* * * * * 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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He was quite a bit higher than my other characters. I think I was around 15 and he was around 20. We're all in the low 20s where I'm at now, though, so the rest caught up for the most part.

I'm afraid you'll probably just have to go up a couple levels. I can't imagine surviving that fight without Revel, but maybe just Demi can keep you guys alive enough. Oh! And cast Shift on your melee guy(s) if you get the chance. It increases attack power. I think the red-head with the ears has it.

VickiL said:

I think the red-head with the ears has it.

Are they ears? I thought they were horns.. Hmm.

@VickiL Shift never really seemed to help my guys very much...not like War Cry did, anyway. I don't bother using it anymore.

Rune was level 21 when he joined me, my dudes were about level 23. Do characters join at a set level or is it based on the party average level?

Also how did you guys finish week 3 so quickly? Did you marathon through it, or did you skip ahead last week?

@Mop it up

I SHOULD be done with Week 3 now; I played in 2 sittings. But I'm still going, so I guess there'll be a 3rd.

@Mop it up

I had Sunday/Monday off this week so I got a good chunk done those days.

This week was crazy and my three-day weekend is already completely tied up. I probably won't finish Week 3 before the end of May.

Wow. I spent over an hour aimlessly wandering the white wastes of Dezolis. I got to the climate control center and got some new gear. Then I ended up finding every town and dungeon except for the one that I needed to be in to progress, Meese. Finally found it and talked to some people there and was put on the right path. I saved just after fast traveling back to Esper Mansion. The upside is that all my characters are pretty well leveled up (average level 29) and I have a butt ton of cash to spend now.

@Mr_Mustache

Are you talking about the big mechs in the Climate Control Center? I got a bunch of repair kits off them after battles.

@Zero

The Climate Control Center also looks like a pretty good place to grind in, if you're under leveled at this point. Most battles give 1-2k XP and 500+ mesetas and there were a couple good items for Wren in there. I gained 2 levels/character just walking through it once.

@VickiL Join the club!

@Jew Drop

No.. Where is the Climate Control Center?? How is stuff so hard to find?

@Jew Drop
Mustache is talking about the Weapons Plant, the optional location on Dezolis. It's a great location for Wren.

@Mr_Mustache
Yes, the Air Castle is a bit of a pain in the butt. Confusing as all get out, especially if you're trying to explore. And the Climate Control Center is in the northern parts of Dezolis

Also, Wren has a great Recover skill that fully heals him in and out of battle. I use that more than anything. Repair kits I only use when he's out of commission in battle and I need him.

@Koovaps

Alright, I found everything. Nuked this week. Last task was horrible (not your fault). Loot-free run I just did took me like an hour and a half. How?

EDIT- Rika's Weapons: Gynoclaw (found in the Air Castle) has an Instadeath chance thing, and the SILVER-TUSK from Myst Vale drops those Dimensionworms in one shot. I'm using those in tandem, even though the ST is technically weaker than the LACO deal.

Here's a question about the new character, which I guess I'll spoil since I don't know if everyone is up to week 3 yet: Is Raja supposed to be funny? Because the other party members act like Raja tells some really bad jokes with his little comments, but the problem is that most of the things he says aren't really witty or even resemble a joke at all. Are his comments supposed to be super terrible, or was there something lost in translation here?

Week 3 feels longer than the first two weeks, for some reason.

@Mop it up Yeah he's...just kind of weird. I feel like he's supposed to have corny jokes and/or lewdness but it was lost in translation.

Almost done with week 3. I'm camped out at the beginning of the Air Castle. Heading out of town until monday so I should be able to finish tonight. Yay for mini vacations!

@Koovaps

Found the Weapons Plant and marched around in there last night. Few more good items and even better XP/meseta than the CCC.

@Mr_Mustache

PS2 was one of the hardest games I have ever played and I anticipated this game being equally as hard. Compared to the ridiculously long and meandering dungeons, hard to find locales, and excessive difficulty of random encounters (to say nothing of boss battles), I'm actually surprised at how easy most of this has been so far.

@Mop it up
@nate38

Eh, I didn't think anything was lost in translation. He just seems like an old guy (from another culture, no less) who thinks he's a funny dude. The kids there probably think he's funny. Yeah, he's not really funny..but to me, that makes him funny. Or something.

That said, I also watch Tim & Eric, sooo..

Air Castle is our first "holy crap, when does this end" thing. Meandering is a good word.

And where I died last time, it was NOT the end. Color me surprised yesterday.

Spent all day marathoning this week's goals. Finally finished. Man, that last dungeon was a mess. I was so happy to see the end of that thing. I spent so much time wandering around there that I'm at level 38. I should be in good shape going forward though.

@DeputyVanHalen

Haha, I'm like Lv35. Sorry for your loss (OF TIIIIIIIIIME).

The best part of my mission? When nearing the bottom floor, I tried to GIRES and did HINAS by quick glance / accident. Thanks, goofy spell names!

Yeah I finished week 3. I kind of feel like this was a bit much for one week, that last place was pretty grueling. It's a good thing that the PS2 Sega Genesis Collection has save states, because the mid-boss of that last place is kind of cheap, took a bit to figure out the best way to go about it. A large place like this could have really used a save point somewhere inside of it, if this were the original version anyway.

I'm at lvl 40 now though so I'm probably good for the rest of the game.