Of all the most Legendary RPGs; this is the one I’ve played the least. I played it once back in 1995 (as a kid) with the strategy guide nearby, and I don’t remember particularly enjoying the experience - I think it was my fault though because I was so stressed about getting certain endings or not missing certain things. Also I was borrowing my cousin’s game, so I couldn’t take my time with it.

Well,
I want to fix that. I have it on a FX PAK PRO on a real SNES on a CRT, and I’m gonna be replaying it and sharing my feels, observations, etc. I’m gonna do my best to play it fairly blind, and not care what I miss or what ending I get. I remember vague parts of the story, but the nice thing about coming back 30 years later is I really don’t remember much.

Anyway, here’s how the first hour or so went

I set out to the damn fair, and immediately remembered why the game gave me so much stress as a completionist - I encountered these fucking silver points, which aren’t easy to get, and immediately there’s a tent asking for 80 of them, 40 and 10. Just for SHOTS at games.

So I spent some time grinding them with the race and the bell, and looking up “what are these tent games for” earned me a spoiler about what the clone doll does (I had completely forgotten that part of the game) and was a good lesson in not looking shit up.

Because there’s no save states, I saved outside of town and slowly conquered the three dumb games one by one. The first one was the hardest because it’s such a random crap shoot. I could never keep track of those assholes as a kid and I can’t now.

I also grinded enough to get some slightly nicer equipment for Chrono; I do remember he’s alone for a bit coming up soon and I want some decent gear.

With that being said, Marle joined me and I know my actions are gonna be graded later at a trial? (I think?) and I know they’re anal as hell, but I don’t remember all the ways you can fuck up. I think they are so specific about everything that it’s nearly impossible to not be declared guilty, so whatever. I just did what felt natural - saved the cat, didn’t take the man’s lunch; waited for Marle to get candy, etc.

And I legit had forgotten that she gets sucked into a time warp here! And I had forgot that I go after her! This is cool, and getting to discover it happening in real time, versus following along in a guide, is a real treat.

So now I’m in the past, exploring the woods and marveling at the world hundreds of years ago…. And also suspecting they think Marle is their missing queen

>>11830463
>So I spent some time grinding them with the race and the bell, and looking up “what are these tent games for”
Kek do you have some anxiety disorder? Take it easy and enjoy the game.

Even in the unlikely scenario that you miss something important, you can quickly replay the game for a perfect run. And that's actually a fitting and satisfying way to go about Chrono Trigger.

Alright, playing some more now! Just got into the castle, showed myself around - had some food. Man I can see why everyone loved this game so much. The attention to detail is absurd. The little scenes, the personality everyone has, the incredible sprite work. Wow.

Anyway, I finally climbed to the Queen’s room and I remember having a itsy crush on Marle as a kid - and holy shit she vanished AGAIN.

Fuck, just great. What do I do now

Omg, BRO. I’ve never been so motivated. What a hook.

WE GOTTA SET THE TIMELINE RIGHT

These dungeons are so peak, holy shit. I feel like I’m playing a Dungeons and Dragons session and not just a video game. It’s amazing. Each room almost has a story behind it; and secrets feel organic and part of the set.

I’m plundering the evil cathedral, of course. Damn this is incredible. Can’t believe I’ve slept on this game for so long.

And battles don’t even get a chance to feel repetitive because your characters keep learning new techniques and shit to try.

>>11830761
Alright, I’ll take this advice. This game really is meant to be played through blind - and it obviously shines. I am more and more inclined to think that no guide should be used until you reach one of the endings at least

Glad you're enjoying it OP. Playing Chrono Trigger for the first time was a great experience for me too. It lives up to the hype.

You sound like you are on Adderall

>>11831656
what's wrong with that, Dave?

>>11830463
I know you mentioned being a completionist, but just keep in mind there's very few missable items and iirc none of them are important. Don't stress about it, I won't ruin anything for you since you're basically going in blind but just remember there's nothing to really worry about when it comes to CT. Keep up the posting, I'll be waiting for you to rescue Nadia.

CT rules. The only thing you can really complain about is that it's TOO smooth and streamlined.

>>11830463
The points won't even be needed when it's time to get a clone. You'll just pay gold for it, though the longer you can go in the mimic minigame, the less you'll have to pay.

>>11831667
I'd argue that it can be a little too easy at times, and with future ports I think there's a lot of bloat, specifically the DS version. They are both fairly minor complaints as both can be adjusted with just playing differently. Easy 8-9/10 for me.

