* * * * * 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

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@Mr_Mustache Looking at Nintendo's Website, it seems that the Wii U's eShop is lacking in RPGs. If your definition of RPG is kind of loose, Zelda 1 and 2, Harvest Moon, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV MIGHT qualify. Other than those, I did not notice any other titles that could be considered RPGs, even by a stretch of the term.

@Hero_Of_Hyrule

Oh geez. Zelda 1 can be beaten SO fast, haha, Zelda II would be like a 2 week thing (also, can be beaten in hours), does Harvest Moon have an end?, and ROT3K is..tough, no? I've tried playing those other games (along with Nobunaga's Ambition), and I'm just floundering around. However, if someone were an ROT3K MASTER, and could show me the way, it'd make a big difference.

@Mr_Mustache

Eh, most of the RPGs I have yet to play on my log are on non-Nintendo systems (mostly Sony systems to be honest) aside from Ogre Battle 64, Baten Kaitos Origins, and Skies of Arcadia Legends. I'm trying to dedicate my time to decimating my backlog...but if the right title I already own is the next choice, I'll gladly play it again.

EDIT: Well, Xenoblade and The Last Story too. I need to play those as well. But don't base the vote entirely around me.

@ludist210

Gotta see what Lou is about, but yeah, Last Story is a game that I still need to play, and I still have to FINISH Xenoblade, too. How many weeks would that be though? 40?

Are you looking for suggestions? If so, I have a couple. Or were you going to wait and see how everyone feels about SMRPG?

@Hero_Of_Hyrule

SMRPG won't work because it is unavailable on Wii U currently.

HOH, you are ALWAYS welcome to make suggestions, including right now.

Thank you. Here are five, in no particular order.

First is Final Fantasy II (SNES). There's also Crystalis (NES), an action RPG with a fairly unique premise for its story. StarTropics is another action heavy game that is also comparable to Zelda. The first Paper Mario (N64) is fantastic. The same goes for its sequel, The Thousand Year Door (NGC). Finally, Chrono Trigger (SNES) is a highly praised game that I never got around to finishing. These games don't solve any of the problems that SMRPG is facing, but more options can't hurt in this case. I can't think of any RPGs that are playable on a Wii U and don't require a Wii Remote that hasn't already been played on EC.

My top picks are the two Paper Mario games, which I might consider DMing. I'd be more willing to DM Thousand Year Door than the original, as I'm more familiar with it and would be better able to offer advice. But it's not like they're hard to figure out or anything. Setting a schedule for both of them would be pretty simple. Collect one star shaped MacGuffin per week and have one week for the final dungeon.

What are your thoughts?

@Mr_Mustache

You can play Super Mario RPG on Wii U in Wii mode though, yeah?

@GameDadGrant

Yeah, but...it's backwards. Can't use just the Gamepad for it.

@Mr_Mustache

Look, we don't need to make this the "Lou, Lew, and Stache RPG club". I don't need to bite off another game at this point, I'd like to wrap up what I'm playing before jumping headstrong into another RPG, you know? So at this point, unless it's a game I've never played and I own, I'm out next time. Still plenty of Star Ocean to wrap up (I'm almost 100 hours in, still another 400 or so to go)...

@GameDadGrant But if you don't already own it, you're stuck paying 1000 points instead of 800...leaving the dreaded 200 points to remain on the Wii until Nintendo lets us transfer our money to the eShop (have they done this yet?). I know it's just $2 but it's still kind of annoying.

That being said, if people already own it or don't care about the extra $2, it doesn't really matter.

@Hero_Of_Hyrule

StarTropics, yuck! That has already had a few rides here in Retro Game Club. I'd like to see us get a FRESH title here! I wouldn't be opposed to any of those other ones, INCLUDING Final Fantasy (1) on NES, which you didn't list.

@GameDadGrant
@ludist210

Lou refuses. And I don't like to lock people out who ACTUALLY WANT TO PLAY. Know what I mean?

If Lou sits -- and it seems like you want to sit -- sounds like the only people who'd be playing anything would be me...and possibly HOH? Nothing against him, or anyone, but this thing should be setting out with a fleet of ~10, regardless of how many make it back to port.. Hell, even Ogre Battle which everyone APPARENTLY hated had 13 people on Day 1.

@Mr_Mustache

I'm not playing through Super Mario RPG again. It's not a very good RPG (although it is a good game).

Yeah, I'm probably sitting this next round.

@ludist210

Well, if you're out, and Lou is holding himself out for stuff only on Wii U, it appears as if the barn doors are wide open.

HOH, if you can rally the troops, I'll play whatever..EXCEPT for StarTropics! I don't have the oomph for it now.

@Mr_Mustache

Well that and StarTropics isn't an RPG, so...

Hmm, what about Tales of Symphonia? Skies of Arcadia? SHOULD WE ALL FINISH XENOBLADE?

@ludist210

I've heard it classified as such before.. I hear ya though.

@Mr_Mustache

No interest in ToS again...right now. Skies is a probably since I've never finished it. Xenoblade is a definite no. I want to enjoy that at my own pace once I crack it open.

I think StarTropics is more like Zelda and less like any RPG on the market at the time (Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, Ultima), and I don't consider Zelda to be an RPG either.

Also, did anyone else get (already have) Illusion of Gaia? That has been rotting on my shelf for over a year now.
I'd still be game for Muramasa, or Last Story. Or Arc Rise Fantasia. (EDIT- Ooh! Or what about Puzzle Kingdoms!? Less than 5 bucks on Amazon!)

@ludist210

There are different ways to qualify and RPG, but I've heard Zelda II being referred to as an RPG, simply because of the XP and use of spells.

@ludist210

I don't think Zelda or StarTropics are RPGs either, but I included them because some people do.

Mr_Mustache said:

HOH, if you can rally the troops, I'll play whatever.

Cool! I'll see if anybody is up for Paper Mario. It seems like most of the people that have fallen behind on BoF2 have stopped checking this thread, so if you think it's a good idea I'll send out some PMs. Something like, "Hey, would you be interested joining the Epic Center in playing Paper Mario for N64?" I'll send one to everybody that participated in the past few rounds of Epic Center and we'll see what kinds of reactions we get and go from there.

Does that sound good?



EDIT: Or I could just run a poll. I didn't think of that until now.

I'm down for Paper Mario 64. Never played it and always heard it was good. I enjoyed 1000 Year Door

@Hero_Of_Hyrule

Polls for this thing don't work. Last time we had 4 things get 2 votes.. Blah.

I'm fine with PM64. I guess I'll have to download it, unless I can wrangle up an N64 copy!