Whenever a developer resurrects a decades-old game, the same question arises along with it: does the remaster maintain the integrity of the original while changing enough to warrant a purchase for both newcomers and longtime fans alike? For Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, that’s tough to answer. A sequel to Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross’s first re-release in two decades isn’t feature-filled or resplendent with next-gen graphics to make the game more palatable for a modern audience. No, it’s a remaster in the basest sense of the term: a lick of paint and a handful of bells and whistles for good measure.
The Radical Dreamers Edition does however come paired with another game: the elusive visual-novel – titled Radical Dreamers – originally released in 1996 for the Satellaview, a peripheral attachment for the Super Famicom in Japan. Until now there was no way to play Radical Dreamers in the West outside of a fan-translated ROM hack. For fans of the Chrono series, this is more than just a bonus tacked onto a remaster of a beloved game. It’s half the reason to buy the package.
Intrigued by this unearthed relic, we jumped into Radical Dreamers first. We noticed immediately that other than adding a clearer font, little else has been done to the game visually. That did not stop the text-based adventure from engrossing us, however. Series composer Yasunori Mitsuda’s soundtrack pulls more than its share of weight. There isn’t a lot of music to accompany the short narrative, but what music there is tugs on the ol’ nostalgic heartstrings as it resembles both Trigger and Cross’s soundtracks. So too does the return of familiar characters, as the events of Radical Dreamers exist as an alternate timeline to Chrono Cross and laid the foundation for its plot.
Radical Dreamers takes place in Lynx’s Manor, with the protagonists Serge, Kid, and Magil infiltrating it to steal the Frozen Flame. What the Frozen Flame is comes to light as the player, taking on the role of Serge, selects text-based choices to navigate the manor, find items, and circle back to unlock other areas. Events play out quite differently based on the choices you make; Kid might admonish Serge rather than praise him, while a battle with a skeleton may dramatically change in a subsequent playthrough.
Going in, we didn’t expect a visual novel from 1996 to hold up too well, and unfortunately it doesn’t — Radical Dreamers just isn’t that fun. But Chrono fans with interest in its esoteric lore will enjoy the hour-and-a-half it takes to unravel its mysteries. For those who really like selecting ‘continue down the corridor’ again and again, there are six alternate endings and scenarios to unlock – a couple of which resemble absurd fever dreams – to eke out a half-dozen more hours.
Chrono Cross itself, however, is a delight, will always be a delight, and we’ll fight anyone who says otherwise. Serge and Kid’s dimension-hopping adventure remains unchanged at its core; there are no extra boss battles or reworked story beats here. Within a few hours, you’ll be collecting dozens of party members like Pokémon – including a skeletal clown, a mushroom man, and a luchador – on a jaunt across two versions of the lush archipelago of El Nido to learn the truth behind the Frozen Flame, all the while battling a myriad of polygonal enemies in a turn-based system. To this day, few adventures match the level of whimsy and mystique of Chrono Cross; all corners of El Nido are filled with morsels of lore, dramatic scenarios, and colourful characters.
Those turn-based battles take up most of Chrono Cross’s 40 hours. They’re still fully steeped in 1999 with sluggish camera pans, repetitive attack animations, and unnecessary victory screens. It’s a blessing, then, that with the click of a thumbstick you can now avoid enemy encounters entirely, or speed up battles (and exploration) with a press of 'ZR'. That’s not to say these turn-based battles aren’t enjoyable. Chrono Cross features a complex elemental battle system that takes a bit of getting used to but becomes a pleasure to strategize with. Still, our patience for outdated turn-based tropes wore thin quickly enough for us to make liberal use of these mod-con additions.
Not included are any options to alleviate the pain of navigating menus from the last century. Nor do the full-motion video cutscenes receive an update. An animation studio giving Chrono Cross’s narrative the visual flair it deserves would’ve gone far in making this remaster feel more substantial, but while the additions are welcome, it's all a little bare-bones.
