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59 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Misleading title, must-have game., May 3, 2002
This is actually two old-school console RPGs in one set of packaging. Why the collection is called "Final Fantasy Chronicles" instead of "Chrono Fantasy" or something like that, I don't know, but the important point is:One of the two games included is Chrono Trigger. Chrono Trigger remains the greatest console RPG ever made. The version on this new CD compilation is identical in play to the original, but includes several animated cutscenes (done by Bird Studios, producers of Dragonball/DBZ and owned/operated by Akira Toriyama, who did the character designs for Chrono Trigger as well) which are themselves worth the price. (In point of fact, the price itself is interesting; the compilation of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 4 costs less than either of them did separately when first released.) Chrono Trigger centers around the adventures of Crono (yes, that's the correct spelling), a young man whose only apparent unusual feature is skill with a sword; otherwise, he lives a rather ordinary life, getting his allowance from his mom, taking care of his pet cat, and, as the story begins, looking forward to the Millennial Fair. At the Fair, he meets with a pretty blonde girl, Marle, who wears an interesting pendant, and who as a stranger to his town asks him if he'd be nice enough to show her around a bit. Things get strange when they visit the exhibit area of one of Crono's friends, Lucca, who's an eccentric inventor. Her invention mysteriously reacts to the presence of Marle's pendant, and Marle vanishes, leaving the glowing pendant behind. When Crono decides to follow her wherever she's gone and bring her back, he's catapulted into a time-spanning adventure which will take him from the present to 65 million years in the past, and thousands of years in the future, and eventually to confront a world-destroying monster which may, at the same time, have been responsible for the creation of Crono's own civilization. Along the way he will learn secrets of his world's history, gain new powers, and gather allies, ranging from the super-strong cavegirl Ayla to the technologically advanced machine-man Robo. Chrono Trigger's greatest claim to fame was, and is, that it boasts many possible endings, all quite different, based on what decisions you make during the game. They're not all easily predictable, either, and at least one or two are rather creepy. It's also interesting in that, after a certain point, you no longer have to keep Crono in your party (most games have a set viewpoint character that you have to keep around). It's quite possible to finish the game with *ANY* combination of available characters. Gameplay is, in my opinion, superior to that of any of the Final Fantasy games. For one thing, it avoids the "eternally wandering monster" phenomenon which makes overland travel in the FF series so damnably frustrating, while still allowing you to wander freely across the land and visit places, looking for clues, new things to buy, and new friends and allies. For another, the combat sequences are much more active than those of other RPGs of its same era, and include special techniques -- both for individuals AND ones combining the techniques of two or three characters at once. Once you beat the game, you have the option of using "new game+", which allows you to start with the same power, and most of the items, that you'd gained along the way the first time. This is useful for those trying to play through again, since it allows you to zip through combats which, the first time, took many minutes to complete. (it does, however, introduce a bit of cognitive dissonance, especially in the early parts of the game: "How the heck are they throwing ME in jail?! I have enough power to level this entire CASTLE by myself!") The soundtrack of Chrono Trigger is unbelieveably good. Somehow, through the miracle of MIDI, the original game had 3 full CDs worth of music crammed on it, and the skill with which the MIDI was composed and produced made it sound, at the time, very nearly orchestral. Even today the sound isn't bad, and the re-done, fully orchestral version is amazing. Each major character has its own theme, and they're all excellent. Chrono Trigger's soundtrack still rates as one of my absolute favorites. If you like console RPGs at all, this is one that you absolutely MUST buy, and keep enshrined somewhere.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The games that started it all, June 28, 2001
