Chrono Trigger Director Takashi Tokita Is Producing Switch JRPG Oninaki

They keep trying to recapture the magic of CT. I don't think it will ever happen.

I'm not really into JRPGs, but now I am interested.

Even more interested than before.

There's hope then this third entry will be a charm; whilst the other titles offered some fun and throwback to the golden age of JRPG they couldn't quite shake themesleves free of mediocrity story telling and bland characters.

@jobvd The best way to recapture the magic of Chrono Trigger is to just release the original game on newer consoles.

@Sinton So long as it's not the iOS / Steam version; I'd rather either the SNES original or DS re-release ^_^

Neither I Am Setsuna nor Lost Sphear appealed to me for some reason. Gameplay videos just didn't do anything for me. This one has me a bit more interested, so hopefully it'll review well.

I managed to pickup Satsuma and Lost Sphear fairly cheap and look forward to adding Oninaki to the set.

Same director as Chrono Trigger: Awesome!
Same scriptwriter as I am Setsuna: Meh...

I am conflicted. It seems I can't wait to be disappointed by this potential gem.

Isn't it multiplat?

I can't speak for I Am Setsuna but Lost Sphear was a comprehensible story away from being "pretty good"

I still don't trust them after I am Setsuna fiasco. Kind of buyer's remorse to me, even though I managed to finish the whole thing. Gotta wait for reviews.

Lost Sphear was good, except the overcomplicated upgrade systems and the mechs and the etc etc etc etc.

There was too many options for such a simple game.

@jobvd just because the guy that made chrono is working on it does not mean they are aiming for anything like it. Guy should not just quit the industry simply because CT is such a high mark.

A game that is 65% complete and will be ready by this Summer does not sound like a very ambitious game.

@BionicDodo That's exactly how I feel. This one has me a bit more interested. If it reviews well I'll def try it out

I loved Setsuna - theme, music and characters were rly good, ambience was also nice.
Lost Sphear on the other hand was dull and boring for me.

Nevertheless Oninaki will be a first day buy! Looks gorgeous

@Tharsman The company is literaly trying to recapture the magic of older rpgs. It's their only goal.

The story in Setsuna was fine, nothing special, but serviceable. The gameplay is what the problem was. It was simply there and wasn’t engaging like other titles, Octopath Traveler springing to mind. We spend 90-95% of our time in these games fighting, if that portion is repetitive and bland, that 5% of story is irrelevant.

OT had a better story (or stories) but the reason it is universally praised isn’t because it had a B vs a C story, it’s because the gameplay was an A vs a C, combined with also having a slightly better story.

Gameplay is the steak, story is the sizzle.

@Bunkerneath To be fair, that's most JRPGs these days. Seems like devs vehemently disagree with the "less is more" maxim, which is such a pity.

I liked I Am Setsuna and Lost Spear although IAS is a little overly complicated. Interesting to see someone from Chrono Trigger working on Oninaki when it's the other two that crib from CT.

Seems like the Chrono Trigger connection could never escape this devs does it? Anyways hope the new game is a step up from Tokyo RPG Factory's first two mediocrities.

The only thing I didn't like from I am Setsuna was the piano being the only music instrument being used for the soundtrack. Game and story was pretty good.

Although simplistic and free from much visual variety, I actually really enjoyed I am Setsuna. It definitely missed some zeal compared to Octopath Traveler (which is brilliant), but I quite enjoyed it while it lasted nonetheless. Lost Sphear, on the other hand, really lacks something for me. I rarely quit a game, but that was a chore to play. Maybe it got better deeper into the story, but wasn’t worth finding out. I’m remaining hopeful for this third installment that the team now knows what worked well and what didn’t. And they have a lot more to look towards for examples. Octopath most definitely brought me back to FFIII (VI)...so let’s hope this time they can bring us back to CT for real.

It's funny, they want to try and sell other games on the Chrono Trigger's name but won't make another sequel. Can we have a Chrono Collection on modern consoles and then a third game?

I finished both of their games and those are good but not spectacular (setsuna is better story and characters wise and lost sphear has better gameplay) but the change to ARPG is a turn-off for me. I will wait and see

I completed & really liked I am Setsuna. I downloaded Lost Sphere when it was on sale, but haven't started it yet (same with Octopath Traveler). I tried the demo for Lost Sphere, but found it boring. However, I'm going to give it another chance eventually.

A Chrono compilation would be nice, too. Chrono Trigger was excellent. Chrono Cross had good visuals & music, but didn't resonate with me, so I ended up trading it in. I didn't get too far into it, either because it was kind of boring to me, iirc.

Setsuna and Lost Sphear looked incredibly dull, but I'm cautiously optimistic about this one. I'd like to see Tokyo RPG Factory get to the point where they're churning out actually appealing games.

@jobvd "They keep trying to recapture the magic of CT. I don't think it will ever happen."

This comes from those lacking forethought this is on Switch with different graphics and hardware levels from 3DS. Yeah that is why one doesn't work in game developments there. JPRG isn't your NA RPG and missing that you missed all the meaning behind it. Lost Sphear Setsuna were better than expected but if you try to compare JPRG to RPG that is a poor way to gauge a game.

I'm hoping they improve on the story this time around. I caught myself groaning by the end of I am Setsuna specifically. Though, Lost Sphere was hardly any better.

