* * * * * 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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I think I was 85. My underlings were in the mid 70s, I think.

@Secret_Tunnel

I've beaten it before around level 70ish. I'd like to see how bad I can beat the last boss sequence (and grind for a Gutsy Bat in the process).

ludist210 said:

.

If we aren't going to stick to weekly goals (because some of us skip ahead and others get behind), why have them? Honest question.

I think weekly goals are good to give people something to aim for as a general rule. A lot of people can be like "Man, this game is huge I don;t have time for this. The goals help break it down into chunks.

That being said, I don't think they should be enforced. If someone feels like they want to skip ahead, it doesn't make much sense to hold them back. At the same time, it's easy for people to become stuck (or get caught up by other non-game things). I know back in Radiant Dawn club I was a couple weeks behind at one point due to an absolute garbage hole of a mission that took me a ridiculous amount of time to beat. Getting the feeling of 'You're falling behind! Terrible!' is no fun.

So yeah, good for general guides, bad as an absolute measure. If that makes sense.

@ludist210
Use the rock candy trick to raise Poo's stats, and abandon that sword. It's about as legit as glitches get, they even cover it in the player's guide!
Plus, using Rock Candy 128 times would be much better than battling Starman Supers, even if you insta-SMASH them.

@Dark Weres

Ummm...I have the sword. I think you meant that for Stache.

@Shadowlink

I like that suggestion.

TheOldManFromZelda said:

I beat the game last night.

Boooooooooo. Congratulations.

@Shadowlink

Your winky face is an admittance of rabble rousing. So much so, that Zero had to mini-scold you. C'mon.

Go back and read what I wrote: I was "Okami shy" (ie: I didn't want that game to break my Wii -- AGAIN. I lost like ALL of my stuff, and it cost me 70 bucks. Not fun, at all. Kinda soured out then), and when I was ready to play again..nobody else was. When you've got yourself set for this "group mentality," or whatever, where you guys are all going to tackle the game together (look how many times people have said in here, "a program like this will keep me on track in RPGs"), and then you're like "ok, who is ready!?," and you're all alone? No good. I'm also hung up on Beads, and nobody wants to help me -- still.

@chrisbg99

Boooooooooooooooooooo. Congratulations.

@TriforceBun

Being buddies is good.

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Oh, forgot to mention. APPARENTLY, you need to be Lv80 with Ness when you find the Sword of Kings, because thats what i was. Yes, folks, 25 LEVELS went by between my arrival and eventual Present Drop. What a pile of horseshit. So I have it now. And I finished Week 6 about 15 minutes later. UGH.

I'll start Week 7 sometime. ZombiU tonight.

@Mr_Mustache

Ouch that really took you a while. That is a higher level than when I finished the game. Ness was level 78 and the rest were 68, 66 and 64. You shouldn't have too much trouble with the rest of the game.

@chrisbg99

Yeah, it was pretty terrible. I'm 81 w/ Ness now. My lowest level on the other guys is Poo at 74, I think.

I've been stuck in Stonehenge looking for that Sword for a long time in the past. But at least with the Wii U, you can suspend state so you don't have to do it in one sitting...

Done! That was considerably better than last week.

I'm kind of sad we're so close to being done. I don't want Earthbound to end.

I wish I was level 81. I think Ness is about 67 and my lower-leveled teammates keep getting killed on the way to the talking rock. I was doing so well against the Starmen, and bosses fell so easily before my feet, that it feels terrible to keep getting splattered by random mobs. Stupid thunder attacks and exploding enemies. Two thunders on any character not holding the Franklin badge, and it's pretty much hopeless. I need to make sure I didn't accidentally equip anyone with a lightning rod because it's happening a lot.

I got Ness and Paula up to level 99 last night while grinding for three Star pendants (I got two). Hopefully I'll nab the third tonight.

EDIT: @VickiL

Grind Fobbies on the first floor of Lumine Hall. They give decent EXP and can be wiped out by higher-level fire PSI really quickly.

@ludist210

Good idea! I've yet to see a fobbie explode, so the only danger is me being overcome by their evil cuteness. I'll give it a shot next time I get time to play. Probably Saturday morning.

@VickiL

Yeah, they're pretty tame if you take them out before they can come to their senses (usually three turns, and just about everyone in your party should be able to one-hit them and knock them out). They occasionally attack physically, but do no more than 45 damage or so.

So, I didn't COMB that cave below the Shy Guys, but I found the Diadem of Kings. Anything else worthwhile in there? I'm fighting dinosaurs now.

I've used up all my drive to find items now that my party is over Lv.85 thanks to that earlier 1/128 hunt.

Mr_Mustache said:

So, I didn't COMB that cave below the Shy Guys, but I found the Diadem of Kings. Anything else worthwhile in there? I'm fighting dinosaurs now.

Nothin'?

--Next question: Can someone tell my why Ness was getting WIPED OUT from 600HP STRAIGHT to 0HP (no roll) on a PSI FLASH??? Freakin' awful. EDIT- Happened 3 (THREE) times.

I hate Psi Flash with a passion. For me, I have the Franklin Badge on Ness, so it's Paula it keeps wiping out. But I think I'll move the badge to Poo since he's the one with Health Omega.

Aww, I think I missed the diadem.

@Mr_Mustache
There're probably a few other decent things in there, but the Poo item is the main thing to get. As for PSI Flash, going into the Status menu will tell you what's up with that item. But in short...

Flash alpha: hits all enemies, makes them cry or (less commonly) feel strange (confused)
Flash beta: hits all enemies, makes them cry and/or feel strange, and on rare occasions, is an instant-death
Flash gamma: hits all enemies, makes them feel strange and sometimes is an instant-death
Flash omega: hits all enemies, can often instant kill

@VickiL

I think it was "down," like on the lower (read: 6 o'clock) half of the caves.

@TriforceBun

So you can't do anything about it? Thats pretty annoying. Why is it NESS every time? Why doesn't stupid JEFF go down? (And why would a bright light KILL you?) Are the other "decent" things consumables? I'm about done with those...I don't have enough f'n room.

EDIT- I just called and saved via BirdPhone in the pen near the dinosaurs; any idea on how much longer I have?