this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2026
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Chrono Trigger is kinda insane (lemmygrad.ml)
submitted 1 month ago by ksynwa@lemmygrad.ml to c/games@lemmygrad.ml
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I am playing through the Steam version of the game right now. Haven't finished it yet. There are three things that somewhat baffle me. The first is how much stuff there is in the game. The game released close to when I was born so I find it impressive how many eras and locations there are in the game. The second being how smoothly the game flows. When one arc ends it is clear where you need to go next just by following the dialogue. Lastly, I love how the game is somewhat scant on dialogue lines but makes good use of the ones that are there. It is an antithesis of MGS3 cutscenes (which I also love).

The combat system is also actually really fun. The bosses make you think about how to approach them. Does the original SNES version have the "active" battle system that the Steam version has? If yes then that's very impressive. I see it as somewhat of a precursor of the battle system in the FFVII remake games.

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[–] Conselheiro@lemmygrad.ml 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The game is so well written that even as a half-illiterate child with no knowledge of English I could mostly understand what was going on on a horribly translated Portuguese romhack. Going back to it later when it came out on the DS blew my mind. To this day it's the standard to which I compare other JRPGs, and among my favourite games on the SNES.

Does the original SNES version have the "active" battle system that the Steam version has?

I may be misremembering, but I think it was the "wait" mode that was implemented in the DS or PSX version.

[–] ksynwa@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Seems I was right to wonder that. That kind of battle system feels difficult to code for on older platforms.

Regarding the writing, you can see the difference in quality between Chrono Trigger and modern imitations like Sea of Stars.

[–] Conselheiro@lemmygrad.ml 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

No no, what I'm saying is that the active one is the original. The "wait" mode that pauses on menus is sort of a "easy mode" added in later ports because some found it too hard and wanted something more like a turn-based RPG. SNES era developers were magicians, not even the physical limits of the hardware could stop them.

[–] ksynwa@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Whoops. My bad.

[–] WhatWouldKarlDo@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I could pop the cart in to check if you're super curious, but I'm pretty sure it was a selectable option whether you wanted the game to wait or not in combat on the original.

[–] ksynwa@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's fine. Others have also confirmed this.

[–] WhatWouldKarlDo@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 1 month ago

Ah, sorry, i must have missed that.

[–] Ildsaye@hexbear.net 9 points 1 month ago

Chrono Trigger is sort of a bridge between FFvi and FFvii gameplay-wise. Its good reputation is entirely deserved.

Also, the active battle system started with FFiv!

[–] ZeroHora@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 month ago

I didn't play when the game launched, I played for the first time in 2006-2008 and I was really impressed by it too, the game has a perfect pacing that is extremely rare for video games, it's one of my favourites.

Is really bizarre to me how good the pacing of the game to the point that they essentially make a non linear game by the end of it and that's doesn't fuck with the pacing, most games when changes things like by the end let you kinda tired.

[–] yogthos@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 1 month ago

It's hands down one of the best games ever made.

[–] bennieandthez@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 1 month ago

yup chrono trigger is a timeless masterpiece

[–] sovietsnake@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I wanted to get into something done by Square/soft/Enix, or some JRPG but I the amount of endings Chrono Trigger has scared me a bit since it seems a game where you need to put hundreds of hours into if you want to see most of it. I ended up playing FF1 which I left there because of some very dated mechanics.

[–] Conselheiro@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 1 month ago

Keeping it vague so as to not spoil anything, but the vast majority of those endings are pretty unimportant and only there for completionism and flavour. There's only like 2 or 3 endings with actual story relevance, and it's surprisingly quick to get the other ones after that.

[–] ksynwa@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I personally am going to do only one playthrough and then just watch and read or read about alternate endings. Games are meant to be enjoyed, not getting anxious over whether you are doing them right or not.

Edit: It is also pretty easy to get the ideal ending. So you are not baited into doing multiple endings or being paranoid like some JRPG games do.

[–] WhatWouldKarlDo@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 1 month ago

There's only a couple of main endings. One is just a variant of the other. You keep all your stats when you start a new game, and there's a path opened to the final boss that you can take at pretty much any time. The other endings are based around WHEN you choose to beat the game, rather than how you play the game, as your actions through the game alter the timeline.

[–] big_spoon@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 1 month ago

ah...i remember playing it. it was very interesting jumping around time, the evil space monster and stuff

[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago

Chrono Trigger also create the new game+ mechanic afaik it was the first RPG to have it. If you wanted to see all the endings, you didn't have to play from the beginning.