A look back at: Radical Dreamers

You thought I was done with look backs? I still got several games under my belt, which I didn't really consider to be RPGs in the first place. Radical Dreamers is one of them. Nestled deep between Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross was an apparent visual novel game with a few RPG mechanics.

For whatever reason though, this seems to explain Kid's entire plot in Chrono Cross better than the game itself, all while including a completely different Serge, a completely different Kid, and Magil, who's basically implied to be Magus. The whole plot involving Viper Manor is here, although with a few different changes. For one, Riddel is someone completely different, Viper himself is nowhere to be found (perhaps presumed dead), and someone implied to be Radius because of the way he looks is inside a prison cell lamenting. Kid of course has her backstory with Lucca and her vengeance against Lynx intact, as well as her connection with Schala.

It's all entirely text-driven, almost akin to reading an e-book line after line. Almost. The kicker of course is that this has some semi-RPG moments. Viper Manor is a complex location, so it's not fully linear. There just so happens to be a random battle mechanic, which is a lot slower and actually not all reliable and somewhat annoying. Plus there are affection points, typical for the visual novel genre, so these actually may change the endings you find in the game. Oh yes, multiple endings. If I recall, you get to try them out after the main ending of the game finishes. The endings honestly may not be worth it. Some are interesting side stories, such as Shea's Light and the Sunflower. While others are just super silly like the mecha battle with mecha Lynx and the space cop rock guitar scenario. It looks like Square was trying to go all out humorous with some of these, even for a short-lived series known for some humor. It's certainly a weird outtake to look at, but going through the text and knowing what you need to do ends up much more boring than the RPGs overall.

A look back at: Chrono Cross

You can bet the moment you hear the word Chrono in a game name it's gonna be good. Well, Chrono Cross in all honesty is quite a mixed bag. I like it for it's gameplay, but it's story makes next to no sense at times.

So yes, Chrono Cross has an interesting battle system, akin to Xenogears with physical attacks, while usage of Elements is unique based on a grid system. It seems that the idea of making the elements opposite of one another is pretty lame, and also to just name them after the colors. It's also quite confusing to have different kinds of elements, the ones that are like consumable items, the ones that are like spells, the summons which are almost never gonna occur due to the field effects, and the trap ones that can be difficult to predict, yet the rewards for an actually successful trap may actually be worthwhile. Bosses can be tough to deal with, as can a few notable encounters like the Tragediennes. One thing that really was interesting was the fact that you can run from every single battle, which for the most part serves to be a recharge especially when bosses are concerned, but a recharge is a lot nicer than going into a fight screwed up and all.

So Chrono Cross has a huge cast of characters, almost half of a Suikoden cast. Here's the problem, a large chunk of that cast really doesn't have a whole lot of plot significance. Right off the bat, I can name Serge, Lynx, Kid, Harle, and the Acacia characters (Karsh, Marcy, Riddel, Zoah, Viper). That's one-fourth of the class that ties itself to the main plot. Everyone else? Not so much. Sure there's a few branching points, like getting Guile, Pierre, OR Nikki, or choosing to either neglect or save Kid which gets you three different characters for different playthroughs (Kid survives regardless). But what good is a bunny-dressed fighter girl or a spaceman* or a talking turnip, or a mermaid have to do apart from just being party members for certain places? And that leads us to what apparently is known as the "Accent System" which is as convoluted as it sounds. To give even the least relevant characters some sort of interesting thing by putting in basic text and giving in some random accent. So Kid is an Aussie, Irenes speaks with multiple umlauts, ZOAH IS ALWAYS SPEAKING IN ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME, and Turnip takes after Frog from the previous game with Ye Olde English speak. Really, this doesn't change how I see the characters and actually sort of makes them more annoying than they should be.

