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

[Weiss]

What implies that Kid is Schala's clone apart from the game telling you so? Everything about Kid being a Schala clone is arbitrary for the most part.

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I mean, that's kind of a weird take. Kid is referred to with the sci-fi concept of "daughter-clone", or that Kid is basically a genetic copy of Schala who then grew to become her own person. She's not literally Schala, and there is a point in the endgame where Kid flat out rejects the idea that she's anyone but her own person (I think it's at the end when she's talking to Lucca's ghost).

The ending itself is kind of vague if Schala and Kid continued to exist separately or were fused together (the final scene is Kid in a dress sailing on a boat, but there are some interpretations of what it's supposed to mean).

 

[SlasherMcGirk]

What implies that Kid is Schala's clone apart from the game telling you so? Everything about Kid being a Schala clone is arbitrary for the most part.

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Why do I need another source other than the game just telling me? As for point two, yes pretty much. Daughter, clone or rebirth doesn't matter in the long run. If we go by the credit sequence then there is some heavy reincarnation going on through out time. Although I like to think the credits parts as a nice what if kinda thing case they don't work in the game world at all.

 

[Weiss]

Why do I need another source other than the game just telling me? As for point two, yes pretty much. Daughter, clone or rebirth doesn't matter in the long run. If we go by the credit sequence then there is some heavy reincarnation going on through out time. Although I like to think the credits parts as a nice what if kinda thing case they don't work in the game world at all.

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Unless I'm mistaken (because I read it on TVTropes) the theme behind the live action segments in Cross' credit sequence was to convey the idea that, as Kid searches for Serge in her world, there's someone in ours who wants to find us, the player, because we matter to them.

 

[Taruranto]

Unless I'm mistaken (because I read it on TVTropes) the theme behind the live action segments in Cross' credit sequence was to convey the idea that, as Kid searches for Serge in her world, there's someone in ours who wants to find us, the player, because we matter to them.

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The hilarious part is that you can like, ditch Kid any time you want in the game due to the weird choice system, including leaving her to die lol.

 

[Weiss]

The hilarious part is that you can like, ditch Kid any time you want in the game due to the weird choice system, including leaving her to die lol.

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I mean.

This is also true.

Can't think of too many other JRPGs that give you the choice to abandon the heroine to a painful death by poison so you can recruit the best party member in the game.

 

[lucablight]

Why do I need another source other than the game just telling me? As for point two, yes pretty much. Daughter, clone or rebirth doesn't matter in the long run. If we go by the credit sequence then there is some heavy reincarnation going on through out time. Although I like to think the credits parts as a nice what if kinda thing case they don't work in the game world at all.

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What is the significance of her being Schala apart from the writers wanting to establish a far reaching link with Chrono Trigger? If she had been just another person (i.e not Schala) who had been sent back in time would it have affected the story in any way? It seems like an unnecessary story point. If we were really expected to believe that Kid is a Schala clone then the least the writers could have done is give her blue hair but they didn't even do that.

 

[Weiss]

What is the significance of her being Schala apart from the writers wanting to establish a far reaching link with Chrono Trigger? If she had been just another person (i.e not Schala) who had been sent back in time would it have affected the story in any way? It seems like an unnecessary story point. If we were really expected to believe that Kid is a Schala clone then the least the writers could have done is give her blue hair but they didn't even do that.

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I don't really think it matters that much, especially when Kid herself affirms her independence as a person from Schala. Like, that's the point they wanted to convey through Kid; she was born of Schala and has a predetermined cosmic destiny where she eventually time travels to save Serge from being drowned by his dad, but she's her own person.

I think the actual meat and potatoes of why Kid was born is that Schala wanted to escape from the Time Devourer, so she created Kid to enact that will.

 

[Xandalan]

I plan to replay Chrono Cross this year as it has always held a special place in my childhood. I even played it before Chrono Trigger think about how lost I was! My only complaint was Magus not being Guile like it was hinted at.

 

[FrostweaveBandage]

I'll shittalk it for him, it was fucking terrible. Killed the franchise.

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I won't go as far as you on it, but I agree with the idea that it killed the franchise. They'd have made another if it was exceptional.

