Chrono Cross had an unenviable process again on PlayStation 1 within the 12 months 2000 in North America. It was a follow-up to Chrono Set off, a beloved Tremendous Nintendo RPG, launching on the peak of post-Remaining Fantasy VII Japanese RPG hype. When it got here out, Chrono Cross obtained a ton of acclaim however was additionally met with its fair proportion of backlash for being so completely different from what got here earlier than it. There’s no getting round it: Chrono Cross is a wild and peculiar sport, however that provides to its distinctive, expansive, and enchanting qualities. It was an unbelievable sport again in 2000, and it’s nonetheless an unbelievable RPG in 2022, particularly with the added boosts and advantages of the Radical Dreamers Version on Nintendo Swap.

Initially, the primary sport is trustworthy to a fault in comparison with the unique. The one adjustments are a brand new visible filter that does a superb job of creating the sport look good on fashionable televisions however doesn’t do something to actually replace the visuals from the PS1 days. It lands in that spot of trying like I keep in mind the sport, not what it really was. That is, for higher or worse, the PlayStation 1 sport from 20 years in the past. Along with the brand new visuals, you may also swap it to the unique visuals, that are grainier however nonetheless charming. Oddly, you possibly can solely do that on the launcher for the sport and never while you’re in the midst of enjoying. Load occasions are nearly negligible, which is a big enchancment over the disc-based launch.

The trendy gameplay enhancements are all toggled by shoulder buttons or analog stick clicks, consisting of a decelerate and quick ahead (which had been really accessible through New Sport Plus within the unique) in addition to an possibility to show off enemy encounters and a lift to make battles simpler. The battle enhance is fascinating as a result of it’s much less of an prompt win and extra of a “can’t lose” scenario. Most enemy assaults miss, your characters don’t take any harm, and you’ve got the power to make use of elemental assaults with out bodily attacking first. You continue to can solely use elemental assaults as soon as per battle, which implies technique remains to be one of the simplest ways to go, or else you’ll be grinding out battles slowly.

Exterior of the gameplay, there may be remastered music, which could be very good even when the unique soundtrack is among the greatest gaming soundtracks ever and doesn’t really want any tweaks. The musical soundscape of Chrono Cross is among the biggest and most memorable in video video games, standing toe-to-toe with its unbelievable predecessor’s soundtrack.

Talking of predecessors, whereas to most, Chrono Set off is Cross’ direct predecessor, in Japan, there was a sport that got here out in between the 2 that’s associated. The 1996 Tremendous Famicom Satellaview unique Radical Dreamers is out there in English for the primary time on this launch. This visible novel will not be straight canonical with Chrono Cross, nevertheless it provides a distinct interpretation of the story. The principle situation sees Serge – the protagonist in each Cross and Radical Dreamers – into Viper Manor alongside Child – a thief extraordinarily just like the Child in Chrono Cross – and Magil, who has a mysterious origin (and no direct hyperlink to Cross, type of). Very similar to the Viper Manor section in Chrono Cross, you’re storming the constructing to combat the villainous Lynx, however the finish of this story is completely different in fascinating methods. After going by the primary situation, you unlock numerous facet tales that vary from poignant to comical. All in all, Radical Dreamers is an okay visible novel that’s most fascinating because the beforehand unseen connective tissue between Set off and Cross. It definitely exhibits its age, however the writing remains to be sturdy.

Going again to the primary occasion, the battle system in Chrono Cross holds up extraordinarily effectively with its eclectic and novel lack of true leveling up. As you progress, your characters construct up their stats in battle, plateauing at a sure level till you attain some extent within the story the place you go up a star rank and may increase stats additional. Grinding on this sport is extra centered on determining easy methods to greatest use your huge collection of characters in the suitable means in boss battles, which ties into the aspect system. By doing common assaults, you construct up an elemental meter that permits you to forged elemental assaults which are organized in an rising tiered checklist. The upper the tier, the extra highly effective the assault. You possibly can solely use components as soon as per battle outdoors of some consumable ones. Executing a sound technique includes attacking enemy weaknesses and attempting to show the battlefield into one elemental coloration, which offers a profit for these components when used. For instance, utilizing pink elemental talents will flip the sphere pink after three are utilized in a row. These pink talents are sturdy in opposition to blue elemental characters and can do much more harm when used whereas the battlefield is all pink.

The battle system is made richer by the sheer quantity of components you could find and purchase, in addition to the dizzying quantity of characters. In complete, there are 45 characters that may be a part of your social gathering in Chrono Cross. Not all will be acquired in a single run, nevertheless it’s simply an unbelievable batch of personalities. You’ve your erstwhile protagonist Serge and his hometown girlfriend’s fluffy pink canine Poshul. There’s an alien that appears like Olimar from Pikmin. A harlequin who speaks with an asinine French accent. A cyborg. A rockstar. A man named Glenn who closely references Frog from Chrono Set off. A luchador. The checklist goes on and on. It’s borderline means an excessive amount of, however the diverse forged suits collectively properly, particularly as a result of typically it’s a puzzle to only work out who you possibly can recruit and when. Loads of the characters even have distinctive again tales that is perhaps referenced after they’re not in your social gathering, however often go means deeper in the event that they’re there.

Discussing the overarching story is tough to do with out going into spoiler territory (I do know it is a 22-year-old sport nevertheless it’s the primary time it’s on a Nintendo system), however the hero Serge’s journey begins off with a superb thriller and retains up a superb tempo of climatic occasions and revelatory twists over the course of its 50+ hour playtime. In lieu of Chrono Set off’s time-traveling adventures, Cross offers with dimensional-hopping motion the place you bounce between two worlds which have quite a lot of the identical landmarks and characters however are vastly completely different in key methods. This can be a bizarre sequel as a result of it’s not completely a sequel, even when it does observe up on some components of Set off. The references slowly unravel as you’re employed your means by and the payoff, no less than for me, is fantastic.

I went into this overview with a bit little bit of trepidation. I adored Chrono Cross the earlier occasions I’ve performed it, nevertheless it’s been a superb decade or so since I final did so. I used to be simply as riveted enjoying the sport on Swap now as I used to be years in the past, having fun with constructing a distinct social gathering and exploring the world differently. The speed-up and toggles for enemy encounters and battle boosts had been welcome on this playthrough, largely as a result of I may toy with components and characters greater than I did previously. Whereas Radical Dreamers isn’t way more than an alternate historical past curiosity, the actual fact it’s really localized and legitimately accessible outdoors of Nintendo’s lengthy inactive downloadable Satellaview community is unbelievable. Chrono Cross is a superb sport – fingers down my favourite PlayStation RPG – and the Radical Dreamers Version is the perfect and friendliest method to play it.