Episode 317: Chrono Cross

I'm actually very intrigued about playing this now. The combat system, and music sound you good to pass up! Thank you!!

Dennis H

That was a fun replay! The story was a bit messy, which is to be expected for a Square game. They sure loved those last-minute twists. Soundtrack was awesome. Graphics kinda held up which is a surprise. The gameplay was weirdy slow by modern standards; I reached for the fast-forward button a lot. it's a lot more bloated than CT, but it's a fun ride

Different times back then, but Chrono Cross received a Greatest Hits re-release in the US and TWO budget re-releases in Japan. I think only by modern standards would it be considered a poor seller! Squenix is still mining back catalogue from the SNES era for remakes and remasters, however; I think there's still time for Cross to get a quickie upscale. Plus... maybe a European release? That would be nice.

All we need is a full length Xenogears episodes and Jeremy can retire from podcasting. He'll head out like Frodo at the end of Lord of the Rings. Nothing left for him here.

shea dewar

So...jus' sayin'-- the breakdown of the story from JP is instantly one of the greatest moments of Retronauts. The guests were really awesome as well.

Normallyretro

I wish SE would clean it up and drop a high res remaster on current digital platforms, but I'm not holding my breath. I think last and maybe only re-release was PSN probably 10 years ago? Both times this game must have sold fairly poorly. Never say never though, I don't think most people expected they would ever remaster FF8.

Absolutely thrilled to listen to this one, and I thought you all did a wonderful job; aside from Jeremy's unsurprisingly superb memories of a game that clearly means so much to him, Jared and Nadia were excellent contributors as well. It's probably true that the superb presentation of the game makes me have fonder memories of it than I probably should (I have only played it once all the way through!), plus the similar factor to Adam above of having to import it to the UK (that was a marvellous summer for me - Chrono Cross, Legend of Mana AND Threads of Fate, all in one go, and all of which I still own!), but playing Chrono Cross was a pretty magic experience. I particularly liked that you talked about how awesome combat was (although did you mention about the star-based stat growth?) alongside the obvious narrative/music/character recruitment talking points.

Hot mess are the right words for this one. Loved the music and atmosphere, and the battle system was okay. I just wish they gave you a reason for recruiting all those bland characters and that the story was a bit more gripping. If it ever comes out for the Switch I’m sure I’ll try and fail to play through it all for a third time. [post-listen edit] Just want to say, Jeremy, your explainer for the story of CC was excellent, clearest interpretation I have ever heard. Loved the episode keep up the great work.

Mikey Cox

So many memories ! It was the first game I bought for my PSOne, which I bought late in that generation to play Square JRPGs. I played the hell out of that game and wound up getting every character. Guess I should replay it some day ... I have no recollection of the story though, so ... thanks for the refresher, it's a hot mess

As a long-suffering Brit, we didn't receive many JRPGs until relatively recently, but after seeing Chrono Cross' stunning opening FMV showcased on long-forgotten gaming show "Bits" in 2000, and then reading about it obsessively via the works of some guy named ToastyFrog, I had no option but to buy it on import. And though it's a bit incoherent and rough round-the-edges in retrospect, I think it still holds up really well (not least because of that glorious soundtrack). Now, to pray for a release with those sexy AI-upscaled backgrounds...

Adam Elmahdi

So happy to hear Petty on this episode. That man is a treasure 👏

Perfect timing, I've been replaying Chrono Cross over the last few weeks! =) Soundtrack still slaps for this one -- one of my favorites growing up!

Oooh, looking forward to hearing this one. Chrono Trigger is my favorite game of all time, which of course means I hated Chrono Cross. But not really. I actually enjoyed it, but it did require choking down ruined expectations. I didn't mind the weird, unorthodox twists and turns or the sub-Suikoden recruitment system (I didn't play those games till much later), I honestly just wish they would have gone the same route as other Square games and not tied the story to the original. Excellent soundtrack, though. Also, yay Nadia!

Phoequinox