Actual widescreen support would have helped, as well. Square Enix included three resolution options: Normal, Full, and Zoomed, all of which feel inadequate. 'Normal' presents the game in a centred 4:3 frame with a border that leaves nearly half of the screen unused, 'Full' stretches out the image to the edges of the screen like a poorly sized desktop wallpaper, and 'Zoomed' skims about a centimetre off the screen from the top and bottom. Pick your own poison – ours was Normal. All settings look better with the Switch undocked, but on the more forgiving lower-resolution screen, most things tend to. In fact, we spent most of our time playing in handheld mode. Like many games, the Switch’s portability becomes one of this remaster’s greatest strengths.
The rest of The Radical Dreamers Edition does receive a visual makeover, though. Unlike remasters like Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap and Diablo II: Resurrected where you can swap between the classic look and the new at any time with a push of a button, here you must exit to the menu each time you wish to switch between the classic and new graphical styles, of which a more legible font, new character portraits and models, and the de-pixelated backgrounds are all tied to a single option. If you want the classic font style and character portraits, but prefer the look of the new backgrounds and more defined character models, you’re unable to toggle them individually. Swapping also becomes a headache in a game with fixed save points, nixing one of the joys of playing a remaster: comparing the old to the new on a whim — something that was an unexpected point of delight with Wonder Boy, in particular.
That said, we much preferred the new graphical style anyway. The backgrounds in particular, resembling paintings rather than the pixel mosaics of the original, impressed. The more we played, however, the more we noticed that both styles stuttered as if the Switch had trouble maintaining a steady frame rate. This seemed slightly worse with the newer graphical style and more noticeable with the Switch docked. Smaller areas like the Pirate Ship remained stable, but Termina and other expansive areas chugged along here and there. Battles also suffered from some minor slowdown, especially when first loading or after enemies were defeated – a disappointment to be sure, especially considering the modest improvements made with this remaster. There's a Day One Switch patch scheduled to go live shortly, with another one to follow soon after — we'll update this review with impressions should it improve things.
Luckily, Mitsuda’s masterpiece of a soundtrack rises above these nagging issues, remaining essentially untouched outside of minor refinements, even though promotional materials and news articles suggested a full reworking of popular tracks prior to release. This isn’t the case — the menu screen song for Radical Dreamers is a new composition, and Mitsuda rearranged two songs from the Satellaview game and 'Scars of Time" from Chrono Cross (Danish trio "Dreamers' Circus" also contributed four "special arrangements"). Even though the new additions and tweaks are minimal, the classic music is utterly brilliant and you’ll be hard pressed not to stop and listen to track after track whenever you enter a monster-riddled cave or step onto a remote island teeming with tropical vegetation.
Conclusion
It’s a shame that, with the release of Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, we likely won’t see a comprehensive remaster or even a full remake of this underrated gem for a long while, leaving us with a somewhat underwhelming version on Switch that isn’t much beyond a port. Regardless, the portability of the Nintendo's console and the inclusion of Radical Dreamers still makes this the best and most convenient way for fans and newcomers alike to play the 22-year-old classic and its pseudo-prequel. It's a good game and having easy access to it is a boon — just don't go in with more than modest expectations when it comes to the remaster effort.
Comments (123)
Removed - discussing moderation
Blows my mind they can't get 20 year old games working better than back then. Blows my mind even more this will probably still sell well.
At least it's only $20 and not the $30-40 nonsense a lot of these ridiculously old games think they're worth.
Well the price point makes more sense now. Unfortunately I kind of expected a lack luster port coming from Squenix, so this comes at no surprise.
Oh well. I didn't play this originally when it came out, so I'll give it a try.
the price makes this very reasonable for me
Removed - discussing moderation
As long as it runs as well as the original, that is fine.
I come from a different era of gaming, and small niggles like frame stuttering doesn't bother me.
I have a holiday lined up this weekend to spend playing this for three days straight.
I quite like this colorful remake. I was expecting far worse from earlier press coverage. Nice!
What's the best way to buy Chrono Cross physical for North America?
So it's less of a remaster, and more of a port.
I'm okay with this... but I'm also not gonna rush out the door to buy it 🤷🏽♀️
lol...but expected...there as just ONE good remaster made by Square ...SaGa Frontier Remastered ...the rest is just average and below that
@CharlieGirl the official statement: "CHRONO CROSS: THE RADICAL DREAMERS EDITION" is a remaster of "CHRONO CROSS".
