* * * * * 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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WHAT THE FUCK

I tried to chain cast. I got off two spells before he cast some fire crap on me and did his teleport thing.

Tried again. Got off another two. He disappeared again.

Then he came back and spammed his explode spell 4 times in a row, I couldnt even open the menu to heal. Party= dead. AGAIN.


Seriously this is just pissing me off. And what kind of RPG doesn't put a Save point right before the boss? Honestly.

I'm off to bed.

Shadowlink said:

Seriously this is just pissing me off. And what kind of RPG doesn't put a Save point right before the boss? Honestly.

You've...never played the original Final Fantasy on NES, have you? You could only save at Inns. At least Neko appears sometimes.

Based on how he spammed the spell, he was almost dead. Undine spells are huge...Ice Sword will help.

What levels are your characters? More importantly, your spells and equipment?

Even the more recent DQ games only let you save at a church, I thought. It was so far away that you had to think seriously before hitting reset after a TPK. One the one hand, you lost a lot of money, but on the other hand, you probably just spent over an hour gaining experience points, equipment, and possibly plot-related items.

I didn't remember the bosses spamming so much before; it really sucks. That bird boss this week annoyed the hell out of me. I had a terrible time hitting it. I don't know if my aim was off or what. I think every speck of damage was the Sprite's spells. In the end I just kept using the ice spell and cure water as much as he would let me. I'm really glad I took Cannon Travel back to Pandora to rest at the inn and save before I went in there, or I'd have been out of MP and really screwed. It was so close, I know I need to grind before moving on to the next bullet point.

@VickiL

I had to use ranged weapons (Chakram, Bow, and Javelin) to hit that boss. None of my melee weapons would consistently work no matter where I was standing. So yeah, the bulk of my damage to it was because of the Sprite's spells (whom I named Sprite), but the girl and I did fair damage with those weapons.

@Shadowlink
Here's a quick video link that might clear up the timing on the art of the Secret of Mana chain-cast:
Chain-Casting Freeze
Generally, what you should be seeing is that the boss doesn't even get a chance to flinch and take damage while you're chain casting.

@ludist210

I was using the javelin...I just suck at aiming and timing!

@VickiL

I went Boomerang (Chakram) and missed half the time. That was especially frustrating because I was using charged attacks. Oh well, I beat it...no point in dwelling on it now.

I may play around with this today and try to grind up my weapons and spells. The girl's spells (Undine aside) are hard to level up naturally.

@Dark Weres

Thanks for sharing that. Knowing how to chain spells will help me in the future.

I feel like I'm the only who can chain-cast correctly, as bosses aren't even an issue. It's the regular fights where I'm finding the challenge, since I'm saving all my MP for boss-fights! With that, I've reached the end of week 2 on my solo-file. I'll see if we can do a live-stream of week 3 on Sunday, as my agent was sick last time.

Just beat Spikey. I don't have any magic yet... is this correct?

@Mr_Mustache

Yeah. I didn't use the whip on that one spot I recall, I ended up just cannon-ing it to the Water Palace. I saved and learned where to go next and now I'm going to bed. Been busy this week and hence I haven't made progress much but I am definitely trying! That's gotta count for something!

@Mr_Mustache

I can't say I'm having a ball but I sense it's picking up momentum.

@ludist210

No I haven't played any of the REALLY early RPG's. I suppose I've just been spoiled by good/fair game design.

In other news, SUCCESS!

I managed to smack him with a 5-way chain cast that knocked about 630 damage off him. Another 15 seconds of wild weapon swings and frantic healing spells, and he finally went down. Thank Fuck.

Upgraded my axe and saved the game. I'll see if I can start Week 2 stuff tomorrow night.

I'm enjoying it, but I knew what to expect. The mechanics are outdated for sure, but it's still fun.

@Mr_Mustache

Well it was a fire boss. I figured it was a no-brainer

@Mr_Mustache Nope, I haven't finished yet. 80% of my gaming is on the weekends, and I was busy doing other stuff last Sunday. Hopefully Saturday I can get it done. I did grind a bit yesterday for about half an hour and leveled up some weapons.

So if I want to level up my magic... I just use it as much as possible? How long does this take about?