Chrono Cross is Not Chrono Trigger 2 - And That's Okay
A Great Game With a Bad Reputation
Chrono Cross is such a weirdly divisive game. As a big, gigantic fan of the game, I’m constantly trying to get people who haven’t played it to try it out and ignore the hate that it gets, giving them a chance to form their own opinions on it.
There are those who dislike the game because of its combat, the element system, or some other aspect, and that’s totally fine! Where I draw the line is when people bash Chrono Cross for not being the Trigger sequel that they’ve been wanting - but I kinda get it. Chrono Trigger rules, and it does suck that it’s never gotten a fully-fledged sequel. But does it really need one?
Chrono Cross was meant to be a second entry in the “Chrono” series with loose ties to Trigger, almost like how the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games are very loosely tied together with some elements. This exact quote from the director of Chrono Cross, Masato Kato, explains it all:
We didn't want to directly extend Chrono Trigger into a sequel, but create a new Chrono with links to the original. Yes, the platform changed; and yes, there were many parts that changed dramatically from the previous work. But in my view, the whole point in making Chrono Cross was to make a new Chrono with the best available skills and technologies of today. I never had any intentions of just taking the system from Trigger and moving it onto the PlayStation console. That's why I believe that Cross is Cross, and NOT Trigger 2.
— Masato Kato
I think this perspective makes the most sense. And I think Chrono Cross deserves credit for being more than “Trigger 2” and for doing so many things differently that help it to stand its own ground as its own game.
Okay, that’s enough rambling from me. If you’d like to learn more about why I love Chrono Cross so much, feel free to read my full review below and click those other buttons for neat stuff!
I think for a lot of us (myself included) at the time when Chrono Cross was fresh, didn’t quite grasp that the game was simply never intended to be a direct sequel.
Funny enough, I personally didn’t realize the game was connected to Chrono Trigger until one of the characters literally says “the Chrono Trigger!” during a cut-scene.
From that point on, it set my expectations to see characters show up from Trigger. I remember feeling annoyed when the fate of the three principle Trigger characters was revealed. It was a bummer for me.
But outside of that, I still really enjoyed Chrono Cross. It works great as a standalone game with loose ties to Trigger.
Everyone needs to stop with the Cross hate. I don’t understand it because yes, they are loosely tied together but it’s a stand alone game. Cross has the most beautiful OST, and pre-rendered backgrounds.