For me, answering the question of Schala's fate didn't require an entire game. And the question doesn't get addressed until quite far into the game when many players, myself included, had already decided it wasn't as good as Trigger and put it down. If that was the goal, the game should have started with Magus as the main character and then - if needed - transition to Serge.

Looking back at it retroactively, I think it wrecked Trigger's themes and story by trying to answer a question that never needed answering. A fine game in its own right, it was a disappointing followup to one of the greatest games ever.

 

[lucablight]

I don't really think it matters that much, especially when Kid herself affirms her independence as a person from Schala. Like, that's the point they wanted to convey through Kid; she was born of Schala and has a predetermined cosmic destiny where she eventually time travels to save Serge from being drowned by his dad, but she's her own person.

I think the actual meat and potatoes of why Kid was born is that Schala wanted to escape from the Time Devourer, so she created Kid to enact that will.

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I found the links between Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross to be too shallow and unbelievable. I found the whole Schala-Kid connection to be meaningless and superficial at best. I'm sure I'm not saying anything particularly new here but the Chrono Trigger cast getting killed off screen was downright egregious. I never felt like I was playing a sequel to Chrono Trigger. It was more like playing a different game which had allusions to it.

 

[Zen]

I mean, acting like Cross fans don't routinely pull posts like this is just flat out denial.




(The part in italics was originally edited out after it was rebuked and can be found in other quotes from that poster in that thread)

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I dunno why you're quoting me to drag me into this shit but the title of that thread was intentionally inflammatory. Context matters.

Now leave me alone! I have to go scream at some children for not knowing about how perfect Chrono Cross is. Ignorance is NO excuse.

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Lmaoo

Weiss you been holding that grudge since 2019. At the end of the day we're all Chrono fans in some form, my initial post about salty CT fans is...true but it doesn't mean I like you guys any less lol. I love both games and as far as I'm concerned we're all one fandom for this IP.

 

[Deleted member 4869]

I found the links between Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross to be too shallow and unbelievable. I found the whole Schala-Kid connection to be meaningless and superficial at best. I'm sure I'm not saying anything particularly new here but the Chrono Trigger cast getting killed off screen was downright egregious. I never felt like I was playing a sequel to Chrono Trigger. It was more like playing a different game which had allusions to it.

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That's super weird considering the ton of links, references and callbacks the game has. The El Nido archipelago is a set of artificial islands created by FATE, which is clearly stated to be an upgraded Mother Brain.

Then we have the presence of Belthasar, who is the actual mastermind behind the whole thing. We have the corrupted Masamune and even the presence of the actual spirits of the sword, Masa, Mune and their sister Doreen. The Zenan mainland gets mentioned constantly. The army colonizing El Nido is from Porre. A lot of the technology and magic objects in El Nido come from the Dragonians which are the evolved form of the Reptites. The Dead Sea you get to visit is actually the 2,300 a.D. future from Chrono Trigger being condensed/stored in that area and you find the corpse of Johnny, the racing robot, and also you get to see a computer report on the Day of Lavos, and at the end of it you witness the frozen, future state of the post-apocaliptic Leene's Square.

Guardia Kingdom is mentioned. And at one point in the game you even get to time travel back to the past to save Kid from Lucca's burning house. Then you get Lucca's super emotional letter to Kid.

The Dragon God itself was created as an organic nature control system by the Dragonians, which we made clear are the evolved form of the Reptites. Azala is even mentioned in the game.

Chronopolis was stated to be founded upon the ideas and research of both Belthasar and Lucca. One of the NPC's on Chronopolis mentions that he lives in Medina. Lavos is also being studied in Chronopolis, and the ancient Kingdom of Zeal is mentioned as a myth.

Chrono Cross has a lot more links, references and callbacks to its predecessor than many other sequels out there. If it wasn't for the time traveling shenanigans of the Trigger cast, not even the landmasses in Cross would exist, and since many of the characters that live in those islands are descendants of the researchers from Chronopolis, those character wouldn't even exist either.


To me, saying that the links between Cross and Trigger are "shallow" is like saying the links between the Metal Gear Solid franchise are shallow. The events of one game can only happen because of the events that happened in the other. Cross' plot cannot stand on it's own because it's a sequel, and it was always meant to be a sequel, and was written as such.