>>11831650
>>11831662
>>11831667

Alright thanks for the encouragement. I’m not too worried about missables; I’m accepting that I’m gonna miss some shit and that’s okay. If I start using a guide and get perfectionist it’ll just create anxiety, and I want to properly enjoy the game first.

I dug around in the first dungeon for a bit and rescued Nadia finally! It was cool getting to see Chrono and the girls wreck shit but I felt bad for Sir Frog. He did a good job! And he just went and exiled himself and I couldn’t even talk him out of it.

Anyway…. Back to the present. So everyone’s like - chrono, go take the princess home - and one of the last things I remember is we definitely get arrested. So I wandered around for a bit first and imagine my shock when I bought a ticket on a boat and just SAILED THE FUCK AWAY. I was slightly panicking thinking I might have sequence broke or something, but admired the game for letting me do that.

Turns out it was a short walk back up home, but still a cool moment of “if you try hard enough to go off rails, we might not stop you”.

Oh shit I won my trial! One vote guilty and the rest not guilty. Saving the girls kitty helped and the prosecution couldn’t cite any negative marks against my character. I was sure that having Marle dangling over the flame in the tent, or possibly interfering with the race I was betting on might hurt me - but nope.

Anyway, bullshit I’m still sentenced to jail. Wow I remember really fucking this part up as a kid and getting convicted nearly unanimously guilty. What the hell did I DO.

Anyway, off to jail.

Okay well now I *do* want to overthrow your kingdom, assholes. So much for riding out my three days

>>11830456 (OP)
>Of all the most Legendary RPGs; this is the one I’ve played the least
Wrong

>>11831731
>I remember really fucking this part up as a kid and getting convicted nearly unanimously guilty. What the hell did I DO.
You must've been a real jerk to Marle and the festival in general.

>>11831645
>your characters keep learning new techniques and shit to try.
early game bounces along at a decent rate, but eventually it slows down a bit and you just use whatever you know and like.
>These dungeons are so peak
the scenery is certainly pretty for the medium, and the ost is awesome throughout the game
>Each room almost has a story behind it
that feels like a bit of an exaggeration to me. honestly, i found the plot and themes to be where chrono trigger shines, but the dungeons always felt a little lacking to me. not very difficult to navigate, and extremely minimal puzzles. i much preferred the puzzle heavy dungeons of lufia 2.
>>11831731
theres a bunch of things you can do by just interacting with stuff, like accidentally eating some guy's lunch, and you get more guilty votes. regardless, you are scripted to be found guilty.
>>11831737
you absolutely CAN wait your 3 days, and lucca breaks you out (which can be helpful to not be solo for the next part). otherwise, you can break yourself out.

I missed it on snes and remember loving the psx version w the Akira Toriyama cut scenes. I’m guessing there’s a lot of extra stuff in the psx version? Either way great game and good posts. Someone did a play along post not to long ago but had the anons making decisions. Was pretty cool, better than just putting the games title in your thread w ‘worst game of all time’ or ‘best game of all time.’ Keep us updated

>>11831724
Yeah, assuming you didn't already get arrested. I definitely recommend grinding out a few extra levels. They aren't required, but they make that part of the game significantly easier, mostly just through unlocking new techs .

>>11832868
>you absolutely CAN wait your 3 days
Never knew this, kinda neat.

So over the last 24 hours I’ve made my way through the initial future. And damn, I’m remembering some of the bad taste in my mouth - that part of the game draggggggs for a while. After so many bright and fun environments, they hit you with a long ass gauntlet through the future. But it does have its moments.

I remembered all the pity I had for the poor humans who were starving, and the fury I felt at the rats stealing my tonics.

I also appreciated the gentle bit of freedom they give you after Lab 16 - wanna explore the sewers early? Go ahead! And I did so; it was a slight struggle but I ended scoring some new weapons and the coolest accessory yet - a ‘revenge’ accessory that lets Chrono counter attack.

It was nice seeing some monster variety (monsters resistant to certain attacks), even if the mutants did get annoying by the end.

I gotta say, I do remember this game being WAAAAY harder as a kid. I must have been playing really sub optimally. Now, going through it and fighting all the battles (no running) and using common sense, it’s been pretty easy so far. And with a bunch of power tabs dumped into chrono with a counter attack it’s even easier. Don’t hit my boi cause he tags back!

Anyway, then I got to the bike race, and at first it felt just as fucking impossible as when I was kid, until I remembered that you can just chill behind the dude the whole race and use a turbo to jump ahead at the last moment. Then I remembered there’s prizes for high scores so I spent an hour or so practicing until I remembered the rhythm and hit several 13XX scores for some mid tonics, and *finally* got a > 1500 score for the power tab grand prize. You basically have to bounce off of him back and forth and find a nice rhythm to it - though it’s miserable and I hope I don’t need to do it again.

