Mario rpg was my first exposure to rpg's as a kid. When I was done I took it to video game trader and asked if there were anymore like it. The guy immediately turned and handed me chrono trigger. He didn't even ask if I wanted to look at others. He knew. And he was right.
Thank you everyone who participated in my discussion videos for this game. Your input was invaluable in shaping the direction for this review. I appreciate all of your feedback and criticism, and look forward to continuing the conversation in the comments! Thank you all for being beasts!
I was 11 years old when i first played this game. It's one of the main reason why i've been playing jrpgs for 20 years and have no reason to stop. thank you Chrono Trigger
@@ottoandersson2216 Which is one reason why I hated Wiz Kallifa because of his "song' in which he used schala's theme. While I agree with people adoring games that I like, Schala's theme is about a woman, whom fearing for her life and the life of her brother and kingdom, not knowing what her mother would do. it's a touching track there is more that I can say, but I can't think of it off my head.
Feel like we havent seen a real review in almost a month. Glad to see they are back! This video was incredible. Definitely the best Chrono Trigger analysis I've ever seen. :D
It was almost exactly 1 month actually, haha. Hopefully I can get a schedule together that will make the bigger videos come on a weekly basis. Still working out some kinks on our end! Thanks, man! I enjoyed your review of Umbrella Corps by the way - even though I'm still salty about what Resident Evil has become, haha!
100% accurate with the review AND the feels. Even at 28, sometimes when I hear some of the songs I tear up on the spot... it had THAT much of an impact on me. So perfect, so touching, beautiful, and well done. It's really quite hard to find the perfect word to grasp that whole mix of emotions. I can't count how many times I replayed Chrono Trigger every time I feel down, sad, lonely, or when I'm losing focus of who I am... the game pulls me back into reality, back to when I was just a kid and carefree and not constantly thinking about work, money, and bills. I would pay $500 for a Chrono Trigger sequel or a remake with modern graphics.
Well quite a number of good songs by other games. I think Star Ocean does good job and some are great. IMO As Valkyre Profile music to. Although there are some great games,but wished they had decent song even. Like Parasite Eve. Love the game and maybe first to console. First game to have progressive difficulty to new game plus. Way before Bloodborn.
"I know why you like these games. It's because of the music." That's a direct quote from my father while I was playing this game as a kid. Miss those days :/
My wife doesn't really care for video games, however when she's sick or just tired after work, she asks me to play a Final Fantasy game because of the soothing music, I think she prefers Final Fantasy IX, but she also believes that Chrono Trigger is a Final Fantasy game as well, so it works just as well.
One thing I love about your reviews is that you really approach them in a unique way. Most reviews talk about three or four categories independently and then give a score. You go through the history of the games and relate that history back to its core mechanics, characters and plot. It's very refreshing. This was well worth the wait, great job!
Thanks, cptawesome! I'm glad you enjoy the format. I've set out to challenge what people generally consider a proper "review" to be. I think in order to fairly criticize a game it's important to understand what the developers' goals were. When we understand what they set out to accomplish, it's much easier to reasonably evaluate it and give valid criticism.
Developers and designers are so infrequently discussed when evaluating games and I think it's a shame. Knowing what people put into a game really provides perspective for the audience as well
You can't go wrong with a review of such a great game. Chrono Trigger, to this day, is still one of the best games ever made. Frog is my favourite character of any franchise, horrible dialogue and all.
Frog might be the best sidekick ever of any game I've played (Calling him a sidekick seems like a disservice as he's a good character on his own). And yeah, his theme is awesome - both versions.
As someone who got this game the year it released and later went on to be a professional musician (though not a composer) the music in this game evokes the excitement for the future with the longing for the nostalgia of the past in such a brilliant way that still gives 41 year old me goosebumps when I hear it. Bravo sir!
Chrono Trigger, always, has been centered around the most emotional moments of every gamer's life, somehow without fail. Always. It is the greatest game ever developed, and the reason I joined Square-Enix as a developer. It will never be repeated. Masato Kato, thank you for helping me become a great writer.
You work in Square-Enix? Man, that's great! I hope you help to create great games just like Chrono Trigger :) PD: For me Masato Kato is almost a god of story-telling in videogames.