 

[Weiss]

Lmaoo

Weiss you been holding that grudge since 2019. At the end of the day we're all Chrono fans in some form, my initial post about salty CT fans is...true but it doesn't mean I like you guys any less lol. I love both games and as far as I'm concerned we're all one fandom for this IP.

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I went looking for posts showing the kind of behaviour I was trying to highlight. That happened to be one such example.

You don't get to act like you're above it all when your only contribution to the thread is "lol salty CT fans."

 

[Zen]

I went looking for posts showing the kind of behaviour I was trying to highlight. That happened to be one such example.

You don't get to act like you're above it all when your only contribution to the thread is "lol salty CT fans."

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I made a lot of posts afterwards too. And it was more of a ribbing than an attack anyway.

 

[lucablight]

That's super weird considering the ton of links, references and callbacks the game has. The El Nido archipelago is a set of artificial islands created by FATE, which is clearly stated to be an upgraded Mother Brain.

Then we have the presence of Belthasar, who is the actual mastermind behind the whole thing. We have the corrupted Masamune and even the presence of the actual spirits of the sword, Masa, Mune and their sister Doreen. The Zenan mainland gets mentioned constantly. The army colonizing El Nido is from Porre. A lot of the technology and magic objects in El Nido come from the Dragonians which are the evolved form of the Reptites. The Dead Sea you get to visit is actually the 2,300 a.D. future from Chrono Trigger being condensed/stored in that area and you find the corpse of Johnny, the racing robot, and also you get to see a computer report on the Day of Lavos, and at the end of it you witness the frozen, future state of the post-apocaliptic Leene's Square.

Guardia Kingdom is mentioned. And at one point in the game you even get to time travel back to the past to save Kid from Lucca's burning house. Then you get Lucca's super emotional letter to Kid.

The Dragon God itself was created as an organic nature control system by the Dragonians, which we made clear are the evolved form of the Reptites. Azala is even mentioned in the game.

Chronopolis was stated to be founded upon the ideas and research of both Belthasar and Lucca. One of the NPC's on Chronopolis mentions that he lives in Medina. Lavos is also being studied in Chronopolis, and the ancient Kingdom of Zeal is mentioned as a myth.

Chrono Cross has a lot more links, references and callbacks to its predecessor than many other sequels out there. If it wasn't for the time traveling shenanigans of the Trigger cast, not even the landmasses in Cross would exist, and since many of the characters that live in those islands are descendants of the researchers from Chronopolis, those character wouldn't even exist either.


To me, saying that the links between Cross and Trigger are "shallow" is like saying the links between the Metal Gear Solid franchise are shallow. The events of one game can only happen because of the events that happened in the other. Cross' plot cannot stand on it's own because it's a sequel, and it was always meant to be a sequel, and was written as such.

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The links in the MGS series (for 1-3 anyway) felt like a natural progression. I would consider most of the links between Chrono Trigger as forced. How many of the places from the original game do you visit? Could you look at any character or place in Chrono Cross and link it back to Chrono Trigger without being explicitly told that there is a link? There are various references yes but it doesn't feel like a natural progression. For example what aspect of Chrono Trigger ever gave the impression that Lucca would build an orphanage and have a close relationship with Schala? It just sounds like something the writers came up with to create a link back to Chrono trigger. I think
Chrono Cross would have worked much better as a standalone game without the superficial references to Chrono Trigger.

 

[Deleted member 4869]

The links in the MGS series (for 1-3 anyway) felt like a natural progression. I would consider most of the links between Chrono Trigger as forced. How many of the places from the original game do you visit? Could you look at any character or place in Chrono Cross and link it back to Chrono Trigger without being explicitly told that there is a link? There are various references yes but it doesn't feel like a natural progression. For example what aspect of Chrono Trigger ever gave the impression that Lucca would build an orphanage and have a close relationship with Schala? It just sounds like something the writers came up with to create a link back to Chrono trigger. I think
Chrono Cross would have worked much better as a standalone game without the superficial references to Chrono Trigger.

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Those are some very weird questions. How many of the places from previous games do you visit in Metal Gear Solid?

"Could you look at any character or place in Chrono Cross and link it back to Chrono Trigger without being explicitly told that there is a link?" --- What..? Are you kidding? Would you not recognize this place without the game telling you what it is?