It's odd that it doesn't run butter smooth. This has ran on emulators for years very well. I sometimes wonder if they just put minimal effort into these things. Chrono Trigger on PC was really good so I was happy to buy it, but not so sure on this one. Maybe I'll watch someone play it first to be sure.
I told myself if it scored reviewed well(7 or higher) I'd buy day 1. I'm sure this will be in a sale in the summer and I'll grab it then. Sounds good, but also one I can hold off on being just ok and 40+ hours.
@Edu23XWiiU this is not the place to have these discussions, I personally don’t go on Nintendo life to see a bunch of people ranting about politics
Frankly I'm not the biggest fan of this game, hell outside of the gorgeous music, world, some cool story moments and colorful graphics I find it a bit on the mediocre side in a lot of ways, having to run around a bunch through many corridors over and over and talk to people over and over does get a bit annoying (the ship part around the middle of the game is the worst of it). Though even with my personal nitpicks and what I would say are some questionable design choices (so many party members without the game really being designed around that at all) the original game at the very least, you can easily tell, was clearly a labor of much love.
"skippable encounters make archaic systems digestible"
This mindset however is something I'll never understand just in general, why are regular enemy encounters always seen as something "archaic" or tedious in these games? As if the boss fights are supposed to be the only actual gameplay aspect of these games or something.. This isn't the case in any other genre that I know of, nobody's crying for Goombas getting in the way of their enjoyment in Mario or whatever.
@BlackenedHalo PR Marketing and actual product don't always align, unfortunately.
Clearly not a great remaster. As I never played the original, but always wanted to do so, this is probably the best way to do so.
It's stil Chrono Cross on the Switch. Maybe the score reflects the fact that they didnt go the extra miles to make it a TRUE HD remaster, but quite frankly if it plays as good as the original (and from what I can see, it still plays better than the original, even with some hiccups), but I can play it on the go, then it's a 9/10 game in my eyes. Bonus are great, but I'm here for the main game period. Scoring a port/remaster is always weird. People will start thinking that Chrono Cross is a 6/10 game, when it's totally not.
@SteamEngenius well, when I was saying these very words when Square released FF8 Remastered, I was the most hated man in the world ....so see, you (not you directly) were satisfied with that remaster, some said it was beautiful, so why not satisfied now? lol ...i just love the saying "You reap what you sow"
@Drac_Mazoku
Yeah I'm slightly lost now if the game is a 6/10 or just the remaster effort. They say it's the best way to play a beloved game but then I'm not sure why it's so low?
I never played it, is the game itself an 8-9/10? So then the release is a terrible version hence the lower score... Not really sure I understand this review! 😅
I absolutely hate the aesthetic of higher resolution sprites/models against low quality 2D backdrops. Why does Square Enix keep doing this? Who even likes this?
They might as well have saved whatever little effort they put in to this and issued an enhanced port instead. The fact that such a simplistic looking game has performance issues from a major publisher is embarrassing.
@Expa0 I’m with you. Random encounters are the very foundation on which these games are built. Squares remasters have bothered me because there are buttons to skip fights, or have max gold, or max stats. What is the point of playing?
@itslukec because of those wanting to enjoy the stories ...naaaaaaaaaah i hate that excuse!
For being a remastered, there aren't really any new contents in the game enough to go back to but the fact that it's even here at all is okay with me. I already got my physical copy coming so just waiting for that.
@BlackenedHalo if you just want a story read a book. Or play Uncharted.
@itslukec To me random encounters are a chore, specially in old games where after a battle you can barely move a pixel and you are already on another battle.
I don't mind turn based, though. Just let me see the monsters so I can avoid them if I want to.
The score hasn’t completely turned me off from getting this game, oddly enough. It very much intrigues me, and I might get it somewhere down the line.
@BlackenedHalo Well... Nobody forces you to play games on easy/very easy mode, or play JRPG without random encounters. Not everyone can play games on normal or hard modes. Not everyone can play JRPGs with random encounters function turned ON. Oh, and also... Not everyone have time to deal with these random encounters.