@Jin Lee Not always. How many of truly great writers lived their lives with little to no recognition? Only to gain acclaim and recognition after their death? A great writer is one who pours their heart and soul into the development of their craft and style, exploring nuance and technique to convey their specific perceptions in a manner that satisfies their vision... Many great writers get passed over for piss poor hacks which just know how to play off the lowest common denominator. That's like saying 'Great' music is only the stuff which sells the most, and is listened to by the most people. A pure fallacy. speaking from experience here. To *be* a great writer is a personal journey, and it cannot be made merely for a vain and egotistical pursuit of recognition and praise. It is made because, to the writer in question, there is no question. There is no other way.
Holy... shit... dude.... This is an incredible video that deserves SO many more views. Your thoughts on Yasunori Mitsuda finally made me understand what I've been feeling this whole time. I had no idea of his endeavors. It makes so much sense! The main theme makes me well with emotion and it's EXACTLY what you describe. You and I share similar passion on music. I dig it, dude! Great job!
I first played Chrono Trigger in a chaotic stage of life - unstable family, moving to new places, losing friends & family - and the game's story and music swept me away. Growing up, I played video games partly for their story or challenge or aesthetics, but at least part of it was the escapism, having a safe place. With Chrono Trigger, I found my favorite "safe place" - but beyond that, it inspired me in so many ways - to create, to be a fierce friend, to affect change in the world around me. Fred "Mr" Rogers was known primarily as being a nice-guy-on-TV doing a children's show, but in real life he was one of the wisest, kindest people anyone had ever met. He once said, "Deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex." I can't think of a phrase that better fits with Chrono Trigger, which is rich with deep themes of humanity, existence, friendship, longing, and works extremely hard at "keeping it simple" - a true challenge any designer knows well. The game manages to strike a chord at each corner, each turn, each mountain, each valley. Without sharing & critique, art fades from the memory of history, but I don't fear for Chrono Trigger with videos like this. Your analysis was spectacular and I loved seeing your incorporation from the discussion videos & the comments they spawned. So glad to see that Mitsuda's story was spotlighted in the video - the game's music is really something else. I used to just go to the End of Time to talk to characters just to hear their theme come up and sit and listen - sometimes for fun, sometimes to cheer me up, sometimes just to have that safe place to be afraid or sad. But today, I find myself on the other side of the turbulent years of my youth. Chrono Trigger was such a wonderful companion in that time (and remains today - I'm due for a replay!). The effort that went into it, and its sheer improbability always astounds me. It's an A+, 10/10 game in my book, and my favorite to boot. I am not at all surprised that you've done the game justice, Mike. Keep up the excellent, inspiring work.
Kyle, this comment was better than my review :'). Thanks for taking the time to share that personal story! Beautifully worded and perfectly articulated. I could not agree more!
You are far, far too kind! And here's why: just as I have a sense of "contribution" ("ownership" is too strong a word) to this video and your thoughts by participating in the discussion videos' comments, so you too should feel a sense of contribution to my own thoughts above. So - thank you for creating a deep dialogue surrounding Chrono Trigger, and the concepts it embodies. By the way - have you listened to the rearrangement album "Chrono Cinematica" by Sam Dillard? Or "Chrono Trigger Symphony" by The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra? The former is more of a rearrangement, movie/cinematic treatment to the music, whereas the latter is more of a track-for-track modern interpretation of the OST with minor arrangement changes. Both are good in their own ways, and I have to make sure that fellow Chrono fans have heard about them.
I recently hit a life goal and bought an absurdly expensive Chrono Trigger Snes cart. Possibly my favorite game of all time. I've been looking forward to this review.
You guys really know how to make a INSANELY GOOD gaming review. Omg, the feels in this video is too much to handle! Makes me want to play Chrono Trigger all over again, even though i beat it 4 times already. Hahahaha!
If there is a game I will always remember, treasure as a source of undying inspiration, and the embodiment of the awe-inspiring art videogames are... it is, and will always be Chrono Trigger. Not my first RPG, but the one that made me love the genre. Whatever other people may say, for me, Chrono Trigger is flawless perfection. A game you simply CANNOT let go until you finish it. The one RPG game I know BY HEART. Every nook and crannie, every room, every scene, everything. I have played this game so many times, I like it that much. And the music... like you said, Mike, bliss. I would never forget that first time I heard the theme, Chrono Trigger. The way it builds up, the shifts, its cressendoes, its close. Often, if I had no time to play it, I would let the intro play just to hear that theme. And then there are the others: Frog's theme, Corridors of Time, The Battle with Magus, At The Bottom of Night, The Day the World Revived, Schala's Theme, World Revolution... so many auditorial jewels that have become part of my life. Guess I sympathize with you, and while it may not have appeared in my life at an existencial valley, it has ressonated with me fiercly. A game created by an impossible team, never seen again in RPG history. A game about time, that has transcended its own time... perhaps Chrono Trigger's mos astounding fact. Forever will this tale remain a landmark in gaming, taking newcomers and veterans alike To Far Away Times.
