Earlier installments: · Chrono Trigger · Chrono Cross Last seen in: 2008 (CT DS Remake) Publisher: Square Enix

Chrono Series Quoth Jon Yearworth: Does Chrono Trigger really need a sequel? That's quite a tough question. Chrono Trigger already has a sequel in Chrono Cross, however, it is one of the most contested sequels out there, and depending on who you listen to, it's either one of the best PSX-era RPGs or a deeply flawed game that tramples all over its predecessor. The links between the two, and the overarching story, are still hotly debated to this day in the corners of the internet. With several fan projects struck down by Square Enix's lawyers over the years, it is apparent that fans out there, especially with Chrono Trigger's recent DS remake, are ready for more from this series. However, a lot of them may think back to Chrono Cross and wonder if it can really be done. Square Enix has several options here. With Chrono Trigger DS fresh in people's minds, would a remake of Chrono Cross work? Maybe, although any sort of remake would need to address the criticism levelled at it the first time around, and I doubt you could find much agreement between fans over what should be prioritized during the process. The alternative is moving away from Trigger and Cross to carve a new story using the existing setting, but then, where can the series really progress from here? Trigger has a party of unlikely heroes travel across time to defeat an interplanetary world-ending parasite, and Cross has an even larger party cross dimensions to defeat something that threatens to eat the space-time continuum. There's only so much you can do here before a man in a blue police box shows up and tells you to knock it off. The robot designated as Tom Goldman says: Chrono Cross may have been the official follow-up to Chrono Trigger, but Cross discarded key aspects of Trigger that prevent me from considering it to be a true sequel. Though Square should be commended for choosing to create a new storyline rather than adding to the one completed in Chrono Trigger, there are huge discrepancies that keep myself and many others pining for what we can deem "Chrono Trigger 2." For one, Chrono Cross's developers abandoned Chrono Trigger's concept of time travel in favor of dimensional travel. This made for a similar game mechanic, but one of the most enjoyable parts of Chrono Trigger was how players would constantly be flung from present year 1000 to 65,000,000 B.C. to 2300 A.D. while discovering more about the world, what was truly shaping its history, and meeting new characters or fighting challenging bosses ranging from dinosaurs to spirits to robots. I’m sorry, but there cannot be any exception here: A true Chrono Trigger sequel has to give players the ability to travel through time. Cross's battle system was also very different when compared to Trigger's. Again, making dozens of unique characters available to Cross players was enjoyable, but unnecessarily overwhelming at the same time. Chrono Trigger was based around seven solid characters, each with their own elements and powers that would combine for dual-techs and triple-techs that vary between any combination of three. Every Trigger character had techniques that would mix with every other, making various parties useful in different situations. Considering that Cross gave players more than 40 characters, there were a surprisingly small amount of dual-techs and triple-techs, which was one of the best aspects of Trigger. Cross used an Element system that was also something new, and it added character customization, but it felt like something completely different rather than an evolution of what was seen in Chrono Trigger. Don’t get me wrong, I love both Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, and certain aspects of Cross hearken directly back to the original, with a soundtrack that is quite possibly even better. However, Cross wasn't exactly what a Chrono Trigger sequel should have conceptually been. Expanding on the mechanics laid out in Trigger is not only possible, but it'd make for another extremely compelling game that RPGamers have been hoping to see for more than 15 years. Can a new game happen? Series Highlights What is Square Enix waiting for? Entirety of Chrono Trigger, Cross's soundtrack « Back | Next »