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Does the additional DS content for Chrono Trigger suck?

styl_oh

styl_oh

Fallen One-Winged Chicken Chaser
Member
Nov 24, 2019
2,205
Alberta, Canada
OK, so I'm playing CT for the first time and I found the Arena. I was surprised I was allowed into a <<DS EXCLUSIVE ZONE>>. This doesn't SEEM like it sucks. Monster training!!! I'm the kind of person whose favourite bit of Sonic Adventure 2 was the Chao garden and I liked the Coliseum in FF6 as well as the monster pit in any given Dragon Quest. I feel like I could really get into this. It's actually reminding me of training people in a dojo in Yakuza. Unless it does in fact suck.

If there are extra dungeons or super hard bosses, I'd assume they're throwaways. I'm not usually into that kinda stuff.
 
Robin64

Robin64

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,623
England
The extra endgame content links the game even more to Chrono Cross and isn't bad at all.
It also makes use of some previously unused content.
 
sir_crocodile

sir_crocodile

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,480
Nothing good was added to the DS version content wise imo, though suck would be an exaggeration.

The new translation probably saved people time near the end though lol, there was a translation snafu that made people think there was still a quest to solve near the end when there wasn't on the SNES.
 
BriGuy

BriGuy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,275
It legit kind of ruined the game for me for a couple years after playing it. Basically a complete mess from start to finish. I guess the final boss and extra ending were ok, but they weren't worth the effort (and tedium) spent getting to them.
 
Alpheus

Alpheus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,647
I enjoyed it immensely but idk how much of that was just me versus the objective quality of the content.
 

Deleted member 34949

Account closed at user request
Banned
Nov 30, 2017
19,101
It's not great, but all of it is optional, and easy to not engage with at all.

Dimensional Vortex basically exists to have more stuff to do with an endgame party and link further to Chrono Cross. The true final boss is in this and is actually pretty cool, but everything else is a slog.

Lost Sanctum is awful, tedious busywork.

Arena of the Ages is pretty okay, though.
 
JaggiBaggi

JaggiBaggi

Member
Nov 4, 2017
401
styl_oh said:
OK, so I'm playing CT for the first time and I found the Arena. I was surprised I was allowed into a <<DS EXCLUSIVE ZONE>>. This doesn't SEEM like it sucks. Monster training!!! I'm the kind of person whose favourite bit of Sonic Adventure 2 was the Chao garden and I liked the Coliseum in FF6 as well as the monster pit in any given Dragon Quest. I feel like I could really get into this. It's actually reminding me of training people in a dojo in Yakuza. Unless it does in fact suck.

If there are extra dungeons or super hard bosses, I'd assume they're throwaways. I'm not usually into that kinda stuff.
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I don't get what you're asking. You've found part of the new content and liked it so far, from what you say. Why do you need to ask if it sucks if you're enjoying it?
 
SanTheSly

SanTheSly

The San Symphony Project
Member
Sep 2, 2019
6,485
United Kingdom
Potato Mage said:
Humanity and opinions.
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Polyh3dron said:
You mean it's not a hivemind with a propensity for groupthink?
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Biestmann said:
You mean it's not a hivemind with a propensity for groupthink?
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Oh, I thought this was a well established meme by this point. Ignore me if I was just being dumb I guess.

On topic, I've only played the SNES original for the first time recently and didn't feel like I was missing anything by not having any additional DS content.

It's tough for me to fairly evaluate having not played the DS extras, but one of Chrono Trigger's biggest strengths for me was that it was quite brief compared to other RPGs and didn't outstay its welcome.

If you're dying for just more of the game, and you're already currently enjoying it, then I can't see it being a bad addition, but I was more than content with what I got in the original version of the game.
 
CarlSagan94

CarlSagan94

Member
Nov 3, 2018
946
The final cutscene that bridges to Chrono Cross is pretty cool but the content that leads to that was terrible to play. It harmed the absolute perfect pace of the game and was just very uninteresting to play. I would avoid the DS content and just watch the final clip on YouTube.
 
Kyari

Kyari

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,848
I liked it well enough, it's just more stuff to do (or not if you want to skip it)

Still don't like Cross though.
 
DiipuSurotu

DiipuSurotu

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
53,148
Does it suck? Well let's just put it this way.

Here are two screenshots.

qSlFjFE.png


UReeric.png


I wonder if you can guess which one was created by a different staff years later for the DS version...
 
Hoggle

Hoggle

Member
Mar 25, 2021
6,109
I had no idea there was extra content until I got to it and wondered why the great game I was playing was suddenly so shit. I can't remember much but at least some of it is a few hours of fetch quests across the same stale area. Collect an egg to give to a guy that gives you a pogo stick so you can give it to a guy that give you a dirty owl…etc
 
BassForever

BassForever

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,915
CT
I think it varies

The 3 new post game dungeons and new secret boss I think are great and worth doing

The new monster battle arena is fine but superfluous. The amount of effort and time you'd need to put into it to get tangible rewards you could probably just beat the base game.

Lost Sanctuary, the new end game sidequest, is terrible. It's boring, it's repetitive, and the prize for doing it isn't worth the effort to complete it compared to the other end game sidequest like the rainbow shell or fiona's forest.
 