Or seeing this?

Chrono Cross' references and connections to Trigger are some of the strongest in a sequel ever.

 

[Plinko]

One of the best RPGs ever made and an incredible story, what a mess indeed!

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Perfect response. One of the best games of all time, and easily the best soundtrack ever.

 

[Weiss]

Actually I figure this is a good time to ask: The Dead Sea/Tower of Geddon area is supposed to be 1999 AD as it's being destroyed by Lavos, right? And then it got shunted into the Darkness Beyond Time and resurfaced during the Time Crash.

 

[Alpheus]

DS Version + Chrono Cross have your answers

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This

 

[lucablight]

Those are some very weird questions. How many of the places from previous games do you visit in Metal Gear Solid?

"Could you look at any character or place in Chrono Cross and link it back to Chrono Trigger without being explicitly told that there is a link?" --- What..? Are you kidding? Would you not recognize this place without the game telling you what it is?

Or seeing this?

Chrono Cross' references and connections to Trigger are some of the strongest in a sequel ever.

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All the Metal Gear solid games take place in our reality which is internally consistent with each game. Do you feel like the world in Chrono Trigger is the same one in Chrono Cross? I see Leene's bell there but I don't remember thinking I was ever back in Crono's town at any point in the game. It's like they've thrown in all these references to Chrono Trigger in a different series. Look at the whole theory of Guile being Magus. It seems like whether he is or not is dependent on whether the developers are willing to confirm it based on the vague allusions presented rather than you being able to read it from the text for yourself.

 

[Twig]

I went looking for posts showing the kind of behaviour I was trying to highlight. That happened to be one such example.

You don't get to act like you're above it all when your only contribution to the thread is "lol salty CT fans."

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As long as you admit you're down in the sewers, too! Ain't nobody goes digging up posts from half a year ago with good intentions lmao, you WANTED to start a fight. Luckily for you I just find it funny.

 

[Deleted member 4869]

These monthly Chrono Trigger/Cross threads always end up the same way. It's like deja vu. It's the reason I'm not as active or enthusiastic as before. Lol.

 

[Rutger]

These monthly Chrono Trigger/Cross threads always end up the same way. It's like deja vu. It's the reason I'm not as active or enthusiastic as before. Lol.

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That's one thing I can agree with, haha.

 

[Weiss]

As long as you admit you're down in the sewers, too! Ain't nobody goes digging up posts from half a year ago with good intentions lmao, you WANTED to start a fight. Luckily for you I just find it funny.

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I was responding to a post about the constant back and forth arguments in this fandom. I went looking for examples to illustrate my point and plucked two of them. I don't know how I'm supposed to illustrate what I'm trying to say without using examples that are easily found on this site.

I don't understand why this is an acceptable way to act because someone is being mean to a game I like.

These monthly Chrono Trigger/Cross threads always end up the same way. It's like deja vu. It's the reason I'm not as active or enthusiastic as before. Lol.

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Hey when I made mine I started and ended it with "no arguing about which is better or whether Serge could totally clown Crono in a fight or whatever" because I wanted to talk about the series' time travel mechanics.

 

[Deleted member 4869]

Hey when I made mine I started and ended it with "no arguing about which is better or whether Serge could totally clown Crono in a fight or whatever" because I wanted to talk about the series' time travel mechanics.

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LOL, I know! However even threads with good intentions eventually devolve into the same arguments. I've taken to usually just ignore them even when my heart aches.

I'm glad that the Chrono franchise is still remembered after all these years, though!

 

[Twig]

I was responding to a post about the constant back and forth arguments in this fandom. I went looking for examples to illustrate my point and plucked two of them. I don't know how I'm supposed to illustrate what I'm trying to say without using examples that are easily found on this site.

I don't understand why this is an acceptable way to act because someone is being mean to a game I like.

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Well, if you hadn't picked a bad example, I wouldn't be here talking to you.

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

Hoo boy amirite

Cross fucking rocks

 

[Vincent Alexander]

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)

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You have my axe!

 

[Deleted member 6056]

Didn't radical dreamers answer that?

 

[Deleted member 4869]

Didn't radical dreamers answer that?