Square Enix didn't put much effort in this did they? Compared to Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster, that game had alot of care put into it.
But this? not much. The presentation seems alright to me. i'll get this at a later time. Square Enix's RPG's don't really get my attention tbh.
@diegoarthur
There were never random encounters in this game, just enemies roaming in the maps which you may or may not avoid, though with the new features those encounters do not activate even if you collide.
E:Also than half-a-pixel thing for old school RPGs is such a gross exaggeration, barely ever is that even a thing. Unless you're talking about Black Sigil on the DS which I guess considering how often people love to say you can only move 1-2 steps in games with random encounters I guess more people have played that game than I though.
@Axecon Playasia is a good choice, if they still have it. I wish I had waited though, because it was only a few days after I had placed my order that I received an email from videogamesplus.ca that they have it up for preorder. The Canadian site does free shipping, but the catch is that you have to spend 80 cad minimum, although if there's something else you want from there, you'll pay less for Chrono Cross overall.
all those slowdowns and the texture wobbling just say that this not even a port, just a rom running via an emulator...
@Vyacheslav333 why everyone should play JRPGs in the first place?
@diegoarthur then these games aren’t for you. Simple as that. By skipping battles and playing on easy mode you are playing a watered down shallow version of what was originally intended. I don’t expect other genres to mold themselves to my tastes, why would you? Entitled.
@Alexface Pretty much my point. For people who never played the MASTERPIECE that is Chrono Cross (remember finishing it 13 times in a row upon release, and it's not even an exageration), they would maybe think that they should skip this release, even though it still seems to best way to play it today. Quality of the port might be a 6, but it's TOTALLY different than the quality of the game, which if a 9+ IMHO. Maybe 2 score should be given on those retro rereleases, since many people will not start doing another reserach afterward on the base game, they will just dismiss this release.
@diegoarthur Yep, you're right. But for me, the main problem is that the JRPG game can be hard at the beginning. FFVI and Super Mario RPG, for example. These games was hard for me at the beginning. But after a while, games' difficulty began to decrease.
For $20 I'll probably get it. I think that's fair even before even reading the review(s) and just going off screenshots, etc.
This was a comprehensive review and I feel confident I'll enjoy this if even just for a little. I do really wish there was voice acting though. Stella Glow on 3DS ruined me on that front — the entire game is voiced and is done extremely well and enjoyable.
My friend had this game back in the day on PS1 and I always wanted to play it but never actually owned it. I'll finally get to play it!
@OnlyItsMeReid What exactly happened? How does the first comment discuss moderation??
Still have my copy of Chrono Cross on PS1.
Come on guys, the original game is actually great, one of the best JRPGs ever, despite the remaster being so disappointing. I would love to see this kind of attitude towards any of those lazy Nintendo remasters...
@BlackenedHalo Well... Not everyone might be able to play JRPGs 'cause everyone have personal videogames preferences... But, why everyone should like random encounters in the JRPG games in the first place?
@the_beaver yeah it think most people are saying the game itself is still good, just not the remaster
Used to minimal effort from Square Enix at this point. I don't think they counted on much return on this investment. But seriously, if they made it to match Another Eden, they probably would have got newer fans and actually made something of this. SE seems terrified to take any risks.
I'm really only interested in whether it runs and looks better than emulating the original. Or even runs the same and doesn't look worse than the original (which is a low bar).
@Vyacheslav333 because it is a part of the genre
I am gonna get it on Steam and hope that modders will fix some issues.
@Browny I'm with you. This is the first time people in Europe can play this game. I'm actually happy we're getting this game and that it seems to be a port close to the original. That's all I wanted.
I personally don't care for all the technical stuff, as long as the game works I'm good. ✌️
Looks like a fun gane, but a bad port. Sadly, something not new for Square Enix. And honestly not even new for this franchise (Chrono trigger PC port wit a lot of bugs, comes to mind)
@ManaOwls
Well you could also set up an US account in your PS3 and buy it from the US PS store (as far as I'm aware the store is still up) which is how I originally played it, but this is the first official way yes.
@itslukec Well, as long as the options are there and more people are having fun, thanks to the options, what is the matter?
