* * * * * 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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Where do I sign up for Chrono Trigger?

@DapperDave

You're already there!

Mr_Mustache said:

@GameDadGrant

Cool beans. 8/30 it is! (Backlaugust should be essentially done then, too!) What're you thinking, 6 weeks?

6 weeks works!

@GameDadGrant

5 hours or less a week, probably? I don't remember how long it is. I know that FFIII takes me like 55 hours (BECAUSE OF THE VELDT, BABYYYYYY!!)

@Mr_Mustache

Main game is only around 20 to 30 hours. Not much grinding is necessary, either.

I have some thoughts on CT after Amanda recently played through it, but I don't know if I want to talk about them. I think my thoughts on the game actually kind of went down after viewing them through her eyes. She's playing FFVI/III right now and she's liking it a lot more. She's really into the story and characters so I guess it's no surprise there - the characters in FFVI are obviously way more fleshed out than in CT.

@PogueSquadron

Are they?

I suppose technically that's true considering...y'know. Crono.

@PogueSquadron
@GameDadGrant

I felt the same way about the Final FantasyI III characters, too. I always thought they had more oomph than the Chrono Trigger ones. I guess we'll see how I feel during this run. Very nervous about it.. Keep in mind: this is the game I've propped up as "my favorite" since the first time I played it. Scary.

I've played quite a bit of Chrono Trigger on the DS but eventually got bored as I do with most RPGs. Should I jump in with you guys and give it another shot? I will let you know in due course.

@warerare

You should totally jump in.

@PogueSquadron Now that I've played a lot of other RPGs, including FF VI / III, I have a feeling I may think the same thing. I also don't really appreciate silent protagonists anymore.

@PogueSquadron
@Mop it up

Is Silent P really that big a deal? Hmm. Ocarina no good?

@GameDadGrant

I think so. It's not that the characters weren't fleshed out in CT (because they were), but the overall arc of the characters in IV felt very well done.

Both games are fantastic.

@Mr_Mustache

Eh, I don't like silent protagonists for the most part. The exception being the Mario & Luigi games, because they're both so animated in their gibberish speak (and occasional actual words).

@warerare
@Mop it up

Did ya think you were gonna hop in? I didn't want to disrespect you guys and leave you out in the cold!

@ludist210

Oh, I think Final Fantasy III is something else, man. Believe that. And I understand what you're saying. But this is Chrono Trigger, haha. This game seemed so innovative for me at the time. I just about dumped my shorts when I realized that each combination of your party had its own special attack. Whaaaaaat? And moving around while fighting? In an RPG w/ Battle Screens? Thats something we hadn't seen for quite some time (that I can recall), all the way up until Tales of Symphonia or Arc Rise Fantasia(?). (Funnily, all three games mentioned there use the "see an enemy on the map, encounter it, a fight begins" as opposed to "unseen random encounters.")

I am going to hop in, lets hope having some direction with an RPG can finally get me through one of them. As an aside I have Final Fantasy III on DS, is that the one you are all talking about, I am not familiar enough with the series to know much about the numbering weirdness.

@warerare

I think they are referring to Final Fantasy 6 from SNES, not the DS Final Fantasy III. The SNES game is known here in the United States as Final Fantasy III since that was the third game in the series that was localized outside of Japan (to the best of my knowledge).

Also, awesome! Glad to see you join us!

I'm trying to be more active around here again so joining up to this makes sense. I've taken a long break from video games which I think was needed as I am really enjoying them again lately. It's about time I got Chrono Trigger done and dusted

@warerare

Welcome aboard!

Glad to be a part of it. The last one I jumped in on was Fire Emblem and I made it through that so here's hoping I get through this one too. I made it to the ocean palace last time but know nothing of the story after that point so I'm hoping the rest is as good as what came before.

Started playing Chrono Trigger 4 times and stopped playing because of lack of interest or because I suddenly had other things to do (mostly games) that seemed more exciting to me at the time.
Now is a good time to play this one through to the end. I'm in.