* * * * * 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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@Pokefreak911

I think you'll 'get' it quicker than you think. Don't be intimidated, just know how things work.

--And you can ALWAYS see Unit Levels and what types of characters they have. You'll learn before too long what types of characters everything is. If you're having a super hard time remembering, I can link you to something else that'll lay it all out for ya.

Early on (Week 1 folks):
Evilish guys- Witch, Wizard, Hellhound, Beastman, Wild Man, Ninja
Goodish guys- Knights, Clerics, Valkyries, Doll Mage

They get closer to the good/evil poles as they climb in level and class, early on they're more neutral.

About how long is this game? I'm curious about it...I have the N64 one (which I need to play) and I'm always itching for a good strategy/RPG game, but I'm deep into Tales of Graces f and Paper Mario: Sticker Star at the moment and I don't know how much time I could potentially commit to it.

@ludist210

Total length? I'm not exactly sure. Someone (sorry! Maybe Dark Weres?) said "a chapter a day," and that is MORE than enough. If you're playing on the VC, you CAN suspend (the way that the VC does); if someone is playing on a CARTRIDGE besides myself, you can NOT suspend (64 game does). I figured 6-8-10 weeks for us, Ludist. I say it like that because we'll adjust (if need be) after Week 2. Its about an hour a map, sometimes more. I remember playing late when I was younger..but I was a dumb kid, so who knows.

You can turn up the speed at which the game travels. I always played on the default setting, and I probably will this time, too.

--Alright...I'm going to GUESS 40 hours. HOWEVER, if you double the speed, you should be done in '20,' haha.

Are you going to roll with us, buddy?


EDIT- If you care about MY schedule at all, I'll probably do the first available Chapter (of Week #) at Midnight on Saturday, and the next Chapter during Football on Sunday (on another TV). That'll leave me one (or two) Chapter(s) for the rest of the week, and 6 days to do it. Surely that sounds manageable? (But I'm also aware that people go out / SLEEP on Saturday night)

40 hours? Oh man. Xenoblade will end up on hold yet again. I suppose someday I might finish Xenoblade.

@Mr_Mustache

Double speed sounds manageable...count me as a solid maybe.

Will we work on Ogre Battle 64 next?

@ludist210

I want to. I'M HOPING we do...


That was the plan (in my head), but if people are P&M'ing about it, and how they don't want to ever see another Ogre Battle game again, or how they need a few months to detox or something, I can't exactly force it, haha (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance to Radiant Dawn; we lost like 60% of our people, and only 3 people finished Radiant Dawn. No good, sir). I prefer to strike while the iron is HOT, get those games "out of the way," and not lose folks to having too much layoff, or also having to re-explain to brand new people about Ogre Battle 64, and then having them not understand it because they hadn't played the first one at all (see: NWR Ogre Battle 64 thing, or so I'm told).

Make sense? I probably sound like a crabapple, sorry!

(THERE ARE SO MANY GOOD RPGs TO PLAY, NES THROUGH WII, IT'LL ALL BE GREEEEAT)

(Secret of Mana has been muttered around here a lot, and Skies of Arcadia came up, and a few of us ordered Illusion of Gaia cartridges; thats my shortlist after Ogre Battle stuff. I'd like to do Final Fantasy I, II, and III sometime, too. We're like, over a year away at this point though, yes? Most of this stuff is on the VC, with the exception of Skies and Gaia. Evermore has been talked about, too, but that is NOT on the VC. What do you think?)

@Zero

I was guessing!

But realistically most people want to find time to play new games as well, so going right into another big older game when they have just dedicated so much time to one could turn people off. I know that after this thing I'm definitely going to be far behind on a lot of newer games that I want to play. And Pikmin 3 might even be out by then?! Or coming soon.

Plus there is the variety factor. When it comes to a big RPG or whatever, people might enjoy it and finish it, but not really feel the need to do the sequel right away. Want to mix up their gaming a bit more.

These are just my theories based off of my own experiences. When I finish a huge RPG the last thing I want is another huge RPG right away, especially if it is a sequel. I need a break / something new first.

@Zero

I know a lot of people think your way, but a lot of people think my way / Ludist's way, too, so yeah. I don't know, brother.

And I'll do my darndest to keep you on track. You're good about it, I won't leave you!

@Mr_Mustache
Hey don't forget Zelda II. That is technically an RPG/Platformer hybrid.

@Pokefreak911

Eesh. Maybe..MAYBE. Ideally, I'd want someone else to start Adventure Club or something, or some other cool name, where we could play those types of games in a similar format. That could cover all of the Zelda games, as well as Metroids, and who knows what else. Without NW Help, I never would've beaten Kid Icarus. That, too, is in the NES Adventure Series!

@Mr_Mustache @Pokefreak911

Zelda II is evil and should be sealed away in the Dark Realm for all eternity.

Which I fully intend to do once I finally beat the thing.

@Shadowlink

How dare you taunt me with this post. I thought you were finally in, or a "solid maybe," Ludist style.

--I've never beaten Zelda II. If someone held my hand, I could do it.

@Mr_Mustache

Bwahaha. Not my intention. But a nice bonus.

Must do it more often.

Any complex RPG is fine by me. Fire Emblems, Ogre Battles, perhaps Strange Journey in preparation for the arrival of Soul Hackers. I need to get the Law and Chaos endings in that anyway (if new game plus runs are allowed (it would certainly make playing through it faster for those on a tighter schedule)).

@Dark Weres

Man, you just missed MONTHS AND MONTHS of Fire Emblem. It was like March-December, HAHA!!

Did Zero not put it in the Newsletter?! ZeroooO!!!

I'd like to get into this... maybe I'll finish ZombiU first and then Far Cry 3 will wait a bit.

@VofEscaflowne

This starts Sunday; will you be able to shoehorn it into your schedule? Week 1 is pretty light, comparatively.

@Shadowlink
Whattt! Zelda 2 is awesome man. It's like my fourth favorite Zelda game!

@Mr_Mustache
Hmm. I'll have to start that sometime, I love adventure games.


Bought it today and itching to get started.

@Pokefreak911

You're a sick man.

Zelda II is the devil! The devil I say!

@Shadowlink
Just because you can't beat it. It was the most satisfying game this year for me. It may have been a pain to beat, but boy it was a good feeling when I did.