@Expa0
I think the mindset is because it's old, so reviewers aren't used to these game mechanics and flow. They have different mental models about how videogames are supposed to feel. So they'll complain about the battles here but then run down much longer corridors and fight many more enemies for hours in Final Fantasy VII Remake and won't have an issue there because, while the experience is fundamentally more monotonous and long-winded, at least it's snappier!
A shame this is somewhat underwhelming considering it's the first time Europe is getting Chrono Cross.
@diegoarthur I’m just wondering why anyone would spend money on a game to skip through the majority of it because they hardy like it. Play something else.
They better keep their hands off of Dragon Quest 12. I swear if they do the ff15 treatment on my sweet dragon quest my soul will leave my body from pure despair.
I'd already filed this one under "eventually" status (and possibly not even on Switch) anyway, but this review helps solidify my decision. Too many other games to focus on right now.
Besides, Square Enix tends to halve the prices of their digital offerings in eShop sales 2-3 times a year anyway.
6 this Site is so stupid
@Expa0 I was talking on a broad way, not specifically about Chrono.
Regarding the encounter rate, many JRPGs from Snes and early era had ultra high rates. First that comes to mind is Dragon Ball RPG for snes.
A 6? Did they damage the game or something? I mean, it's no Chrono Trigger...but 6?
Amazing.
Arguably a 95/100 game when it originally released.
But bring expectations into the mix by comparing it to the likes of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap and Diablo II: Resurrected, suddenly it's 6/10.
It's the same great game it was in the 90s lol
@itslukec Maybe they would only use if needed. Like a point into the adventure where it gets frustrating for some reason, then just skip the battles. Better than buying the game and never finishing it.
Oof. I was close to importing this physical but stayed on the fence because of how rough early footage was. I still have my original copy and play it on my PS3. That and the fan translation of RD will have to do.
@NintendoByNature Not to sway you one way or the other, but it's averaging 79/100 on Metacritic so far.
Link: https://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/chrono-cross-the-radical-dreamers-edition
@Astral-Grain
If you approach this game as a software product, then it's clearly not up to the standards of the modern market. If you approach it as art, then my previous sentence is nonsensical. That's the rift here.
@diegoarthur thats cheatin’!!!
@Beaucine If all remasters/ports got the same treatment, that would be at least consistent.
FF7 (92% on Metacritic) gets a 8/10
FF8 (90% on Metacritic) gets a 7/10
Chrono Trigger (92% on Metacritic) gets a 6/10
Are they reviewing the game itself or just the porting experience?
@Astral-Grain
I'm guessing it's different reviewers with different perspectives, even if it's the same outlet. I thought FF7 was a 10 when I played it last year. A 5 as a software product, though (?)
@Astral-Grain
In all seriousness, I do think there's a place to discuss the actual port and release. A lot of reviews of classic film DVDs or Blu-Rays do this: they differentiate between discussing the film itself and discussing the specific release, sometimes splitting the write-up in half. Digital Foundry Retro does likewise in their video reviews.
@BlackenedHalo which is ironic given those issues are easily fixed through current emulators
@Beaucine Of course, we can't expect only one person to review all of Square Enix's PS1 remasters, so there will always be some level of difference and that's perfectly understandable.
It's hard not to consider FF7 had the least amount of effort in porting. It didn't get up-res'd textures or any additional content, just a handful of convenience features, and that got an 8/10. Though, if they ranked it any lower, I'm sure there would be backlash for such a famously amazing game.
Meanwhile, FF8 and Chrono Cross here have better textures, loads of options for changing the experience and CC even has additional story content.
I guess the moral of the story is stop trying to improve the old games and just release them in their original chunky form if you want a good review?
NO, this review score is irresponsible.
It could make those who aren't familiar with the series believe Chrono Cross isn't a great game and skip it.
I came here to read the reasoning behind the review score, (having already known the game itself is great, of course) then logged in to speak my mind, because it was the first review score that popped up when I google searched news on the release.
Many who may have been interested in the game could just see that score, having no prior knowledge of the game itself, decide against it, and deprive themselves due to that perception.
