Left feeling a bit empty after playing it for the first time a few months ago(why did I wait so long?) I am afraid no JRPG will be able to surpass it. Would love to have a discussion about similar games that reach the same quality level (Note: I have already played Final Fantasy VI ).
Its not a very “patient gamer” recommendation, but Sea of Stars came out a couple of weeks ago, it is a modern game inspired by retro JRPG titles like Chrono Trigger. I haven’t played it yet, but it looks super cool.
Finished it yesterday, can confirm, while it’s not on par of course, it’s a great game and an amazing tribute to old JRPG.
Nothing else reaches the same quality as Chrono Trigger in the same way. You have to settle for lower quality with similar pacing, or try to reach the same level of quality in a different way.
Similar pacing, lower quality: Phantasy Star IV, Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy IV
Comparable quality, different style: Earthbound, Final Fantasy VII (FF6 is the real answer, but FF7 is the most similar game to FF6)
Similar aspects, lower quality: Dragon Quest IV, Radical Dreamers & Chrono Cross, possibly Radiant HistoriaRadiant Historia definitely hits some of the same notes.
I’m at the final boss of Super Mario RPG and can vouch for it being really fun. While it’s not as epic in scale and story as Chrono Trigger, it’s got good humorous writing, good pacing, and the difficulty is just right imo.
I also really like that if you lose a battle, the game resets you at your last save point and carries over any exp you gained, making grinding way less tedious.
Super Mario RPG is definitely worth playing. It was one of my favorite games on the SNES. I’m excited for the switch remake of it too.
Earthbound probably
More Chrono Trigger!
Have you seen all, IIRC, 11 endings?
Honestly, nothing ever hit the same for me. Even Chrono Cross, which I’m sure tons of people love and is supposed to be somewhat of a sequel to Chrono Trigger (I mean… Final Fantasy games did this too where the stories were totally unrelated but were still “sequels”), was unable to draw me in.
Something about the camaraderie between the characters in Trigger just also felt so much more special than in any other JRPG for me. Western RPGs tend to do this a lot; Baldur’s Gate 3 is extremely good at making you want to hang out with the companion characters.
Quick note, Cross is very deeply, broadly, and extensively a sequel to Trigger.
Eh officially it is. In reality though they tacked all the references to Chrono Trigger in at the end of development.
I’m not sure I’ve read that anywhere. Are you able to provide any sources?
I watched a few making of and other types of history videos about the series.
I’d love to see those.
The only one I could find was about them cutting Magus’s storyline out since the whole game, start to finish, tied directly into it, did so from the beginning, and would have required an immense amount of writing for a non-primary character, which is why they gave him a mask.Masato Kato: To let the cat out of the bag, in the early stages of development, Guile was indeed meant to be Magus. In our original plan, the true identity of Guile was supposed to be Magus after the events in Trigger. (At the end of Trigger, Magus [a.k.a. Janus in Trigger and Magil in Radical Dreamers] disappeared into a Time Gate to go searching for his big sister, Schala, who was lost somewhere in time.) However, as the game’s development progressed and we decided to use such a huge number of playable characters, we decided not to make him be Magus. We thought it was impossible to portray the relationship between Magus and Schala adequately in this game. So we changed tracks, made the colors of the Magus character design paler, and turned him into Guile, the magician. In a way, it’s a pity, as I really would like to have seen the valiant figure of Magus come to life again.
Archived copy of a GamePro interview with Director/Scenario Writer Masato Kato
Interesting. Thank you for finding that. I guess the videos I watched were wrong. I couldn’t tell you what videos they were, it’s been a long time.
There has been a great deal of speculation down through the years. Some of these interviews weren’t translated until relatively recently, so for a long time all we had was speculation.
New Game +
Huh, this game has that mode? If that is so then that it is amazing.
Yeah. There are some endings that you can only get from new game +.
