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Did Chrono Trigger ever have an answer for what happened to Schala?

Uzumaki Goku

Uzumaki Goku

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Oct 27, 2017
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Like when I played the game and got the "normal" ending I noticed that her status was the only real loose end of the game aside from Magus going back in time to search for her. Personally, I feel there should've been SOMETHING in the game that allowed you to find her to give this closure. Were it not for this, Chrono Trigger would've stood perfectly as a one and done game. No need for a sequel or anything like that...

But because of this loose end, Kato decided to make an entire game dedicated to resolving this loose end and.... hoo boy, what a mess that turned into. (Seriously, the answers could've been.... simpler)

But I always thought it was odd that Chrono Trigger didn't resolve this... what was the reason?
 
Shard Shinjuku

Shard Shinjuku

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Uzumaki Goku said:
Like when I played the game and got the "normal" ending I noticed that her status was the only real loose end of the game aside from Magus going back in time to search for her. Personally, I feel there should've been SOMETHING in the game that allowed you to find her to give this closure. Were it not for this, Chrono Trigger would've stood perfectly as a one and done game. No need for a sequel or anything like that...

But because of this loose end, Kato decided to make an entire game dedicated to resolving this loose end and.... hoo boy, what a mess that turned into. (Seriously, the answers could've been.... simpler)

But I always thought it was odd that Chrono Trigger didn't resolve this... what was the reason?
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Chrono Cross.
 
Weiss

Weiss

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Taking Chrono Trigger on its own you could infer that Schala had died in the Ocean Palace and Magus was going to embark on a fruitless quest for her until he died, or that she was flung through time somewhere and he would find her eventually. It didn't really matter.
 
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Shadowrun

Shadowrun

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Oct 26, 2017
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Uzumaki Goku said:
Like when I played the game and got the "normal" ending I noticed that her status was the only real loose end of the game aside from Magus going back in time to search for her. Personally, I feel there should've been SOMETHING in the game that allowed you to find her to give this closure. Were it not for this, Chrono Trigger would've stood perfectly as a one and done game. No need for a sequel or anything like that...

But because of this loose end, Kato decided to make an entire game dedicated to resolving this loose end and.... hoo boy, what a mess that turned into. (Seriously, the answers could've been.... simpler)

But I always thought it was odd that Chrono Trigger didn't resolve this... what was the reason?
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The explanation of what happens to Schala is in Chrono Trigger, though.

Chrono Trigger DS, that is.
 
OP
OP
Uzumaki Goku

Uzumaki Goku

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People,

I KNOW Chrono Cross was created to answer this question. I'm asking why Trigger didn't answer this question.
 
Garlador

Garlador

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We got something incredible.
 
Anustart

Anustart

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I had coffee with them and brought this up just last week. They said due to the nature of the story and politics at the time, they simply couldn't give an answer to that plot bit because of backlash from the UN.
 
Inugami

Inugami

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Oct 25, 2017
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OP derailed their own thread shit talking Cross...

Sigh... one day I'd love to see a re-release or remake on a modern platform. Bonus points if they remake the last disc... it's so easy to see where they ran out of time and budget.
 
Feep

Feep

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Because not every question raised in a narrative needs a precise answer, nor could one really be given in a satisfactory way within the constraints of Chrono Trigger's larger narrative.

Not to pile on the thread backlash, but this "loose end" was beautifully explored and realized in Chrono Cross. There's nothing wrong with how it was done. Also, like...I dunno, try playing it?
 
alpha

alpha

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Oct 25, 2017
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As many have said, Trigger did not. Cross did however, and it was fantastic.
 
OP
OP
Uzumaki Goku

Uzumaki Goku

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KojiKnight said:
OP derailed their own thread shit talking Cross...

Sigh... one day I'd love to see a re-release or remake on a modern platform. Bonus points if they remake the last disc... it's so easy to see where they ran out of time and budget.
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I didn't shit talk Cross... I'm just saying it was complicated.
 
Weiss

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KojiKnight said:
OP derailed their own thread shit talking Cross...

Sigh... one day I'd love to see a re-release or remake on a modern platform. Bonus points if they remake the last disc... it's so easy to see where they ran out of time and budget.
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They didn't even shittalk the game. They just called it confusing (which it is).
 
Inugami

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Uzumaki Goku said:
I didn't shit talk Cross... I'm just saying it was complicated.
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No, you called it a mess... without having played it... the answer to Schala's fate wasn't a simple one, and a rushed addition to the ending to CT would absolutely have taken away from Schala's story, and we would have lost a great game that needed it as a cornerstone.

Weiss said:
They didn't even shittalk the game. They just called it confusing (which it is).
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See above.
 