(Oh and I did check out death peak earlier and felt clever as fuck that I found a spare power tab there even though I’m not supposed to be there yet)

Once I got to the other side of the continent, I liked the factory a lot; awesome dungeon design that gives you freedom, but doesn’t penalize you for any particular choice - since you unlock elevators along the way. Plus some clever uses of codes and passwords for puzzles! I also enjoyed the first debate of whether you wanted to bring Marle or Lucca with you - I hate being separated from my crush, but I had to admit it made more sense to bring Lucca with Robo for my game. Especially when I remembered that Robo also has a cure beam.

Anyway, one long satisfying dungeon, and a lot of obnoxious fucking klaxon alarms (even worse with a modern stereo) we got through and FINALLY I get to leave the damn future

And so, it’s my first visit to the End of Time.

I did as the old man suggested and didn’t fuck with Lavos yet, but I did get into the door and earn magic for my party. Also that little monster curb stomped my team, so I will give up trying to beat him for now. I’m a little annoyed and almost wondering if I should go back through - the old man told me not to delay and hurry back to my original time but there was that tempting gate for 65M BC, and I could have jumped in there but I cucked out and didn’t.

I do remember theres a cool blonde cave woman you can eventually get. Now I’m working my way through this continent of monsters that hates me in my own time and wondering if I fucked up and should go back. I left Robo at the end of time for now - he’s cool but I am really enjoying the vibe of Chrono and the girls; plus Lucca and Marle learn Antimony which is a dual magic attack which shreds the monster weak enemies I’m facing

>>11833964
You're fine so far. Don't worry about Spekkio, fighting him's just an optional challenge for bonus items.

>>11833975

Well shit. This comment inspired me to reload and old save and even though I had to eat through every one of my revives I somehow squeaked out a victory! Holy shit!

I got a magic tab and five ethers for the trouble so that’s good enough to replay half an hour for. So now I’m gonna try to go into that gate to the past. Thanks for inspiring me to give him a go. What a challenge that was

>>11834000
Feel free to rematch him later on. He'll change forms and get stronger as you do, but the prizes will get better if you can win.

>>11834008

I’m unsure if it’s time limited for each of the prizes, and the gate to the prehistoric era was a dead end for now, so I’ll just jump ahead for now, but that’s cool to know he’s there as an optional challenge for players who think they are stronk

>>11834014
>I’m unsure if it’s time limited for each of the prizes
Any you missed will be given out all at once.

>>11834008
Thanks for the advice. Okay back to 1000 AD, where I just learned that apparently magus was somehow responsible for the day of Lavos!??? (From a boss)

First of all, nice to be recognized as Sir Chrono. Second of all, who tf? What are they talking about? Gotta find whoever this is

Holy fuq, finally a boss that kept me on my toes. This guy came close to wiping me when I got sloppy - for the record I’m playing on slightly fast battle speed, Active because that feels like the right difficulty. I think one of the reasons I thought this game was tedious as a kid was because I put the speed on slow so it would be ‘easier’ but it was a bad move. You want snappy fast battles that keep you on your toes.

Anyway, great boss. I really got the sense of “without my help these soldiers are doooomed”

Ahh this is cool. There seems to be a bunch of different leads to investigate and ways to go, even though I’m sure it’s not as free as it seems - it still feels like the player has some choice

Felt like a genius finding this place and found a magic scarf in the corner. But frog quit your whining damnit! Lets fkn GO

How cool to be randomly feeling around the edges of the map and drop into an accessory that cuts MP use by 50%. Wow!

Sadly, Chrono needs his revenge accessory, and Lucca is sooo much more useful with her speed up, so I used the speed tab I found on her plus have a speed belt on her - meaning she can actually keep up with Marle.

That means I guess the princess gets the earring!

Okay, I'm going to tell you this in advance so that you don't miss this, though spoilered as a courtesy: late in the game, you'll gain the means to open the sealed boxes. If the game asks if you want to open it, SAY NO. Instead, make note of its location and look for it in a later time period to get better items when you open it there, then you can go back to the original box for its original items.

>>11834203
Oh shit that’s a cool tip! Thanks for spoilering it too so I can choose to know, but yeah, major gameplay mechanics that are fuck-uppable like that are fair game. Yeah I’ve obviously been seeing a million of those. So it makes sense to open those boxes from the future, then working my way back to the past so I don’t prevent a rare treasure from being there in the future! Cool.

