Wanted to share how I feel about Chrono Cross, and why.

[Lennis]

I'm pretty sure I'm Lucca's descendant. Almost like her, except a little more crazy. Just maybe.

I would use the word "hyper". 

The KISS method says she died. The Cross plot says she lived for thousands of years, transcended into a new plane of existence, got the hots for a dying baby, fused with Lavos (also thought dead), and cloned herself. Not to mention having the ability to send said clone through time without a Gate.

This quote deserves to be framed and hung.  It explains in two lines why the plot of Chrono Cross doesn't work.  (Sometimes I think they were making all this up as they went and didn't much care for continuity.)

It's alright.
Everything is alright now.

Time, which has been divided,
will be unified again now.

I'm actually grateful this is kept vague.  It could mean so many different things, and not all of them necessarily good for Serge and co.  Schala/Kid is essentially a goddess at this point and has supreme power over time and space.  She can do whatever she wants.  What's to stop her from just wiping the slate clean and starting over?  Maybe that's the ideal timeline.

[Grace Ashtear]

I would use the word "hyper".  

Sigg'd. (too short?)
Edit: Aw. Not enough space. Now i have to decide between the quote and the "enigma" image.
Edit 2: Got it to work out!

[Crono666]

I still want to rape Lynx until he throws up blood and stab him in every vital place.   )

Remind me never to get on your badside.

[skylark]

It's alright.
Everything is alright now.

Time, which has been divided,
will be unified again now.

I'm actually grateful this is kept vague.  It could mean so many different things, and not all of them necessarily good for Serge and co.  Schala/Kid is essentially a goddess at this point and has supreme power over time and space.  She can do whatever she wants.  What's to stop her from just wiping the slate clean and starting over?  Maybe that's the ideal timeline.

Yeah, I always saw that as a one-time thing with Schala basically tapping into the last remnants of Lavos' power before it fades. Then she's back to normal.

And by normal, I mean she gets her blue hair and her grown-up body back and parts ways with Kid into adventures unknown.

.......I mean it, Kato. Don't you dare merge Schala and Kid into one person. I have a sharp spoon. I WILL USE IT.

.....Have a nice day.

[Rocky]

Schala/Kid is essentially a goddess at this point and has supreme power over time and space.  She can do whatever she wants.

Hmm, I never got that impression from the game or its ending.  I've never even heard that claim before.  The ending soliloquy seems only to tell us that the future will be whatever we make of it.  Or, to roughly paraphrase Doc Brown:  "Your future hasn't been written yet!  No one's has!  So make it a good one."

I honestly never got the notion that Schala now has universal power from the game.  Only that she's free, and can make her own future while building toward a better world.

[Lennis]

The impression I got from the ending was that Schala/Kid was going to make everything "all right", and that she would erase Serge's memories of his adventures to spare him pain.  That implies a little bit more than simple magic, or even the power that Schala had in Chrono Trigger.  I believe that Schala/Kid cares for Serge so much that she is willing to do whatever it takes to preserve his happiness and create an ideal future for them both to meet in someday.  I think the FMV scene at the end is a metaphor for this desire.  There are no certainties, of course, but I think this interpretation lays the foundation for a satisfying conclusion to the series.  I have already outlined the basic form of this conclusion for my novel series, though it's still a long way from being fleshed out in full narrative.

[Rocky]

Well, all she actually said was that everything would be all right now - she didn't say that she herself was the cause.  The simplest assumption is that her words merely refer to the fact that Serge had separated her from the rest of the Time Devourer, and so all of space-time would no longer be consumed.  So really, Serge is the reason everything will be all right.

So - in terms of what she's responsible for - that just leaves wiping Serge's memory.  That, in itself, isn't necessarily beyond the powers she had in CT.  We don't really know, of course.  But she had some crazy powerful magic in that game.  That's why the queen abused her for her powers so much.  The truth is, we don't know exactly what that sort of magic was capable of.

As for her influence on the future, I already agreed that Schala would build a better future.  With her abilities, coming from the kingdom of magic, there is probably much she can do that others can't.  (I still wouldn't say she can do anything she wants - that she's all-powerful or anything.)  And it's clear how deeply she cares about Serge - his crying as a baby reached her all the way into the Darkness Beyond Time.  So I too think she'll do what she can to make the future better and try to be with him.

