This Old Neon Forum

I actually liked Chrono Cross. The story was whack, and people were really clamoring for a proper direct Chrono Trigger sequel, which this didn't deliver in a satisfying way. And the combat & leveling systems were kind of weird. Then there was the huge collection of strange party members. It had a very different charm. I don't think I've played a game quite like it. I don't know if I can vote for it though. I don't think it's a first round out, but probably a second round. We'll see.

Pac-Man CE DX+ is the other game contending for my vote. It is a ridiculously savvy refinement of a classic.

Kong Wen wrote:I actually liked Chrono Cross. The story was whack, and people were really clamoring for a proper direct Chrono Trigger sequel, which this didn't deliver in a satisfying way. And the combat & leveling systems were kind of weird. Then there was the huge collection of strange party members.

You just listed all the reasons why I thought Chrono Cross was total shit. Maybe I should put that on my Worst Game Ever troll list.

Rob

Pluvius wrote:You just listed all the reasons why I thought Chrono Cross was total shit. Maybe I should put that on my Worst Game Ever troll list.

That's going to be a list which is very specific in who it trolls, because Chrono Cross isn't exactly that highly regarded.

Although I think it's a decent game. Unlike Chrono Trigger.

TheGreatNads wrote:

Pluvius wrote:You just listed all the reasons why I thought Chrono Cross was total shit. Maybe I should put that on my Worst Game Ever troll list.

That's going to be a list which is very specific in who it trolls, because Chrono Cross isn't exactly that highly regarded.

It has a 94 on Metacritic, so I'm not sure about that.

You're referencing metacritic here, which inevitably means we're talking about rose-tinted reviewers tackling the game over PSN. I can assure you Chrono Cross took a beating on release, as did Legend of Mana.

Local gaming magazine praised Chrono Cross to hell and back on release, with the fact that it wasn't released here listed as one of the few weaknesses.

Back then, publishers still hated Europe.

Yeah, while link64's effort to use actual evidence to support a point is appreciated, I'm not sure the Metacritic score is very representative. It is based on only 16 reviews. He still has provided more evidence than I have, as I'm implicitly relying on other people's memories of what happened.

I would also add that, even if Chrono Cross reviewed well, that does not necessarily mean it was appreciated by most people who played it. But to be fair, the 226 Metacritic user ratings are mostly positive(8.8), so those would be supportive of what link64 said as well.

I suppose one could argue for example that a vocal minority of people were responsible for talking down Chrono Cross, while most people who played it liked it, just less so than they did Chrono Trigger(although that's discounting the people who didn't play it at all, Cross sold over a million less than CT, which isn't a perfect estimate of how many people played it, but it will do).

Although even then I would suggest Pluvius' troll is only going to be targeted at fairly specific people, since [arguably] not too many people are passionate Chrono Cross fans like there are with Chrono Trigger(though I would suggest there are people who are passionately negative about Cross). If you want evidence of that, I'm still going to provide none, but if you peak around the internet for lists of best games of all time(not to suggest anywhere in particular), you're probably going to find some with Chrono Trigger, I would not expect you will find a whole lot of lists with Chrono Cross.

VictorViper wrote:You're referencing metacritic here, which inevitably means we're talking about rose-tinted reviewers tackling the game over PSN. I can assure you Chrono Cross took a beating on release, as did Legend of Mana.

Actually most retrospective reviews I've read are far harsher on the game, Gamespot and IGN even praise the inclusion 40 plus playable characters which everyone on now seems to agree was a bad idea.

Could have also been spurned on by the long string of mediocrity Square was dumping out at the time. Can't say I played it, since I despise Trigger, but I'm sure there are a number of things factoring in to this both past and present. 94 Metascore is insanely high.

VictorViper wrote:Could have also been spurned on by the long string of mediocrity Square was dumping out at the time. Can't say I played it, since I despise Trigger, but I'm sure there are a number of things factoring in to this both past and present. 94 Metascore is insanely high.

If you despise Trigger the chances are good that you will like Cross better, or so my theory goes. Not that that's a recommendation(it's really not), because simply despising something less is not grounds for one, but I'm just going to throw that speculation out there. I don't know what your particular gripes are with Chrono Trigger, but I think Cross is more interesting from a mechanics standpoint than Trigger.