The design team, Kajar Laboratories, decided to make the game as a rom hack of the original 'Chrono Trigger' code. 'Crimson Echoes' was a fan project made by several members of the Chrono Compendium, hoping to develop the numerous fan theories of what actually happened between 'Trigger' and 'Cross' into a coherent game. No wonder why 'Chrono Trigger 3' will never be made. I'll say this: if you want to make a sequel to a fan-favorite RPG, never kill off the main heroes off-camera. It would take me another fifteen posts to even begin to cover that subject. The plot confusion was so bad that the 'Chrono Trigger' remake for the DS had to include a whole new ending just to explain some of 'Cross''s plot choices. I'm not joking, you could teach a college-level course in Chrono Theory at this point. Thanks to 'Cross''s weirdness, the Chrono Compendium, the number 1 fansite for 'Chrono Trigger' stuff has become a huge forum of academic discussion into interpreting the series' many odd plot points. From the start, its hard to actually tell if this game is a 'Chrono Trigger' sequel, or some kind of completely new story. we have some guy named Serge and a cast of millions, its a completely different world map, and instead of a light-hearted adventure you have a dark complex anime-plot filled with enough plot twists to make Shyamalan blush. Instead of time-travel we have inter-dimensional portals, instead of Crono and co.

'Chrono Cross' is a bizarre game, designed intentionally to be as much of a break from the original as could be made. The 'Crimson Echoes' project began in 'Chrono Cross', the second sequel* to 'Chrono Trigger'. I'm only halfway through this game, so this review is only half the things I want to say about this topic. Part 2 will be a more direct qualitative review, where I finally decide if you should play it or not. Here we're going to discuss, among other things, the technical details of this game, its controversial history, and whatever else I feel like. Oh, and this is a huge review, I suspect, so this is only Part 1. What I have here instead for you is 'Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes', the unofficial fan sequel that SQUARE ENIX DOESN'T WANT YOU TO PLAY. Some day I'm sure I'll have to try it out, but its going to be on the backburner for a long time. Its inferiority is too obvious, its story too much of a jumbled mess, its cast a bland sea of underused characters, its battle system complex and confusing compared to the undeniable simple brilliance of 'Trigger'. Square Enix tried with 'Chrono Cross', a game I have yet to play. Leonardo Di Vinci never made a sequel to that painting, how can you make a sequel to 'Chrono Trigger'? A cartridge of 'Chrono Trigger' should hang next to the Mona Lisa. Square Enix took a Dream Team of the greatest RPG names in the world at the time, gave them a limitless canvas to work with, and what was created was true art. Everything, from the cast to the exploration to the soundtrack was done with the unrepeatable flourish of a master's brush. There was nothing missing, aside for Schala's plot thread, which honestly is a minor B-plot. It was a perfect game, bringing forth its time-travel based storyline with clever originality and style. By the end of 'Chrono Trigger', I could not conceive of a single failing, not one. I'm not talking out of blind nostalgia here, I only first played this game a few years ago on the DS, when it was able to hold its own against far more advanced games like 'Final Fantasy XII'. 'Chrono Trigger' is a magical experience. And 'Chrono Trigger' doesn't have random encounters.

You can argue that games like 'Final Fantasy VI' or 'Final Fantasy VII' were actually better games, but they simply do not have the grand vision, the unequivocal balance of tone, difficulty, and story pacing that 'Chono Trigger' has. This is the Concorde Moment of the genre, a masterpiece which has not been topped since. This is the classic of classics, a fantastic achievement in 2D RPGs, which I do not think will ever be topped. The craftsmanship of this game is beyond reproach, perfect pacing, excellent sprite-based graphics that hold up even today sixteen years later, a great simple battle system that can be picked up, played, and understood in minutes. If you're looking for an absolutely perfect example of a JRPG, this is it. 'Chrono Trigger' is one the greatest video games ever made.

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