be able to interpret it as any kind of sequel, but to be completely fair it's a matter of taste in style (HIYA!!)

  I can see how it could be tied into the aspect of Chrono Cross where Lynx and Serge's identities are interchangeable, just as how the main character in Xenogears comes to a crossroads with his own identity, and even also that final boss lifeform that was absorbing and cultivating everything.  It was more like a ground zero depiction of Lavos's victory in 1999 on another world with no hope for time travel and heavier influence on martial arts.  I would say not even spin-off because as it focused strongly on the odd way a traumatized person's past can be remembered or altered, Crimson Echoes nails it more definitively for the Chrono Trigger storyline.

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Hmph sorry, didn't completely answer that post.  I did really enjoy Xenogears, with the exception of it axing my flow on the second disc.  Xenogears is one of the last games I've seen in which the love for it's particular type of storytelling  really shows (like for a current example, only the Gundam series to this day still possess the style I grew up with and am used to . . . ok and maybe Gurren Lagaan)  Characters were true to their, well, character, and nothing was ever too zany or inappropriate in terms of audience and even in-story.  Grandia was exactly the same that way too, but with extreme zany-ness.