Still, the idea of changing the past and saving Crono's crew is not even hinted at, and likely is beyond her power.  Either way, she says nothing about it.

Again, I realize that almost every hypothesis is possible, and can be fleshed out in fanfics.  I'm merely trying to make clear what the game itself tells us or hints at (which is not much).  Anything beyond that can't be counted upon in explaining what happens next in the story canon.

[Xenterex]

Well, in truth, a lot of people want a 3rd game because they love the direction taken by Cross.  The creators of this site are among them.  It's just people like you, me, and Grace that desire the events of CC to be undone.

Well in a way, CC probably has undone itself.  As we don't know the details, or even possibilities, of what the merge of the "timeline" does, its very possible so much has been repaired, there isn't a need for the Crash, El Nido, etc.  In hindsight, even though CC is more 'epic' in scale to RD, it still has the general core to me that feels like its just playing with possibilities and no real 'absolutes'.  I've mentioned in previous threads thats one of the things that bugged me about CC is that it has a similar feel to various "didn't really happen' episodes in series like Star Trek: Voyager. 

It's what I've tried to explain to many CC fans who don't get the gravity of that point.  There's no law stipulating that creators give the heroes of their stories a happy ending - true.  And yet over 90% of writers do.  "Why is that?"  I ask them.  Because if fans spend a long time growing to like and care about characters, they want them to have happy endings

Well happy endings can be nice, but I think fans want 'qualified endings' more, and its not like the CT cast got that either.  Though the presentation of effects of CC could just be the difference between western and eastern style story-telling.


[/quote] Frankly, I don't think canon Chrono is salvageable at this point.  If the series was conceived from the start with a beginning, middle, and end, things would be much more solid.  [/quote]

Well I do think there are several directions that "Chrono" could go:  using RD and CC as a basis, minigames/portibles, dlc series could be made that just play around with short-story 'possiblities' within the same universe.  A small series can be used to play around, tease interest, and lead up into a "big finale' kinda game, or rather just something that rekindles the series as a whole.  Kinda like how Kingdom Hearts has more than 3 games, but only 3 major parts, which people are still in anticipation.

Probably the most 'salvageable' perspective I find between all the games is to assume that the third game would reveal that the attack of Lavos on that planet specifically was deliberate, that the consequence of the 'Time devourer' was exaggerated, but its creation was also, essentially deliberate.

The series could continue to be self-contained to that planet, and its altering timelines, or get grander in scale in space ventures and into multi-faceted timelines; such faceting could have an incredible effect on the multi-ending tradition, though planning such an endeavor could be tremendous.

[Rocky]

Sorry, I'm admittedly not the most knowledgeable when it comes to literary terms or whatever you'd call it - what is a "qualified ending"?

[Xenterex]

not sure i'd really call it a lit term XD

Qualifying the ending is when the author uses scene and events that the readers can follow so what happens is justified even if it isn't necessarily happy.  Its getting the readers to understand how and why (showing) instead of just saying or implying something important.

[Rocky]

Ah, okay, thanks.

Well, it seemed to me like Chrono Trigger's story was simple and easy to follow, and the events surrounding the ending (defeating Lavos, everyone returning to their own time) was pretty simple as well.  While the game doesn't show us much of them living back in their own times, I really never felt lost regarding their futures.  Again, it was all very simple.  They came together for a world-changing cause, then parted and returned home to live their normal lives.  It always felt pretty wrapped up to me.

And when I was saying that fans enjoy happy endings, I didn't mean something like "And they were prosperous and did this and this and this."  I actually just meant got to go back and live their normal lives.  Or, to put it simpler, they don't die just a few years later, in their early to late 20s.  Chrono Trigger ended with things going back to normal for everyone, and it was satisfying to me.  Chrono Cross said "Oh, you think they got to live in peace?  Silly player..."

