Why should Crono Cross even be considered as a sequel?

[JonnyCyo]

I agree with a lot of people on this site when they say they were so disapointed to not see any characters in the Chrono Trigger title in Crono Cross.
I sympathise with this, especially when we only see them as kids who have lost their way.
It feels like defeating Lavos, and that entire adventure was for nothing at all. I feel really really ripped off that Chrono Cross can claim to be Trigger's sequel when it offers NON of the character development that Trigger did.

I truly believe that if Square set Cross on it's own, and replaced Lavos with another monster, it would not have done as well as it did. The enthusiasm was put mainly on two things, the fact that tis was, "the sequal" to one of the greatest RPG's of all time, and the unique battle system, which I actually like and have no problem with.

My point still stands. Chrono Cross does not deserve to be Chrono Trigger's sequel. It should be a different game, and we should have our REAL sequel made. I can't wait until that happens.

[DBoruta]

Chrono Cross was definitley a sequel to Chrono Trigger, and despite most people's opinions on the matter, it did do a good job of filling a bunch of plot holes from Chrono Trigger while providing a pretty decent plotline.  I will admit that the first time through I was just trying to figure out what was going on for half of the game, but after the Dead Sea part, things started getting a little bit more clear and the storyline really took off.  The game's only downfall is that it had too many playable characters.  It could have gotten along just fine without half of the characters and there could have been room for more character and plot development if at least half the characters were cut from the game as being playable (keep them as NPC's).    

Furthermore, what did you expect the sequel to Chrono Trigger to be?  Another monster comes to destroy the planet?  That's just lame.  Kato got creative and decided to show that changing the future doesn't mean everyone lives happily ever after, and that no matter what, changing time has consequences.  This really reminds me of the movie, "The Butterfly Effect", and I really liked the concept Kato came up with, including the Guru of Reason's attempt to avert these consequences (which caused other ones such as the formation of El Nido and the rise of Porre as a world power) by orchestrating the events of Chrono Cross.  

Really, so what if none of the original characters were in it?  So what if Lucca got killed?  (I'm still unsure that she's dead after the two timelines merge - I don't think it's clear that she was killed in both timelines.  I may be wrong.)  It is still a sequel, and the Chrono "world" is bigger than seven people.

[Sentenal]

Your a moron if you don't consider Chrono Cross a sequel to CT.  A moron.  This is not up for debate.  It is its sequel.  The events of CC take place as a result of the events of CT.  Was it as good?  No, few games can be.  The only reason you claim its not worth of being a sequel is "NON of character development" that CT had.  So what?  The game did have development for character, yet didn't have it on the scale of CT.  And that disqualifies it as a sequel?

Look, CC is CT's sequel.  I generally look at CC as the story of Crono's janitor, cleaning up the mess from Crono's quest.

But you are a moron if you don't think its a sequel.

[Zaperking]

Though, it never was intended to be a sequal, and the designers purposely made it not have Crono and co to validate that.

[Silvercry]

Look, I promise you no one on this forum dislikes Chrono Cross more than me. Heck, its number 2 on my top ten list of most disappointing games ever.  But that doesn’t change the fact  that is the sequel to Chrono Trigger.  I don’t like the fact anymore than you do, but that’s the funny thing about facts --they don’t care what people think.  They simply Are.  And you can accept that and move on or sit here and whine about it ad nausem.

[Chrono'99]

Chrono Cross is definitely the sequel to Chrono Trigger. The sequel to Chrono Trigger, not the sequel to Crono, that is. It's kinda like what World War II is to World War I.

[SilentMartyr]

I just find it dissapointing that people allow the name and the predecessor to be the reasons behind them disliking the game. Cross isn't a true sequel, so live with it.

[Silvercry]

Perhaps if we define our terms, this tired issue can be put to rest:

sequel (NOUN)

1. Something that follows; a continuation. [/list:u]

2. A literary, dramatic, or cinematic work whose narrative continues that of a preexisting work. [/list:u]

3. A result or consequence. See Synonyms at

effect. [/list:u]

Armed with this knowledge, lets see if CC measures up to the definition of a sequel.

Q: Is Chrono Cross a continuation (ie, Something that follows) Chrono Trigger?

A: Yes.  It is revealed through the course if the game that several storylines from CT are continued, and in some cases, completed.  Such as the final fate of Lucca Ashtear and Robo.  The rise of Porre as a global power, and the subsequent fall of Guardia.  And let us not forget that the Schala question, THE single greatest unresolved plot point in the first game, is finally answered.

Q: Does the narrative of CC continue that of a preexisting work (in this case, Chrono Trigger)?

A Yes. "Come to me, the Assassin of Time... The Chrono Trigger!"    Ring a bell?  Though the story development of CC is admittedly inferior (in my opinion) to that of CT, the fact remains that it does continues the story began in the first game.  Don’t believe me?  Who found Kid again?  Lucca.  Who locked out FATE's access to the Frozen Falme?  Robo.  Who orchestrated the entire game?  Belthasar .  Characters created and established in CT, who actions continue and affect CC.
Need something more concrete?  How about something made of Dreamstone?  Like the Masamune, perhaps?  It story begins in Zeal and winds all the way through history, to eventually becoming one of Serge's most powerful weapons (i never bothered forge the Spectra Swallow myself... once i got the Mastermune I was like "why bother?")  From Ruby Knife to Holy Sword to Ultimate in Evil to the Grand Dream of the Arbiter.  What more proof of story continuation do you need?

