Was it Good? - Chrono Trigger

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* - Flashing Light Warnings: Several magic spells and teleportation effects use repeated flashes of bright light - *
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Often praised as the greatest JRPG of all time, Chrono Trigger is a time travelling journey where you start by saving a cat and end up killing a god.
It holds the top spot on many 'best game ever' lists, so everyone know's it's meant to be good, but is that just nostalgia talking? Does Chrono Trigger still hold up today?
Many thanks to the supporters on Patreon, KZbin and Twitch who allow me to create long form videos like this, while not needing to take sponsors to do so.

[@stevenhartwell9914]

I always liked how, if you beat the game without saving Crono, Marle will go and save him herself. You can let go, but she won't.

[@reloadpsi]

Best girl.

[@trufreedom]

Never knew that. Could never not bring him back... cool to know though!

[@interoffice5402]

I must have forgotten that ending, especially since I could never let him stay down. That's an amazing, beautiful insight. Thanks for sharing!

[@ThisAutomaton]

Get yoself a girl like Marle.

[@delgado290690]

Did that ending on the first NG+....it felt empty at the end only to hear that we can bring him back....ALL YOU BITCHES, GET IN THE EPOCH!!! WE GETTIN' OUR BOY BACK!!!

[@RayDark33]

Only 2 things scare me like hell - Kefka's laugh - Lavos's scream

[@tromboneretard]

Fun fact, Bekkler's laugh is just a slowed down version of Kefka's laugh. So you got the best of both worlds in CT

[@theodoreslavo5385]

Add on Nine Balls theme and the phrase "Commencing Hostiltites" and that'd be my list.

[@lindenstromberg6859]

For me it’s the idea of inevitable aging and death, the collapse of civilization, and waking up without my penis.

[@AnimatronicBadgerlord]

I wish to add only one more. Diablos's Roar.

[@joshuapatrick682]

The 2 best JRPG’s of all time? To me they are, though CT is misclassified IMO. Its not really an RPG but a story focused adventure game.

[@mavvasquez]

Fun fact no one has mentioned yet... the main music composer of the game (Yasunori Mitsuda) made an almost entirely completed sound track to the game, but his hard drive crashed and he had to start entirely over again... we'll never get to hear any of those songs. "I made a lot of new material based off of the memory and feeling of the original compositions.." He was also stated as having music and tunes come to him in dreams. Talented guy... and I'm very thankful for his work.

[@timothymoss5007]

Wow. I thought I knew everything about this game, but that's a new one. Thanks!

[@Demokaze]

​@@breadandcircuses8127 Is it that surprising? If you remember dreams they're more or less imagination and that is what fuels artistic creativity.

[@45johngalt]

We are both thankful for that

[@ChrisEbz]

Imagine the hard drive is still around and all we needed was a data recovery service? Haha 🤔😎

[@seifeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]

I bet after that he started to have a back up copy.

[@Djou-Karl]

Rest in peace Akira Toriyama, you will be missed. Edit: Typo

[@tonytom5242]

Toriyama influence will live on

[@smokeybozo8184]

He brought much beauty and joy to millions, his legacy and influence will carry on.

[@nonanimeprofilepic]

>akiro

[@seikkv4371]

Even me who HATE Toriyama style very hard (yeah yeah dont kill me guys) LOVED this game so hard, even his characters who are so good that theyr style dont matter at all, and the OST is just lovely. In fact that game is the cause im today a writer, specifically because one character, but im not gonna say who :)

[@LunarLemonade]

One incredible lore detail about Lucca's sidequest - the campfire conversation heavily suggests the time gates are created by the planet. The implication is really touching when you think about it. The red gate is literally _the Earth itself_ intervening to give this girl a chance to avert a traumatic event and save a loved one. I like to think that explains the exceptional color. It's an impossibly vast consciousness turning to one of the creatures that's fighting to save it, and saying: "this is for you".

[@Bjorick]

Not really touching, it suggests that the planet is conscious but doesn't actively do anything about Lavos, instead, letting it happen and letting someone else do the work. HOWEVER, I will say that the only character I don't like in this game is lucca, I know lots of people love her. To me, however, she's a mary sue, and i just never related to her at all. Which is funny, hearing how the video refers to her (someone who is connected to machines and isn't very social) - is how people refer to me pertaining to tech. So, maybe it's a matter of looking in the mirror and not liking what I see, but I feel that she's never challenged at all, where as everyone else is - Lucca's mom lost her legs, and that's it - she's favored by the game after that and is more a plot device then a char to me, having less personality then crono, and the fact that lucca is the only one who had her childhood trauma reversed fully without any negative effects is just cheap to me

[@evrfreez]

@@Bjorick Just because the planet's conscious doesn't mean it can make giant fists and punch Lavos. It IS doing something to stop Lavos.. that's what the Time Gates are. If they didn't exist, Lavos would win. DOES win.

[@Bjorick]

@@evrfreez yes but that makes no sense from a logical perspective - the planet is conscious and has the ability to create time gates, which is shown to be done by the queen of Zeal but only AFTER tapping into the massive power of Lavos The planet, in this line of thought, has the power to do this easily and control factors to make someone come along and stumble on the gates and how to use them - okay however, if you have such powers, why not simply create a time gate to have a time gate appear at the time/date lavos landed and then either: 1. Push lavos into outer space and thus miss the planet completely, or; 2. Push lavos so far into the future that the time gate drops lavos into a time when the planet is already dead/dying and is just a dead rock floating in space? Again, it makes ZERO sense to say 'the planet has the ablity to create time gates and is conscious' and the only solution is 'have someone go in and maybe kill lavos or maybe die and make things worse'. Further, Lavos wasn't powerful when it landed, and wouldn't have the power to open gates until sucking the energy from the planet, so this change would prevent lavos from creating a time gate to stop this, as the planet would be dead when lavos appeared outside the gate, and never gain the power to open time gates and starve to death Zero logical sense.

[@banaman7746]

@@Bjorick hmm... ya know, I was gonna say, don't forget it mentions how sentient life turned out the way it did because of lavos in the first place, so it's possible the planet needed lavos to create the life, but needed to stop it before it ate everything... But that would make no sense at all. The cavemen and the reptiles both were doing perfectly fine before lavos landed. in fact, as shown in the video, one of them naming it lavos as it arrived is how they got the name in the first place... so that would heavily, heavily imply life would've been perfectly fine with or without it... you may actually have a point there.

[@LunarLemonade]

@@Bjorick Those Eagles really should have carried and dropped Lavos directly into Mount Doom, huh?

[@tsbol2201]

"So, being a good person I pick up the amulet and bring it back to her." This is my favorite "trap" any game's ever sprung on me.

[@andromidius]

Yeah its a great system. There are no real consequences, but it teaches the player that consequences will exist in future - that the game remembers what you do, even things you think aren't things to consider, causing you to really think about what you're doing and how its going to come back later.

[@Chad_Thundercock]

My favorite trap is Flea.

[@misterkefir]

@@Chad_Thundercock Lel

[@professeurgideere5856]

I personally find the lunch bag of the old man even stronger, since it's basically tells you to not loot everything you can, which is both a reflexion of how loot hungry players tend to be in RPGs, but also hints at later upgrades on magic chests items.

[@supersmashup]

@@Chad_Thundercock plz don’t be transphobic

[@Lord_Sunqu]

One thing you forgot to mention: If you bring Magus to the fight against Queen Zeal, he will have an interesting conversation with her. And just before the fight begins, *his* boss theme will replace the standard boss theme, making the whole battle even more epic.

[@Loner098]

I'm surprised that no video game out there does that anymore.

[@jaredwalley5692]

It gives him closure he doesn't know he needs.

[@InternetHydra]

Somewhat related note, if you fight Magus on the cliffside with Frog in the party, Frog will insist on a 1v1 battle and have a dramatic line if he wins. There are unique bits for bringing certain characters to certain moments in the game, and he only covers a tiny few. Another well known one is Marle embracing Crono if she's in the party when he's rescued.