Am I fan of the main plot? Not really. The game apparently makes everything Serge's fault for simply existing. There's a world he stumbles in where he's actually supposed to be dead, literally just called Another World, in comparison to his own home. The Frozen Flame is just another lame MacGuffin, but it culminated in the only decent part of Chrono Cross's plot, which was the body switch. That switch manages to last the entire middle part of the game and was a nice way of showing just how nasty Lynx was, by communicating through Serge, the silent protagonist** who hasn't said a damn word the entire game. After all this, Serge finds new friends, only to be caught in so many plots that lead to ruin. Okay thanks Miguel, that was a huge plot dump which told me nothing and you end up dying with the rest of the Dead Sea. So Lynx is really a part of FATE, um what so defeating FATE does more damage now? What was the deal with Kid's whole past? Why are characters from Chrono Trigger, like Robo (Prometheus here) and Lucca killed? Why am I most mad at the character Belthasar more than any other one in this game? Even when Serge manages to do the ending just right (and I mean the GOOD ending too) there's still some things that really don't make a lot of sense and need better answers to.

So yes, I overrate this game for it's gameplay, but it's story and characters aren't really all that great. Sometimes, I pay no attention to the story just to focus on the gameplay, and for a game like this, that's not a bad idea.

*okay Starky actually has SOME connection to the plot in that he does give you a spaceship for the final part of the game, but other than that Starky really doesn't provide much.

**that's literally, LITERALLY his title in game. Silent Protagonist.

A look back at: Chrono Trigger

Ah, good old Chrono Trigger, one of the most famous RPGs ever, always a good game to play, and often considered very overrated. But it has many good qualities which is why it is overrated. The most famous RPG when it comes to time travel, the most famous or possibly second most famous Eldritch Abomination type of villain, a memorable set of characters all around, kickass music, interesting battles, multiple endings, there's almost nothing I hate about this game.

The gameplay is the best representation of Active Time battle system, apparently touted Active Time Battle 2.0. It's cool to see your characters apparently find a position to go to against the enemies they fight, as well as the usage of techs, unique equipments, and the combining of attacks and magic. Not to mention the idea of position changes, where enemies may just line up, say you are trying to use Crono's line tech. Several enemies have set patterns that can be figured out rather interestingly. A good example is the Golem, a boss the game makes you supposedly lose to, but in reality is possibly the easiest boss to beat because he always copies what element hit him last and he can be prevented from taking any action if the party just attacks him with different magic over and over. Admittingly, some other battles are definitely hard, especially when you factor in enemies with percent damage attacks, such as Queen Zeal herself.

Yes, the time travel gimmick may not have originated here, but Chrono Trigger does it best. It's accidental because of Marle's pendant, you have the consequences of altering time because of a missing queen who is Marle's ancestor, the post-apocalpytic future where Lavos obviously destroyed everything and survivors in the ruins are using odd machines and stuff, the side-story involving Glenn and Cyrus, as well as Magus's overall motives. The whole thing with Lavos is rather intense, especially given a certain queen is quite the zealot in unleashing it. Interestingly enough she manages to not be an example of an underling who doesn't get killed by her unleashed superior, yet the consequences, as many players have seen, which involves Crono and Schala, are insanely dire. In between all the crazed and nasty plots are some pretty funny moments, like with Ayla's first meeting, the actually decent minigames (impressive), and basically anything Dalton does.

The game does an exceptional job with its setting, showcasing the happy lifestyles of the prehistoric times and the millenium times, the grim and dull lifestyle of the middle ages, and the despair in the post-apocalyptic future. 12000 BC showcases the extremes of this, the floating kingdom of Zeal is rich with lush riches and elite classmen, while the ground below has the ruffians who are unfortunate enough not to be part of the rich caste system, cast as poor ones below. It's startling stuff and done very well.

The game's Fated Hour stuff is basically where the game completely opens up, and I love everything that can be done here. It opens up around the time after Crono dies, and a whole slew of subquests can be done. Even the Black Omen counts as a subquest, and each subquest pertains to specific characters: Ayla has the return of the Reptites, Magus has his former subordinates, Frog has Cyrus's ghost, Lucca is gonna fix her mother's legs, Marle has that other trial, Robo has Geno Dome. Things you can do with your time machine to influence these quests and get the items you want = so much fun.

Ah yes, and then there's New Game +, where you can try out different endings, get to Lavos faster, all that with the stats and equipment to keep. Man, this game is memorable and good, one that is certainly worth replaying. In my opinion, the ones who say its overrated haven't played it yet, and need to play it to discover why it is overrated.