* * * * * 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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Done! I had to fight the end guy twice because silly VickiL used up all her best attack on the first two phases.

I knew there was a thing between Rika and Chaz. My troll husband tried to deflect saying, "Oh no, she can't, she's an android." I was all, "She isn't an android! She's a freak-humanoid. I'm sure they could work it out somehow." Oh, how we lie to our loved ones when we don't want them to guess the end of a game four hours in.

@VickiL

Wow, called it from that far? I didn't really expect it, though I was a tad misty-eyed at the end.

Will they name their first-born-robot Alys?

--And congratulations!

Well, I just wasted a good half hour to an hour running around trying to figure out what to do on the ice planet until I decided to look it up. Turns out that not only was that one guy's offhand comment about visiting the inn actually meant to be taken seriously (how would I know this?!), what he meant when he said the inn was actually not the inn, but the building behind the inn? THEN WHY NOT SAY THAT?!

Every time I think I might start enjoying this game again it gives me another reason to get angry at it.

Don't read this if you haven't completed the game.

The final guy was surprisingly a pushover. Maybe it's just because I was level 51, but the two bosses in the Air Castle were tougher than this guy, with strong, multi-hit attacks that were way more deadly than anything the final boss dished out. Though, this game is kind of inconsistent with its bosses, so I guess it's of no surprise.

I have to admit that I wasn't expecting Alys to actually be killed. Perhaps it's because I'm used to 16-bit RPGs like Final Fantasy II where everyone comes back later, but I figured she'd recover during the ending of the game. Nope! Later on, when people were talking about those killed by the Dark Wave coming back as zombies, I thought that we'd soon be attacked by a zombified Alys. I'm actually a little disappointed that this didn't happen, I feel it would have been a good character-building moment for Chaz if he had to "kill" Alys, and his little breakdown near the end of the game would have made a lot more sense.

Though that's kind of consistent with this game, the plot isn't very fleshed out, whether that's due to translation or simply the limitations of 16-bit systems. Things like Raja joining you for destroying his temple seem odd, and then there's all that text dumped on you near the end of the game that flatly explains what's going on. Just not very interesting. Also, the big bad of this game isn't very interesting or menacing, since it doesn't really do anything but wait for you to challenge it, and you defeat it three times.

All in all though, it's a decent Dragon Quest knock-off, and overall I enjoyed playing it.

@Zero

Weird. That was like the first place I went. Do you not check building when you get somewhere new? Not "rubbing it in," or whatever. I thought that was just how RPGs were played..

@Mop it up

Yeah, I don't think I got to Lv 50, but I did think the end was a little "easier" than some other parts of the games, yes.

Sooo, are we going with Shining Force II then?

And anyone else close in over the weekend? The fate of the ALGO SYSTEM rests on your shoulders!

Shining Force II isn't on the Sega Genesis Collection, so not me. But don't let that stop you.

@Mop it up

No go on the VC?

@Mr_Mustache Afraid not. I looked up some screenshots of Shining Force II, and it looks a little too primitive for my taste. I think we picked the better game with Phantasy Star IV.

To be 100% honest I need a break from these game clubs. And by break I mean I'll still be in this one for a bit.

Mop it up said:

@Mr_Mustache Afraid not. I looked up some screenshots of Shining Force II, and it looks a little too primitive for my taste. I think we picked the better game with Phantasy Star IV.

Shining Force II is a hundred times better than Phantasy Star IV. I'll admit I much prefer strategy RPGs over traditional ones, but PSIV seemed to be a pretty average RPG while SFII is a great SRPG.

Man, I like the thought of playing Shining Force II again, but I don't know. I'll be playing at least a little Animal Crossing every day, and hopefully a few other things too. Maybe.

Yeah so... going through the air castle, feeling like I'm actually at / above level for once because none of the enemies were giving me any trouble. Get to the boss... instant death. Their lightning thing just literally obliterated my entire party.

Stupid.

