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Friday 25 January, 2008
Chrono Trigger Entry #1:
Summary:
Chrono Trigger is a game for the SNES where you play the boy character Chrono as he travels through time on a quest to save the world. Chrono Trigger is a classic RPG game where the player progresses through the story meeting and joining up with new characters along the way, leveling up, and gaining new abilities and items.
Gameplay:
Because my friends have been badgering me to play the game and talking about it for many years, I was no stranger to a few of the characters and the essential plot. So when I finally got around to playing it, it almost felt like homework I had been procrastinating from forever. A feeling of nostalgia immediately hit me when I started playing, as it reminded me of watching and playing Final Fantasy III with my brother for the SNES when I was very young. Although the plot progression in Chrono Trigger is very predictable and many of the scenarios are all too familiar (save the princess scenario), I still felt the raw feeling of adventure I felt back then.
With today's games it's almost a must to come up with new and original styles of gameplay and plotlines because many of the classic plots have been repeated so many times. For me, Chrono Trigger's predictable story progression did not detract from the gaming experience because it was actually refreshing to play a game that captures the raw essence of the 'save the princess' scenario so well. There are no apparent ulterior motives for the characters above the simple desire to do good deeds. Such simplicity and classic adventure is hard to find in modern games, so while others find the familiar scenarios boring, I find it fun.
As I am not far enough into the game to get a good grip on all the battle functions and features, I'll save those for my second entry. For now, one of the astounding features of this game that is keeping me actively engaged is the musical score. I knew the music would shine before I even started playing, because I have heard many good remixes of the game's songs on websites and have even downloaded a couple of the game's tracks onto my computer long ago. Back to my point about the simplicity of the character's motives, nothing so far highlights this better than when you are introduced to the Frog character and his corresponding musical score. The Frog is the historic hero who rescues the Queen before Chrono meddles with history, and the song embodies a feeling of pure heart to the extent music from a Super Nintendo can ever be capable of doing. This remains one of my favorite classic game tracks of all times (along with themes from Final Fantasy III and VII), and I am only hardly two hours into the game.
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