Wow.. the feels that you expressed about this game was explained so well. Your detailed explanation of what Yasunori Mitsuda endured writing the score put me in tears because I know EXACTLY how it feels when the music in anything especially a video game can hit you on such an emotional level. Well done sir
There is a reason that Chrono Trigger is a game that appears as a top 3 pick on virtually every "Best RPG of All Time" list being made by someone who played during the SNES era. While Shining Force II holds a special place in my heart for being the "first" RPG I ever really played, I will grudgingly admit that I consider CT to be the best RPG ever made. It had the perfect balance of grind vs expedience that allowed you the freedom to spend as little or as much time in the world without feeling bogged down by fluff or constantly distracted by mindless battles. I loved the idea of multiple runs through the game and my brother and I had a personal mission to complete all of the endings in the SNES original (purchased for the outlandish price of $80 in 1995). As for the music... I agree whole-heartedly with your statement about it being the best soundtrack in a game and it's one of the reasons I consider Chrono Trigger to be the best RPG of all time. There are songs (including several in your video) that will immediately send me careening back to when I was in high school playing this game... I get that emotional lump in my throat, that feeling in my stomach and the not quite tears moistness in my eyes that comes with powerful emotion. It was that significant for me and the best way I can explain it to someone who hasn't felt that way because of a video game is this: Picture a moment in your life when you've been completely at your wits end, whether it was a stressful situation or just that you had too much going on and no idea how you were supposed to get through it. Think about what got you through, whether it was a particular CD, a favorite book or movie, or a friend who you would talk with every day and keep you grounded. There was probably a moment where you finally realized that things were going to be ok and the significance of the thing that got you through imprinted itself on you. Maybe you realized it and maybe it dawned on you later, but that feeling you get whenever you hear that album play, or watch that movie, or get a chance to reminisce with that friend... that's the feeling I'm talking about. Something that was so emotionally significant that it only grows more powerful with time. The kind of music that would drive an entire theater full of people attending the first Dear Friends (with Nobuo Uematsu) to tears when Aerith's Theme started to play. Which btw, was the single most powerful moment of shared group emotion I've ever been a part of... the indrawn breath and immediate visceral reaction of the entire crowd was overwhelming (and yes, I teared up... one or two may have escaped my eyes but I admit nothing!). This entire soundtrack was like that for me and even thinking about it writing this I get goosebumps. I love this game. Is it perfect? No, and nothing is or ever will be... but this game comes pretty damn close and at least for me I don't think it will ever be surpassed. PS: this is not a detractor from the game, but it's an absolute *CRIME* that this game isn't on the SNES Classic Mini. I understand fully that Chrono Trigger still brings in serious money with every launch and virtual edition and that Square-Enix likely wanted a large licensing fee compared to their other IP's... but COME ON MAN. This is arguably the best GAME (not just RPG) of all time, it deserves to be showcased front and center on a piece of hardware that is 100% entirely catered to the nostalgia gamer. Nintendo... Square-Enix... you are what you are today because of people like me and games like Chrono Trigger... next time: work it out.
@Aaron9 sounds like you're a little butthurt about something good sir. I agree it's not perfect either but it IS pretty close. No need to flip out over his opinion.
Hello DPG, to be honest I hardly ever care for these review videos at all. They all look the same to me. They all sound the same to me (because they also have bad audio 90% of the time). However, I need to comment on this. Out of all the classic game review videos I've watched, this one is my favorite by far. You are not simply one more fanboy expressing his love for a classic game. You tell us WHY the younger generation of gamers should appreciate this game, and you pour your heart and your emotions in this review. This is well-researched, well-produced, extremely high-quality review content, and I salute you for it. The music and ending segments gave me absolute chills. I have been struggling with anxiety over the past few years and I can totally relate to both your and Mitsuda's story. Very heartwarming. I'm really glad the game helped you get through a tough time, because I can also say this game is my "safe place". Sometimes, when I feel down/depressed, I go back to it and play segments that I particularly love. That's what art is for, no? It touches us in ways words can't always explain...even when art is in the form of an outdated 2D role-playing game. I'm glad you chose this version over a more typical "This game is good, I give it 5 cartridges out of 5" shtick. I know I wouldn't have commented on this if you hadn't! Keep raising the bar on these review videos!
