Listen to this amazing orchestrated version of FF3's amazing main theme while reading!1995's Chrono Trigger shares quite a few similarities with its older brother, 1994's Final Fantasy III (aka Final Fantasy VI). They both share the same translator/writer, Ted Woolsey, who gave Squaresoft's games of that era a particularly quirky voice. They both have similar plot structures, starting off fairly linear then gradually becoming quite open-ended. And they both represent some of the very finest in RPGs, shortly before the genre got drenched in anime cliches.
But if you're one of the many, many people who haven't played FF3 and have played CT, don't expect another CT. This is a Final Fantasy game through and through, and with that comes the staples of the series, for better or for worse: random battles, a rising imperial evil, and a somewhat slow opening chapter. CT has ridiculously good pacing, and FF3's merits are admittedly take a little more time to become evident. But rest assured this is an RPG worth playing.
So what do I like so much about FF3 that makes it worthy of being my favorite RPG (above EarthBound!?) and second-favorite game? EVERYTHING. The soundtrack is
the best. The storyline is
the best. The cast is
the best. The battle system is deep and addictive, the main game is extremely long, involved, and--this word is extremely overused, but it's very fitting for a tale like this--epic. You're looking at a 60-hour goliath of a game with a massive, well-developed cast you'll fall in love with, and an infamous, psychotic villain that's deliciously evil. There's comedy, tragedy, drama, romance, twists, double-crossings, operas, colosseums, banquets and airships, all set to a timeless soundtrack and lovely hand-drawn 16-bit visuals. And the entire, enormous end sequence is the stuff of legends.
It also has a 2-player mode! You can set any of the four playable characters to P1 or P2, and use a second controller to go through the adventure with a buddy.
So in short, don't miss this work of art from the 90's. It's
soooo good, you guyyyyyys. C'monnnn...!
And if you're playing it now, feel free to post your progress, etc, in this thread!
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