Entry 2: Chrono Trigger (SNES)

Picked by Zeph

In late 1995, Young Zeph was over at a friend's house (we'll call him D). This in itself was not an uncommon thing - I had two friends through most of elementary, middle, and high school, M and D, and we rotated in spending time at each others' houses fairly regularly (except that we didn't spend as much time at M's house, as his overly-religious mother didn't ever quite seem to approve of how we spent our time playing video games and being ridiculous teenage boys). We had spent the earlier part of the day outside, doing some work around the house as requestedcommanded by D's mother. After that, we played some basketball before finally retreating inside as the sun disappeared over the horizon. D's room was small, but it had a stereo, video game systems, and a TV - all we truly needed to be comfortable. We played some Killer Instinct before switching to a new game. It was one that D was borrowing from his neighbor - an RPG that had been recently released. We knew nothing about it, but as it booted up, we were greeted by the ticking of a clock. Little did I know just how much my life was about to change.

The game was called Chrono Trigger, and as we watched the introductory video, we determined several things. 1: The game was going to have party-based combat and there appeared to be a wide variety of skills to use. 2: It seemed like you visited a lot of different areas throughout the game, vastly different in appearance. 3: The music, if it was anything like the opening sequence, was going to go HARD. And, 4: This game looked cool as hell. Once the intro had finished, we found ourselves back on the title screen, which led us to the save select menu. One file already existed - the neighbor's, no doubt - but we happily picked "New Game". Then it popped up with a prompt to name a character. The default name was Crono, but we had to rename him, of course. D contended that the character should be named after him, since he was the one borrowing the game and we were playing it in his house, on his system; I countered that by pointing out the obviously logical solution, that Crono had red hair and so did I, and so naturally my name should be the one attached to him. We bickered like childhood friends about it for less than a minute before D named the character after himself and we went on with our lives. We played through the beginning of the game in wonder, marveling at the music and the lively enviroment we found ourself in. We spent well over an hour just running around the Milennial Fair, playing all the games and earning as many Silver Points as possible. We found Gato the fighting robot and spent some time grinding up levels, both solo and after we ran into a girl who joined our party. We chugged soda (well... D chugged soda, whereas I tried to and failed because my button mashing skills were not impressie at that point). Eventually we found ourselves transported to what seemed to be a completely different place and time, and then... we were set upon by three green imps. Incredibly weak monsters, these, and easily dispatched... except that we never thought to heal ourselves after grinding experience on Gato. One hit was all it took for our character to take a dirt nap, and we found ourselves back at the title screen, realizing that we had never saved the game. Fortunately... we had plenty of time and a determination to try again. Unfortunately, at that point, my parents showed up to pick me up and take me back home. I spent all night thinking about Chrono Trigger, replaying the Milennial Fair scenes in my head, and theorizing what we could do differently. D kept playing the game and a small part of me hated him for it. My solution? The same as it usually was - I asked my parents to buy me a copy of it. Generally speaking, they would do so regularly if it kept me quiet and out of their hair, and this time was no different. Less than a week later, I had my own copy of Chrono Trigger to play.

I don't remember everything about my first playthrough of the game, but key moments of it stuck with me immediately. I loved having a character named Frog who was actually a frog and used his tongue in battle. My heart ached at the idea of people living in the future, surviving solely off of a machine that kept them physically healthy even as they starved. Visiting prehistoric times and fighting off dinosaurs with the help of an incredibly strong woman was amazing. But it all paled in comparison to the first time I visited 12,000 B.C. - specifically, the first time I took the Skyway and heard this theme:

Immediately - IMMEDIATELY - I was entranced. Something about this song just spoke to me in a way that I couldn't fully understand back then, and in a way that I still struggle to fully express now. It just sounded to me exactly like what I never knew the theme for a magical kingdom would sound like. Zeal became my favorite area of the game, and throughout the next year, even after I had defeated the game, I spent hours searching through the Kingdom, convinced that there just had to be a way to access the islands that were otherwise unreachable (and in the process, maybe find a way to save Schala). Eventually, I found a Game Genie code that let you walk anywhere on the world map! I finally had my goal in the palm of my hand! ... The other islands didn't exist, of course. I could walk on top of them but do nothing else. But by this point, I had put hundreds of hours into the game. To call me obsessed would have been a bit of an understatement. I decided that I would learn everything I could about Chrono Trigger. I bought the official Nintendo player's guide, reading through it and marveling at the illustrations within. I thought to myself how strange it was that the illustrations in the guide looked so similar to Dragon Ball Z (not realizing at the time that Akira Toriyama was so heavily involved in the game). Any bit of Chrono Trigger lore that I could find, I devoured. D had returned the game to his neighbor before finishing it, but M ended up with his own copy, and we eagerly discussed the game at every opportunity we could. We created theories about the endings, we discussed what would happen in the inevitable sequel... but as the years passed and M moved on to other games, my adoration of Chrono Trigger only grew.

To this day, I still own my original cartridge of Chrono Trigger. I also own a complete copy of the Super Nintendo version of the game, three different versions of the game for Playstation 1 (including two varieties of imported Japanese versions), and the DS remake. I bought the spiritual successor to it, Chrono Cross, the day it came out - and even though I was incredibly disappointed by it for a long time, because I wanted Chrono Trigger 2, I eventually played through and enjoyed it. I recently bought the Chrono Cross remaster for my Switch and I'll play through it at some point here soon. When I say that Chrono Trigger is my favorite game ever, I mean it. No other game has ever come close to Chrono Trigger in terms of long-term influence on me. The soundtrack is amazing and I have multiple copies of it on physical CDs. I commissioned a Magus costume to wear to an anime convention. Even my name is directly influenced by this game. With recent rumors of a remaster or remake swirling, I'm filled with anticipation, hope... and also dread. To me, Chrono Trigger is as close to a perfect game as I've ever seen. A remaster would be incredible, and a remake could be interesting, but I worry that if either happens, they'll try to do too much and it will stray from its origins. It's the same concerns that I hold these days about a true sequel - the original game was a masterpiece. Playing it for the first time was an experience that I've rarely felt in any other game. If a true sequel ever does come out, I will inevitably hope for that same feeling from it - but with so many of the original team no longer available to work on the game, I worry that such lightning will never be caught in the bottle again.

.... Damn. Now I want to replay the game again. Maybe I'll do that on stream soon. For now, if you're interested, please enjoy the VODs of my last replay of the game, from about two and a half years ago: Zeph Plays Chrono Trigger (DS)