Regardless of whether it's a relatively bare-bones HD remaster, it's an 8/10 at the very least.
Similar to the Final Fantasy remasters.
Not to mention, the reviewer jumped the gun and reviewed the game without it's day one patch for some reason; those who actually purchase this game will play it with the patch.
They also complained about mostly trivial things like having to go into the menu to toggle between the original and new graphics.
If it were some utter hack job of a port, that would be a different story but obviously that's not the case.
In no way does this remaster, as described here, warrant giving Chrono Cross a 6/10.
The only concerning note is the frame-rate dropping at times but, again, they should have waited for the day one patch, which is how everyone else will play it, if they suspect that may correct the issue, before they published the review.
Try again, please.
Does the game have analog control support? SquareEnix seems to love removing it in their PS1 RPG ports (FF8 and FF9 both had it removed), making for some absolutely terrible world exploration.
So, "Waaa it's not Chrono Trigger" basically?
@moodycat I don't think you actually read the article.
I actually want to compliment @Lowell Bell for deftly and thoroughly avoiding the trap of analyzing Cross on Trigger's merits. The review was actually pretty self-consistent and laid out the faults and good qualities relative to most other JRPGs, or ports of same.
I guess I'm used to your being moody... but not so indolent. Disappointing comment.
@itslukec That is getting old and having an already frustating life to be also frustrated in games lol
@Astral-Grain sadly though they messed up FF8 by having the menu's run at the same speed as the battle animations at 16fps, where as on the PS1 these were 60fps, so things like Squall's limit break are harder to pull off
@carlos82 Didn't the port of FF7 have the exact same issue with FPS caps?
I've put at least 15 hours into FF8 on Switch and I'm still able to get all the hits on Squall's Limit break without too much difficulty.
Nice, it wouldn't be a chrono game if the remaster wasn't mediocre.
@Astral-Grain I can't really remember to be honest, just this one stuck out to me. I mean it's still doable but it's that lack of care and attention to detail I find puzzling
@lolwhatno you can check the comments of the other article, the first comment just got mad that they closed the comment section on the other article
This looks so pretty, and I did enjoy it as a kid (but it was beyond me and couldn't make it very far). I have owned it on my vita for years and still haven't played. Maybe I should give this version a go.
@carlos82 The irony is that the less care and attention they give, the better they do in reviews. The more effort they give, the more criticism they get in reviews, despite all being amazing JRPGs.
FF7 had basically no changes besides minor quality of life features, and it got 8/10
FF8 had more substantial changes, up-res'd textures, fixed many complaints from the original version by adding things like junction swapping, and it gets 7/10
Chrono Cross gets the most substantial changes so far, up-res'd textures with the option to toggle back to old graphics, a whole new previously unreleased visual novel, fixed many complaints from the original game, and includes quality of life features, and it gets 6/10
This is what more effort and attention gets you, significantly lower scores.
Push Square gave it a 4/10! What a pity, I was looking forward to buying it, and now I think I'll wait for a sale and for some patches.
@Axecon It's either this cartridge version or just buy the original 2 disc PS1 classic. Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition doesn't had physical release anywhere else, it's only physical for Switch and through the Asian version only. The Super NES (Radical Dreamers only), PS4, PC, PSP (Chrono Cross only), and Xbox versions are all digital download only.
I'll wait for a sale
@Astral-Grain To make you feel better RPGFans gave this game a 95/100. I would trust their review more so than these other critic websites. RPGFan are reviewing these games from a dedicated RPG player point of view instead of a technical point of view. If they say it's good then it's good and definitely worth the $20 bucks, $40 if you're buying it physical.
https://www.rpgfan.com/review/chrono-cross-the-radical-dreamers-edition/
@itslukec Dragon Quest is famed for it's adherence to classic JRPG mechanics and tropes. I think if they made DQ12 more like a FFXV, fans would lose their minds (and not in a good way).
@Specter_of-the_OLED That's very thoughtful of you, thank you!
I'm still picking this up on Switch because I know the core PS1 content is very very good for JRPG standards.
The bonus features this review complains about are just that, a "bonus".
Very bare minimum port. Guess Live a Live remake got the lionshare of resources.
