But I've rarely heard a harsh word toward Cross. In fact, it equals if not surpasses the first game's popularity.
...Where have you been looking?
This is basically my opinion of the game. Though, I've never heard that it's basically accepted that, yeah, turn-based combat is a chore, especially since I find it far more enjoyable than real-time combat (or even pseudo-real time, such as Chrono Trigger).
@Hylarn: For what it's worth, this game has never received a negative or mediocre score from critics, though the same might be said of Chrono Trigger. Still, it's not difficult to find fan critics of this game.
"What's out there? What's waiting for me?"
LOL, Hylarn, I was about to say exactly the same thing.
Younger gamers tend to spurn Trigger, but they adore Cross. I've caught this sentiment on our forum, as well as other forums. Again, it's a generational thing. People no longer expect innovation from JRPG battles, but they do want a sprawling, lush story. Hence FFXII with its autopilot fighting and five discs, and fans of the genre loved the shit out of it.
Yes there are critics of each, and I list the common rebuttals.
I'm a skeptical squirrel
The last time I saw Cross come up on our forums, it immediately resulted in half the people there saying not to play it, a few people saying that it's decent on it's own it, and just about everyone agreeing that Trigger is better
...Also, FFXII is reasonably controversial. I think you're projecting your opinions onto the fandom
I think you're cross-examining me with no point, other than to feed your self importance, even though our opinion on the game is probably the same. What, you have a problem with hearsay? Fine.
I got mobbed not two weeks ago on Spoony's forum for implying that Cross was a tad unchallenging. The fandom is there.
I'm a skeptical squirrel
Maybe so, but the hatedom is equally existant.
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Pass the bong
It goes without saying, CC is one of those titles that everyone ought to play or have played. I've heard testimony from people who found Trigger pretty hard going, either because of the antiquated story (they relied more on style back then), the grinding, or just plain hype aversion. But I've rarely heard a harsh word toward Cross. In fact, it equals if not surpasses the first game's popularity.
Myself, I think CC a splendid game on an artistic and musical level, but the plot gets out of hand by the second disc, and the cast is needlessly large. I say needless because this is the Evangelion of video gaming; its creator was intent on tackling some pretty esoteric issues, here. I'm not even sure what Chrono Cross is about, frankly. This isn't window dressing symbolism, of the type found in most Final Fantasies (the Star Wars of video gaming). Kato is obviously a writer more than a game developer; thinking deeply about the nature of self, reality, human folly, racism, environmentalism, existentialism, the cosmos (every NPC breaks into a poem or soliloquy when you speak with them). But I'm a believer that less is more, and any one of these concepts could support its own game. CC is so intent on asking questions that the story falls by the wayside. This point is definitely debatable, but I think we were given a handful of interesting, fully-fleshed out characters in disc one, and then the author lost interest in them. We're talking about the potential for man to destroy the Earth, and meanwhile I'm in a canoe powered by a little blue alien's UFO.
My point is that the skeleton of a great story was there. These weren't half-formed ideas, rather they were buried under a morass of more plot. If not for the schedule slip, there'd be even more plot, God help us.
Now, from a meat and potatoes perspective, the game is perfectly sound. While not especially challenging (give or take a Miguel), combat is made interesting with hit accuracy (borrowed from Final Fantasy Tactics) and field effects. I especially liked forging new equipment, even though it's prohibitively expensive. Enough good things can't be said about the presentation. Gameplay is less important in an era where it's basically accepted that, yeah, turn-based combat is a chore and people only slog through it for the story.