this video was pretty heavily responsible for me getting chrono trigger, which has become one of my favorite games of all time. this review is seriously so well made and beautiful and your passion for this game truly shines through. even though I’ve played through this game multiple times (gotta get all those endings after all) rewatching this video always makes me feel that sense of wonder and love i felt on my very first playthrough, and makes me want to dive in all over again
I cried near the end of this thing. Never cried from a review before. Can't say that CT is my favorite game, but it's up there. I don't think any soundtrack has quite moved me the same way. The next closest to me is probably Chrono Cross. Another excellent review.
*slow clap* damn dude, when you spoke about the music I was with you. It's how i feel about music as well. Made my heart feel warm and I got very emotional.
This game is the essence of my childhood. I remember my brother in 96 borrowed it from a friend, having no idea what to expect we watched the intro....up until the moment i have never felt a video game in that way. I remember coming home from school and just watching the intro over and over again. It still gives me chills...they put their souls into this game. A true timeless master piece... (no pun intended). This video is awesome bro, you nailed everything ive felt about this game. Subbed
I add in Star Ocean 2,Valkyre Profile, Lunar: Silver Star Story, Metal Gear 2, Lufia 2: Rise of the Sintrials. Also very liked Persona 2,to the two types to it and Persona 4. Like 2 do to a villian,Maya,her bad ass curseing in battle blondie ( not censored in any version ) and a character most likely not seen correctly by viewers. No not reffering to Kanji or the "detective".
This game helped me deal with - : Mother abandoning me, Being abused by my family, taken away by police and given to old religious people when I was 3. Having no parental figures in my life, bullying, having night terrors every night (nightmares that feel so real it wakes you up as you scream uncontrollably) This game, followed by Xenogears was my childhood obsession, and to this day I have been disappointed by every game as nothing has ever lived up to these 2 games.
La VoS es DeuS I'm sorry to hear you had those horrible experiences in your life. I had a horrific childhood as well, and the game that made me happy was Final Fantasy 6, which is probably a reason why it's my favorite game of all time.
I love you! It's amazing how much you relate to me as such as this game's life has. This chrono trigger dream project game took me into world's I never even believed! It took a level of our minds and made us play with our hearts. I am terribly sorry for the suffering you were forced to endure and feel even worse that your mother was not around for you! But I'm sure somewhere someway she is thinking of you and you are in her heart just as much as this game is in all of ours! Thank you for your story and great words on this game and please remember as long as you breathe then Chrono Trigger will always be a game you can come back to and have hope for our future! I just hope one day you can pass on what you have learned and experienced from this game to your children!
The way you explained the music.... Nobody nailed anything better in a review. Ever. Whenever I hear To Far Away Times I just tear up. It combines all the emotion within CT. In the game's ending its almost like a final goodbye. This game trully has a heart
I still stop now and then to listen to a song from this game's OST, and I always replay it every few years or so. I got shivers throughout the entire video, good job.
Omg! Such a great review of one of my top 3 games of all times. And that bit at the end, when you say that they cried when they heard the score for the first time and then you start playing "To far away times" which always make my heart melt, just perfect. To me, that song along is the best track for ending any adventure on a high and joyous, yet emotional, note.
Wow, this was an extremely heartfelt review, you can feel it in every word and see it on every screen selected. Even more touching is it is about the game that completely turned my own opinion of JRPGs around and introduced me to a new world. Having grown up on the Commodore 64 and Amiga computers, I was all about the unlimited open story worlds of western CRPGs like Ultima III and IV, The Bard's Tale, Might and Magic I and II, etc. and found the limited story-bound Final Fantasy and Dragon Warriors of the NES to be laughable in comparison. Until I got a job working at Electronic Arts Canada at the dawn of the Saturn/PSX era in the late 90s, and during downtime we were allowed alot of freedom. One guy brought his SNES and was playing something that caught my eye, and ear: it was the Giga Gaia battle of Chrono Trigger, and I was impressed as hell at how the boss fight went down, the tactics, healings, occasional tension (though not a tough fight, it was a gorgeous one) and then the consequences of the battle and what happened afterwords. After grilling the poor bastard to the point of annoyance I still had to know more: I dug out the SNES my wife and I used to play Super Mario World on, found copies of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy III (VI) at the local used game store, and a new world opened up to me. So I completely understand how this game is such a touchpoint for you, it is for me as well, and I couldn't have asked for it's story to be told any better then you have. Thank you, and consider me subscribed.