Wow, harsh. I thought for sure this would be an 8 or a 9. I'd still like to give it a try one day.
@Specter_of-the_OLED
Mayhap I should start visiting that site now and then too, thanks for the heads up, always appreciate more news outlets that may share some of my interests.
Hm. That did not whet my appetite.
Fair score. I love this game, it's one of my favorites of all time. But I'll never be under this weird delusion that it's some perfect experience. It was made at the height of games trying to be "experiences" and suffers for it, neither existing as a fun well-constructed game or as an interactive movie. The battle system is unoriginal and boring, the game has almost no challenge, character stat progression is weird and automatic, the character bloat is out of control, and the story is a lovely trainwreck especially at the end. People enjoy this game at varying degrees and that's fine. I can look past all that and love the game, others won't be able to especially going in fresh. Be okay with someone not liking your favorite games, people.
$20 is good price for a slightly upgraded port. For the person who hates the cheat options, just don't use them.
I did play Radical Dreamers but have never got around Chrono Cross (I didn't have a playstation back then)
Chrono Cross is that kind of game for me that have been sitting there on the "have got to find a way to play it someday" for too long and this remaster is just what I needed to check it off
This is kind of what I'm looking for with this kind of thing. A few more features might be nice. But for those of us that never got to play a lot of these kinds of things when we were younger, a straightforward port, no more, no less, for $20 seems pretty legit.
@Drac_Mazoku
That's actually a fantastic idea. Especially considering a lot of people skip the review and lookostly at the score.
Disappointing, I've been looking forward to trying Chrono Cross and hoped it would review better. Although it sounds like they did add some quality of life features. The art looks good to me so I don't care if the remaster aspect isn't perfect, but not fixing the performance on a 1990s game seems pretty lazy.
I may get it anyways since the price is reasonable; if this were a Nintendo game the remaster might cost 60 dollars. 😝
@Gitface I hope you are right! Haha.
Sounds alot like the Grandia review, therefore I will wait for the 50% off sale.
We can get ports of The Witcher 3 running on the Switch but they can't make this run smooth all the time? What a joke! Lazy incompetent idiots. I won't buy this just out of spite.
@BlackenedHalo Legend of Mana is quite fine. Also Final Fantasy XII Zodiac Age, but Zodiac Age is not in the same price range.
@Expa0 It's more the fact that the random battle in this game give nearly nothing.
@Expa0
"E:Also than half-a-pixel thing for old school RPGs is such a gross exaggeration, barely ever is that even a thing."
Is it an exaggeration? Sure. Is it a "gross exageration"? When games like Phantasy Star 2 and Tales of Phantasia come to mind, not really. Two games that I'm glad I saw through to the end, but I will never touch again (I'd consider the AGES version of PSII because it also has the ability to turn off random battles).
I'm not some millenial whining for EZ modes or to "just let me see the story!". I'm a guy whose been gaming for decades who isn't afraid to call out archaic game design practices and appreciates when devs/pubs have the awareness to include options to reduce frustrating or time wasting grind. Standards go up over time, not down, and when an old game gets dropped in modern times with these OPTIONAL features, that's only a good thing.
People in your camp can ignore them, and people who aren't can still enjoy a classic. Everybody wins.
Disappointed for sure. Seems to be universally panned, and the original is such a fun game. May get it anyways, but wish it performed better.
@OnlyItsMeReid Oh that makes sense.
Thanks for the explanation!
Wooow a 6/10 seems criminal! Sounds like the reviewer was expecting a lot more from this remake, but viewed on its own term this game is great. It looks absolutely beautiful to my eyes and if you haven't played this game you should absolutely check it out! For my money it's better than Chrono Trigger. If nothing else, just listen to the score; it has one of the best video game soundtracks of all time.
@NintendoByNature But have you played Chrono Cross before? If not, ignore the score. The review seems mostly about the quality of the port. The actual game is great.
I mean, to be fair as long as the game runs as well as the original, I couldn’t really care less, I would have taken a port anyway.
Maybe they don't want to do remasters anymore?
20 years later Chrono Cross is still as polarizing as it was back then, except now the reviews also reflect that.