Agni Kai

Agni Kai

Member
Nov 2, 2017
6,851
The Lost Sanctum quest does, indeed, suck. I don't want to climb that mountain ever again.
The new final boss is cool though. I liked it.
 
Z-Brownie

Z-Brownie

Member
Nov 6, 2017
3,905
I do like the DS version and think it's the best way to play CT, the extra content doesn't hurt the main game and if you like CC you will like it, beside the fact that some of the "cutscenes" are now anime directed by Akira Toryama himself (if i'm not mistaken).
 
Elliott

Elliott

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,471
The Lost Sanctum is all filler and really messes with the main game's immaculate pacing whenever you decide to engage it.
 
Eblo

Eblo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,643
DiipuSurotu said:
Does it suck? Well let's just put it this way.

Here are two screenshots.

qSlFjFE.png


UReeric.png


I wonder if you can guess which one was created by a different staff years later for the DS version...
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This hurts my soul to look at.

SanTheSly said:
Oh, I thought this was a well established meme by this point. Ignore me if I was just being dumb I guess.
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The meme comes into play when two close posts represent harshly opposite opinions and don't back them up. The posts you quoted are tame and support their stances.
 
shoptroll

shoptroll

Member
May 29, 2018
3,680
DiipuSurotu said:
I wonder if you can guess which one was created by a different staff years later for the DS version...
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The Lost Sanctum quest feels so vastly different compared to the design of the original quests. Also, that one fight you cannot get around every single time you have to go through one of the screens. Which you are going to be doing a lot.

Dimensional Vortex was fine.

I didn't even bother with the monster battling.
 
Weiss

Weiss

User requested ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
64,265
The extra content in Chrono Trigger DS is my go to example for why adding new shit to an already good game doesn't suddenly become okay because it can be ignored. It's still there, it's still wasting space.
 
fiendcode

fiendcode

Member
Oct 26, 2017
24,909
It's meh. Best version of CT is still the original. I also like the MSU-1 hack to add in the fmv.
 
HK-47

HK-47

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,585
You could probably get fresh faced programmers and design staff to make better content. It is a waste of time. Extremely repetitive and tedious.
 
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Tidalwaves

Tidalwaves

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,549
DiipuSurotu said:
Does it suck? Well let's just put it this way.

Here are two screenshots.

qSlFjFE.png


UReeric.png


I wonder if you can guess which one was created by a different staff years later for the DS version...
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I feel bad for this, but what am I looking for exactly? Are the sprites in one more compressed or something? Neither look particularly worse than the other to me.
 
OP
OP
styl_oh

styl_oh

Fallen One-Winged Chicken Chaser
Member
Nov 24, 2019
2,205
Alberta, Canada
Tidalwaves said:
I feel bad for this, but what am I looking for exactly? Are the sprites in one more compressed or something? Neither look particularly worse than the other to me.
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Well I haven't finished the game yet, but if that's supposed to be the same area, they changed (removed) the dappled lighting and the leaves are now green. Dunno if it's supposed to be the same place, though.
 
BassForever

BassForever

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,915
CT
Tidalwaves said:
I feel bad for this, but what am I looking for exactly? Are the sprites in one more compressed or something? Neither look particularly worse than the other to me.
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styl_oh said:
Well I haven't finished the game yet, but if that's supposed to be the same area, they changed (removed) the dappled lighting and the leaves are now green. Dunno if it's supposed to be the same place, though.
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There's two things to point out

The top image (original game) is from the Denadoro Mountains. The area has a cool lighting effect to give the player the feeling they're in under a canopy. The path is also twisty like a mountain path would be.

The bottom image (ds remake) is from the Lost Sanctum, the new side quest everyone is dunking on. It uses the same tile set as the Denadoro Mountains, but there's no attempt at giving the area unique lighting, and the path is just a straight L shape. The original area looks and feels like it was hand crafted to feel unique, the latter looks like it was made using a Chrono Trigger map maker tool by someone who was in a hurry to finish an area.
 
Jon God

Jon God

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,287
Here's a weird question: Does the DS content show up in the Mobile/Steam releases of the game?
 
anariel

anariel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
961
Lost Sanctum can go to hell. Fuck you, Reptite Village and making me climb up and down that mountain a million times. Superboss is neat though.
 
inner-G

inner-G

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
14,473
PNW
It doesn't ruin the game, but it's not good enough to be a reason to choose the DS version, either.
 
Candescence

Candescence

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,253
The quality of the content varies, but none of it has the care and attention of the base game's content. Lost Sanctum is completely pointless and just a bunch of tedious fetch quests. The rest is... Okay, I guess? But you can tell none of it was given the time or effort to really make it blend in properly with the rest of the game. The biggest giveaway is that there are no seamless transitions between gameplay and cutscene in any of the DS content, it's fade to black and then fade back out again like so, so, so many other JRPGs. You know you're dealing with a lower caliber of developer when they don't use the better transition system from the very game they ported over, but then again, few development studios could match the "dream team" assembled to create Chrono Trigger.
 
4859

4859

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,046
In the weak and the wounded
Yes. Although it is not without value.

It clearly and starkly represents, in one single package, the difference between the design capabilities of squaresoft, before the talent exodus, and square eenix, after the talent exodus and aquisition.
 
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