Well now I have gathered the broken Masamune Blade, the Hero Medal, and when I went to talk to frog I got the Masamune hilt. They mentioned a legendary weapon maker; I’m thinking they mean that dude from 1000 AD? Anyway, I’m gonna go try to see him I suppose and see if he can fix the blade and then FINALLY fucking frog will be inspired to fight again. Idiot frog. Part of me wonders if this whole quest is even optional, but the rewards have been great so far so I’ll keep going this way.

Aha! It’s time. I remember as a kid being pissed at the non linearity and the “where do I go”-ness of the game, but now I really like it.

>>11834269
Not quite how it works. You have to "activate" the box in the past era by declining the initial prompt to open it, and that upgrades the treasure found in the future. It's a roundabout mechanic, but it pays off if you do it right.

>>11834332
Ah, thanks.

Okay well I found the Nu and killed it and got the Third Eye, which upgrades Ayla’s already insane evade stat to truly absurd levels. Oof, just when I think I know my favorite three characters they have another one that’s even cooler.

Still a Chrono/Marle/Lucca main, but Ayla makes it tempting. Anyway, hunted and got some awesome new weapons and armor. Time to go get our shit back from these reptile scum

such a great game

>>11834369
Ayla is top tier, I don't normally run her in favor of the brew crew (Crono, Robo, Frog) but she still kick mega ass.

FINALLY got Frog to snap out of his depression, and I get it now. Pretty cool that he became the one worthy to wield the Masamune. Anyway, also funny it took all that just so Frog would have a sword as good as the rest of my team lol. The double crit medal does make him pretty good, though not OP.

Anyway, fought my way through Magus’ castle last night and my GOD what a slog. I almost didn’t mind though because it featured some no-shit, buckle up boss battles, my characters were getting some interesting powers, and Frog + Marle’s screen clearing Ice Water attack made things more tolerable.

At last defeated Magus and….. we all got thrown to the past. Anyway, having Frog around was nice, but I missed Lucca and her Firepower, so I’m back to Chrono and the girls

>>11836224
A little tip, the triple tech frog, marle, and crono have is very powerful. It's even on the box art.
Obviously it's not perfect but I remember using it a lot in the late game.

interesting thread, op

Oh man, I’m starting to remember why this game left a bad taste in my mouth. Some real unfortunate game play shit going down today.

First of all, I had to choose between Lucca or Marle to bring to the Lizard lair because Ayla is a mandatory character. At this point Lucca is lagging waaay behind in skill levels, but I need Marle’s healing and Ice Magic. So it’s gotta be Marle. Shouldn’t be a long dungeon, right? WRONG.

Man fuck that place; just constant battles every fucking step, an endless grind of those fucking Dinos that take two of your strongest duo magic attacks. And meanwhile Chrono and Marle are getting even FURTHER ahead of Lucca.

Anyway it took FOREVER but I finally beat that asshole dungeon and his boss - who also had a million HP.

Anyway, the whole dungeon left a bad taste in my mouth.

But it’s over, right? So then I find myself in the ice age, doing some cool exploring with Lucca and Marle again. Times are good, I even found a secret speed tab for Marle. All is well.

I fought my way up to the Queen’s room and enter into a boss battle with Golem that is just a *bit* too hard for me, so it’s not apparent you’re supposed to lose, so I ended up throwing a shit load of precious items away trying to fight this asshole. Then he kills me and I’m supposed to lose? Whatever, fine. Some story shit plays, time to go back to the Future. I can get behind that.

Except it gives your entire party 1HP without telling you, and I didn’t realize it, so in my first battle with random monsters they wiped me nearly immediately before I caught the mistake.

Oh FUCK. Where was the last time I saved? Like an hour ago at the beginning of the ice again. Fuckkkkk.

The same shit happened to me thirty years ago, I remember being just as pissed. Anyway, that’s all for today. I’m too annoyed to continue right now.

A lot of good fun, but some extreme bullshit going down here in recent hours as we move to endgame

>>11840853
Just so you know, you can open the sealed boxes now. Start in 600 AD and remember, DON'T open them if you're asked to confirm so you can get better loot from it in 1000 AD.

>>11840869
Aha, that makes sense. So it must be the charged pendant that opens them; thanks for the tip. Will do!

>>11840853
Save often
and yea the game encourages repeat playthroughs by making it so dungeons and mandatory fights give enough exp to keep 3 maybe 4 of your consistent party members useful, the intended play experience being that you use the underleveled party members in newgame+

>>11840853
>Anyway it took FOREVER
It wasn't that long.. skill issues?
>Golem
>Then he kills me and I’m supposed to lose?
Wait you can lose and the story continues? Cool. The Golem is easy if you alternate between different elemental attacks, though.

