* * * * * Chrono Trigger - Week 5 * * * * *

(Plain English: Scroll down to the bottom of the "OP" if you're lagging behind for previous weeks)


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue:
i Okami Club
ii Fire Emblem Club

Epic Center:
01 Ogre Battle
24 Secret of Mana
39 Phantasy Star IV (cont'd)
67 Earthbound (cont'd)
99 Breath of Fire II (cont'd)
110 Paper Mario (cont'd)
123 Golden Sun (cont'd)
136 Chrono Trigger

(ALL VINTAGE EC GAMES ARE CONTINUED IN THEIR OFFICIAL DISCUSSION THREADS!)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Hello, true believers! Welcome to Negative World's newest RPG-centric Club Hub, springing off the heels of the Fire Emblem Club. Way back when, Nintendo Power introduced a monthly walkthrough / in depth Role Play Game section (right around the beefiest SNES RPG era), but since they aren't around anymore to use it, Negative World will bring it out of the ashes, dust it off, and roll with it (two things of note: #1, this is not in reaction to Nintendo Force Magazine at all -- I know that because I thought of it in the shower this morning, so THERE; and #2, I just looked up "Epic Center RPG" on Yahoo, and there is apparently another RPG-based site that has that, ugh. I guess we're looking at a "Ghostbusters" / "Real Ghostbusters" thing now... Whatever..).

For anyone who grew playing SNES RPGs, and were a fan of them, they surely resonated to the point where they still hold office as some of your favorite games of your entire videogame life, systems, generations, and decades later. The NW Epic Center (run primarily by myself, with the aid of some special friends occasionally) will help to expose some of those games that didn't quite get the recognition they deserved, and also to relive some of the greatest games EVER as we play through them again -- together -- and open up a whole new dialogue on these lost treasures.


Next up..



Chrono Trigger is held by many (myself included) as The Greatest RPG of All Time, pun not intended. It is a benchmark title in the genre, and even after 20 years the game is discussed daily and held in high regard, even in the face of juiced-up, HD "masterpieces." Is simpler sometimes better? Sure, but we're not talking "Dragon Warrior" simple here; we're talking 16-bit perfection at its finest. I'm personally a bit worried about pursuing this game once more; it's been a long time since my last jog through it, and I'm afraid I might have the rosiest pair of glasses that any shot of nostalgia could ever produce. We find out later this month, for better or for worse. (C'mon, it's gonna be fine -- we're talking Chrono Trigger here!! THE BEST, JERRY, THE BEST!!)

Sunday, August 30th marks the start of Week 1 (if you prefer to start your own quest AFTER Sunday, like Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, thats fine!). Golden Sun ran 6 Weeks. GameDadGrant will be our DUNGEON MASTER for this one, and we figure the playthrough to run about the same length. Less than two months. I'm told the total quest should last you between 20 and 30 hours.


See ya soon!!


CHRONO TRIGGER

Dungeon Master: GameDadGrant

You Did It! Chrono Trigger Complete:
VofEscaflowne
Scrawnton
Mop it up
Ludist210


Week 4 Complete:
GameDadGrant
mrbiggsly
DapperDave

Week 3 Complete:
Mr_Mustache (and Mrs_Mustache!)

Week 2 Complete:
Smerd
Dark weres
warerare
sirmastersephiroth

Week 1 Complete:
Anand

Triggermen:
HammerLord
Koovaps

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5

--------------------------------

URL to share (right click and copy)

@Mr_Mustache
Well, the only alternate ending you'll have access to in Week 1 would be the "quick-ending" (or so I believe it's called). As soon as Lucca's machine is ready, Instead of going onto the left telepod, go onto the right. You'll see something shining there on a New Game +. Wanna know what happens? Here's the spoiler: You get taken immediately to the Lavos Fight, but this time, it'll be just you and Marle. Make sure to re-equip yourselves, since the game equips you with an extra set of starting equipment. This ending features the developers' room (or rooms, rather), and music and credits that speed by in acknowledgement of the fastest possible CT completion.

Edit: After looking up a guide to confirm my info, there's apparently another ending you can get this early on. If you use the right-side telepod after returning from 600 A.D. ... and beat Lavos, you'll unlock a modern day where Frog marries Leene and the royal family is half-frog as a result!