[@drewrobinson5562]

It's rare,ya. The only similar thing I can think of is tales if the abyss. If you collect all the hymns and fight using Luke and tear. (Which most people would cuz mc+main healer) you'd get an extended boss fight were the music changes to be the extended combination of all the songs collected.

[@ricoperez5250]

@@InternetHydra Very true! Ever taken Magus along when you repair Cyrus’s grave where Masa and Mune reappear to make the final form of the Masamume? Magus will turn away and pull his cape over his face when they appear.

[@wandererbard8993]

When I first played this game I changed Robo's name to Promo as an idea of Prometheus and when I found out that was his real name I was so awe struck. The fact that Marle's final weapon is attached to Frog's quest actually makes sense because You met Frog only because Marle changed the past in the beginning of the game, and Frog as Glenn was in love with the queen's daughter. There's references to this in the other chrono games

[@manifestationnation]

I was immediately skeptical from the intro but it took like two minutes for me to be like "wow, this dude is legit." Right away goes into more detail than 90% of the game essay/reviews out there.

[@AsheramK]

Yeah. While I don't always agree with Mr.Hayes, he always makes certain to bring enough footage and explanation to form your own opinion.

[@Imar13]

The 2 hour 20 minute video timer did not quell your skepticism?

[@Kio_Kurashi]

@@Imar13 I've seen a video that was 6 hours long to critique a 1.5 hour movie. It was rambling and awful. Length doesn't equate to quality. Though I suppose, by comparison, a 2 hour video for a game that could take on average 20-ish hours is rather short. Though not as comparatively short as his usual reviews for _whole MMOs_ are. :P

[@WalkerRileyMC]

@@Kio_Kurashi Yea agreed. Video length doesn't matter. Take a look at the groups that make half hour long videos picking apart a 40 second long movie teaser trailer. Is there *really* enough content to go that long? no. No there is not.

[@Kio_Kurashi]

@@WalkerRileyMC Well, maybe not enough on that trailer itself, but usually those groups go on to pull in other media or reference other things. Also just kinda 'shooting the shit' as it were. One of the ones that comes to mind is Shadiversity's Knights Watch channel where they do talk about trailers and take half an hour to an hour, usually when Shad is there. But most of that is discourse around the topic, and even sometimes things unrelated to it. For those, it's less about the trailer and more about interacting with each other and/or their community. I certainly wouldn't go to the channel if all I wanted was a quick rundown of the trailer XD Dunno if that's what you were talking about or if you were meaning people who go on a full tirade over the trailer alone.

[@Zillionman2010]

One of my favorite details from the game is how the gurus were all twisted and lost who they were due to Lavos' influence. Melchior, the guru of life, ends up making and selling weapons. Belthasar, the guru of reason, slowly loses his sanity in his isolation and despair. Gaspar, the guru of time, ends up at the end of time.

[@reloadpsi]

Huh, never caught that. Pretty neat.

[@daviddobarganes9115]

@@reloadpsi Same

[@WoodenClockwerk]

The only one i noticed was Belthasar but i never thought about that!

[@philpyung4831]

Never thought of that. Good one.

[@1Dshot]

You might say Gaspar ended up outside of time even :)

[@rangersnut]

I wish they would do a remaster of this for switch. R.I.P Akira Toriyama. 😢

[@IdkAkaIdk]

A Remaster or Remake for modern consoles would be neat, if it's a Remake i think they should do it dragon quest 11 style

[@spoopyd.8910]

There's one for mobile

[@IdkAkaIdk]

@@spoopyd.8910 Let phones phone & consoles game. Square Enix needs to stop putting shit on mobile

[@rangersnut]

@@spoopyd.8910 I know, thanks. I am not into gaming on a phone

[@xdcello2024]

How abt ds?

[@tylerseidel809]

I came to this video after watching a couple of your other "Was it Good?" videos (pokemon red/blue, God of War, Medieval) as a game that I'd heard thrown about in name, but never played. Two minutes into this video, just by the premise of the game alone, I decided to play through it, and now that I've JUST finished it for the first time (beyond time ending), I've gotta say this is probably my favorite jrpg ever... so thank you for this video.

[@TC-lk2ev]

It's the heroin of rpgs. Nothing else compares after you've tried it and you'll spend forever searching for something that gives you that feeling again.

[@bannelore449]

Never realized the horror Lucca must have felt over what happened at the beginning of the game, given the context of her side quest.

[@MilenAnessar]

Fortunately things go well and got ultimately fixed, should that ends bad she'd be traumatized for life even more than she already has.

[@CenturyBlade]

Nor the composure necessary to not shit herself out of despair and PTSD in that moment. This is quite literally the closest thing she has experienced to what happened to her mother so far, this is why she fixated on machinery, this is what those 10 years lead up to: "A machine (that I made btw, for additional dramatic potency) has done something irreversible to someone in front of me. I must find a way to fix this."

[@TheShamefurDispray]

she gets worse in the sequel

[@insensitive919]

@@TheShamefurDispray We don't talk about Chrono Cross...

[@TheLastMinister]

@@insensitive919 We could if they ever made their promised Chrono Break. Otherwise it's like looking at the scaffolding to a building with an impressive base. Clearly something great could come of it, if they ever committed.

[@naruheme5268]

Josh covered almost everything in Chrono Trigger. The only thing I don't recall hearing is if you defeat the Black Omen in 1000AD, you can go to 600AD and 12000BC and defeat those incarnations of the Black Omen as well as a nod to timeline continuity. Same if you defeat it in 12000BC, it will be erased in future time eras. Also if you do the 1000AD path you can steal up to 3 Prism Dresses and 3 Prism Helms from Zeal's hands, so if you get the 3 helms from the Rainbow Shell quest you'll have 6 helms to cover all the party and 3 dresses for the 3 female members of the party.

[@osurpless]

Yep, as opposed to Locke’s steal in FFVI or earlier games, charm has a lot of benefits in maxing out other characters quicker than just running through NG+ a few times.

[@jonbob0008]

There are also Speed tabs that you can steal over and over again, which is a big help as speed is a really important stat.

[@bennyboyshs]

You guys make me feel like I never even played these games.

[@manifestationnation]

You also get to hear the awesome music from inside the Black Omen three times as well

[@jadekaiser7840]

You can also go back after picking up the upgraded items from the sealed chests in 1000AD, and _also_ pick up the nonupgraded versions in 600AD. You just have to do it in the right order. This is useful, because even if the nonupgraded ones aren't as good, the armors still absorb an element at reduced effectiveness and stuff. Good for certain specific boss fights, since you can put the weaker one on a second party member.

[@bryguy062485]

One cool thing that some people miss is at 1:09:25 you can see Lavos in the sky beginning to fall to the planet before the fight with Azala even begins (look at timestamp in the upper right corner). Man, I love the attention to detail in this game!

[@tardaboveall491a]

This is so fucking neat. I love it.

[@manyuuuu4609]

Ikr, when i see that red star i was like " the fq is that " i keep thinking about it until the scene lavos fall into the earth, my mind was like 🤯 dayyum so thats the beginning of this disaster come from, what a detail for game that came out many many years ago

[@Eltaurus]

You can also see it earlier from the cliff where you mount pterans first time.

[@joeylittle2629]

Wow, watching this as an adult.. I cannot believe I beat this game as young as I did. This game is beautifully deep.

[@ThatGuyW3s]

Had this exact reaction. I think I was 12 when I beat it.

[@Harkz0r]

I was 14 when I first completed it (via emulator), and I can absolutely believe it. My taste in games honestly probably hasn't changed much since I was _quite_ young, I just play a lot less of the child-friendly platformers and more of the RPGs. That said, unlike almost every other RPG I've completed, I still haven't touched this since I was about 14, and that was a good couple decades back, so... I should probably give it another playthrough to see if there is anything I missed - or just remind myself of things I forgot. In my mind it's still there as a great experience.

[@patrickvis]

I was a tad older, we did not get it in our region and had to wait for import. Seeming I remember most I had way to much time back then 😂

[@kimaclaret]

Right?! How did we do any of this?

