* * * * * 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

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

@Scrawnton

It's cool, I'm motoring through too...just got to the Proto Dome. I'm betting getting magic will be the end of week 2, and I'll probably get there tonight.

@ludist210

Alright! Well I'll jump in in then and take my time. I'll take a break from the game for a while and wait til the weekly objectives catch up. I have MGS V to enjoy anyway =P

@Mop it up

Congratulations on your ship(ment) coming in! And yeah, good point about the memory, haha. Who'd've thought that Fenix vs. Phoenix makes such a difference? Apparently, it does!

@Scrawnton

Yeah, put it on hold! You never do anything with us anymore!

@GameDadGrant

What did you have to say?! DAMN IT, MAN, it's important!!

@Mr_Mustache

I try to! It's just outside of 3DS I don't play much Nintendo games. Most of my time is on PS4 and Nintendo has been dry on 3DS lately. I was playing his again so I decided to join in on the discussions :)

@Scrawnton

Download Ogre Battle so we can talk about that. What a screeeam.

@Mr_Mustache

I'll just stick with this, MGS V, and Super Mario Maker til Animal Crossing comes out!

@Scrawnton

Haha, RATS!

@Mr_Mustache

Looking forward to playing this though! I'll be playing the DS version, not the Wii VC version.

I forgot how much work went into the dungeon encounters to not make them feel random and pointless. Each battle is set up in a unique way and each room usually has some kind of reason to exist outside of just more gameplay. This is something I've been working on in Boot Hill Bounties.

Hopefully getting this polished off tonight before the "deadline." Schedules haven't lined up too well. I mean, -I- could destroy Week 1 in about another hour, but I'm workin' through it with the lady.

@Mr_Mustache

I don't even remember anymore! ...though, I do remember telling you not to worry about triggering anything. The game lets you stray from "the path" without letting you get lost or accidentally do something out-of-order.

Been playing in itsy bitsy play sessions all week, but am finally near the goal. I think I'll actually wrap it up later tonight. I hope to get some more extended play time this next week. And I wasted time starting over again to get the side objectives, and didn't even bother getting the silver sword anyway. But I did get the doll, so there's that. One little thing I really like is being able to walk away from NPCs while still talking to them. Neat! There was something else, but I'll be darned if I can remember it.

WEEK 2
Here we go with Week 2! There will be more to do this time around, since it seemed some of you rolled through week 1 rather quickly. Here's what's on this week's docket:

Main Objectives
1.) Take Marle back home.
2.) Get through all of The Trial
3.) Make it to Arris Dome and meet Doan.
4.) Explore Arris Dome's basement
5.) Make it to Proto Dome in the East
6.) Get through The Factory in the north.
7.) Go through the newly found Gate, and learn Magic!

Side objectives:
a.) Immediately after The Trial, instead of waiting for Lucca to come get you, try to get out on your own.
b.) Before escaping the area after The Trial, find your way to the cell that was next to yours and collect the goodies in the treasure chests there.
c.) In Lab 32, instead of racing Johnny, walk through toward the east and get the Racing Log. Then go back to Johnny, use the alternate racing view, and beat him without using boosts!

Hopefully that will give everyone enough to do until next week! And I tried to make the objective/side objectives as spoiler-free as possible. If you need anything clarified, let me know! Cheers!

@GameDadGrant

You can wait for Lucca to come and get you...? I didn't even know that.

EDIT: Also I don't think you can walk east in Lab 32 until you race Johnny.

@VofEscaflowne

I think you have to meet him first, then you can walk it.

Eh, either way, try to beat him without boosts! Can you do it?

@GameDadGrant

I did it on my first try A better challenge would have been to get a certain score since you can drag behind the entire time and just pass him at the last second and still get a win. And I tried to walk in first but it doesn't work. Once you complete the race, then you can walk west and find the Race Log item.

Well this week is done as well as all side objectives!

@VofEscaflowne

Nice work!

Also, good to know about the timing of being able to walk across Lab 32. I always race Johnny regardless (love dat Mode 7!) so I wasn't sure if you could just skip the race altogether or not.

I learned something new about my favorite game of all time! Thanks @VofEscaflowne, and Epic Center!

Oh and I decided to face off against Lavos for the heck of it and see how far I could get. I actually beat Masa and Mune! But then died after

You can count me as finished for this week as well =)