If you could change Chrono Cross, how would you do it?

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

Oh well. The music kicks ass.

And the game looked lovely!

[Licawolf]

Oh well. The music kicks ass.

And the game looked lovely!

I think we can all agree at those two points   at least

[Mr Bekkler]

I actually thoroughly dislike the normal battle theme in Chrono Cross. I don't like it in Radical Dreamers either, mind you. In fact I like just about every song except that one. The only reason I bring it up is because it's the battle theme, it's the one you hear the most.

[utunnels]

I actually thoroughly dislike the normal battle theme in Chrono Cross. I don't like it in Radical Dreamers either, mind you. In fact I like just about every song except that one. The only reason I bring it up is because it's the battle theme, it's the one you hear the most.

Hmmm... does the music make you panic or...

[Mr Bekkler]

No it's the style. It's an odd time signature with the percussion, I prefer something a little more catchy if I have to hear it really often.

[Licawolf]

aaah...I can't help with that, I don't know anything about music he he  I'm very susceptible, enough repetition would invariably cause me to start liking it, eventually.

[redandblack64]

I really think the playables killed it. They sapped so much potential emotion and drama from the story and a lot of them are just a character design vehicle.

You can do huge casts well-- Suikoden does it. But in Suikoden's case, both the plot and gameplay integrate the huge cast beautifully, and that's just not the case with CC.

Also, wtf was with JRPGs in the PS1 era infodumping you huge amounts of needlessly obscure information in textbox form? I'm all for poetic allusiveness and esotericness, but show, don't tell is something CT does so well. Why did CC not learn this lesson?

Oh well. The music kicks ass.

Yeah, you nailed it with the info dumping. The second half of the game is a storytelling disaster, because the pace is way, way too fast (plot/event wise), and, as you said, the dialogue an exposition aren't handled well, ramming too much down our throats, instead of handling it subtly.

Anyways, what Chrono Cross needs is an enhanced remake, preferably for the NGP and 3DS, with a full fledged grapical overhaul, like the Final Fantasy games on the DS. More importantly, though, is that the game needs to be finished. I'm of the opinion that the developers ran out of time with the original game, and couldn't get everything they wanted to in the game in a satisfying manner. That would explain the info dumping, convoluted plot, ridiculous pacing, and that rushed ending during the second half of Cross. If this game gets a remake, not a port, this would allow Kato and the other developers to fix the storytelling flaws, add the extras the CTDS has, and even add more dungeons, areas, and story arcs for some of the characters. Other than that, the game needs a faster battle system and better battle music.

[Bard_of_Time]

I'd honestly prefer a lesser cast. While there's a great variety, there's really no need for one in my opinion. It's not like if Guile loses all his HP in battle, you can't revive him and you have to get a different black innate. If it were like that, I could understand it. But as it stands, there's little development or reasoning for the people to join up with you, and most of them are either terrifying or annoying or both (I'm looking at you, NeoFio).

[Licawolf]

There are many PCs that could have being better characters as NPCs. Not every character that is just a little important needs to be a PC. Think about CT, it works pretty well with only seven PCs, and yet the other characters are still very likable and popular (Schala!).

[utunnels]

Hmm, maybe temporary allies.

For example, Macha should leave right after you finished business with her boat, so does Korcha.

[Manly Man]

There are many PCs that could have being better characters as NPCs. Not every character that is just a little important needs to be a PC. Think about CT, it works pretty well with only seven PCs, and yet the other characters are still very likable and popular (Schala!).

That's one thing I've never understood much, is why people are so in love with Schala. I honestly found her pitiful and almost as irritating as Dalton, who at least got a bit of redemption as being the funny butt monkey. If my own mother was putting me up to things that will end up getting me killed, I hate to say it, but I would at least try to run away if not outright kill the woman. Her loyalty to her mother was to the point of stupidity.

As for characters in Chrono Cross, yeah, there's way too many. It does make it a serious ego-stroking to have gotten them all, but still. Many of them would have been more interesting as NPCs than PCs. If they were to have made it a decently long game, like how they did with many of the Final Fantasy games at the time, it would have given them far more breathing room than the one-and-a-half that they gave.

Basically, the game as a whole just should have been longer, but time restraints can be ridiculous and irritating. I'd rather wait for twice as long to get something great than something that was very lack luster in comparison in a decent time frame.

[gatotsu911]

Why isn't this a multi-choice poll? Personally I would vote for "Increase difficulty" (let's face it, Cross is even more of a pushover than Trigger) and "Other" - "Other", in this case, being "Give it another 2 years in development", which I think would pretty much solve every major problem it has and help bring the things it does halfway-right to their fullest potential - specifically, make the game big and long enough to properly accommodate all the plot elements that ended up being crammed into the last couple hours.

[skylark]

That's one thing I've never understood much, is why people are so in love with Schala. I honestly found her pitiful and almost as irritating as Dalton, who at least got a bit of redemption as being the funny butt monkey. If my own mother was putting me up to things that will end up getting me killed, I hate to say it, but I would at least try to run away if not outright kill the woman. Her loyalty to her mother was to the point of stupidity.

Obvious answer: It's cause she's friggin' hot. I mean, just look at her sexy pixels and huge bitmaps. Her raster would make any vector swell.

Serious answer: I think it has to do with her kind-hearted personality myself. She's weak-willed as all shit and somewhat responsible for the crap that happened of course, but she gives that feeling (for most people) of wanting to give her a damn hug anyway.

As for me, I can sympathize on a personal level, cause I know what it's like to want to wish that everything is just a bad dream, that things will work themselves out, how it feels to be so afraid to put even one foot forward, to buckle when backed into a corner.

I guess it's just a matter of differing opinions.

[Sajainta]

That's one thing I've never understood much, is why people are so in love with Schala. I honestly found her pitiful and almost as irritating as Dalton, who at least got a bit of redemption as being the funny butt monkey. If my own mother was putting me up to things that will end up getting me killed, I hate to say it, but I would at least try to run away if not outright kill the woman. Her loyalty to her mother was to the point of stupidity.

I'm not a huge fan of Schala either, but I took her lack of standing up to her mother as the result of being psychologically traumatized.  It's all very well and good to think that if we were in her shoes we would kick the Queen's ass, but things are never that simple.  In terrible situations like that it's unfortunately very "normal" for people to just go along with what they're being told to do.  I wrote about it briefly in another thread, so I'm just going to copy-pasta::

Maybe Schala's meekness came as a result of the Queen becoming ruthless and cruel.  It's very psychologically probable.  A person can only be harshly abused for so long before the abuse begins to completely alter them.  It happens to strong-willed and weak-willed people alike.  You become submissive in order to simply survive, because fighting back or resisting in any way could come with immense pain or even death.  I could easily see Queen Zeal threatening Janus' life in order to keep Schala doing what she wanted her to do.

[Licawolf]

I think that Schala was not only psychologically and emotionally exhausted, but also her magic was being depleted by the Mammon Machine, that probably left her very frail too.

I remember reading the theory that Schala's normal personality may have been more firey like Kid's, or at least more assertive, but the CT team met her after Queen Zeal's abuse was able to break her.