Q: Is Chrono Cross a result or consequence of Chrono Trigger?

A: You can answer this yourself.  Just load up you last CT file, hop into the Epoch, and go flying around looking for El Nido.  Go ahead.  I'll wait.

.....

Cant find it, can you?  That’s because it doesn’t exits until the moment Chrono and Co kill Lavos.  Untill the future is saved in CT, there is no fantastic future society for Belthasar  to wind up in and plan Project Kid.  There is no reason for Lavos to drag Chronopolis into the past, no reason for the Planet to do the same for Dinopolis, no great 'Polis Wars, no El Nido Terraforming project, and hence NONE OF THE 40+ CC CHARATERS, NO DRAGONS, NO TEAR OF LOVE/HATE, NO CHRONO CROSS, ETC, ETC ETC. Maybe the Dragoons would still be around and possibly Norris, and maybe Starky, but that's about it.  But Starky would crash into empty ocean and die, and the Dragoons and Norris would have never left Porre.  

Now, in the name of the Entity, let this asinine question die.

[JonnyCyo]

Look, CC is CT's sequel. I generally look at CC as the story of Crono's janitor, cleaning up the mess from Crono's quest.

Wonderful, just how I would describe a disapointing game. Developers couldn't find enough time or creativity to work together a plausible story that wasn't as over the top as quantum physics, and instead they throw in 40 playable characters!!!

40 CHARACTERS????

And you can pretty much recruit anyone on the basis of anything you feel like.

"Hey Do you like fish?"
*YES*
"Oh hey! I like fish too! Why don't you let me fight with you!"

[Mystik3eb]

Wonderful, just how I would describe a disapointing game. Developers couldn't find enough time or creativity to work together a plausible story that wasn't as over the top as quantum physics, and instead they throw in 40 playable characters!!!

I hardly see how the story of CC is not plausible or creative. It's very much both. It's more brilliant than anyone could've expected.

But yeah, having too many characters bothered me too. Chrono Cross is still a sequel by all defintions. This is a stupid argument. You can be disappointed in CC, but don't say it isn't a sequel...gah.

[Legend of the Past]

Ugh... Why does EVERYONE (Well, almost) think that THE WHOLE CHRONO WORLD should revolve around Crono and co? Seven stupid teens and freaks who saved the future among BILLIONS of other people.

So they made a difference, who cares. The entire story is the mark that Crono had on the world. The world isn't all about Magus, you know. A sequel is something that builds upon another plot, continues and expands it. Chrono Cross does it just fine. Sure, the battle system blows, but that's about it for me. The music and graphics were breath-taking (The FMV's are some of the best for the PSX), the story was intruiging (Even if the ending was a bit anti-climatic, but let's not judge Schala's views of the universe. It's a different universe, for all we know she could be right). There WERE cameos, mainly Lucca and Belthasar, with the ghosts of the Crono, Marle and Lucca, and Robo with Mother Brain, in the form of FATE.

It's a sequel, and if you didn't like it, you can go suck a lemon. It's the story of the Planet, not Crono's and his friends'.

[ZeaLitY]

Though, it never was intended to be a sequal, and the designers purposely made it not have Crono and co to validate that.

For the second time...

The battle, map, and system designers said this. They did not want to rehash Trigger's old systems and operating styles; they wanted something new, so they devised the Element system, changed up the feel, and made other alterations. When interviewed about it, they said they didn't want to make it a direct sequel and use these old conventions.

Here is the only thing Kato said on the subject:

Radical Dreamers eventually ended up as a sort of sequel to one of the subplots in Chrono Trigger which we weren't able to tie up in Chrono Trigger itself.

We didn't want to directly extend Chrono Trigger into a sequel, but create a new Chrono with links to the original. When Radical Dreamers was finished, we did Xenogears, and when talk turned to what to do after that, we decided to redo Radical Dreamers properly. That's why we didn't give the new project the name "Chrono Trigger 2".

~

Which means Masato Kato was still resolving one of Chrono Trigger's unsolved mysteries as the basis of Chrono Cross.

It still continues Trigger's plot, and it was still marketed as the sequel. Regardless of Kato's modesty, Chrono Cross is the aftermath of Chrono Trigger. Since it takes place 'after' and has proximate cause from Trigger's events, that qualifies it as a sequel.

[Silvercry]

...and instead they throw in 40 playable characters!!!

40 CHARACTERS????

And you can pretty much recruit anyone on the basis of anything you feel like.

"Hey Do you like fish?"
*YES*
"Oh hey! I like fish too! Why don't you let me fight with you!"

Granted.  This is one of my problems with the game as well.  Doesn’t change the fact that CC is CT's sequel.  Its not as good, not as fun, and I cant see any reason in the world why I would ever play it again, but that doesn’t change what it is.

[Namara]

Bravo Silvercry!  That's what I like to see, an argument supporting your claim so fully that someone else would have quite a difficult time disputing it.  Well done.

I was always bothered by the fact that you could recruit everybody and their mother (quite literally in some instances) when they served no real role in your party.  Everyone who was recruited in CT played their own role in promoting the story, but it seems that recruiting them in CC was so that they could play their role in promoting their own stories.  I always liked the main plotline of CC, and I do have to give them credit for making some side stories for further play, but enough is enough!

[Silvercry]

It's a sequel, and if you didn't like it, you can go suck a lemon. It's the story of the Planet, not Crono's and his friends'.

And the Nail On The Head Award for Feb '06 goes to Legend of the Past, for summing up in one sentence the very essence of the Chrono Universe.  Bravo.