In essence, it was Final Fantasy 2 that hooked a lot of people into the the craze of the series b/c most didn't know of the first one. For those who did were ... over the 32-bit power of this enhanced game. It started most of the concepts that exist in today's recent Final Fantasy's. With this reproduction of this classic w/ new FMV's, it sure to draw back all the old fans as well as some new ones who are curious too see how much the series as evolved over time. If you can stand to revert graphics wise then you can really enjoy this game. After all, superior graphics cannot beat the power of a solid story line. Chrono Trigger, like most things, beats it's sequel Chrono Cross. After Final Fantasy 3 came out as well as Secret of Mana, squaresoft realized that alot of people loved final fantasy but liked Secret of Mana's fighting system where you can see the enemy before you get into a fight and can be prepared vs. just running into them by surprise. Squaresoft decided to combine the best of these 2 games and created Chrono Trigger and made it the best game for the SNES system, as far as RPG's were concerned. Some people may have noticed as I did that Chrono, the main character, looks a lot like Goku from Dragon Ball Z. The reason for this is b/c Akira Toriyama did the art work for it and has now done the anime cut scenes that have been put into the game which is something that I look foward to seeing. This is among my favorite RPGs, at least w/in the top 3. It still beats even a lot of new ones on the PS1. I recommend buying this even by the simple fact if you like RPGs, you are getting 2 for the price of one, and if you pre-ordered it from ..., then your saving even more money on 2 classic games that for me, started the fever for Role Playing Games that hasn't stopped yet.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better Than Anthology!....Even with the Worst Hero Ever!!, May 22, 2003
Frankly I don't know why people loved FF:Anthology so much...it really wasn't that good. I mean, FF6 was better on the SNES, minus the FMV, and FF5 wasn't that good to begin with. This, on the other hand, features Chrono Trigger, a rather good game, and a highly enhanced version of Final Fantasy IV, the game that launched the series into the main character-based RPG series in history! Personally, I say go with this package, definately!!Chrono Trigger is a good game, with nice SNES graphics that're almost as good as Super Mario RPG's, decent music (although no FF6, and certainly not Yasonuri Mitsuda's best...even close), a nice out-of-battle interface, and an interesting quest that takes you throughout time. True, since I never really played this game until FF Chronicles, I may have liked it more if I actually got it in 1995 (just about the only Square game I missed between the years 1991 and 2001). I don't agree that it's quite possibly the greatest RPG of all time (mostly because I HATED Chrono, the character, SO MUCH!!!), but it is a nice enjoyable romp, and features plot twists that were about time, yet somehow weren't stolen from either H.G.Welles or Dr. Who! That got me at least! Now, I'm not gonna deny it, but to me, the whole point of buying this package is for FF4! The graphics are suprememly outdated, and so is the sound quality, but that doesn't change much when it comes to this game...quite possibly the greatest FF of all time! The music is better composed than in Chrono Trigger, the characters are almost infinitely better, the battle system and interface are very easy to use, and even if you've played though it on the SNES a thousand times, unlike Chrono Trigger, this game features something new on the PSX. Yes, it's sad, that while FFIV was greatly enhanced and a totally new experience on the PSX, Chrono Trigger remains almost completely unchanged from what I can figure out. Behind them both are nice long storylines, and behind FFIV is also strong character content. Chrono Trigger's is full of many choices, which even FFIV doesn't have! The plot twists are also cool, even by today's standards, although there's no real food for thought like in FFX or either Xeno games. While FFIV doesn't feature much more food for thought, it does tell one of the greatest RPG tales of all time by far, and still contains some of the greatest musical tracks ever written. Nobuo Uematsu may be loosing it now, but when it comes to his middle works like this through FFVII, he was quite a head-turner. You follow Cecil on a much more elaborate and detailed quest than that of Chrono Trigger, which is dialogue centered, but still features a great gameplay system, albeit old, and full of random battles. The equipping interface is still larger than that of any other strictly console-RPG I've seen (in terms of weapons and armor). I kid you not when I say that FFIV is the reason I became a film major! It was 12 years ago I saw the light, and it still shines onto me as strong as ever! Whether the more fun and basic, yet fast-moving quest of Chrono Trigger is your type, or the more elaborate and character driven Final Fantasy IV is your type (like it is mine, as you could figure out), this game is a must have! Two legendary games! I think they could have called this: "Final Fantasy: The Two RPG's that Wrote the Book that all RPG's Would Later Follow", except for the fact that it's way too long of a title. Original and entertaining until the end of time, get these games, for the power of epic awaits you!
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