anybody else not care for Chrono Cross?

[Chrono_Fusion]

I'm sorry to sound like a douche. but I really do not like Chrono Cross. I hope I'm not the only one on the site to feel this way. I am still going to play through the rest of the game but it just seems no matter how hard i try to like it, I just cant. The only characters i like are Guile, Kid and Harle. Serge is kind of cool, but upon playing this I just spent time looking for references to Trigger and cameos.

My main problem is Chrono Trigger left me wanting more of the original characters. Cross added new characters, less likable ones in my opinion. Story wise its fine so far. I'm only about a third into it.

The combat system i admit is fine, the whole red blue green zone thing is innovative, yet confusing. It took me awhile to get a hang of.

I don't think its a bad game, I just don't think its a good follow up. Hopefully if square ever makes another Chrono game they will do a follow up to the other characters leading into Chrono Cross (like crimson echoes) or do an alternate continuity (like my idea for fan fiction). Because Cross just seems like a disappointment. I will continue to play it but i have the feeling that im not gonna enjoy it that much. Just stating my opinion lol.

[Kodokami]

To each their own. Chrono Cross is kind of a hit or miss for most people. Going into it with expectations of a sequel will definitely disappoint. Of course, that wasn't the design of the game anyway.

[tushantin]

I think this has already been discussed countless times already, but here is what I can offer.

While Cross takes place in the same universe as Trigger, it isn't necessarily a follow-up. Kato wanted newer players to enjoy the game as "original", without needing to play Trigger. Both his and Mitsuda changed style for aesthetic significance and creative maturity.

But indeed, Trigger is and will always be the best. XD A lot of things went strange in Cross; I suppose the other members of the Compendium would explain it in depth.

[maggiekarp]

I hate when people say "Chrono Cross wasn't meant to be a sequel!" when the plot makes absolutely no sense without Trigger, and even then it's confusing. Instead of standing by Cross's merits, they make stuff up that makes no sense, and then go back on it when people complain about what Cross did as a follow-up by saying "it's the sequel, deal with it".

Enjoy the scenery, music, battle system, atmosphere, any of the things it did RIGHT... but know that when the story isn't convoluted, it's depressing.

[Kodokami]

It's no Chrono Trigger 2, that's for sure, which is what the fans had wanted. And as someone who played Cross before even hearing of Trigger, I can say that I still enjoy(ed) the convoluted mess that it is.

[redandblack64]

Oh, and don't forget that this game is riddled with evidence of it being unfinished due to time and money constraints. This best explains why the second half of the game is riddled with plot/info dumps, and has a bunch of go-nowhere plot threads compared to the start of the game.

This game is a failure in comparison to Trigger, because the creators couldn't do what they set out to do with the game. That's why this game NEEDS a remake; so that it can be finished and live up to it's fullest potential, like Trigger did. I swear, if this isn't remade for 3DS or Vita...

[Chrono_Fusion]

I actually plan on playing it again, because I got my hands on a ps3 backwards. and I have my old chrono cross discs from awhile ago. Although i dont care for it I may as well beat it.

[CelestialPhantasm]

My main problem is Chrono Trigger left me wanting more of the original characters. Cross added new characters, less likable ones in my opinion. Story wise its fine so far. I'm only about a third into it.

Well at least you are able to identify the problem, which was not with the game itself, but your expectations. You wanted more of the same and received something that, although strongly related in spirit, is very different. You were limited by your nostalgia, by your attachment to the past, and were thus unable to open yourself in a new direction.

but upon playing this I just spent time looking for references to Trigger and cameos.

I know that it is normal to want to be understood, yet I still find it bizarre that you started this thread hoping to find people who are limited in the same way as you. Why would you wish this upon anyone else?

[Tactless]

Cross ain't Trigger, and Trigger ain't Cross. When you think about it, no one starts up Radical Dreamers expecting a similar experience to either of those games. It's been roughly twelve years since the release of the last Chrono game (out of a whopping three total), we should all have come to accept by now that the franchise has no common identity or "mothership" feel to it, like you'd find in Final Fantasy or Tales of.

That said, I always preferred Cross over Trigger, undeniably because I played the former first. What it lacks in pacing it makes up for in everything else I felt.

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

A wild Tactless appears!

Tact, how the heck have you been, good sir? Assuming this is THE Tact.

[Tactless]

The one and only ma brutha.

[jamesexia]

Well, I don't usually comment but... I really like both games but if I had to choose, I'd go with Cross hands down. Oh, and the reason Cross feels incomplete is because Square did the same thing to Xenogears. They pulled staff from that game so they could finish FFVIII. You can tell just by looking at both games that if the staff had been given the time and money to truly complete them, then they most likely would be a hundred times better than they are now. Sadly, what a lot of people don't seem to realize is that even before the merger, Square really only cared about Final Fantasy. At least to me, nothings really changed.

[Insertclevername]

Sorry if this is a bump, but it was still on the front page of this sub forum so I think I'm in the clear...

I'm not too far into it; just got into Viper Mansion with Kid & Guile. I played Chrono Trigger for the first time last year. One of the best experiences in my life.

So far, I like Cross for what it is. Love the soundtrack. Iffy on the lack of Toriyama (but I'm happy with the game artistically). I find the battle system to be creative and interesting (and fun  ). I know the story is going to get somewhat confusing later on but, hey, I got this site, right?

Oh, first post! Yey?!

[milkjamjuice]

I played Cross when it first came out and I didn't know what to think of it at first.  I played it through a few times and decided I liked it.  I appreciated the story more, though, when I stumbled upon THIS site and read the articles explaining the timelines and dimensions, etc...

I do agree though that so many characters were overkill because I'd rather have fewer, more developed characters. 

[IHBP]

After just replaying this game I found that the game is much better if you ignore everything plotwise after you beat fate.

If you imagine that the plot is to free El Nino from fate's grasp you then avoid the following plot diarrhea.

Spoilers

Kid being Schala
Lynx being Luke I mean Serge's father
Belthasar did it.
The pendant rewrites time when Kid is in trouble... Trynot to think about too long or blood will run out of your ears.
The planet pulling a city from from a dimension that cant exist because it was still destroyed in every timeline.