Your analysis is gorgeous. It's thoughtful, empathetic, and emotive in ways that are sorely lacking from so many other reviews, which I always find myself craving but unable to easily find for the games, movies, and music that I deeply cherish. I can't believe it's taken nearly two years since I became broadly interested in the critical appraisal of games to discover your channel, but I'm excited I have. Thank you very much for your review, I hugely appreciate the thought and work that must have gone into it, and I feel an even greater appreciation for Chrono Trigger now. P.S. For something you might enjoy, you should give a listen to TPR's melancholy arrangement of the Chrono Trigger soundtrack.
Man, this absolutely is spot on about how I felt about the game and most of all the soundtrack. This is my favorite game of all time. I find myself time and time again, coming back and experiencing it all over again. I have the soundtrack to both CT, and Cross and listen very often. Awesome review.
This review is more articulate and in depth than any movie critic's. And I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only grown man that tears up to the music in this game. What beautiful memories! The last piece reminds me that Life is a Journey and that timeis the accelerant that will bring us all to our final destination. The clock ticks...
Alright, gonna have to ask you to stop setting that bar so damn high. This is a superlative review. Moving, wonderfully edited, and each sentence almost perfectly constructed. Great work. My only wish is that you had been able to dig a little deeper into how often CT subverted and altered tropes and expectations of character design and background. I know and respect why you didn't but would love to hear you chew on that.
Thanks! That's a great suggestion. I am putting together a follow up discussion video for the review, so I'll definitely talk about that in that video!
Your description of love and appreciation of music is the exact same way i feel about acting. By far, you achieved to do what i had never been able to put into words, my indescribable in words love for acting. Superb video and analysis. Hats off.
I played this game on the original SNES, when it was new. It blew my mind. When I had heard there were 'over a dozen possible endings', it was amazing. The only thing about the game plus was the plot-driven requirement to make the sword Masamune, which was the only piece of equipment which any character didn't carry over into the new game, which kinda made Frog seem a bit like he was picked on for it. Having said that, I absolutely loved this game, easily one of the best RPGs of all time. I even loved Frog's butchering of classical English. It was cheesy and campy, like you had an actor chewing the scene because he was so into the part. It became an iconic part of the character, much like phrases like 'you spoony bard' or 'son of a submariner' which were unintentional, but lent charm to the characters. It was endearing, rather than annoying, much like Cyan's Thee's and Thou's. This was, I feel, the heyday of Squaresoft. If it was an RPG, and it was awesome, it had Square's logo on it. Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger... and this game stood out among even those great offerings. This game hits me in the feels in a way that very few other games have. Maybe it was such amazing RPG's on the SNES that caused me to become upset with some of the sequels on the Playstation. It set expectations that were so high that, really, no one could match it. FF IV, VI, Secret of Mana, and Chrono Trigger all came out on the same game system within a few short years of each other. Trying to follow in their footsteps would be like trying to follow after Robin Williams in a comedy routine. Like trying to follow Joshua Bell at a violin performance. Like trying to follow up with a new Studio Ghibli offering after Miyazaki left. It's just not possible. Every so often, something will come along, something so profound that it will be the epitome to which all future offerings of the genre will inevitably be compared to. Chrono Trigger was this to the JRPG genre, and it still is to this day. Maybe someone will come along, someone with the passion, drive, and creativity and create a new milestone, a new work that will go down in the annals of history. Until that time, however, we have Chrono Trigger, and we are content.
No game will exist in the genre, crono used epoch to make sure of that, but to put it simply the word masterpiece is only the beginning of his legacy and that there is no word to deescribe what is left at the end.
I completely understand what you mean when you talk about the music. There are numerous times I will hear certain songs from the Squaresoft games that just hits a chord and really sends me back and I get really emotional. Still some of my favorite music of all time. Big thumbs up...
Really enjoy the way you review. Talking about the development, the creators and the way you talk about the soundtrack. Great work for one of my favourite games of all time.