The customization also felt needlessly complex for what were actually fairly easy games. So I hope they cut out some of the bloat in options.

@SwitchForce i have no idea what you are trying to say.

I’ll be getting this for sure. Looks leaps and bounds better than Lost Sphear and Setsuna, both of which never really screamed out to me.
I agree with @GhostGarrity though — I read that line and thought the same thing. Maybe the remaining 35% is testing and debugging though... it looks really good regardless so I’m gonna chomp on this one.

@jobvd The magic of Chrono Trigger was that it was a fun and original idea for a JRPG.

SImply trying to replicate it will make a poor man's version of what made it good.

The only way to 'recapture' the magic of Chrono Trigger is to make a game with the same unique charm it had without having to rely on CT for the sake of marketing.

I just didn't like the asthetic that much, but i'll reserve judgement for reviews. I had trouble sticking with I am Setsuna, though I absolutely love Chrono Trigger.

Graphically it looks more ambitious than previous games. I skipped Lost Sphere. This one is going to have to get some pretty good reviews to coax me back. I appreciate what Tokyo RPG Factory is aiming to do, but they have played it safe so far. I would love to see them attempt something completely original. Maybe this is it?

@Seacliff Yeah, that is true. But it's also the problem of this company. They copy but don't have an original vision.

@seacliff is exactly right. Chrono Trigger was amazing when it first came out because it was so unique.
I truly wonder what percentage are true fans of the game, which are just loving it for the nostalgia, and which are just praising it because it is the cool thing to do now.
To be honest this news doesn’t grow my excitement for the game. Tokita hasn’t put together anything that remarkable since CT.

Actually, I like Chrono Cross more. Overall a better game. CT was cool, especially for that time, but at my age, I didn't get the ending. I played more or less straight forward games like Zelda AlttP and Secret of Mana before, so this games ending was too complex for kids. When I played CC I was older and therefore got the deeper meaning. Even after replaying CT later, I still didn't like the ending

Can we get a Chrono Cross remake along with Radical Dreamers that would be so great.

I miss Parasite Eve, well at least the first two games. How about some re-release (and dare I dream remasters) for those Square?

@jobvd Yeah, making 'games like the classics' is a very vague goal.

Lost Sphere had a lot of unneeded mechanics that felt like they were just there because other games had them. I'm at least a little hopefull this game won't fall down that trap since that's less likely to happen with an action RPG, but the company's current track record prevents me from being excited about this game.

@mazzel I liked Chrono Cross better too. I’m not sure why that game received so much hate. People had an expectation that was never going to be met I assume.

Octopath has made me afraid of any Square Enix not named Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. Octopath was so slow... It played more like Dissidia than Final Fantasy. Battles that take more than a min to beat are the reason games have a higher battle speed mode. Still, I am intrigued by this game. I wonder what the battle style will be like.

@biglittlejake octopath was easily better than the last few ff games if one would even call them that.

@jobvd I disagree. FF15 I didn't like either. I did like the 13's, 12, 10, 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. I didn't like the battle style of Octopath. I guess besides FF and Kingdom Hearts, to me anything Square makes RPG wise wasn't as interesting to me.

@jobvd Except Secret of Mana.

@biglittlejake terrible series.

Its going to be tepid. Not bad, but not good. That is fine. I like JRPGs, but I doubt this is anything to be excited about.

Why put a team down and hope failure, this isnt Crono Trigger 3.

Instead of releasing mediocre Chrono Trigger wannabes, Just do a full remake of Chrono Trigger (i.e., dont waste your resources on these games), and only then you would see the true magic of Chrono Trigger.

@Axlroselm a remake would never recapture the magic.

@jobvd "But it's also the problem of this company. They copy but don't have an original vision."
Here's your line right back at you....
@jobvd " i have no idea what you are trying to say."
You missed the point of the game completely by your own metric. Sounds like someone got issues beyond CT and this game.

@SwitchForce you're assuming too much about me. Just stick to facts please.

@SwitchForce It's their own company vision. Face the facts and get of my back. Or make more sense in your next post.

https://switchrpg.com/articles/what-went-wrong-with-tokyo-rpg-factory/

My biggest problem is their price points. Setsuna and Lost Sphear were too expensive on release, I still haven't grabbed LS.

@jobvd so when someone can't backup their own words they deflect that doesn't give you much credit. So when you get to eat your own words you go off the deep end. Now we all know you don't like losing to your own words.

@SwitchForce I did not use my own words. I simply repeated the ambition of the company. You must be new to trolling.

This trailer looked really good and I will be picking this up on day one!

@jobvd If done right it would. Resident evil 1 and 2 remake want to have word with you.

@Axlroselm but how big is the chance that it will be done right?

Good information. I have my eye on this one, so this will make me pay just a little more attention to it now. Let's see where it goes once completed.

I played their first game. It was forgettable and made me remember why I often can't get into JRPG's (archaic story and boring battle systems).

This game looks much more ambitious and I hope it pays off.

The 60% finished rings some alarm bells though.

I'll give this a try. I am a CT and CC fan. Played IAS too and well, I liked it.

Octopath Travelers, however, is kind of dissapointing. My expectation was high because it will be in NSW and can't help to compare it with Rudra (JRPG) where all character's story actually intertwined. In Octopath, it is like playing new characters and that is all, no story of the other characters actually seen when using other characters.

Play Treasure of the Rudras and you'll know what I mean.