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NW Epic Center: Chrono Trigger: FINAL WEEK
 
* * * * * 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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12/22/12, 00:24    Edited: 10/31/15, 03:51
 
   
 
Started Week 2.

The whole Peach-segment thing was a cool addition to the main game. Bowser's diary is pretty hilarious IMO.

I've now met back up with Twink and bought some Badges from the badge shop. I'm hoping the Multibounce is more useful than the Smash Charge/Hammer Throw and I especially hope the First Attack Badge comes in handy.

Now though I shall save and go to bed early tonight.
02/11/14, 04:48   
Started the game and only just got the Hammer. Will probably play more tonight. Need a new N64 controller though cause the sticks on ours have all gone bust.
02/11/14, 05:03   
All righty, I'll read back through the thread a bit later, but for now, I've popped in my cartridge and started playing. It's been pretty boring and unimaginative so far (the Star Rod is Kirby's thing!), but I recall it getting at least a little better once more badges and abilities are gained. I played for a couple hours and I'm at the part where I'm about to board the train to the desert.
02/11/14, 22:17   
@Mop it up

So you're now where I'm at, seemingly much faster. What level are you at? Do you know the time? I'm curious how I stack up in comparison.

I've been battling every baddy but I wonder how relevant that really is. I wonder if I need every goomba and their measly two ex points.
02/11/14, 23:46   
@Mop it up
Thousand Year Door definitely has a better beginning but it's a better game overall really.
02/12/14, 01:22   
@DrFinkelstein Level 5. I don't think you need to beat up every enemy because of how the experience system works. As you gain levels, you will get less and less star points per enemy, and eventually will get none. Because of this, if you reach the max level for one area, then you'll be getting hardly any points in the next area, or if you fought less, then you'll be getting more points. So it'll balance itself out anyway. If you're also at level 5 then the normal Goombas won't be giving you any more experience anyway.

For your early question in this thread about what to increase on level up, my first one is HP and then I usually do BP after that. Badges are pretty much how you do anything in this game so that's typically the most important thing to have. There are even badges to increase HP/FP, and so it's better to get the BP and use those badges as needed, and swap them out for other badges as needed (no point having a higher max HP when your HP is decreased). I never bother with FP until the other two are maxed. Most abilities in this game just aren't very useful, and FP is pretty easy to refill anyway so having just 5 of it isn't that big a deal.

As for Multibounce, its power decreases with each enemy it hits, and it hits each one only once (or not at all if you miss a command), so it isn't worth it. For a while, Power Bounce will be the best attack badge, and will remain one of the strongest ones in the game, as long as you can skillfully press that action command. Charge moves are pretty much only useful against enemies with high defense.
02/12/14, 01:57   
Mop it up said:
There are even badges to increase HP/FP, and so it's better to get the BP and use those badges as needed, and swap them out for other badges as needed (no point having a higher max HP when your HP is decreased).

Huh? --Is that what Chet Rippo did to me?! Help!

I still have my HP+ and FP+ badges on. What should I do??
02/12/14, 02:01   
The battle system in this is so basic compared to Thousand Year Door. So hard going back to this.
02/12/14, 02:06   
@Mr_Mustache You seem to know what Chet Rippo did in your previous post. Either go back and raise other stats until you get back to what you had, or just wait till you level up some more.
02/12/14, 02:29   
@Mop it up

Did he RUIN those categories though? I know he dropped them, but from what you wrote (and I probably misinterpreted), it seems like my HP+ and FP+ aren't doing ANYTHING currently?
02/12/14, 02:30   
@Mop it up

What does it take to max out the areas? Is it like 10 levels per thing? My original file I was something like Level 25 when I beat this game, so I presumed maybe a 3x10 scenario.
02/12/14, 02:32   
@Mr_Mustache No, it doesn't ruin any categories. It's what you said, it raises the stat you choose by two levels, and it lowers the other two stats by one level each. So you don't gain or lose anything, you're basically just shuffling around your stats.
02/12/14, 02:34   
@Mop it up

Alright, thats what I thought. Thanks.
02/12/14, 02:35   
@DrFinkelstein No, it isn't separated neatly like that. It varies from enemy to enemy, they probably have a hidden "level" stat that determines how many star points they give depending on what level Mario is. At level 5, Goombas don't give me any points, but the spiked Goombas still give 1. I just meant the highest level you're able to reach from the enemies in that area.

The max level is 27.
02/12/14, 02:42   
@Mop it up

I mean how many times can I upgrade a stat. So like, can I up my badge points 27 times in a row, or is there a limit where say I can do it 9 times and then it's maxed, with 3 x 9 equalling 27 levels.
02/12/14, 02:47   
Finished week 2 at almost exactly 5 hours on the game clock. I also explored every single area of the desert without the map.

@DrFinkelstein

Mop it up answered your question thoroughly, but here's my perspective. I tend to fight every enemy I come across for the first time, but avoid them when backtracking. That method has served me well across many playthroughs of the first two Paper Mario games. You quickly come across enemies that give you more than a few exp, and the ones that do provide little exp can usually be killed in a turn or two, making the process of killing them very efficient. I don't know as much about the systems behind the game as Mop does, so this is just speaking from my own experiences. I hope my explanation helps



How are things going, HammerLord and Gamewizard? Did you finish week 1 yet?


One last thing. What are your thoughts on tackling two chapters in one week? I realize that having one chapter per week is a little short, but I fear that doing two chapters might be too long. We could have 1 and a half chapters a week, but I don't think stopping in the middle of playing through an area would feel right or flow well. What do you think?
02/12/14, 02:56   
Edited: 02/12/14, 03:04
@DrFinkelstein Oh, my mistake, I misunderstood what you were trying to stay. Yeah, there's a max for each stat, though it isn't cleanly 3x9. Since you start at level 1, not level 0, you get to choose 26 bonuses total, not 27. You start with 10 HP and 5 FP, then it's 8x9x9, with the maxes being 50 HP, 50 FP, and 30 BP.

Chet Rippo cannot exceed this either. If you are already maxed in the area you try to increase, then he won't do anything.

You can still get more HP and FP with the badges, which can make a total of 65 each, but then of course you'll have only 12 BP left for other badges.
02/12/14, 03:02   
@Mop it up

Got ya! Okay, good to know. Maybe I wont focus solely on badges yet. I have through Level 6 but I might like a little more Health for the time being. I don't know when the next Health Badge will show. Thanks for clearing that up.

Also, good call on the Level 1. It didn't sound right when I formulated the 9x9x9 idea in my head because Level 0 did sound silly to me but I didn't pay that much attention at the start.
02/12/14, 03:06   
@DrFinkelstein

Oh, then I misunderstood as well. I think she just answered it now. My bad.
02/12/14, 03:06   
Well I'm done for the week.
02/12/14, 04:13   
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