@Axecon The only way to buy an physical copy is on play Asia. The Asian release has English but it's not available for a couple of weeks yet.
Maybe it's just early and I'm not reading properly, but a 6 seems a little harsh for the content of the review. The sluggishness is a problem, but supposedly they've already pushed a day one patch so most players shouldn't deal with that. Of course it remains to be seen if the patch fixes it. So I understand that technical complaint. But aside from that, it seems like the game itself is falling to complaints about it not being remastered enough. Archaic menus? Chrono Cross' menu design is snappier than the Final Fantasy games of the era and I've never had trouble navigating them. Also, speaking on Final Fantasy - this site gave the Switch port of FF IX an 8/10, and it's the "other" big Square game from the same release year as Cross. That port was bare bones and the only remastering was some touchup work to the sprites which actually made the untouched backgrounds look worse. Here the background work is praised and the game is described as a delight - and compared to the NL reviews of FF ports, this stands proudly alongside...the mobile version of FF XV...huh.
I can't for the life of me understand how a 20-year-old game that is ported to modern hardware, still runs at an unstable 15-20 FPS. It's completely incomprehensible that reviewers seem to accept this and consider it "fair".
@Astral-Grain appreciate it. I checked the review round up article and it seems to be all over the place with scoring. I'll get it eventually, just not day 1.
@wollywoo thank you! I haven't played it yet. Good point about the quality of the port. I did check the review roundup and it's kind of all over the place. I'll grab this at some point.
@OnlyItsMeReid then they shouldn't make articles that have politics on their roots.
@NintendoByNature 81 metacritic w 13 reviews, FWIW.
Edit: Sorry, i see others have pointed out similar things. When an article has this many comments, i stop scrolling after a few, because no way I'm reading all of them, lol.
@twztid13 haha no worries. I'll grab it for sure. It just might be down the road. I have a ton to play atm anyway.
@NintendoByNature same for me. I actually never played it before, but i loathe retro games' graphics. I love turn based rpgs, so I'm hoping that will override the retro aspect for me, especially if it's as good as everyone i know has told me it was (the PlayStation version).
@twztid13 its probably worth a shot at 20, I just have so much to play I'm not sure I'm ready for another 40+ hour game. I grew up on retro games but it's a little different of an animal when they're rpgs. Surprisingly, i loved FF7 and 9 to death. Not sure how this would hold up compared to them. If you end up going for it, you should head over to the dedicated thread and let us know your thoughts on it.
@NintendoByNature ok, but not sure where the dedicated thread is.
Edit: i think i found it. Under "discussion" tab?
@twztid13 here ya go. People are discussing the game there.
https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/chrono_cross_the_radial_dreamers_edition
@BlackenedHalo LOL most modern JRPGs don't have random encounters, and Chrono Cross didn't have them 22 years ago. Furthermore, if I am of a high enough level to complete an area, I shouldn't be forced to sit through the tedium of any more random battles. Turning them off should have always been an option. Really, they never should have existed, it was a dumb hold over from archaic tabletop rules, and anyone saying "they're fundamental to the genre" is out of touch.
@Cross_eyed_oni I much prefer a game with random encounters than the plethora of touch encounter games where enemies moves faster than the player and gets initiative by touching the player from behind.
Many of these games also have enemies patrolling narrow hallways, making them impossible to avoid. To quote yourself, "if I am of a high enough level to complete an area, I shouldn't be forced to sit through the tedium of any more" - poorly placed touched encounters.
I swear I never seen anyone talk about how good a touch encounter system has been implemented in a game outside of Persona 5.
If poorly implemented, it's arguably more frustrating to play than random encounters. Players rarely complain about it because they truly believe a barely functioning touch encounter system is better than any random encounter system.
I wish square would have the team that did the phenomenal trials of mana remake do remakes of all this snes ps1 era stuff.
So I've been playing this for a bit now, and what I hate most about this release is the frame rate! The drops are very noticeable, and much worse than in original the PS1 release. It's pretty sad that this game runs much better on an emulator than in an official release. Why does Square disrespect their customers so much?
Tap here to load 123 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...