>>11840937
>dungeons and mandatory fights give enough exp to keep 3 maybe 4 of your consistent party members useful
That's weird. I leveled everyone evenly and had no issues. Which part of the game do you think would be utterly impossible without concentrating all your EXP?

>>11840853
sounds like you're just bad at the game, schmootz

>>11833964
spekkio changes form (and rewards) depending on the level of whoever is leading the party (usually crono).
1-9: magic tab
10-19: magic tab and 5 ethers
20-29: magic tab and 5 mid ethers
30-39: magic tab and 5 full ethers
40-98: magic tab, power tab, speed tab, 10 elixers
99: 10 magic tabs, 10 power tabs, 10 speed tabs, 10 mega elixers

Just play it on your phone like normal people you boomer

Check Ayla's idle animation world map

>>11840853
Don't fight Magus

>>11831645
>peak
>zomg zomg dis game is hella good fellow fans amirite?!?!
Genuinely kill yourself you fucking "I wanna fit in" faggot zoomer

>>11830456 (OP)
Just dropped it to start a new game on Morrowind. I'll probably finish it eventually. I wouldn't say it's a horrible game, it's completely competent but I just didn't find the story to be very compelling. Fine enough for a SNES jrpg though.

>>11843647
Virgin opinion, if you are not kicking his emo ass then you are a cuck

>>11830456 (OP)
good luck with the run! ive been streaming this on CRT, blind playthrough, its really good but the last boss run bit is a chore. Should have grinded up to level 45-50 though so its my fault. Also Ayla can steal some cool shit during fights.

>>11844559
magus rules stfu

>>11831551
also try 1/60 shutter speed and low ISO for SNES when taking pics or vids. SNES fps is actually 60.1 if you can set it with precision on your camera or app. That way you dont get any weird roll bars.

>>11844914
Ayla can steal wtf

>>11830463
As someone who grinded rune blade at the fair it's the stupidest fucking shit to do that.

>>11831645
The cathedral is unironically the best dungeon in the game. The secret magus room is too good.

>>11831551
Whoa, I never noticed the typo. It's been a while since I saw the SNES original.
>>11843647
Could always fight as Frog just to see, then reload the save and choose no. But yes, there is zero reason or benefit to fighting unless you're going for a very specific ending variation beating Lavos with Magus, Crono AND the Epoch gone, which is the only ending where you actually meet adult Glenn.

>>11845742
Correction on the ending variant: Crono and Magus not in the party, but Epoch is intact, meaning you fought the full Lavos gauntlet at a disadvantage.

Alright. I’m back into it. I reloaded and actually beat the golem, felt good! Just used a different elemental attack every turn; cake.

Then I just straight up got a guide to the chests so I wouldn’t fuck it up. Anyway, I got all the chests I can get now, at least until I find some way to fly. Those elemental Mail items are INSANE. Plus here in the future I found a gold earring.

Current part has Chrono wearing a gold earring so he can blast everyone with Lightning 2 at the beginning of the battle for free, Marle has been absorbing the speed tabs so she is slowly entering super hero power levels. Lucca tags along currently, but I’m honestly weighing replacing her with Ayla, hmmmm.

Anyway just got the Epoch! Though it still can’t fly. Anyway, off to the ice age to fuck some shit up. Thanks to you anons for making sure I didn’t mess up the chests!

Ayla's pretty based, her only real disadvantage is her complete and utter lack of element (even Robo has Shadow, Fire, and Lightning moves).

>>11830463
>So I spent some time grinding them with the race and the bell
I'm also playing (for the first time) and just ended up grinding on the robot which doubled as getting XP. Just going back and forth between the robot and the lunch left on the table. ...Then it was used against me in the court of law!

I'm genuinely amazed there's a significant number of people who didn't know Ayla was a direct reference character

Probably the only good thread to ever exist on 4chan

>>11845859
Why does she have a Turkish name?

>>11846139
>not a *schlop* thread
let's not get crazy here

>>11846141
>>11846131
is why

>>11843835
zomg zomg dis game is hella good fellow millenials amirite. good thing we’re not seething assholes who go into uncontrollable sperg rage at the sight of anyone experiencing joy, right? Good thing we’re not a suicidal piece of shit projecting their suicide fantasies onto others, right?

Unironically go get therapy you stupid faggot and spill your feels before you end up spilling your brains.

v good thread and actually vidya gj OP happy you having fun

>>11843851
wow. what a schmootz