The only answer
Earthbound is fantastic. Also, Chrono Trigger has several different endings and secret things to accomplish along the way, so it is good for more than one play-through. Finally, I remember stumbling into a game decades ago around the same time I first discovered Chrono Trigger called Seiken Densetsu. I remember having a copy in English and really liking it.
Suikoden II is generally considered one of the best JRPGs on the PS1, and while the English translation isn’t spotless the writing and setpieces have a similar quality to Chrono Trigger. It is a sequel to Suikoden and you’ll enjoy the second game a bit more for having played the first one, but it’s not a requirement. The original Suikoden wasn’t nearly as polished and I’d hate for you to give up on Suikoden II because you burned out on it.
Absolutely loved Suikoden 2
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That game was probably my biggest surprise in the last decade, I expected nothing and got one of my top 5 videogame stories and atmospheres of all time. The game does so much with so little. Couldn‘t warm up to the battles though lol
Dunno how anyone who likes JRPGs could play the first game and be like „you know what, I don‘t need to play the sequel.“
I can’t believe it hasn’t been mentioned much but Secret of Mana is definitely a strong contender as GOAT JRPG, as good if not better than Chrono Trigge imo.
Better? Never. I will say it is the by far the best real multi player rpg I’ve played.
multiplayer? would it be a good game for a couple?
Oh totally, and one player can readily dip in and dip out if you’ve got differing interest levels.
damn, never realized that’s a thing. My SO doesn’t have the time to game that much, so that’d be really helpful.
Can you recommend other games with similar multiplayer mechanics as well?
I agree. When I have my SNES nostalgia, I play Secret of Mana first, then Chromo Trigger for the withdrawals.
If you want something more modern, but that still feels very classic, try Sea of Stars. It gives off major chrono trigger energy from my play through so far.
It’s got that Chrono Trigger Feel™. The first time we triggered a battle, the party and enemies all jumped to their starting places on the map. I was so happy
None of those reach the same level as Chrono Trigger in my opinion, but they’re still great:
- Lufia II - Rise of the Sinistrals (SNES). Note: Lufia is best played out of order, since the start of Lufia I spoils the end of Lufia II.
- Tales of Phantasia (SNES). Preferably through the DeJap translation, IMO better than the official.
- Pokémon Fire Red or Leaf Green (GBA). Pokémon as a series decayed a fair bit, but Gen III was amazing.
ROM hacks of gen 3 games are pretty fun, and the most up to date ones are very high quality.
-Pokemon Gaia is my favorite, still feels like a classic pokemon game and its really polished. No postgame yet though, there’s a big update thats been “coming soon” for a few years, but the devs say they’re still working on it.
-Pokemon Unbound is by far the most complex pokemon game in existence, with content up to gen 8, side quests, mechanics from later games, and tons of postgame content. Also a more “adult” storyline, although I think that actually detracts from the feeling of a pokemon game
-Altered Emerald and Polished Crystal, if you want to play expanded versions of official games
-One that people usually recommend is Pokemon Glazed, but i don’t really like that one. It’s a big game but the balance and pacing of it is way off.
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only if you want to render everything you loved and achieved in Chrono Trigger meaningless
Hmm, is there any non spoiler explanation of this?
If you’re familiar with JoJos, it basically pulled a Made in Heaven through one of the main characters. If not, it just does some funky parallel universe/time traveling shenanigans. It gets real wacky real quick, real fast but it sorta kinda makes sense in the end. I won’t spoil how or who, but it’s worth your time finding out.
Echoing a few here.
Earthbound. Legend of Dragoon. Illusion of Gaia. Secret of Mana. Suikoden. Final Fantasy 6.
I liked Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age more than Chrono Trigger.
Super Mario RPG is pretty high up there, as well.
Lost Odyssey is a gem that doesn’t get enough love. Chrono Trigger might be a bit higher on my list, by this is definitely worth a playthrough. Be prepared for some real pulls at your heart strings if you read through the short stories in the game.
