Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers - Review
Nobody can take anything away from him. Nor can anyone give anything to him. What came from the sea, has returned to the sea.
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers edition is a modern-day enhanced version of a beloved Square Enix RPG from the late 90’s. The sequel to what is lauded as one of the best, if not THE best RPG of all time, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross has very large shoes to fill.
The Radical Dreamers edition of Chrono Cross is one of the more intricate and more dutiful HD upgrades to an older RPG title from Square. The character models and the text display is far better than the original, and the option to choose between classic and enhanced is a very welcome touch here. However, the filter used over the background is at best serviceable, and for the most part, glaringly offensive. Whilst the character models have been cared for and given slick but authentic feeling new models, the backgrounds have been left as they were in the late 90’s.
Enhanced mode rounds off the background pixels somewhat, so that they don’t stand out as visually, but if you play this on a modern display, you’re going to notice the stark difference. This is unfortunately even more glaringly obvious when running through dungeons and bumping into enemies to initiate battles. The characters and the enemy models seem to be existing almost on a different plane of existence to the rest of the world. Which is somewhat ironic, considering the tale of Chrono Cross is that of time travel and parallel universes.
The meat of what made the original game a unique and feverishly loved title, even if it lacked the genre defining aspects of the sequel are still here. The gameplay is as solid today as it was back in the 90’s. All enemies are visible in the over-world and can all pretty much being avoided. The upside to Chrono Cross compared to many other RPG’s of the era, is that the level up system is designed to navigate around grinding. Most battles will give you boosts that are useful, but not essential. There is no real experience system, and most of the traditional levelling up is done through major story battles almost exclusively.
The key point here, is that all these boosts and increases are applied to every character on your team, rather than just those in the active party. With a roster of up to 45 characters, this is incredibly important. It also means that you can actively ignore any character you don’t like, and favour those you do, without putting yourself in a position of unintentional self-punishment. The Radical Dreamers edition has introduced features that many of the new remasters of classic RPGs have brought in. With the ability to auto battle, skip all encounters, increase the game speed as well as max your attack power. There is very few forced encounters throughout the game, and the ability to move between story point to story point, may be a selling point for some people.
The ability to skip most battles will become increasingly more appealing as you progress, because unfortunately the game feels like it runs at a solid 15FPS in most battles and can feel incredibly sluggish. On top of that, the combat system of Chrono Cross is incredibly unintuitive. You’ll find yourself struggling to wrap your head around it for the most part, because it’s somewhat real time, but somewhat turn based. There isn’t a set turn order, but there is also no Active Time Bars to give you an indication of when you’ll be able to act again. There is a strange Stamina system implemented, to restrict the number of attacks you can make in a row, and the elements system puts you into a deficit or stamina debt. The closest resemblance I can think of, is something like Bravely Default, which allowed you to give the enemy more turns, to take more of your turns at once.
Thankfully, as convoluted as the combat can feel, and as sluggish as the frame rate can make it, the story itself is an enjoyable experience. Despite having such a ridiculous cast of characters and attempting to walk the fine line that is time travel/parallel universe travel story, the game never feels too outlandish. It’s generally pretty easy to follow along, and there is a decent amount of exposition and comedy alongside the more absurd elements at times. The game is pretty good at describing where you need to go, and letting you know where you’ve been. It’s direction far exceeds its ability to explain any of its actual mechanics. If you missed out on Chrono Cross when you were younger, like I did, you’ll find a great way to experience the story it is trying to tell. Whilst not ever as enthralling as its predecessor, the story here is unique and enjoyable. There is never a true lull, and there is enough funny moments tied in to make it much more enjoyable.
For those who missed the original story, there is even more likelihood that you’ve never played Radical Dreamers either. Radical Dreamers which comes paired with Chrono Cross, is a text adventure with choices, also known as Sound Novels in Japan. Radical Dreamers had never seen a release outside of Japan before but was fan-translated a few years ago. We now have a completely official translated version that comes packaged with Chrono Cross. Chrono Cross deals with the protagonist travelling between two parallel dimensions and how a single change in one had a butterfly effect in altering the fate of all other characters in the other dimension. Radical Dreamer is almost a prototype of this concept.
It has the same main protagonist in Serge, the same key female with Kid and the same main villain. However, they are dramatically different to the characters we experience in Chrono Cross. Radical Dreamers can almost be seen as a standalone third dimension, with a different timeline again. Radical Dreamers is a relatively short experience and is a definite recommendation to do before playing Chrono Cross. If you’ve got the patience to sit through a 3-4 hour text experience, the addition of Radical Dreamers in the Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers edition, may be enough to get the game across the line for those who are unsure about picking it up.
Whilst this remaster has some fundamental frame rate and processing flaws, coupled with horrible filter choices with the backgrounds of areas, this is one of the most meticulously dutiful and authentic remasters of an older title we’ve had. An interesting journey from beginning to end, this is a must play for any fans of earlier Final Fantasy or 90’s era RPGs, and a great way to experience a truly unique idea.
The Score
7.0
Review code provided by Square Enix
The Pros
+Beautiful character models
+Ability to play Radical Dreamers
+Quality of life improvements are very welcome
The Cons
-Frame rate is abysmal
-Backgrounds are visually unappealing
-Radical Dreamers assumes you already know it is a text adventure when starting it