[@Vinn_Tree]

Giggity

[@HasegawaRayven]

You dont actually have to fight Spekkio to get magic, you just have to bring characters to him to get their magic "activated". He offers you a fight afterwards as a way yo test out your new powers.

[@ShockStormRPG]

Yeah the magic was very important the spells can be super good!

[@yisroel6]

I had to walk around the room, clockwise, four times in a perfect circle as per instructions :D

[@banaman7746]

@@ShockStormRPG funny thing is... I seem to recall chrono being the best damage dealer at the very end by far... he had an attack called... luminaire I think? it hit an enemy 4 times, and at that point could have such high attack it did insane damage.

[@ViddyOJames]

@@banaman7746 confuse

[@darksuns7384]

@@banaman7746 Ayla's fist weapon changes at higher levels. It becomes the golden fist iirc at 99 and crits for max damage on regular attacks.

[@ShadowMark474]

40:50 Idk if anyone's mentioned this yet, because it's an extremely minor detail, but most keyboards can absolutely register 3 keys at once, lol, it's required for combinations like ctrl+alt+del for example. If you have a poor quality keyboard that ignores third inputs, other than modifier keys, you can easily just rebind one of the required buttons to a modifier key (like ctrl, shift, or alt). Good quality keyboards have n-key rollover, allowing you to press _every_ key simultaneously, registering each input. Not a big deal, but thought I should mention it.

[@En4cer2K9]

I first played this game emulating it on my computer back in the 2000s. Never had any problems with that quest.

[@Axs85272]

The problem with that quest was related to certain emulators. Some early emulators didn't acknowledge more then two buttons pressed at the same time. So the limitation was rarely connected to the keyboard.

[@ericb3157]

oh, my keyboard struggles with a few inputs, like pressing two arrow keys and Space at the same time. this is only a problem with a few games, like Rayman Legends, during the underwater sections.

[@moshpitmachine]

I could never be objective with this game. This was my first rpg ever, I learned how to read to be able to play this game. As cringe as it sounds this game opened up an entire world for me, not just in gaming but beyond that. Hell I've introduced it to my children now. I will always, always love this game

[@Stroimex]

A timeless classic in the literal sense of the word. It brings tears to my eyes

[@TwilightWolf032]

bUt HoW CaN It bE TimElEsS iF It's AbOuT tImE TRavEl?

[@gertbeefrobe]

Every characters arc is compelling! I was empathizing with a robot at 13!

[@christaylor7079]

Hot

[@Leispada]

Weird how I feel the same emptiness after even just this video, as I've felt after finishing this damn game

[@Crowens]

To Far Away Times is such a tear jerker for me

[@locke03]

I've played hundreds of games so far in my life and to this day I think my single favorite moment in any of the games I've played is when Frog, finally having accepted the restored Masamune and his role as the hero of legend, declares "Mine name is Glenn! Cyrus's hopes and dreams, and now the Masamune! Forthwith I shall slay Magus and restore honor!" before splitting the mountain to open the path to Magus' lair. It's such a fantastic hero moment.

[@Zazzaro703]

Mine is getting to the Undersea palace and the epic music continuing to play through the first encounter and then through the rest of the way within the context of what is going on in the story. A lot of top moments in that game.

[@ThatReplyGuy]

Ooohhhh...so Cyrus from Another Eden is a direct reference to the frog. Makes so much more sense now.

[@reloadpsi]

The way his theme song cuts in at those moments helps a lot. It's so good.

[@NightRogue77]

Just a real special moment in time playing that game

[@Chibipayne]

Best moment in gaming hands down. Still get goosebumps when I see the segment.

[@Alex-1776]

i like how they have the battles happen in place instead of transitioning into a generic battle screen

[@imalittletoxicjustalittle]

id argue that just makes the whole game as whole look more generic, i dont think either is bad they both have good points even though is CT it looks more generic the spacing system makes up for it but the detail and gameplay styles of other games like Suikoden II benefit a lot from the battle screen style and suits those games

[@ericb3157]

just about the only thing i don't like about this game, is the way the enemies can move around, but your characters can't, which sometimes makes it hard to use those "hit several enemies in a row" abilities effectively.

[@fernandocarmo532]

I've played Chrono Trigger for days, weeks, months. Replayed it countless times. Some following breakthrough guides. Most of what I've seen in this video was new to me. The side quests for each character, the ultimate weapons, the optional endings... Chrono Trigger is light-years ahead of ANYTHING I've played. 28 years later and I'm still amazed by the depth it has. Trully a masterpiece. And your 2 hour long video? It has been a while since I paid attention to a youtube video without multitasking. I've sat through the 134 minutes with my eyes locked to the screen. Thank you for this.

[@harrisontownsend910]

Games still haven't caught up to Chrono Trigger, and I doubt they will in my lifetime.

[@MechanosaurusWrex]

I think Marle getting her weapon from Cyrus makes sense. He was the protector of Queen Leene and Marle is her descendant. It also respects Marle's character by giving her a weapon so that she can protect herself as the independent and adventurous spirit that she is.

[@dragon_knight2300]

It also has a certain connection because it comes out of the mystic chests, which can only be opened/upgraded by Marles pendant.

[@rjenyawd]

@@dragon_knight2300 .... Which would have been Leene's pendant back in the day. ... Again hinting at a connection between Leene and Cyrus. ... Maybe they were siblings? From the Choras noble family (hince Cyrus's ghost being in the castle ruins?) That would give purpose to why Cyrus was so protective of Leene, why the sealed chests were in the ruins, AND why a weapon for marle would be involved in Cyrus's questline.

[@Shadethewolfy]

@@NAzo. yeah, there was one in the castle. It has one of the elemental vests/plates inside it. I forget which one.

[@insensitive919]

@@Shadethewolfy Red. Boy, I played this game a lot..... 🥴

[@Shadethewolfy]

@@insensitive919 thank you~

[@LarkyLuna]

Some bits about the translation and how it was changed: Magus in Japanese doesn't have a name, he just calls himself "Mao", Demon King Masamune is a western sword in japanese, Grandleon Ozzie, Slash and Flea are Vinegar, Soy, Mayo (Dragonballs creator loves naming characters after food, i think that one was on him) If I remember something else I'll edit idk

[@Jopeth23]

Nice job by the localization team tho in naming them after rock legends. :D

[@violenceisfun]

Why is it a nice job? Don't you think that the minor amusement you got from an outdated references is worth less than the original intent?

[@TJ20232]

​@@violenceisfun bet you're a real hoot at parties.

[@tarrickmerdev2324]

@@violenceisfun The "original intent" of just having dumb, useless, throwaway silly names for some brief slapstick humor? Calm down, guy. No artistic vision is being lost in this change.

[@doomyboi]

@@violenceisfun Oh man the original artistic intent of these three minor villains being named matching theme names that don't actually relate to their characters or abilities vs the translation of these three minor villains being named matching theme names that don't actually relate to their characters or abilities

[@markusnavergard2387]

Lavos is the most lovecraftian entity i can think of in any game. Also lavos is only one and it makes spawns, meaning Lavos is a species and there is more of it out in space

[@AKPiratePrince]

Uhhh, try Bloodborne...?

[@Akkleptos]

I was thinking just that, because what is more "cosmic horror" than knowing there's an entire species of immortal, nigh-omnipotent planetary parasites out there in the vast, dark reaches of space?

[@cptKamina]

@@AKPiratePrince Nothing lovecraftian abouot hitting a cosmic horror with a stick 1000 times until they die lol. Obviously there are many games inspired by lovecraft, but just like Bloodborne, they don't actually convey the feelings of cosmic dread.

[@KikomochiMendoza]

@AKPiratePrince Bloodborne is definitely lovecraft inspired gothic horror and would definitely be considered an homage to Lovecraft. But they are more Big Baddies that you would take down like Kratos killing the gods. Lavos is a cosmic entity dropped down to the center of earth feeding on it and waiting millions of years before emerging once more. That in itself is classic lovecraftian that puts it on par with Bloodborne entities. What makes it surpass bloodborne as lovecraftian is the existential dread Lavos caused. Is it from Lavos that all life and magic owed its existence, permitted to live like a farmer breeding cattles to slaughter? Remember lovecraftian doesnt just mean it comes straight out of the Necronomicon. Cosmic horror and existential dread must go hand in hand for an entity to be truly lovecraftian.