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Nope.

 

[Weiss]

Didn't radical dreamers answer that?

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Nope.

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I think that one is more explicit that Kid is a reincarnation of Schala, and then she and Magus (who disguised himself as Gil) reunite and leave Serge.

 

[Deleted member 4869]

I think that one is more explicit that Kid is a reincarnation of Schala, and then she and Magus (who disguised himself as Gil) reunite and leave Serge.

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Both versions of Kid are clear in the fact that they are clones/daughters of Schala.

The difference is that the Radical Dreamers version literally pops out of nowhere and without an explanation. And her ending is also quite more cryptic. As convoluted as Cross is at least it explains what Kid is and the moment it was created and why.

 

[Weiss]

Both versions of Kid are clear in the fact that they are clones/daughters of Schala.

The difference is that the Radical Dreamers version literally pops out of nowhere and without an explanation. And her ending is also quite more cryptic. As convoluted as Cross is at least it explains what Kid is and the moment it was created and why.

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I see.

 

[Deleted member 4869]

I see.

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You know what? Delving into my memories of Radical Dreamers after I posted my last message I remembered something about the Frozen Flame altering Schala's body, age and memories and basically resetting her, and sending her to the future, or something?

It's actually very similar to what Cross did except that in Cross, Schala's cloning was of her own free will, while in RD it was the Frozen Flame.

I need to replay RD, seriously.

 

[pleaseinsertdisctwo]

I love Cross but it needs a rerelease immediately bc this is what it looks like on a TV

 

[Zultima]

Chrono Cross is the last jedi of video games lol.
What route would square go when they make the third game?



As if they ever would :'(

 

[Weiss]

You know what? Delving into my memories of Radical Dreamers after I posted my last message I remembered something about the Frozen Flame altering Schala's body, age and memories and basically resetting her, and sending her to the future, or something?

It's actually very similar to what Cross did except that in Cross, Schala's cloning was of her own free will, while in RD it was the Frozen Flame.

I need to replay RD, seriously.

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Yeah I could have sworn Radical Dreamers made it out that Kid and Schala are the same, or at least more of the same person than how Cross was explicit about how Kid viewed herself as an individual instead of an extension of Schala.

Chrono Cross is the last jedi of video games lol.
What route would square go when they make the third game?



As if they ever would :'(

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I mean if Cross is The Last Jedi what does that make a hypothetical Chrono 3?

"Somehow, Lavos has returned."

 

[NeonZ]

What is the significance of her being Schala apart from the writers wanting to establish a far reaching link with Chrono Trigger? If she had been just another person (i.e not Schala) who had been sent back in time would it have affected the story in any way? It seems like an unnecessary story point. If we were really expected to believe that Kid is a Schala clone then the least the writers could have done is give her blue hair but they didn't even do that.

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Schala's hair color was changed by Cross too as part of its new art direction.

 

[Zultima]

🤮 (oh wait they already did that) but really I don't even want to think about it because it'll never happen, and probably shouldn't happen, anyway sadly

 

[4CornersTHSA]

Chrono Cross is the last jedi of video games lol.

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This is such a good comparison lol

Re: Schala's fate in CT, it seemed like the perfect sequel hook. Most everything was tied up nicely, in multiple endings no less (in 1994! Good lord CT is amazing). The only major thing left unresolved was Magus/Janus's search for his sister. That and the "Entity" I guess.

(disclaimer; there is a LOT I like about Cross. The music is amazing, the battle system is fun and has a neat risk/reward component, magic is dare I say better implemented than Trigger and makes more sense than fire ice lightning and darkness, the art style is great, I love the Home/Another duality, and at least in principle digging into the concept of good intentions and actions having disastrous unintended consequences is a really great idea to explore)

All that said, Cross does not stick the landing IMO. Way too many damn characters with little to no personality or consequence to the overall narrative, herky jerky pacing that is all over the place (especially in comparison to Triggers brilliant "all killer no filler" editing), and the story is an unmitigated MESS; the Sea of Eden/Dead Sea is almost nonsensical. It takes a last minute cameo of Triggers dead but somehow younger cast to make sense of things in the last 30 minutes.