So that's all I meant by happy endings - endings where the heroes get to at least continue living and lead normal lives.  When their futures are later revealed to be cut abruptly short, with almost no explanation, that truly seems unnecessarily cruel.  That's what bothers myself and many other CT fans, and I'd think it would bother a good number of fans of any beloved story whose main characters were offed.  For example:

"And so Harry Potter defeated Voldemort, peace returned to Hogwart's, and he, Ron, and Hermione settled down and raised families... Until a few years after that, when a surviving remnant of Voldemort somehow came back and killed the 3 heroes and burned Hogwart's to the ground - leaving it up to a new breed of heroes to save the day this time."

I don't think children who adore the Harry Potter series would find that aspect of this new story in any way enjoyable, no matter how good the ensuing story might be.  It's not breaking any rules - but it doesn't happen very often, for the aforementioned reason.

[NiomieLynx]

I agree that Chrono Cross is a pretty depressing and confusing game. That said, I actually like that aspect about it. Not so much the depressing part, but how complex the storyline is. There are a lot of games out there that are just put down after completion; finish game, get full story, that's it. But, of all the games I've played, Chrono Cross is the only one that actually made me think about its plot, confuse me, and seek answers. I like how it has given me that challenge.

I know a lot of people say that the convoluted plot is a sign that the developers were lazy or something. Sure, it could be laziness, but I like the idea that perhaps the developers wanted their players to figure out the plot on their own.

I also really enjoyed, and still do, the music score in Chrono Cross. I think that was probably my biggest motivation to keep playing it when I first got it. And, uh, I'm probably going to get some crap for this, but I like Lynx. Not for how he's a jerk, but his character design.

[Rocky]

I actually like that aspect about it. Not so much the depressing part, but how complex the storyline is.

And that's a great demonstration of each of us having unique preferences.  I enjoy stories more on the simple side (or more specifically, not difficult to grasp), and you enjoy them complex.  So both types have a place in stories.

But, of all the games I've played, Chrono Cross is the only one that actually made me think about its plot, confuse me, and seek answers.

That last part is where I got left behind, with regard to CC.  I sought answers to no end, and just never found any that didn't seem to defy unreasonable amounts of logic.

As I've said before - and it was the point I highlighted in the original post - the general mood and game elements found in Chrono Cross are perfectly fine, even if they're not for me.  What leaves me bewildered is that it was the sequel to a game that featured practically none of those things.  A sequel that felt incredibly foreign to my favorite game.  That's all.  It was just a deflating turn of events to me, and so unlikely when it came to subsequent stories in a series.  Oh well - it is what it is, and I'm happy that Chrono Cross is enjoyed by so many.  We all have our favorite.

[Mr Bekkler]

I also really enjoyed, and still do, the music score in Chrono Cross. I think that was probably my biggest motivation to keep playing it when I first got it. And, uh, I'm probably going to get some crap for this, but I like Lynx. Not for how he's a jerk, but his character design.

Everybody loves the music.

However, this is just personal opinion, I find the character designs to be (mostly) forgettable and overly-intricate somehow at the same time, mostly because of how many there are, it seemed like they were desperate to get them to look different from each other and only a few of them ended up anywhere near as iconic as Trigger's designs, again, just my opinion. The ones I like, though (and here's the part where you don't get any crap at all! )happen to be Serge, Glenn, Riddel, and Lynx for sure, among a few others.

Some of them are downright silly for no reason (NeoFio, Starky, Poshul, Mojo),
and some just seem out of place or out of time (seriously wtf is up with Nikki),
and some are just there as references or homages to CT characters who make less sense being there than the actual CT characters would:
Guile should have been Magus (or Magil, I don't care which, either way he should have had character and backstory),
Turnip should have just been Frog (and/or Glenn should have been CT's Glenn, but I'd still want CC's Glenn in the game, just maybe with a different name, like maybe...Cyrus?),
Miguel should have been Crono (and Leena's mom should have been recognizably Marle),
Leah should have been Ayla, Luccia should have been Lucca,
Kid seemed like they were trying to repeat the success of Marle^10 to me but should have been much more like Schala, all things considered
and Pierre should have been Tata(he could have come with CT's Glenn as an apprentice)

[Rocky]

Wow, those are some bold and plentiful changes.  I like most of them - not surprisingly - even if most wouldn't.