[@mastema610]

Hironobu Sakaguchi asked Ted Woolsey to localize Chrono Trigger for English audiences with a deadline of 30 days. Woolsey was disappointed with this time-budget commenting that he preferred a timeline of about 75 days and that he felt rushed completing the translation. He later commented however that Chrono Trigger was "one of the most satisfying games he ever worked on or played." this article is one of many things I discover after play this game for the first time last year. The choice of 3 wise men's name, mura and masa, and many others was localization decision, with criminally small amount of time

[@audiosurfarchive]

Woolseyisms et al, the dude is a legend

[@harrisontownsend910]

Ted Woosly is a national treasure and "in my opinion" the best translator from Japanese to English.

[@Crow.Author]

This is the first one of these where I’ve got lost enjoying the story, and forgot it was a “Was it any good” video until you asked that at the end. Cheers for all the effort you put into these.

[@dizzyheads]

SAME I thought we were watching a retelling of the story and game mechanics

[@TheRenofox]

Same. I was just listening the story with all my heart, with all the nostalgia it brought.

[@Edwin_Joshua]

So about Crono's cat appearing everywhere... if you play all the games available at the fair, you can win a second, female cat for Crono and I believe a cat for some if not all the characters if you have them as leader when you play one of the minigames at the fair, I forget which. You can also get replica dolls for each character after you get Crono's doll and also Poyozo dolls. You can find them in their different time periods from where the character comes from and the Poyozo dolls play the theme music for each character when you interact with them. After you get all the main prizes in the tent, if you play the games again and win, you get cat food. Get enough cat food, travel a bit, come back to Crono's house and you'll have kittens and depending on how much food you get for the cats, there can be quite a few kittens that go through the portal at the end of the game and THAT is why you see them in different time periods. It wasn't just the one cat. Cool stuff eh? I played the crap out of this game as a kid and did everything possible, even maxing out all character levels and their stats using the various tabs you get, which after you max them out, you'll see double stars.

[@zeryle]

oh wtf, I have gotten many of the game endings and replayed the game a lot and I didnt know about this, wow

[@jdb101585]

I got the cats because I used to spend so much time at the Millennial Fair as a kid. Lots of cat food. 😅 I surprised he didn't mention the doll clones. It was fun to see their different poses.

[@thishouseofglass]

Lara is in the early game as well. You can see her if you go to Lucca's house, she's upstairs resigned to a chair of course. If you also periodically check in with Taban, he gives Lucca custom equipment for free. It breaks my heart that a few things like Singing Mountain were cut from the game as well!! Maybe Ayla could've had a fleshed out event at the end of the game

[@Sharkspartan6548]

RIP Toriyama. The greatest contributor to video gaming

[@Teauma]

The scene of lucca as a child running back and forth in panic as her mom is getting pulled into the machine is heart-wrenching

[@NateTheScot]

I don't remember finding the password or maybe i didn't input it in time but i remember being fucking traumatised by that part when i was young O_O

[@jungshin87]

Seriously not to mention the how kino the entire sequence is. Regrowing forest with robo -> epic unique campfire scene -> Lucca mom scene. Fire.

[@SolidusGabriel]

L, A, R, A

[@BeCurieUs]

It was extra harrowing as a kid, felt even more helpless

[@Deorman]

To this day, Lucca's story and how it ties up to the game is one of my favorite moment in any RPG, Up until this point Lucca never did something to help herself, we help other people a lot. And the detail when you get in present time to see if you succeed, the pose of the mom before she actually walk is so stressing.

[@Jebbtube]

I saw a review of this game by KingK, someone born well after it came out, who'd had little taste for retro games. He ended up giving this the highest praise he possibly could, mentioning how a true classic is something that is great even without the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia. It was one of the most moving things I've ever seen, and it makes me proud to have played this game to completion.

[@ShaimingLong]

While I was born before the game's release I was a Sega kid and had very limited exposure to Nintendo games. When finishing college, a friend I had made there gave me a bunch of 'must play' games to try and it probably took me two or three years to get around to Chrono Trigger. I was definitely in my 20s by then, but from the moment I left the fair I was fully engrossed and it was all I spent any free time on for a week! Nostalgia had absolutely no part of me falling in love with the game and it's now on my list of 'must play' games!

[@buttpiratesbuttpirate5913]

Chrono Trigger is one of the only games I've ever played that is truly TIMELESS. A passion project of a game that seriously feels like it came out yesterday. This game holds a very special place in my heart, and even though I played it much later (i played the DS version) but am so happy I finally did. I will never forget it

[@ReyemNeirda]

I was born in 1991 and started gaming in 1993 but didn't play chrono trigger before 2015 and i was amazed

[@Schwenakasven]

@@ReyemNeirda Lol I can So damn relate to this. Iam also born in 1991 and Played it first on Nintendo DS. And also close to 2015. Its really timeless as everyone says.

[@ReyemNeirda]

@@Schwenakasven yeah, i was impressed by everything, at a point that i had a really hard time to enjoy jrpg until persona 5

[@ryanmac8829]

One of the best games of all time, hands down. I first saw it in Nintendo Power and absolutely HAD to have it. It did not disappoint, no matter how many times I replayed it.

[@zoraius]

Same here, i saw that nintendo power peace and the full page Ayla and i had to have this game. Funnily enough it wasn't even my copy of nintendo power, it was a friends!

[@infinitesky1495]

As a game dev this is such a great breakdown of what makes great games, here some bookmarks with key points: 20:40 Every fight progresses the story, rather then increasing a number 1:38:25 Fights that occur in the world should affect it

[@lampenfieber]

*Rather than

[@vfaulkon]

Looking back, I think this game practically spoiled me for all RPGs in my life from when I played it as a kid. There's so many nice touches and small details - Josh just did a two-hour video for a twenty-hour game and didn't even get them all - that I'm still learning about some of them thirty years later! Hell, mostly because I'm geeking out, here's a few things he missed: -- If you go to repair the Masamune and Lucca isn't in your party, Robo will help out instead. Like Lucca, he doesn't have Melchior's magical skills, but basic metallurgy is certainly something he can help assist with. -- Lucca's mom, Lara, can be found in her house at any point in the game, and she stays seated in a chair by a window at all times. The first time you talk to her, Taban will actually come in and give her some of the money he's earned from the fair, and the dialogue shows that the two of them still love and care about each other. However, if you go back to her after saving her in Lucca's event, she'll actually get up and start doing things around the house AND be shown walking around during the Millennial Fair in the ending. -- If you take Magus to Spekkio to 'learn magic', Spekkio will not only say 'no need, he already knows it', he'll specify that Magus could probably teach HIM a thing or two instead. -- Remember Fritz, the guy you saved from the castle dungeon during Crono's escape? If you go to the item shop in Crono's town afterward, Fritz and his fiancee, who are looking after it for her father, will give you ten Hi-Potions for free as thanks. Then the father will walk in from the back, and while the couple freak out about being caught giving out free stuff, the father will thank Crono for helping save Fritz (either not noticing or not caring about the freebies). -- Bring Ayla with you on the Rainbow Shell quest, and when you and Marle find it in the castle storeroom, she canonically feels up Marle's chest, saying that she's not grown up quite yet. Because Ayla has zero chill. This game is so good and I've played through it so many times, I've memorized all this trivia and can recall it all three decades later. God, I love this game.