No one else ran into this issue? Seriously? I find this difficult to believe. I mean, where I'm at now it would be virtually impossible to beat these guys without leveling up... FREAKING AGAIN. When they can basically wipe out 90% of all of your characters' health in a single turn... not fun.

My mind is so occupied with Animal Crossing and E3 that I can't even fathom doing more right now. I suggest another poll, but it might get buried in the E3 posts.

@Zero Actually, we all ran into an issue there, look back through our posts and you'll see. If you want some advice, I can tell you what I did to get through.

@gojira It being a strategy RPG actually makes me even less interested.

@Mop it up Please do!

@Zero I guess I should spoiler tag this since a strategy can be a spoiler, maybe...?

Once you eliminate one Xe-A-Thoul, they can no longer use their super move, so you should concentrate on taking out one of them first. On the first turn, Wren should use Barrier. If he isn't fast enough to put up Barrier before they attack, then Rika should use SANER; Rika should have enough agility to move first, and this spell should allow everyone else to act before the enemies as well. Otherwise, have Rika use DBLSlash. Rune should use EFESS, this spell will deal lots of damage to these guys. Chaz should use Rayblade, and Kyra should use NAFOI (don't bother with Warla, these guys' physical stuff is weak). Make sure all attacks are targeting the same Xe-A-Thoul, and not different ones.

On turn two, Rika should use GISAR (or SAR if you're not there yet), which is a tech that heals everyone. If Wren doesn't need to use Recover yet, then have him use BURSTROC (or FLARE if you missed BURSTROC, use it on the guy you've been targeting). Chaz should use AirSlash, and Rune should keep using EFESS. Kyra can use heals too if you really need it, but at this point, one Xe-A-Thoul should be close to falling, so use NAFOI again unless you absolutely need to heal.

This should have been enough to take down one Xe-A-Thoul, and then things get easier from there. Rika should keep spamming GISAR, Rune EFESS, Chaz RayBlade, Wren BURSTROC/FLARE, and Kyra NAFOI.

If you don't have these skills or you can't take down one Xe-A-Thoul in two turns, then you'll have to level up...

@Zero

Did you get the Silver Tusk from Myst Valley? Helped me out BIG TIME through there.

Almost caught up! Week four done! I finished the Soldier Temple and beat Dark Force 3. He was way easier than the last 2 boss battles. It was much longer than most other battles though, but only because he seemed to have a lot of HP. He didn't really hit very hard when it was his turn to attack. I also noticed that he liked to cast his "slow" spell on me a lot and he would waste two and three turns in a row casting it when I countered with SANER. I finished all but the last guild mission and am currently camped outside the Vahal Fort. Gonna try and get to that and week five stuff tomorrow night.

@Zero

EFESS, RAYBLADE, and the silver tusk were my saving graces there. I had no problem with them because I used the same strategy as Mop it up. Buff everyone and then take them down one at a time.

Finished!!! I took Raja with me. Who did everyone else pick?

Gotta say I agree with with Mop it up. The final boss is a pushover compared to the Air Castle boss, Lashiec. His attacks that hit everyone (in his second phase) are not as strong. His solo attacks only hit Wren for about 60-80 damage and everyone else for about 100-160. I also threw a SHIFT on Chaz and had him CROSSCUT every turn for 400-450 damage/turn. I had no problem with him and my levels were around 43 (only Rika was over leveled at 49). Stay buffed with SANER (Rika), BARRIER (Wren) and BLESSING (Raja) and you can't go wrong.

Also, I found a Tech for Chaz named Megid in the Anger Tower on Rykros. It does big damage on the final boss. When you get to the top of the tower you have to fight Alys and then the real boss asks if you want to learn his technique. SAY NO! I said "yes" and fought him 4 times and got my ass kicked each time. I said "no" on the fifth attempt and he just game me the tech!

Thanks for leading the charge Koovaps! Even though it seemed much shorter than most of the 16 bit RPGs I'm used to, it was fun!