Pip domination in Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition review

Our Verdict

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition has a few technical issues that may infuriate those of you that are used to modern RPGs. However, the story, unique characters, and gorgeous art make it worth pushing through if you’ve never played this amazing JRPG in the past.

I adore vintage JRPGs. I'm a huge fan of the Final Fantasy VII series and have played the original game more times than I can remember. In addition to Final Fantasy, Persona, Pokémon, and Kingdom Hearts are all very special to me and helped me pursue the career I have today. Nevertheless, I never got around to playing Chrono Cross or Chrono Trigger.

Since I am aware that Chrono Trigger was conceived by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the inventor of the Final Fantasy series, Yuji Horii, the founder of the Dragon Quest series, and Akira Toriyama, the author of the Dragon Ball manga series, I have always found it appealing. Even though I downloaded the game on my iPad last year, I never really got around to playing it.

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition fits the bill in this regard. Although the production crew for this game is different from that of Chrono Trigger, the game is still situated in the same universe, which, to be honest, kind of put me off. On the other hand, Cross garnered almost flawless reviews upon its 1999 PlayStation debut and now holds a comfortable 94th place on Metacritic. I had to attempt this timeless piece.Despite the fact that both games are set in the same world, to the best of my knowledge, you don't need to play Trigger to comprehend Cross. If you were fortunate enough to play the original game, you could see references to it, but I never got lost. I would caution you, however, that after finishing Cross, you may get anxious to try Trigger.Without giving too much away, the game centers on Serge, a young guy who is accidentally transferred to a another universe where he passed away 10 years earlier. You quickly become friends with a tough female called Kid, and the two of you try to figure out how Serge got to this new place while also taking out Kid's adversaries.The Switch upgrades are immediately apparent in the game. Among other options, you may select to play the game in a traditional or modern graphics style, accelerate or decelerate time, and alter the screen resolution. This version also includes The Radical Dreamers, a text-based adventure that Square first published in 1996 for the Satellaview, as the name of the game indicates.I ran about like a chicken with its head chopped off for the most of my first hour with Chrono Cross. If you don't talk to everyone on your first visit to Arni Village, you may easily miss the built-in instruction for the fight system. all else becomes much more exciting once the fighting system is obvious, therefore I strongly advise you to speak with Arni and learn all you can about elements and hitting.My early concerns about the fighting system were allayed when I saw how simple it is to understand. With three distinct attack types that range in strength and precision, you may unleash even more havoc by using an element. It takes some time to figure out which color element is most effective against certain enemies, but the more you play around with your characters, the easier it gets.Regretfully, even though the fighting system has a lot of promise, there is a lot of input latency while selecting attacks, and I was often concerned that, in my anger, I would accidentally hit the incorrect button while pressing the A button. The game's overall framerate problems don't concern me too much since they weren't persistent, even if the performance problems transcend beyond the fights.Aside from the fighting, I really like the lovely music, the redesigned characters, and the HD rumble. I had no prior experience with Chrono games, so I was taken aback by how lively and alive each of the villages seemed. When I play a JRPG, I like talking to everyone I can to find out as much information as I can about the setting.Chrono Cross, like many PS1 games, is not an open-world game. Rather, it has a static globe map that you may navigate to access new locations. The map is very lovely, in my opinion. The colors are incredible, blending flaming reds, deep blue seas, and brilliant highlighter greens into one harmonious whole. The static sceneries are quite beautiful, and the colors and layout of the global map and settlements are reminiscent of Final Fantasy IX.Opassa Beach is one of my favorite places to go early in the game. Despite its diminutive size, it serves as an excellent illustration of the level of detail in the game. The sound of your footsteps on the sand and the breaking waves is calming as you stroll over the beach. You should almost always spend time exploring a place to the fullest so you may observe your surroundings, interact with the locals, and maybe even pick up some delicacies.The large cast of recruitable characters is another aspect of the game that is commendable and distinguishes it from other vintage JRPGs. Not every one of the more than 40 distinct combatants that may accompany you on your adventure can be found on your first game. My favorite character from my first game is Pip, a cute little lab experiment you have to escape from a cage and then locate on a ship.You may replace Serge with another character if you don't like him since each one of the characters helps give the game a more personalized feel. You do you! Perhaps you would like a squad made up of adorable little misfits! They also provide replay value to the game since you'll want to try out every personality as soon as you can because they're all so fascinating.Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is a terrific method for lovers of classic JRPGs to experience this treasure without having to hunt down a PS1 copy and dust off the ancient machine, despite my normal concerns about button latency and overall performance. I also like playing long-lasting 40-hour games on the fly, and the Switch is great for that.