[@casedistorted]

You can turn Magus away from your party when he first talks to you, being forced to beat the game without him. I did that once on accident.. I had to restart my game because I made the wrong choice DOH

[@JanusZeal11]

-You can fight Magus at the North Cape as Frog in a one on one encounter. -In a NG+ you can attempt to fight Lavos from the teleporter at the start of the game and, depending on the sequence, you can do it with Crono alone. -Alya's weapons do eventually power up, once at 50, and then again at 70. -If you take Lucca and/or Marle to Death Peak to revive Crono, they both have a more touching reunion, where they hug the revived Crono, preferring Marle if they are both present. -If you complete the 3rd game of Bekkler's, the first time, you get a second cat. Each consecutive time you beat it, you get cat food. Each cat food allows another cat to spawn in Crono's house during specific events in the game. You can have a max of 11 cats, all of which jump into the time gate during the parade ending. -You can fight Queen Zeal 3 different times by doing going through the Black Omen in reverse order, allowing additional attempt so steal from her hands. -I discovered, by accident, that it is possible at high enough level in NG+ to auto-battle through all of Lavos's forms without healing. I'm actually surprised, I was not aware of the cross-screen Speed Tab Josh pointed out. It's rare for me to learn something new about this game.

[@leshpar]

Lavos's scream is something that still to this day, even though I haven't played this game since it was new, that sends chills down my spine. Josh Strife Hayes video here, is the best review of Chrono Trigger that I've ever seen in my life.

[@tarasouthwell6132]

The Magus theme hits me like that lol.

[@kimaclaret]

I was 9 when this game came out, and I am still terrified of Lavos. That scream should have a trigger warning lol.

[@gsgaming6976]

When the video opened with it, I knew it was going to be a good one from someone who really appreciated the game.

[@Aris19Q]

@@gsgaming6976 λ

[@RetnabBanter]

Lavos' scream is glued in my mind right beside Skull Kid's, just too memorable and chilling.

[@MordredMS]

20 hours? My first playthrough was like 70! That aside... this video rem8nded me how much I love this game. It's as you said, CT set a bar so high tuat it's still up there today, it's got so much gameplay and narrative depth; some of the moments came back to me as you narrated them, and I got emotional again just thinking about them. The characters stuck with me. And damn, it's been yearsand I still haven't seen all the endings! PS: I will always ship Lucca and Crono.

[@terminallygray]

When he says 20 hours he means: 20 hours of progressive gameplay. Not 20 hours of ACTUAL gameplay. When you save it adds the play time to the existing saved time to create a new saved time, BUT if you decide to stop playing without saving (to go back because you made a mistake or were "chasing a red herring" or even reload from a save even further back in the game) THEN you just lost that entire last session. It doesn't add time to the save BUT you still just wasted a bunch of real time.

[@drewrobinson5562]

Ya. I always feel odd at "jrpg is only 20hrs" considering i find 60 my comfort zone

[@freedomextremist7215]

@@terminallygray When it comes to Chrono Trigger, the word "waste" is not really fitting but you are correct in the technical aspects.

[@terminallygray]

@@freedomextremist7215 Anytime you spend time on something and it doesn't contribute to your goal (even if it's simple entertainment) then, it's a "waste of time". Some people like to waste time. I have even lost many hours watching the same episode of some program over again. My point is that these save game files do not accurately keep track of how much TOTAL time that a player spends playing. Just how much time the player added to the total since they last reloaded that saved game the very last time they started over. What happens with the time spent (without saving) is lost and NOT added to the grand total. It may entertain the player; it may add additional information previously unknown, it may even be another player entertaining themselves by "messing around" with somebody else's saved game however, that time is wasted because it doesn't add to progress in the game.

[@CuteLittleLily]

i never gonna play this game because im not a fans of jrpg but holy moly what a plot!!! everything was insanely great and i forgot that this game is in SNES! SNES!!! HOW!? with the combat system, animation, sound track. its amazing. i always question why this game is the "goat" now i understand why

[@jgalla5549]

Yasunori Mitsuda did the majority of the soundtrack, Uematsu filled in a bit when he got sick and did a few songs.

[@alexpage4355]

I was gonna make the same comment. Yeah, Uematsu's the more recognizable name, given his legendary work on the _Final Fantasy_ franchise, but using _his_ photo to illustrate the contributions of the composers, on one of the most memorable soundtracks of all time, when he was just a contributor and Mitsuda literally put himself in the hospital by pushing himself so hard in his efforts to prove himself worthy of the opportunity he'd been handed... that just feels all sorts of wrong!

[@tgr3423]

@@alexpage4355 Really? I always felt like Yasunori was the more recognizable of the two, but I guess it's probably because most of the JRPG's I HAVE played, Yasunori did the soundtrack, like with Xenogears.

[@Zerorenren4761]

​​@@llinium I'd say that he's second to Koji Kondo, Koji is probably the most well know one

[@jadimich]

@@llinium I'd argue that Mitsuda's Chrono Trigger OST alone has made him more recognizable.

[@matthewgriffin3486]

@@jadimich i mean just look up any of the uematsu ff songs vs mitsuda CT songs and you'll see just how much more known uemastu is. Mitsuda is just as amazing if not as ubiquitous

[@TheMildConfusion]

My favorite thing about the Zeal fight atop the Black Omen, is that if you bring Magus to the fight, the boss music changes from what it normally is to Magus’ boss theme. That badass music blaring while fighting her was awesome, cause it tells me that Magus isn’t fighting Zeal, she is fighting HIM. They didn’t have to add such an epic, yet subtle bit of detail, but I’m so glad they did.

[@Noskur]

His theme is one of the coolest boss themes of all time no doubt

[@Michael_Schlapp]

I got chills reading that one - well said!

[@jedcauffield1858]

While the fight itself is Epic bc of the music change (which alone is why CT deserves a remake / dont forget the Black wind 💨 sounds either!!) but if you know the backstory of why Lil Magus probably hates Zeal so much for what she did to Schala.. Now play MY THEME MUSIC 🎶 b!eech

[@BeautifulExodus]

The black wind howls...

[@MiamiGameHunter]

RIP Akira Toriyama.

[@fudgin7778]

Like many others I've been profoundly touched by my time with Chrono Trigger but, as time went on, I came to doubt myself. Was this game really that great or was it just nostalgia speaking? Thank you for this in-depth review Josh, you reminded about how masterful it really was. This was truly a dream project, a one of a kind experience, and it is no wonder that, after all these years, it is still hailed as one the absolute bests of the JRPG genre.

[@ThunderExpress]

This game is a masterpiece. It's the first that actually made me really like video game music, the zeal kingdom music "corridors of time" is 10/10

[@ItCameFromTheSkyBeLo]

Not only is it an amazing song, the way its presented in the game is excellent. The windy snow billowing and blowing outside as you take the teleporter to the sky, and it just starts the mystical wonderful chiming. One of my favorite moments ever.

[@drointhewind480]

Peep out a mashup album called Chrono Jigga, Jay z with chrono trigger songs.

[@RanEncounter]

​@@drointhewind480 That is cringe garbage praying on peoples nostalgia.

[@MK_ULTRA420]

@@RanEncounter Thank you.

[@gsgaming6976]

OC remixes has some great alternate versions of it.

[@FalenDragmire]

1:35:15 Magus actually is powered down from when you fight him. You technically have access to all the spells he did in the boss fight, but you have to level him up to get back to that point. It's actually a really good bit of gameplay and story integration, because Magus has a very specific line in the confrontation with Lavos where he mentions that Lavos is draining his power. Magus starting off in the party with only the elemental spells (Lightning 2, Ice 2, and Fire 2) is how the game reflects that part of the story happening.

[@Amakegure]

I've been in love with this game for nearly 2 decades, and everytime something reminds of it, I just remember how impressed I was back when I was 10 years. I played this thing a lot, and I just feel like playing again after this here video of 2:30.

[@ant445]

Rip toriyama

[@alibutterfly82]

Over 2 hours of Chrono Trigger commentary?! I'm here for it. How long did this take you to script, though? This seems like an IMMENSE amount of work - and it's definitely noticed and appreciated.

[@Palindrome3945]

Just when I was thinking he is getting "lazy" with the few recent "Was it good" videos, presenting pretty short and arcadishgames, he releases this bomb. As you said, this is impressive work.

[@faaeen]

And a very well-written script at that.

[@datpudding5338]

I mean, if you played it you know how much work playing through the whole thing is, especially in a 100% run xDD

[@Hadosama]

Was it any good? Damn right it was. A masterpiece ahead of its time.