And how hard would it really have been to just make Guile into Magus? Seriously. *That* was the hook, the resolution, I wanted in a Chrono Trigger sequel. Magus finding his sister. Cutting 20 characters and making the remaining 24 memorable and relevant to the narrative would've done wonders.

For those that love Cross, good on y'all 👍 I'm glad it has an audience that it speaks to. I tried it a few years back through completion and I'm glad I did. I enjoyed it more than my last play through; I still came away thinking it could've been a whole lot better.

 

[Naphu]

My take on why CC does or doesn't feel like a proper CT follow-up is that Kato chose to explore the dumb dark corners of time travel rather than the fun Back To The Future time travel mechanics of CT.

Serge quickly gets thrust into his adventure aaaand why is it a parallel world instead of a different era? Zelda dark world is over that way <- I thought I would be time traveling in my time travel game?

The game eventually grapples with the question: What about the timelines that were denied existence by our characters actions? A question no one asked! At least I wasn't interested in the answer to that kind of stuff.

CT had dedicated quests to develop it's endearing characters. CC ain't got time for character development because it's time to recruit a new character! "But what is this dumb talking scarecrow's deep dark backstory?" "Shut up and recruit a new character!"

 

[Zen]

My take on why CC does or doesn't feel like a proper CT follow-up is that Kato chose to explore the dumb dark corners of time travel rather than the fun Back To The Future time travel mechanics of CT.

Serge quickly gets thrust into his adventure aaaand why is it a parallel world instead of a different era? Zelda dark world is over that way <- I thought I would be time traveling in my time travel game?

The game eventually grapples with the question: What about the timelines that were denied existence by our characters actions? A question no one asked! At least I wasn't interested in the answer to that kind of stuff.

CT had dedicated quests to develop it's endearing characters. CC ain't got time for character development because it's time to recruit a new character! "But what is this dumb talking scarecrow's deep dark backstory?" "Shut up and recruit a new character!"

Click to shrink...

Back to the Future is the dumb shallow take on time travel. CC actually gave depth to CT by exploring the consequences. CC explores alternate realities instead of time periods because it directly ties into the theme of consequence and cause/effect the game emphasizes. You weren't interested in it, but a lot of us were, and we didn't need the qualifier of having asked 'what if' ourselves first. Seems like an arbitrary requirement. CC had more characters than it needed, but there very much is a core cast that gets developed, within the main story, which you can't miss unlike CT where everyone's development sans Chrono happens in optional cutscenes you have to go out of your way to see.

Btw, CC turns the linear timeline of CT into an intersection of dual timelines because of Chrono and crew's actions. The Dead Sea is a frozen area of spacetime. It absolutely involves time.

 

[KingParappa]

Reading this thread made me realize that everyone forgot about Chronopolis. Except of course Ishida

 

[Rutger]

My take on why CC does or doesn't feel like a proper CT follow-up is that Kato chose to explore the dumb dark corners of time travel rather than the fun Back To The Future time travel mechanics of CT.

Serge quickly gets thrust into his adventure aaaand why is it a parallel world instead of a different era? Zelda dark world is over that way <- I thought I would be time traveling in my time travel game?

The game eventually grapples with the question: What about the timelines that were denied existence by our characters actions? A question no one asked! At least I wasn't interested in the answer to that kind of stuff.

CT had dedicated quests to develop it's endearing characters. CC ain't got time for character development because it's time to recruit a new character! "But what is this dumb talking scarecrow's deep dark backstory?" "Shut up and recruit a new character!"

Click to shrink...

The reason the two don't feel the same is because they had different writers. Kato only wrote the Zeal segment and cleaned up the script overall. He likely always wanted to take things in a darker direction like with his edgy idea of wanting Crono to die permanently, but the writing team had different ideas for the tone.

Exploring parallel worlds is fine, space and time are linked so following up time travel with parallel worlds is a fun idea. A shame the scale was limited to just two worlds where the main difference is if Serge lived or died, so much potential was lost.

It was an interesting idea, even the darker tone to time travel, but the execution was severely lacking. Challenging the actions of the CT cast without letting them play an active role in favor of such a bloated cast really hurts. Not helped by how CC's own ending of merging timelines would also erase countless lives, making its criticisms feel very hollow.

