Recently a very telling page appeared on Square-Enix's website:
http://www.square-enix.co.jp/ctds/ [square-enix.co.jp]

Of course, many experienced gamers already know that's the Chrono Trigger clock. Not long after the page appeared, information on an upcoming Chrono Trigger remake for DS appeared in a Japanese videogame magazine. And now, Square-Enix has officially confirmed it.

This Chrono Trigger remake will use the original SNES sprites and art, but feature an extra dungeon (like those FF remakes), as well as support for the touch screen. I don't know what all that entails. Wireless functionality was also mentioned, and additional content was promised, too. Maybe some of that anime footage from a while back? A gallery to watch unlocked endings? Those are just guesses. Chrono Trigger is confirmed for a North American release this holiday season.

I played through the original numerous times. And seeing as how this is just a remake, I'm a bit hesitant to buy it again unless the additional content is really good. But for those of you who never got the chance to play this classic RPG, this is your chance to play the game RPG fans won't shut up about.

Hm... I'm curious about the new content, but really it's a game that I've beaten several times already. I'm not sure if I need to pay $35 (or more) to play it again on my DS. I'll probably end up getting it eventually, but waiting until I can find a used copy...

As I've never actually played the original (I've wanted to, but it's hard to get my hands on it), I might look into this. Time-travel is always interesting. :)

Of course, a DS-remake that features nothing but a new dungeon or two feels a bit cheap, regardless of whether I've played the game or not before. A remake a la FFIII is too much to demand for Chrono Trigger, since it wasn't/isn't the staggering commercial success that the FF games are, but yeah... Bit cheap.

I always liked the CT games (yes even Chrono Cross, Van was my favorite!) but a remake does seem pretty cheap. You'd think that a game with such an enormous fanbase, especially for the original game which would be more friendly to DS development, would be a good opportunity for a new game. Then again 'remakes' seems to be a huge DS category, especially for SNES games that can't be played anymore. (Stupid cartridge system... probably did it on purpose with this kind of thing in mind)

Where's my Earthbound DS? I'd probably buy that...

I never finished the original, so as cheap as this seems, I'll probably end up buying it anyway.

Oh wait, no DS. Bugger.

I never played all the way through Chrono Trigger, so I might pick it up. Still, I'd rather see it get the same sort of treatment as the SNES Final Fantasy titles, but I guess Chrono Trigger never really was that popular of a franchise for them.

There's a countdown on the website now, and if each number is a second, then it should finish in a little less than 5 days. But it's moving fast, so it may finish earlier than that.

isukun
I never played all the way through Chrono Trigger, so I might pick it up. Still, I'd rather see it get the same sort of treatment as the SNES Final Fantasy titles, but I guess Chrono Trigger never really was that popular of a franchise for them.

Really? I always thought it was quite popular. Just from looking at the wikipedia page to see if it has links to any more info about this game, I found one note saying that it was the #3 game readers of Nintendo Power wanted to see on the Virtual Console (no idea what one and two were, but I wouldn't be surprised if one of them was Final Fantasy VI).

Anyway, the last time I played CT was when I had it on my modded PSP, but that had crazy lag for SNES games (for whatever reason), so it was all choppy looking. Before that I'd played it when it got rereleased on the Playstation. The cut scenes were cool, but again, the load times were downright embarassing. If the game still has the cut scenes from the PS version, I might pick it up sooner than I had originally thought just so I can play through the game at a decent clip to see them.

If Chrono Trigger is popular, then it's Square-Enix's longest-ignored popular property. I do think CT was popular, but it was simply not a cash cow like Final Fantasy.

What you have to remember is that this will also (hopefully) be the first time Chrono Trigger is released in PAL territories.

Personally, without emulators, I'd never have gotten to play it. It'll be nice to legitimately carry it around with me and play it on a console.

Hawk
If Chrono Trigger is popular, then it's Square-Enix's longest-ignored popular property. I do think CT was popular, but it was simply not a cash cow like Final Fantasy.

Well, from what little I've read, part of the problem is that a combination of the creative team as well as certain licenses are spread out across several companies. Square holds the rights to the game content, etc., but there's certain intellectual stuff they'd have to pay royalties for, and individuals they would have to negotiate with if they want them along for the game. As opposed to the FF series, which is largely done in-house, with help from people who they tend to work with on a fairly consistent basis.

...


Aside from which, it's probably a bitch to write time travel stories, no matter how you cut it.

Really? I always thought it was quite popular.

It did fairly well in Japan. Sales were more or less on par with other Square projects of the time, but the late release made it harder for the Western audiences to get into it with the new 32-bit systems coming out just a few months after the game. A lot of the interest in the game in the West is generated by retrogamers and the emulation crowd. It was one of the more expensive games Square put out back then and returns probably could have been better had the game come out a year earlier. After all, it had most of the top creative talent from the Final Fantasy series combined with design elements from the incredibly popular Dragon Quest series.

Also keep in mind that any sequel or spin off material made for the series has gotten pretty awful receptions. Radical Dreamers never saw a Western release and Chrono Cross didn't get nearly as many sales as just about any other Square RPG on the PSX. The anime never took off even with the Japanese. It's not like Square/Enix doesn't have any past bad experience with the series.

Chrono Cross is my darling dream. I loved that game so much. I still need to get a few endings. But I've put so many hours into that game! So much fun! Hundreds of hours of love and ecstasy!

Now Chrono Cross, that, to me, was like entering a world of astonishing beauty and a euphoric field of my greatest fantasies. I adore that game so much and as a somewhat hard-core gamer who owns hundreds of games, Chrono Cross has made its way to my predilection. I looooooove Chrono Cross!

I know it earned a lot of spite, and I actually dismissed it as pretty bad after getting it and I didn't play it for a couple of years. Then, I gave it another try and the asthetics appealed to me. I kept playing and playing and it got better and better. The imagery, the music, even the characters and gameplay, all of it was strangely so beautiful to me. I have the soundtrack and it's one of the best things I've ever heard.

I think too many people try to consider it to be CT's sequel, which it was sort of supposed to be. It only had a few minor correlations and most of the larger ones were sort of deep in the storyline of CT. Nonetheless, or even partly because of that, I found myself enthralled by the plot and where the two stories were interlaced. It really comes together toward the end.

As for the new release, I don't have a DS and if there will only be a few changes, I don't think there's much reason to get it. :(

I really wish they continued on Chrono Break. :(

Played the game thrugh and beat it a gazzilion times on my emulator, suggest to any one who hasent yet played the game.

vgman
Played the game thrugh and beat it a gazzilion times on my emulator, suggest to any one who hasent yet played the game.

I love emulators. :)