[@whatdothlife4660]

It's a masterpiece, but I'd say it was precisely of its time. There was plenty of innovation happening in games in the SNES, N64, and Gamecube eras but things really stagnated in the early 2000's. Luckily indie development has become easy enough that tons of great new stuff has come out in the past 10 years or so again.

[@Yokai_Yuri]

​@@whatdothlife4660I think it C.C was a game ahead of so many future games, this s why it is still considered a masterpiece. It had it almost all and whatever came in the next decade was just borrowing things from C.C or other classics

[@TheWorsey]

crono trigger ans secret of mana....square soft and enix was fine but everything they have done is just mehhhh like the long awaited remake of FF7

[@Krysnha]

@@TheWorsey indeed, for me secret of mana 3 and crono trigger, were the few JPRG, thati have play and enjoy playing from beggining to end

[@perfectchaosone8253]

I finished this game last week blind having never played if before. It's fair to say it completely holds up today I understand the praise it gets and it deserves all of it.

[@cellamuert]

RIP Akira Toriyama

[@shenmuemasta]

Just a side note about the beginning when you talk about the composer, there's the picture of Nobuo Uematsu, but the music was mainly composed Yasunori Mitsuda. It was his first gig at Square as a composer, after doing sound effects for other games for the company. He was overwhelmed though, that's why Nobuo Uematsu also composed a few tracks.

[@patrickedger2448]

The two moments that will always stick out for me are 1: When you rescue Crono with Marle in the party - because she clearly loves the selfless doofus, and that scene is just plain wholesome. and 2: Frog forgiving himself, and becoming the true hero everyone believes him to be...one of the few scenes in any video game that has made me tear up.

[@GruppeSechs]

Frog's theme makes me about as misty-eyed as Aerith's, but for totally different reasons.

[@patrickedger2448]

Can't help but respect a man who can cleave a mountain in half.

[@philpyung4831]

Well said.

[@SporeTres]

Even if Lucca's scene about saving her mother was not set up with as much effort as say Glenn's side quest, I could empathize with her struggles the most. It is not love and leadership or revenge, it is simply wanting to see a family member happy and healthy.

[@Krysnha]

Frog cutting the mountain was awesome, and chrono and nadia or marlene when chrono is safe was so amaizing, every part of these game was so good, or Masa and Mune combining to become the sword was so good

[@ZakisHereNow]

42:25 if you pay attention you can see the race starts at a view that would have them going left to right (west to east). It then rotates the camera around for effect and only APPEARS they’re going east to west.

[@tychozzyx9439]

1:41:41 The red mail, red vest, and Taban armors for Lucca also make this fight pretty trivial as Taban gear also resists fire and the vest/mail absorb fire damage

[@joshuapatrick682]

Also the fact that if you have Magus in the Party when the Masamune levels up he physically reacts like hes in pain. Great stuff for 30 years ago.

[@gumpyflyale2542]

i never knew that and i beat this game at least 7 times

[@Ferenczys]

The relationship between Magus, Queen Zeal, the Mammon Machine and the fact that the Masamune is PART of the Mammon Machine and thus why it is anathema to him is a wildly brilliant bit of storytelling that I never realized as a kid. Incredible.

[@joshuapatrick682]

@@gumpyflyale2542that’s one of the reasons why its the best game ever made…

[@LastExileGames]

I always say this is my favorite game of all time. I don't know if that is true really, but it is what I feel. I will always remember Chrono Trigger, as a 12 year old, was the first game that made me cry. Not because of any devastating sad moment. I cried at the end of the game, when all of my friends, who I adventured with and grew with said good-bye and left for their own times and lives. It is something that will stick with me forever.

[@Noskur]

Its like that for me as well. It was truly an experience

[@starhew2868]

I wasn't expecting this style of video from the title but I really like the analysis you were able to do while we went along the story

[@explosivehotdogs]

It's been nearly 20 years and I still throw on the OST from time to time. What a sonic masterpiece - I couldn't pick a favorite track to this day.

[@DeadCatX2]

There is a channel on KZbin called 8-bit Music Theory and it has an in depth analysis of why Yasanori Mitsuda's work is so amazing in this game

[@bristow4784]

@@DeadCatX2 I've seen that channel but forgot about it thanks for reminding me!

[@kleinTOD]

You missed a nice detail about the cave that leads to the Magus Castle. If you enter it without unlocking magic for Frog, the first time you win a fight where you casted a spell, it will play a short cutscene where Frog is surprised you can use it and whoever is the third party member will suggest visiting Spekkio.

[@jedcauffield1858]

Spekkio!! Thats his name 😊!! Yeah getting all forms is kinda tough.. man I wanna replay it now too

[@queengames8421]

y'know, I never even thought about unlocking magic for frog before going in there. I always thought you had to see that cutscene to learn magic for some reason.

[@scorcher_11]

Yes!! I knew you'd get to this one day when you started this channel. The original "when the boss joins the party vs when you fight him" too

[@BlaineBlast]

u must be clairvoyant.

[@MomoBeci]

R.I.P Toriyama

[@GoldenFlower-hg9lc]

R.I.P Akira Toriyama.

[@ph34rbucket91]

I didn't play this game until last year. Without any nostalgia glasses to go on, I can easily say this is one of the best games I've ever played

[@Ninjujitsu]

you're the best game I've ever played

[@imjonathan6745]

this really is one of the games

[@cupofjitters4501]

@@IdkAkaIdk Mother

[@LorenceLinzWrightwoo]

I didn't play this game until my mid 20's and yeah its so tough to find any rpg that can top it. Even my other favorite rpg in ff6 has a part or two that i would rather rush past but this one doesn't. 20 hours is short but you would swear it was longer. The characters, The story everything blends to make one of the best rpgs of all time and i wish i could play though it again for the first time.

[@cupofjitters4501]

@@LorenceLinzWrightwoo it is perhaps telling on how the advancements in tech arent really giving us better stuff just shinnier. I can see this game comming out today and as long as they had prettier UI people would still rave about it it had depth in all the places people dont add depth to.

[@FirstLast-cg2nk]

What I love most about Chrono Trigger is that pretty much every part of it up to the battle with Magus is basically a stealth tutorial for how the game works. Every boss fight tells you something new about the game's mechanics and how to deal with future bosses, with Magus being essentially your final exam. I wish more games would work this way.

[@jeremybrimmer1990]

Games are supposed to be fun, not exams. Wtf lol!!!

[@JoshuaKevinPerry]

@@jeremybrimmer1990 No. They were made fun for normies. Real games are mental and endurance tests that teach you how to play. Doom WADs like Myhouse illustrate what is missing today. Everything is easy. FF4 was so hard in Japan that they released an easier version. That game was great, nearly every encounter could be a wipe.

[@JameboHayabusa]

​@@jeremybrimmer1990games that teach you organically are the funnest games ever. The fuck are you on about?

[@boobah5643]

@@jeremybrimmer1990 Yeah, and what's more fun than doing the _exact_ same thing over, and over, and over... zzzz...

[@jeremybrimmer1990]

@@JoshuaKevinPerry "normies" lol there you go then

[@outphase78]

Not only do I appreciate your thorough in depth walkthrough of this amazing game, I just wanna say thank you for interjecting the different endings in relation to where you are in the story. Many videos I've seen that talk about the multiple endings for this game tend to lump them all together and with 14 endings, it starts to sound like mush. So again, thank you for that. Awesome video.

[@deathtoll2001]

Man, what an intense nostalgia trip this video was! It was amazing to relive the game in abridged format while trying to remember how many of the side quests, endings, and optional content I unlocked as a kid. I think personally, the biggest flaw in the game is that enemies can move on the field but you can't, which always gave me a sense of unfairness. I'm now tempted to search out my Chrono Trigger cartridge and see if I still have a save file on there. And if, so, how much I'd found... It is so awesome that you can make these videos a combination of humor, telling the game story, telling your story with the game, and describing the pros and cons of the design of the game, all at once. Major kudos to you!

[@younger544]

lol I like how you saved Crono with the least emotionally impacted party possible.

[@deathclaus]

I always thought it was a nice touch that if you have Marle in the party when you save Crono, it adds a lot of impact to the scene.