 

[Naphu]

Back to the Future is the dumb shallow take on time travel. CC actually gave depth to CT by exploring the consequences. CC explores alternate realities instead of time periods because it directly ties into the theme of consequence and cause/effect the game emphasizes. You weren't interested in it, but a lot of us were, and we didn't need the qualifier of having asked 'what if' ourselves first. Seems like an arbitrary requirement. CC had more characters than it needed, but there very much is a core cast that gets developed, within the main story, which you can't miss unlike CT where everyone's development sans Chrono happens in optional cutscenes you have to go out of your way to see.

Btw, CC turns the linear timeline of CT into an intersection of dual timelines because of Chrono and crew's actions. The Dead Sea is a frozen area of spacetime. It absolutely involves time.

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Yeah that's what I always hear when CT is brought up, it's so dumb and shallow. Like it or not, changing events in one era to affect another era was very much a core mechanic that wasn't improved or expanded on, they just went somewhere else entirely. Consequently, it contributes to feeling less like a proper follow up to me personally.

It's like playing Paper Mario after playing Mario RPG. Yeah, they're both RPGs starring Mario I guess, both fun, but I don't know how much of a follow-up it is really since they don't quite scratch the same itches for me.

Not helped by how CC's own ending of merging timelines would also erase countless lives, making its criticisms feel very hollow.

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When Miguel finished his little speech, I was like, "No, I don't feel guilty for beating Lavos lmao. Fuck off, where's my time travel? That was an actual fun mechanic."

 

[Taruranto]

There is nothing wrong with CT's "dump and shallow" take on time traveler. The game wasn't interested in the dark consequences of time traveler, not every game needs to explore darker themes. "Dark and mature" doesn't necessarily make a story better, CC feels like an edgy take by someone who didn't care for CT's themes and tried to forced his own spin regardless of what the original game was trying to do.

"Don't you feel bad about the lives you erased in CT?????"

No I don't, Kato, go away.

 

[Saduj]

Not all loose ends need to be resolved, it's good to have some mystery.

 

[Dolce]

There is nothing wrong with CT's "dump and shallow" take on time traveler. The game wasn't interested in the dark consequences of time traveler, not every game needs to explore darker themes. "Dark and mature" doesn't necessarily make a story better, CC feels like an edgy take by someone who didn't care for CT's themes and tried to forced his own spin regardless of what the original game was trying to do.

"Don't you feel bad about the lives you erased in CT?????"

No I don't, Kato, go away.

Click to shrink...

But Chrono Trigger IS dark and it does shine light on its dark themes. You end up with all kinds of different consequences to things that happen, too.

 

[Taruranto]

But Chrono Trigger IS dark and it does shine light on its dark themes. You end up with all kinds of different consequences to things that happen, too.

Click to shrink...

CT's tone is that of a saturday morning cartoon. Bad things happen but the party's works to make things make and the overall message is uplifting. The future is bad? Let's change it. Crono dies? Let's save him. Lucca's mom is on a wheelchair? Let's prevent that from happening. TT is pretty much always used to make things better and fix things, the game is not interested in making you feel bad for your actions.

 

[Weiss]

I think "what if it didn't work out" is one of the most tantalizing questions in fiction, and on its own merits it's a fantastic place to start a concept for a sequel.

It's clear that Chrono Trigger wasn't at all interested in the ramifications of time travel, and that it was a vehicle to send the gang on an epic quest with lots of varied locales and interesting characters. Time travel was fun and that's all it really had to be.

Cross decided to examine (I am loathe to use that often abused term "deconstruct") these ideas, that every action has a consequence and Crono really was mucking with something beyond his control. Time travel isn't fun in Cross, it's horrifying and destructive at best.

There's no clear answer as to which is better or the appropriately realized vision of what time travel should be: the fact of the matter is that Trigger and Cross had different ideas and themes they wanted to get across and tailored their stories accordingly. If I were the kind of person who gets super mad about canon and lore without regard for what these stories are trying to convey then yeah, the idea that my rollicking time travel adventure ended up dooming entire timelines to a fate worse than death is a bummer, but the easy out to that I don't have to care. Stories aren't windows into a fully formed, autonomous universe, they're the means by which artists try to convey their message, and I can choose what I want to take from them.