On my last obsessive runs through this game, I'd gotten all endings except for one, supposedly there's an ending in which Marle and Lucca gossip about all the NPCs, and Chrono is given a spoken line. But apparently the timing on that is very tight, and unlikely to be gotten if it wasn't looked up beforehand.

@Dark Weres

Haha, I didn't know about ANY of that stuff. I won't be looking to do anything nutty on this trip, I'll be going through the entire game. Maybe I can do one of those quickie endings another time, possibly afterwards. (But by then..Shocktoberfest will be upon us!)

I'm fighting through the cathedral. So about 2/3 done.

Just got the sword, that was rough for me, I kept falling asleep lol. I have a cold at the moment and my head will not let me win that doll for some reason, I keep screwing up.

I tried to play the doll game on mute... it didn't work out well

I'll be starting this today on my DS. I'll use a new save file because otherwise I'd be done with the whole game in 15 hours or less.

Completed the Side Objectives and have just gone through Lucca's Machine I am currently at the 2hr 30 minute mark

So, Nikki and I started earlier today. We got both dolls, and she spent about 20 minutes of our hour and change betting on Catalack, haha. Now she wants a cat..so we can name it Catalack. Criiiipes.

Questions:
-"the woods" with "the blue guys" is the Guardia Forest, right? How deep do we go? Do they hit super hard? Are we going to trigger anything?
-we've only been on the first screen of the fair (doing the race and the test of strength); are we going to trigger anything anywhere else?

I'm gonna hit the woods tonight for some fat stacks of cash so I can buy that sword. Is the other armor available at the fair worth it? I think there was a Ninja Gi and something else?

@ludist210

Yeah, haha, decided to start fresh myself. I didn't want to STEAMROLL everyone, which I would be doing.

This weeks tasks are all done. Looking forward to whats in store next week.

Okay, I'm finished. I'm trying to show my gf the game so I didn't do any of the side challenges. It's hard enough to keep her awake as it is.

@DapperDave

You gotta play around Noon! Thats the key! (We're doing a Late PM session tomorrow ourselves; I'll let you know how we make out..)

EDIT- You should let her bet on the races, do test of strength, and try the mini-games in the Lab! Nikki won us the Crono Doll. I think she was more excited about the Cat Food though...

Mr_Mustache said:

@DapperDave

You gotta play around Noon! Thats the key! (We're doing a Late PM session tomorrow ourselves; I'll let you know how we make out..)

EDIT- You should let her bet on the races, do test of strength, and try the mini-games in the Lab! Nikki won us the Crono Doll. I think she was more excited about the Cat Food though...

You don't know my gf. If I ask her any questions such as who she would like to be on, she will not respond. If I give her the controller, she will not use it. If we play at noon, she will not stay awake any easier. We would make a terrible Let's Play channel.

I'm about to rescue Lenne. I did that ridiculous grind for the Lode (Silver) Sword...Grant, you're crazy! Grinding for gold made most of the Cathedral depths too easy.

....aaaaand we're all done with Week 1 (and then some) including the bonus objectives. 2 hours, 23 minutes.

I played on because, well, I freakin' love Chrono Trigger. I'm now in the future.

@DapperDave

HAHA!, well, yeah, that doesn't sound too fun. Sorry bud :-/

How IS she interacting?

My game came in, so I'll try to start it up tonight.

@GameDadGrant Never doubt the genius of Ted Woolsey! I think he just tried to instill some personality into the games he translated, which included going for a lesser-used word like "lode" over the common "silver."

Of course, the simple answer could just be that he was trying to conserve memory by using two less characters. Every memory bit mattered back then!

What the...? I had a post in here where I was replying to a bunch of people, and now it's gone. WTF!?!

Sincerest Apologies, Grant!!

So, I started playing this again before I realized its being played here on Negative world. I'm about 5 hours in and I'm at the prehistoric time. Should I put the game on hold a few weeks and play through with you all? If that's the case, then mark me down for a week one completion =P

The site has developed conscious thought! We're all in big trouble! Everybody run for your lives!