Masato Kato said of Chrono Cross: "Cross is undoubtedly the highest quality Chrono that we can create right now. I won't say the 'best' Chrono."
I think he was right. It's a high quality product, but it might not be a great game.
In 2000, Chrono Cross was universally praised for it's soundtrack, and then mostly praised for its graphics. Unfortunately, Technology Marches On and once the beauty of the graphics has worn off, you have gameplay and story to look at - and those are the two that have not aged as well as the music or scenery.
Don't get me wrong, Chrono Cross is a beautiful game with excellent visual designs and one of the best soundtracks in all of gaming. And in that, Cross works.
Gameplay was mostly a nice change from the usual menu driven system, though not quite as fun or engaging as its predecessor. Few Dual Techs and even Fewer Triple Techs, etc. The Final Boss? The "proper" way to beat the final boss is simply to hit certain colors in a particular pattern. It's different, which is good, but something of a anticlimax as far as Ending Bosses are concerned.
But story? Too many characters with very little to zero character development. Not enough compelling story. Serge and Kid are the only two characters who people will walk away remembering, with maybe a smattering of side characters like Lynx or Harle, let alone superficial "gimmick" characters like the Voodoo doll or the Mushroom.
The story tries to be different, and being written by a former Gainax employee, it -is- different. It attempts to deconstruct the story of it's predecessor, but it's own story is not very compelling and can come across as simply being pretentious. Others will simply find the story confusing, even with the manual - Serge's life being saved by the sister-clone of a temporal monster's prisoner because only she heard him crying on a boat in a different dimension is just one of many pills the player will have to swallow and digest. There's a lot of ambitions there, but the execution can leave a lot people confused or just let down.
In the end, Chrono Cross is a beautiful game and a textbook in music and scenery design. But once you are past the facade, there's just something of a let down.
Ambitious But Hollow
Masato Kato said of Chrono Cross: "Cross is undoubtedly the highest quality Chrono that we can create right now. I won't say the 'best' Chrono."
I think he was right. It's a high quality product, but it might not be a great game.
In 2000, Chrono Cross was universally praised for it's soundtrack, and then mostly praised for its graphics. Unfortunately, Technology Marches On and once the beauty of the graphics has worn off, you have gameplay and story to look at - and those are the two that have not aged as well as the music or scenery.
Don't get me wrong, Chrono Cross is a beautiful game with excellent visual designs and one of the best soundtracks in all of gaming. And in that, Cross works.
Gameplay was mostly a nice change from the usual menu driven system, though not quite as fun or engaging as its predecessor. Few Dual Techs and even Fewer Triple Techs, etc. The Final Boss? The "proper" way to beat the final boss is simply to hit certain colors in a particular pattern. It's different, which is good, but something of a anticlimax as far as Ending Bosses are concerned.
But story? Too many characters with very little to zero character development. Not enough compelling story. Serge and Kid are the only two characters who people will walk away remembering, with maybe a smattering of side characters like Lynx or Harle, let alone superficial "gimmick" characters like the Voodoo doll or the Mushroom.
The story tries to be different, and being written by a former Gainax employee, it -is- different. It attempts to deconstruct the story of it's predecessor, but it's own story is not very compelling and can come across as simply being pretentious. Others will simply find the story confusing, even with the manual - Serge's life being saved by the sister-clone of a temporal monster's prisoner because only she heard him crying on a boat in a different dimension is just one of many pills the player will have to swallow and digest. There's a lot of ambitions there, but the execution can leave a lot people confused or just let down.
In the end, Chrono Cross is a beautiful game and a textbook in music and scenery design. But once you are past the facade, there's just something of a let down.