* * * * * 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

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

URL to share (right click and copy)

@GameDadGrant

I switch party members in and out...Ayla is one of my favorites, especially once her fists upgrade. She's a beast.

@ludist210

I really like Ayla, too. She's so Charm-ing!

(But seriously, I got all of the prehistoric weapons before I was supposed to simply by Charming dudes in the volcano. I'll have another crack on Mt. Whoooooooa soon.)

I'm inside of Lavos about ready to wrap this up. I should have it done tomorrow at the latest.

@Mr_Mustache

Yeah, Ayla is a great character. Especially for stealing stuff. Spoilers below:

In the Black Omen, charm lots of enemies. You get good stuff like Turbo Ethers, Megalixers, and some pretty good accessories. But the best stuff in my book comes from the Panels, the enemies on the wall. Charm them successfully and you'll get a Speed Capsule. I was able to max out Crono, Ayla, Frog, and Robo's speed (and got Magus up to 15).

Also, this is a bit of a risky proposition, but use charm on both of Queen Zeal's hands when you fight her second form. One hand gives a Prism Helm, and the other gives a Prismatic Dress, the best armor in the game for the ladies. They both have nasty counterattacks though.

I've been trying out some of the bonus content in the DS game, and it's... full of fetch quests. The very type of padding I just praised this game for lacking in my exact previous post, ha ha. Kind of ironic, but I s'pose that's what happens when a game gets tinkered with in modern times.

@ludist210 I only like her for the steals. Must. Hoard. Everything.

Welp, beat it last night. Lavos gave me a little trouble, but I might have been a bit underleveled (everyone was 50 or 51, depending on the character). Falcon Strike made quick work of the healing Lavos Pod.

@Mop it up

Yeah the DS sidequest stuff is pretty horrible. The alternate ending is kinda neat though.

I went ahead and did the extra stuff and defeated the Dream Devourer...I felt like I should have struggled (Crono was 59, Ayla was 58, and Frog was 57) but once it dropped its defenses, their Triple Tech was doing 9999 damage each round.

Uhhhh, just to make it official, I don't think we should do Ogre Battle 64 this month. Did anyone know that Xenoblade was coming for sure when we decided that? Anyway. Enjoy the time off, maybe finish up some old stuff (NOBODY beat Breath of Fire II), and play some Xenoblade.

Game Clubs and New Releases do NOT mix.

Omigosh, I forgot to say, thank you GameDadGrant for running this shindig. You did a good job sorting out the weeks and itemising the steps, as well as some suggestions for fun things to try.

@VofEscaflowne I didn't particularly understand what was happening in the new ending, though I hear that it helps set up Chrono Chross. Unfortunately, I don't really remember CC, except that it didn't make any sense. I can't imagine the new ties helped much.

It was at least nice to have a few more things to do with my overpowered characters, and I'm pretty sure I've done everything now (except for the arena, but not really interested). I'll probably be back sometime to find all the endings, since the game logs them, but it'll be over time. It was interesting to hear a new piece of music for the ice-ish mountain place, I'll have to look up if that was something new, or something cut from the original game...

@Mop it up

Yeah, he did a great job. Unfortunately, I didn't finish as I intended to. I will, hopefully. (Not my fault.)