I seriously like CC more than CT. I thought it did a better job of handling its plot then CT did, and managing the actual time-space aspect than CC.
It kinda saddens me people don't declare it a true sequal to CT, more or less because Akira's cast isn't in it, save a small part.
To be honest, Chrono Cross is friggin’ awesome. It is a much more intellectual piece of work than Chrono Trigger, with a much higher
art-to-entertainment ratio, riskier ideas at work, and more complex themes running throughout the storyline. Many people just don’t want to wrap their heads around something that challenging when they go to play a video game, which explains some of CC’s lower popularity. Nevertheless, to be equally honest, the game was so badly executed that most of its unpopularity is its own fault. Kato’s directing wasn’t up to snuff, and, more than anything else, this made all the other problems so much bigger. The plotline was packed into the ending chapters instead of spread out over the whole game. The gameplay wasn’t nearly tight as it could have been, which often sent me vacillating between restlessness and boredom. The 44-recruitable characters gambit was a bold idea that needed to happen sooner or later in mainstream RPGs, but some 40 of those characters were about as interesting as dirt.
The game was either half-baked or overcooked. Either they spent not enough time developing it, or they second-guessed themselves straight into the ground. The difference between an “almost there” game and a masterpiece is as stark as the difference between a smooth rock and a polished mirror. Whenever I think of Chrono Cross, I think of a game that wasted a lot of potential. Be that as it may, I’m a big fan and top supporter of the game, and what ZeaLitY said is true: The Compendium “knows better” than to dismiss this game or flame its fans. With the player’s help and imagination, and patience, it is an endearing game that is a well-intentioned sequel to its predecessors.
I'd love to have this site a little more balanced on both series (it seems kinda heavy handed onto CT) but meh, no one is will to undergo a few projects with CC.
Nobody has picked up on this yet. I think it’s a great idea, but sadly it seems to be one of the sort that people always leave for “somebody else” to pick up—although Crimson Echoes is a notable exception, as it is as concerned with Chrono Cross as Chrono Trigger. But for lack of broader fan attention, I think part of it is that a lot of us have no fucking clue as to what the Chronoverse looks like, canonically, after CC’s ending. What do the fused dimensions look like? What happened to Crono & Co., and Magus? Did Schala really wake up in Japan? It’s all so artsy that it discourages reasonable speculation. You can draw any conclusion you want out of that ending, which is
too open-ended for many folks.
The aforementioned flaws in CC make fanworks difficult. You’ll see a lot of CC fan-art, but most of it is of Serge, Kid, or Lynx, and that is largely the frontier of CC fanwork today. Also, CC suffers from a lack of big-star attractions, like a Magus or a Kingdom of Zeal, to inspire the masses.
By all means, however, you and I and ZeaLitY and many others would like to see people take a greater interest in Chrono Cross fanwork. Hopefully this site as it matures will become a garden spot for that. But in the greater scheme of things, when it comes to the passion of fans I believe CC will always be destined to play second fiddle.
One last thing, grey angel: For my first official act as Global Moderator, I would ask you to make your signature smaller. Those two pictures take up an entire screen of vertical space. That is out of compliance with
Official Compendium Rules. (Incidentally, ZeaLitY, those rules need to be updated to mention oversized sig pictures in particular, because this is one of the most frequent forum violations.)
We don't flame here unless you disagree with Lord J Esq.
But I have forsaken my evil ways. Now I only use my powers for good! Watch this: *ahem*
“Rush Limbaugh is a…is a…good…ugh…a good…good…errk…—ack!” *asplode*
Do you really believe that at the time, since most RPGs used that basic waiting system, would have something more suffisticated like the CC battle system? The CC battle system was unique, but I when I began a battle, I would want to quickly jump right into doing an element attack. I need more Dreamer's Sarongs for that . . .
However, it would be rather interesting if the next Chrono game were to implement the combat system of the Legaia RPG games in which you select HIGH-LOW-LEFT-RIGHT based off of the character with their current weapon and armor equipped, for multiple attacks or that creates a combination move that results in the specific combination of the directional selections involved in the battle system. The character would has a "battle gauge" whic increases every time you level up, so you can hold more combinations of attacks.
When it comes to battle systems, I’m going to go with
Henry Ford:
If I'd asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for a better horse.
I have seen so many different battle engine innovations, and so many different concepts for the theme, so many of which were immensely satisfying, that the only conclusion I can confidently draw is, where combat-based video games are concerned, “battle engines” may be practically as fundamental as plotlines and characterization. To say we want the next game to use an old system, is perhaps missing the point.
