Reinbach
patreon
Patreon Pin Up 11/29/21
🕑 Added 2021-11-30 04:51:53 +0000 UTCThe rumor is this week that Chrono Cross is the latest classic game to be getting the remaster treatment. (And if the word "remaster" sends a chill down your spine anymore, I don't blame you.) I was a bit surprised to hear it, honestly. Original Playstation games aren't a quick, easy project to upgrade to modern hardware, I don't imagine. It's also curious that it's not the fan-fav preceding game, Chrono Trigger, getting the love, but its divisive sequel instead.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Chrono Cross is, in my opinion, a goddamn masterpiece. I think it has the best original soundtrack of any game ever, and second place is not even close. The artwork is gorgeous and the presentation was way ahead of its time. The character designs by Nobuteru Yuki were somehow each wildly creative despite an enormous cast of characters. Much of the talent behind the classic original was back for the sequel, with one notable exception being Akira Toriyama. And sorry, Dragonball fans, but everything he does looks like Dragonball to me. His style is just too iconic to make me think of anything else when I see it. I liked the new guy better. XD
So with all this praise, why did I call the game "divisive" in my opening statement? Well, excellent as Chrono Cross was as a standalone game, as a sequel to Chrono Trigger, it fell flat on its face, rolled down the stairs, and stood up with both feet in buckets of paint somehow.
It just wasn't the kind of sequel Chrono fans were hoping for. The original game was like a lighthearted fairy tale. A simple, razor-sharp story that anyone could follow, with a tight cast of lovable characters that you had a hard time picking a favorite from. Whereas Chrono Cross introduced a twisty, confusing and existential narrative that would sadly become the norm for JRPGs overall as time went on. The tone of the game was often dark, bordering on tragic. The small cast was replaced by a massive roster that, as I said, looked great, but there just wasn't room to flesh any of them out properly and let you get attached to like the first game did. Still a great game, but a drastic departure from the original.
With this supposed remaster looming (again, just a rumor as of this writing, could be getting way ahead of myself here,) my guess is that this is the latest test from Square Enix to gauge interest in making a new Chrono game. The last test was in 2009, with the release of the DS version of Chrono Trigger. Still the definitive version of the game by far, but it failed to set the world on fire sales-wise, so no sequels for us.
Putting aside my white-hot rage at this business practice, I personally don't care if we fail the test again, and a third game never comes to be. Chrono Trigger was lightening in a bottle, just the right game for just the right time. Even the same team couldn't recreate the magic back then, so it's hard for me to imagine a group of newbies somehow making something even comparable in quality now.
Oh and this is "Kid," by the way. With so many badass characters to choose from, I had a hard time settling on who to draw today. She's the poster girl for the game, if it had one. If this remaster actually sees the light of day, I might do another character as well.
But what do you think? Did you actually read this far? Is this too obscure a property for a Monday pin up? And no one but old man Reinbach even knows what the hell Chrono Cross is? Let me know!
Comments
Reinbach
Consider me prepared! XD
eF..cz
That soundtrack statement is a bold one. I'll have to look into it. BUT - if it comes out that this soundtrack doesn't beat masterpieces such as Starcraft or Gothic 3, then prepare for my rage sent to you through mental dimension in a scary and lethal way and devastating quantity. ;)
TotesNotThea
That wasn't aimed at you BTW ;-)
Reinbach
Oh yeah, that was a good one! Loved the original as well.
Reinbach
Thanks!
Reinbach
I did know about Radical Dreamers, I didn't mention it because I was rambling too much as it was lol. Never have played it myself, since I as I understand it was basically struck from the canon I wasn't interested. I should probably track it down for novelty's sake one of these times though.
Reinbach
High fives!
Reinbach
Hard to say how well it may hold up if you don't have the nostalgia goggles and haven't played the first game, but I maintain that it was awesome for the time.
Reinbach
Interesting take! XD
Reinbach
Hey thanks! I hope this leads to more comments from you, and nice to meet someone like-minded in this case!
Dorcas
Great pin up as always. Obscure origins or not. I wasn’t a huge gamer at the time, but my favorite was Parasite Eve II. I played the hell out of that game.
ScuzzBucket
Gorgeous breasts and nipples!
Squid Hills
Cross wasn't the sequel to Trigger. Radical Dreamers, a game that was *unreleased* both in Japan and the US was the sequel. Cross was the sequel to the (unreleased) sequel. Which goes a long way to explaining why it didn't feel right when compared to Trigger. I liked Cross well enough, I suppose, but I think the English localization team got confused as to which characters were in which timeline, because near the end of the game a lot of stuff started not making much sense. The first 2/3 of the game were great... the rest of it was a mess. And the game had just over 40 characters and felt way too crowded, which is hilarious when you consider Suikoden, a game with 108 characters, didn't feel crowded. I thought the sound track was pretty, but ultimately forgettable. I can hum most of the music from Trigger. I can only remember Cross' opening theme, and nothing else. Still, I did like it enough to buy it twice (once on PS1 and once digitally for PS3) so it wasn't like it was bad or anything. I've certainly never paid for FF7 twice, that's for damn sure. Oh, and I guess I should say something about the naked Kid. Your rendition of her is way hotter than the version in the game!
KaijuWhite
Guess I get to be old with you. Chrono Cross was my first rpg and I loved it. Excellent rendition of Kid, btw.
Jariah Synn
I'm might check this game out
TotesNotThea
Instead of remastering masterpieces, why not create something original? I haven't seen anyone try to remaster the Mona Lisa! /minirantover
llCDll
I am a lurker and very rarely post comments on anything, but I have to agree with you 100% Chrono Cross is a masterpiece, and it DOES have the best original score of any game ever. I have several of the songs on my regular playlists. While I'm at it, I'll add that I love both your art and your storytelling Reinbach!
Reinbach
Thank you for supporting, I enjoyed your input, and I hope to see you back again! :)
Reinbach
Totally worth it! :)
Reinbach
I would say it was the prototype, if Final Fantasy 7 hadn't come out first. XD
Reinbach
Great! Glad it's more than just me. XD
Reinbach
I regret nothing! XD
Ace the Creator
It was nice knowing all of you ✌️
Jordan Christmas
Looks like the original is $10 on the PS3 PlayStation store. I'll have to give it a try!
Deano
"Whereas Chrono Cross introduced a twisty, confusing and existential narrative that would sadly become the norm for JRPGs overall as time went on" this is an interesting commentary. Was the game the prototype for the super convoluted Final Fantasy/Kingdom Hearts type stuff, then? Though if the "existential" part applies to something like Persona 3 then I'm not that upset about this shift lol.
Slaughterbug
One of my favorite video game waifus from one of my favorite ps1 games. Thanks.
MaximumHavoc
I did read that far, and I did get "old man yells at cloud" vibes from this tirade.
