Happy 20th Anniversary, Chrono Trigger

Looking back on Chrono Trigger after twenty years, it’s tough to imagine the collaboration that led to its existence actually happened, the kind that usually occurs in people’s dreams.

It was the result of two visionaries whose minds clashed, assisted by a development team with plenty of prior RPG experience. No one had to fantasize about what would happen if Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi had the chance to work with Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii, as both joined together in the creation of a game that inherited the combined spirit of both franchises — well before Squaresoft and Enix merged. It remains on the top 10 lists of many fans and critics alike for very good reasons.

At the risk of sounding cliché: Chrono Trigger was the product of a simpler time. It emerged in an era where no one needed to revolutionize the Japanese RPG genre. It was when the genre was being constantly refined with many new software releases, and development costs being low (despite high cartridge prices) meant lower fear of risks. While this particular game combines the best parts of FF and DQ, those elements aren’t thrown in haphazardly, and it comes with plenty of ideas on its own. It was a time travel adventure with shonen manga sensibilities, with an endearing backstory and gameplay simple to approach despite its depth. Considering that, it was fitting that Akira Toriyama, a man known for providing heartwarming shonen stories and contributing artwork for them (including Dragon Quest), provided all the designs.

In fact, if you had to apply one word to Chrono Trigger, it would be “refinement.” In playing or replaying it today, the biggest surprise you’ll realize is how much fat it doesn’t have. There was no need for the development team to insert any meandering quests and subplots, which primarily (but not exclusively) exist to pad the game’s length to make the consumer feel better about shelling out $40-$60 on day one. There’s nothing wrong with long RPGs, but it’s too easy to point out examples of titles that slip into a poorly-paced pitfall, a phenomenon that started during the PSOne era.

Not to say Chrono Trigger doesn’t have its complications, though it’s nothing obtrusive. The battle system is a simple and speedy turn-based affair; the complexity comes with discovering which parties work best for which battles. The game is hardly difficult overall, but it can be a boon to have the right setup for the best unique combination attacks and spells for certain bosses. That’s not getting into the act of learning and seeing all of them in action to determine precisely what they do, without ruining the fun by consulting a guide. But it never feels overwhelming despite all the possibilities.

The main story is a fun and lighthearted romp, but its depth and thought lies in its backstory. It deals with themes concerning the origin of humanity and various supernatural and magical elements that once entered the world, and how altering time can have dangerous repercussions. The latter point is tackled further in some extra content added to the DS version, and its sequel Chrono Cross — to varying degrees of success. Many of the first game’s fans would rather forget those exist due to the unwelcome darker themes both take, standing in stark contrast to CT’s more jovial one.

It’s not possible to discuss Chrono Trigger without mentioning its beautiful sprite work. It had the benefit of being developed in a time where Squaresoft mastered the innards of the Super Nintendo’s hardware capabilities, in a post-Final Fantasy VI world. It gave them the luxury of knowing how to assemble a collection of sprites and artwork that took advantage of its unique technology, yet didn’t overexert it too heavily. The results were beautiful enough that it’s still a sight to behold to this day, precisely 20 years later. In terms of spirte work and art direction on the same system, it’s perhaps only bested by the remake of Dragon Quest III.

Not every aspect of Chrono Trigger was grabbed from the past and strategically inserted into it. It marked the first big job for composer Yasunori Mitsuda, whose touch was distinct compared to other Squaresoft composers at the time. Though Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu assisted with the soundtrack by contributing nine tracks (with one track, the first boss theme, composed by Noriko Matsueda), Mitsuda’s themes stood out the most — to the point that many think he was the only composer. Sure, he did the vast majority of the soundtrack, but it’s better to give everyone proper credits, however minimal. It nonetheless features some of Mitsuda’s most memorable works.

Chrono Trigger is one of the few Japanese RPGs that manages to get every element right, and it’s a pity dream collaborations like this don’t happen often — especially in Japan these days. Sakaguchi revealed at PAX last year that a sequel was planned at one point, along with plans to make it an ongoing franchise. But things didn’t work out for multiple reasons, which is why they went with Chrono Cross. Who knows how those sequels would have turned out, but it’s tough to imagine them matching CT. Word has it the assets for the discarded direct sequel were used in Xenogears.

The anniversary seems to have passed without a word from Square Enix in Japan, which is sad, but not surprising. Playing the best versions of Chrono Trigger nowadays is harder than it should be. The DS version is out of print, though it can still be found for a good price. The SNES version is available on the Wii Virtual Console, but not Wii U’s. The PSOne port, available via PSN, is pretty bad thanks to long loading times and terrible slowdown during busy sections, while the iOS and Android versions are finicky to control due to being touch-only. I highly recommend playing or replaying it around this current time, because it’s the kind of dream collaboration we’ll never see again.