Palazzo

Palazzo

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Not every loose end needs to be tied up. It's fine for some things (as long as they're not integral, as Schala's fate in Chrono Trigger is not) to just trail off and be left to the player's imaginations.
 
Weiss

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KojiKnight said:
No, you called it a mess... without having played it... the answer to Schala's fate wasn't a simple one, and a rushed addition to the ending to CT would absolutely have taken away from Schala's story, and we would have lost a great game that needed it as a cornerstone.



See above.
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The game infodumps crucial lore five minutes before the final boss in optional conversations because they ran out of budget. That's kind of a mess.
 
Ushojax

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The story of Trigger works just fine the way it is. Magus and Schala played their part and the question of whether they will ever meet again is left to the players imagination.
 
FF Seraphim

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Man people in this thread most have nostalgia glasses on. CC was a fun game but you are fooling yourself and others if you think the story wasn't confusing or needlessly complicated at some parts. Hell you got lore dumps at the end of the game that you could miss!
 
Instro

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I think it was always intended to be a hook for another game given that Radical Dreamers came out less than a year after Trigger.
 
noinspiration

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She was last seen in a deadly situation and she never came back, so I'd say that if you take the sequel out of it the answer is that she's dead.
 
Rayman not Ray

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It's pretty clear that she's supposed to die in that scene. She's sacrificing herself so the rest of the heroes can escape.

That's not to say that having her survive breaks suspension of disbelief. It's just that, if there were no sequels, I don't think anybody would question what's happening in that scene.
 
Weiss

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Rayman not Ray said:
It's pretty clear that she's supposed to die in that scene. She's sacrificing herself so the rest of the heroes can escape.

That's not to say that having her survive breaks suspension of disbelief. It's just that, if there were no sequels, I don't think anybody would question what's happening in that scene.
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I think the reason it became such a big deal is due to Gaspar's cryptic line about how "someone close to you is in danger. Find that person fast."

This is said at the same time as Gaspar rattling off the remaining sidequests and Magus doesn't really have one, so the natural conclusion is that the line refers to a character close to Magus, and that would obviously be Schala.

Apparently the original Japanese line is much more clear in that it references Queen Zeal, and Gaspar's line is more to remind you to deal with her.
 
Dreamboum

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I think they wanted to leave some things open but it would still be seen as conclusive. Most people wouldn't even pick up on it as the crux of the story is "defeat big bad boy lavos"
 
Hours Left

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Even though Chrono Cross is a great game, it does the cast of Chrono Trigger very dirty. I think it's pretty obvious why some dire hard CT fans don't really love having to refer to CC for answers about the fates of many characters.
 
Weiss

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Sephiroth said:
You said "hoo boy, what a mess that turned into." when in fact it wasn't a mess and the game is amazing.

Stop backtracking. Either go play the game or don't talk about a game you have no clue about.
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You are being way too dramatic over a video game my dude.

PlanetSmasher said:
To be fair, that's a problem with almost every Squaresoft PS1 game. FFVIII and Xenogears especially.
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Every time I think about how Square rushed games out incomplete in the PS1 days due to not allowing any of their titles to be in development for too long I laugh, and then I cry.
 
PlanetSmasher

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Weiss said:
Every time I think about how Square rushed games out incomplete in the PS1 days due to not allowing any of their titles to be in development for too long I laugh, and then I cry.
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Did I ever tell you about the time my brother destroyed my Xenogears disc 2 by spraying it with windex and destroying the playing surface beyond repair?

pepperidge farm remembers.
 
Richietto

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Besides Magus not being you know who in Cross and how confusing Cross can be I think Schalas fate was really well done in Cross. Don't get the hate for Cross' story. Seems like a damned if you do damned if you don't situation. Trigger not showing the fate of Schala was probably just to be ambiguous and up to the player because they didn't know what to do themselves.
 
Weiss

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Hero_of_the_Day said:
I keep thinking the same thing. Chrono Trigger is my favorite game of all time. I tried to play Cross once some years back and just found the beginning so slow and boring that I dropped it pretty quick. But, some people seem to absolutely love it.
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carlsojo said:
That was my exact issue!
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For better or for worse, you are not getting Chrono Trigger in Cross. It's a direct sequel in terms of plot but everything else is its own beast.

I don't like it in any aspect (not even the music. Ask me why sometime) but it's not hard to see why it has its own fandom.
 
PlanetSmasher

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Weiss said:
For better or for worse, you are not getting Chrono Trigger in Cross. It's a direct sequel in terms of plot but everything else is its own beast.

I don't like it in any aspect (not even the music. Ask me why sometime) but it's not hard to see why it has its own fandom.
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the intro theme is good though :|
 
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