[@colinayre2109]

I know right?! When I do it it go through with Marle in my party because she has an absolute breakdown and her relief when he comes back is palpable. When I tried to explain to my wife about why I love this game so much I get misty eyed talking about his rebirth scene…all based on Marle’s pain and relief when she thought the egg didn’t work, then recounting what they did to bring him back. Gorram I love this game.

[@bladelaw]

I was screaming at the screen. Josh is a monster for not bringing Marle or Lucca.

[@frozenwrath1352]

No wonder, the absolute GOATS of all time came together to create a love letter to JRPG's. You'll never see this quality ever again.

[@raza5757]

As one who was a kid from the ‘90’s I can affirm that it definitely was good. The point that it took a grown adult only 20 hours is fair, but for a kid playing through, not necessarily figuring everything out right away, this game felt absolutely massive. I try to judge games not just by how I feel about them as an adult, but by how I felt or would have felt about them as a middle school kid. Chrono Trigger and FF6 are for me the undisputed champions of that season of life in the ‘90’s.

[@christophercordes951]

I can't believe how much I missed in this game as a kid; truly a masterpiece.

[@docgiggs]

Chrono Trigger, The Secret of Mana, and Final Fantasy IV have always been my favorite game RPGS. I remember spending so much time in my youth playing those games while unlocking all their secrets. Truly classics of an era and the SNES console. All with great story telling, gameplay, and timeless enjoyment.

[@jdb101585]

Ditto!

[@maudjito]

All FFs from 4 to 6 were fantastic

[@marcosdheleno]

1:51:34 you can see lucca's mother in the game at any time, its just that you need to go to lucca's house to talk to her, she is in her room. you can even meet her at the start of the game before even meeting marle.

[@lunaretic3]

The Kingdom of Zeal will FOREVER have a place in my heart. As a child, it was the first time the idea of a floating city was ever shown to me, and it shaped me and made me fall in love with high fantasy. As a result, my adolescent and teenage years were spent playing fantasy JRPG's. The music of Zeal is my favorite song from Chrono Trigger and hearing the orchestral version still gets me misty eyed. I hope when I die, the afterlife is a idealized version of the city in the clouds..

[@darkguardian1314]

There's a very special Let's Play Endurance Run on KZbin by late Giant Bomb host Ryan Davis before his tragic passing with Patrick Klepek It turned out to be Ryan Davis last Endurance Run before his tragic passing in 2013 on his honeymoon. 😥 It's like a soap opera and I would advise everyone to watch the entire series one a day. Don't binge it. You will be hooked on the story even if you have no desire to play it. RIP Ryan Davis

[@affsteak3530]

I'm surprised at how little this review focused on the soundtrack. Chrono Trigger's OST is one of the GOATs and really helps set the mood. Each character gets their own theme and Frog's theme triumphantly kicks in when he slices the mountain open with the Masamune.

[@thomasseeley8124]

i had burned it to a cd so i could drive around and listen to it in my car.

[@budus2]

It would be 16 h long if it covered every great thing about this game and at this point it would be better to finish the game instead of watching the review ;d

[@doctorwilly]

i even squeezed a few soundtracks to my wedding playlist. heh

[@Onikage55]

Glenn slicing the mountain in half was the most badass moment in SNES Gaming at that point. It even made a skybeam

[@LN-Lifer]

The truth is few people really put so much importance on the soundtrack and many of those who do are simply pretending because they think it makes them appear more cultured

[@misharumkittum]

I loved Chrono Trigger so much as a kid. My wife and I played a rendition of "To Far Away Times" as the recessional song at our wedding.

[@JohnnyDarko01]

to far away times best song ever. you could also play marles theme at a wedding really good song

[@joejo4549]

There was a guy who modded chrono trigger for a proposal

[@RollsChaotic]

Same here!! That's awesome

[@misharumkittum]

@@RollsChaotic You also played that song as a major part of your wedding??? Did we just become best friends!?

[@RollsChaotic]

@@misharumkittum I don't think we have a choice. It was our recessional song too!

[@x50413]

Chrono Trigger is my favorite game of all time, bar none. That having been said, this is my favorite retrospective of the game I've ever seen, so thank you Josh. You pointed out basically everything about the game that I love, both as a kid and on a replay as an adult. I am a bit surprised that you didn't talk about the soundtrack, since Uematsu's work is absolutely incredible all across the 20+ hours of play, but I realize that you had a LOT of things to talk about in this. Still. Thank you, Josh. This was a wonderful video that took me back in time. Also, just as a fun note? There's a trick to making the Son of Sun significantly easier. If you have Magus in your party in the right party slot, his Black Hole spell will consume two of the fires and leave you with only three possibilities to hit. It makes the fight SIGNIFICANTLY easier.

[@zinku418]

These videos are amazing, the commentary, the footage. I've watched quite a few of these videos the past coupe of days and This one really is remarkable! I stopped playing my game to dedicate to watching this. great job!

[@KillerChairYT]

This is one of those times where when people say its a masterpiece, they are not in fact over-hyping it. Truly brilliant, and it will forever remain among my personal favorites.

[@stephenthomas1492]

It came out when I was at that age that girls entered the picture and I kind of left video games to the side for a while. Now that I'm older, I gave it a go a couple of years back. Pretty good, I'd say. Hard to give it too much praise nowadays, but it was worth playing. I feel like for the time I would have given it a much higher ranking though.

[@charlesdunn5215]

@@stephenthomas1492 Chrono trigger was responsible for a lot of the systems we have today including the ATB system. Story is top notch, characters are top notch and honestly there's really nothing i can say bad about it. Hell you can beat the game without the main character without realizing you could have saved him. Love it.

[@CADClicker]

​@@stephenthomas1492"Hard to give it too much praise nowadays" Care to expand on this? Imo the art, music, themes, and gameplay are timeless, and hold up in comparison to modern rpg's

[@BunsenMusic]

@ZachM2020 really though. I enjoyed the game so much more as an adult.

[@TheBlackSamurai2708]

@@charlesdunn5215actually it was ff4 that introduced the atb system but yeah you’re mostly right.

[@Pickleton]

One thing I thought was neat was that if you stand in Marle's way at the beginning, she can't run into you, you HAVE to be moving to collide with her. Not sure if this is just a biproduct of the system, but it's interesting because in Crono's trial, they ask if you initiated contact and if you say "no", the chancellor says witnesses saw you do so.

[@mylifematter]

Thank you Akira Toriyama for the greatest JRPG in history, RIP.

[@FirebyrdXX]

You can actually complete the Black Omen a total of 4 times if you start in the future and work backwards. You want to do this because Ayla can actually steal a Prism Helm and a Prism Dress from the hands of Queen Zeal, so if you ask Melchior to give you 3 helms its possible to have a dress for all female characters and a helm for every character on your first playthrough

[@alexboyadjian2758]

Once you kill zeal once she does not appear in the other times even if you started in the future. You can still do the black omen but zeal is not at the end.

[@FirebyrdXX]

@@alexboyadjian2758 you can absolutely fight the head and hands again, I've done this countless times

[@whydid666]

@@alexboyadjian2758 You can not go through Black omen in post 1999 future. You get cut scene were Zeal mocks you for being too late. You can do "full" black omen run first in 1000, then 600 and then 1200 BC. However Panel, Aliens, and Tubster (enimes you can charm Speed, Magic & Power tabs from) do not respawn by going back in time. All bosses respawn *IF* you go back in time.

[@Pickleton]

@@whydid666 Bosses don't respawn if you go back in time aside from the Zeal/Mamon/Zeal fights. A good amount of trash spawns do repop, most notably the Power Tab guy after the midway point with the Nus, but the Speed/Magic Tab fights do not. The only real reason to go through the Black Omen 3 times is to steal 3 sets of prism helms/dresses from Zeal's 3rd form. If you took 3 helms from Melchior during the Rainbow Shell sidequest, you can kit out your whole party (sans Magus) with the strongest helm possible on a single playthrough. That said, I prefer to run Nova Armor and Haste/Safe Helm combo for the guys, since MDef does eventually cap out even without the +19 from Prism Helm/Moonbeam combo.

[@Ashgrom]

But then you have to do Black Omen 4 times...

[@mattwing311]

This game was peak of my life. From Chrono Trigger to Majora's Mask. I had no worries. Just go to school come him and game. Too young for love. No bills! A good home and food. It's bittersweet. I listen to the music of Chrono Trigger. It's beautiful. It makes me tear up occasionally. I wouldn't go back to re-live it. Because I love my kids. But I do mourn the old days. This game was way ahead of its time. The music, the combat, the story! Everything. So much to do. The video store we went to was $5, 5 days, 5 videos or games. I rented this and Mario RPG Legend of the Seven Stars. I put hundreds of hours into each. Chrono Trigger will always be number 1 to me. For where I was in life and how happy I was.

[@lobster7799]

I hear you brother and feel the same.

[@bobboberson6664]

Same here, this, early FF games, dragon quest IV on NES, secret of mana, illusion of gaia. Shining force on sega...... man, i miss these days so much.

[@johnswanson7926]

My experience as well! Well said. Don't need to go back, but I can hear any song from this and instantly see my basement set up that claimed so many hours with this game.

[@ScrambledAndBenedict]

Chrono Trigger to Majora's Mask is a good place to be gaming-wise. I still staunchly believe Chrono Trigger is the best turn-based RPG ever made, and that Majora's Mask is the best Legend of Zelda game ever made.

[@amartyrsconfession1611]

AWSOME VIDEO! I’ve been playing this game since 97 and you showed me many things that I didn’t know about. New sub!

[@Sorrowablaze]

I'll never forget getting this for Christmas back when it was released ,and playing playing it straight for 2 days before I beat it the first time. One of my favorite game memories

[@AReaverZappy]

I always have Marle there when I rescue Crono at death peak. Their reunion makes me tear up every time. Also it feels thematically appropriate to have her save him after he saved her early in the story.

[@t3hsilarn]

Yes! This is actually a very cool thing to remember if you ever replay, new game + or otherwise. You can bring different characters along for different scenes throughout the game, and you can see how each of them react. Outside of parts where certain characters are 'locked in', they all have some unique dialog and interactions. It's one of those small but beautiful touches.

[@GruppeSechs]

@@t3hsilarn It's actually one of my least favorite parts about JRPGs. I'm not big on replaying a game that takes 20+ hours to beat, and when I like all the characters, I always get that FOMO wanting to see all of their personalities shine in the same playthrough. It's why I appreciate it when some games have all the party members show up and you're just limited on choice exclusively in combat.

[@GruppeSechs]

@@THEREALTYREESNEED Oh thanks for making me aware what generation I was born in, guy I don't know. Clearly every single person who grew up in the 80s likes exactly the same thing in their video games.

[@jdb101585]

@@GruppeSechs I'd recommend just ditching that FOMO. It's a bad habit that only makes you unhappy in life.

[@GruppeSechs]

@@jdb101585 Eh, only really have it in games where I'm dumping 40+ hours of mylife into a single game and not really feeling like replaying it.

[@kedolan4992]

If I recall, you can actually prevent that last end bit of the cat running away into the portal. At the faire in one of the side games (I think the tent of horrors that you get the Cronos clone from), one of the rewards is cat food. If you never actually get this, your cat runs away because you forgot to feed it. If you DO get the item, it won't run away at the end.

[@AnActualDuck]

Follow up to that, if you keep getting more and more cat food then you will also acquire more and more cats. I'm not sure if there is a limit but I stopped at around 20 cats cluttering up the house. That being said, I still had the cats enter the portal at the end. And they all do, though the mother still seems to only be after the one.

[@himme8471]

There are some variations that Josh didn't show. If you use the Epoch to crash into Lavos, instead of the bucket or Ocean Palace, you will still go to the Moonlight Festival. Crono's cat and mom won't end up going into the portal and afterwards you will be called to the bell tower by the King to hang up a bell carrying Marle's name (Nadia's Bell, to replace Leene's Bell). The bell has balloons tied to it which Marle grabs hold off and they take her into the air. Crono quickly jumps up to save her grabbing hold of the balloons... and then they both float upwards into the starlit night sky holding each other. That ending is so beautiful and calming with Marle and Crono finally getting some time to just be alone with each other and lets you think back on your adventure. It's my favorite ending.

[@thegrossmeyer]

@@himme8471 This is the canonical ending in my heart.

[@kaizokujimbei143]

@@thegrossmeyer The cats multiplying through the magic of time paradox and conquering the universe is my canonical ending. :3

[@shemsuhor8763]

Aye, Wutelgi.

[@belstone1370]

Excellent retrospective of this masterpiece of gaming! You have really done this game justice. Thank you.

[@serisothikos]

I was 14 when this game came out and I must've played it through a half-dozen times in the first few months I had it. The game has so much soul, you can feel it in every moment and every interaction. I wouldn't be surprised if, seventy-two years from now, people still consider it a seminal moment in the evolution of a medium.

[@zacharyiler136]

Haha, me too. Was a great moment in video games.

[@abadenoughdude300]

This is an absolutely PHENOMENAL game. The attention to detail and amount of content to be found is insane. It's also an amazing story. I can still remember being left completely dumbfounded when the player character (which was safe to assume Crono is, given we meet him first and he's a clear self-insert for the player) dies midway and the game continues without him. What? This is not supposed to happen! You didn't see a lot of writing choices like this back then. This might really be one of the select few occasions that I would give a game a 10/10, because it's just that awesome.

[@toospooky5929]

I remember running into the ghosting issue of "having to press 3 keys on a keyboard" issue in this game as a kid. Though that was because I was using a cheap keyboard. These days, most keyboards have anti-ghosting measures and you can press as many keys as needed because loads of games need you to press three keys at once occasionally.

[@samuraininjamaster]

Yep

[@gman1515]

This. My keyboard isn't even a very expensive one and it can accept as many simultaneous keypresses as i could possibly want.

[@WincredibleHulk]

Man I loved this game so much. I played through it more times than I could possibly remember. I forgot how great the story was written. Thanks for the member berries.

[@jongrubbdesign]

1:10:11 Right after you said "We see the comet fall to Earth, and then hear the signature scream:" KZbin cut to a very short ad, whose audio was just the "Ba da da DA da, ba da da DA da" from the Black Keys' song, Howlin' for You. It was pretty funny.

[@alondor8157]

1:29:11 Thought I'd mention. "In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings." I love all the mythological references in this game. Also, amazing video Josh!

[@anthonydelfino6171]

One bit about one of the endings, if you fail to rescue Lara in Lucca's time travel back to her childhood, the remains disabled for the rest of the game, like you said, there's no way to go back and try again. So she'll still be in her chair the entire rest of the game. But if you do save her, not only does she get up and walk around the house, but at the Millenial Fair she tries to get Taban to dance with her. I know at that point she never knew a life of being unable to walk or dance, but it still made me happy to see her doing so after I saved her.

[@SomsaiArts]

Love how in-depth you went into this video. Bravo! I didn't play this game growing up but I love JRPGs. I played it as an adult and WOW! So disappointed I never gave one of the best classic JRPGs a try.

[@Zaiahwestmah]

Truly awesome seeing a in depth video of chrono trigger and loved every moment of it, it'd be awesome to see a "is it good legend of dragoon" sometime :D

[@Silvernimbusstudio]

Fighting queen zeal with magus in the party changes the music to his theme , i always take him and kind of considered part of his side quest.

[@austinl8074]

That's one I never knew, cool.

[@devster14]

Another cool detail is in the name of the Mammon Machine. Mammon is the name of the demon who rules over the Greed circle of hell, so you could called it the "Greed Machine" which is appropriate cause its sole purpose was for Queen Zeal to achieve her ultimate Goal: Immortality; Which she would sacrifice anything to attain.

[@akshayjha9746]

Pu 😁 mk nnh khil😊

[@DAMusic-qu2ec]

Mammon is also the ancient term for material wealth.

[@rebeccaconlon9743]

​@@DAMusic-qu2ecthe golden calf