Excellent work. I can tell that you really poured your heart into making this, just like the CT team themselves. :) I loved your in-depth look at the music of the game and Yasunori Mitsuda's story, as I feel the soundtrack is so important to Chrono Trigger, and is also a score very, very dear to myself. I also love that you really translated your own experience with the game and your passion for it really showed, rather than just gave a straight analysis of the game's strengths and weaknesses. That said I do have one small criticism. I think you may have been a little too self-conscious about including dissenting opinions in this one because of how attached you are to the game and I feel the frequent asides in this regard took me out of the review a bit and hurt the flow...just a little. Hearing your own passion for the game was my favorite part of the review; when someone is really close to a work of art, I love hearing why, so putting such a focus on injecting "other opinions" into the mix felt a bit intrusive to me. I know this goes against your own personal philosophy on reviews and that you wanted to challenge yourself to treat CT in a similar way as other games in this regard and I can respect that and think it's a valid approach, but I suppose with reviews, I personally love hearing people's unique opinion and outlook on something first and foremost, so I think that's why I had an issue in this regard. That said, I do believe criticism is generally very important and ultimately I do think you did a pretty good job balancing a critical eye with a more emotional take, but I guess I'm just saying that I think it's ok to just let loose and go all-out praise sometimes and simply gush about why you love something or think it's great without worrying what others think, especially when it's something so personal. I'm not saying you didn't largely do that here necessarily, I just could kinda feel you straining for some objectivity, when similar to what you said about music, sometimes you just need to let objectivity go and give into emotion when discussing something as emotional and nebulous as art. You may disagree and that's fine, but these are just my current thoughts on the whole matter. :) Anyway, I'm kind of rambling and ultimately this was just a very small issue I had with the review, because mostly I loved it and think that all the hard work and research you put into it paid off. I didn't know a lot of the development details you shared, and it all makes me admire the game even more! Again, excellent work!
As a musician, that whole section about the composer was beautiful. I've always loved the music in this game but didn't know the story behind it. Thank you.
It's obvious that you put a lot of passion into this video. I especially love when you moved to discussing the music, and told the story of Yasunori Mitsuda. I loved how at one point you simply stopped talking at let the music speak for itself. I've always loved Chrono Trigger, and I've always loved it's soundtrack. Knowing the story of it's chief composer now, I think I love it even more. Hearing the music juxtaposed against Mitsuda's story made it all the more emotional and definitely had me tearing up. It's amazing to me how sometimes you play a game and it's so evident that passion and love was poured into it. Games like Chrono Trigger and Undertale embody this so perfectly, and I think your review is a fine bit of analysis that showcases that fact. The fact that the game brings so much passion out of you makes me want to replay it right now!
Well, I'm watching a bunch of your videos because I never played JRPG's and I really want to try this genre. However, it really caughts my attention how a 20+ hours experience is considered "short" by many RPG fans. It kinda scares me actually :D
I mean, I really want to try the genre, but it seems very time consuming, and I'm not sure if I can mantain that degree of sustained motivation requiered while having a full time work at the same time. The last long RPG I played was the Mass Effect trilogy altogether last year, but I was unemployed at the time. I think I can bear with the 20 hours that Chrono Trigger lasts, but maybe not with other games I really want to experience first hand, like the Final Fantasy series.
I wish there was a LOVE button, because I absolutely love how you elaborated on the music, gave credit to mitsuda for pouring his soul into this. I have heard many takes on this game over the years, but no one ever quite expresses how much of its greatness comes from the masterpiece soundtrack
This review is not only a brilliant analysis of a game that I admittedly have never gotten around to playing (will be rectified once i've played through a couple of other games i'm half way through playing) but you ooze personality into this review making me more compelled to get to know the reviewers as well as play the game. This rarely happens and you nailed it! Mass kudos!
What a wonderful...dare I say, documentary? The care you've taken with the script and the delivery had me engaged the whole way through, and I got a little emotional during the section about Mitsuda's struggle (my favorite composer). Your passion for the game not only mirrors that which was evident from the team that created it, but is infectious to the point that, while I love Chrono Trigger (It was the first SNES game I purchased back in the day, and I have two complete copies on each system: SNES, DS, and PS1), I still felt pumped to go back to my old friends once again despite how often we've gone on that adventure together. I came here after watching your Xenogears video (my favorite game of all time) and can say that I love your approach to this kind of video;it has become apparent that they are extremely well planned, penned, and executed. I don't subscribe to anything easily, but subscribing to your channel was a no-brain-er.
I'm so happy I found this channel a few weeks back. Your reviews and analysis videos are on another level compared to the rest of the competition in the industry. I've played Chrono Trigger when I was in middle school many years ago but never got around to completing it. I've always wanted to go back to it and this totally give me the motivation to do so. Just picked up a new 3ds recently and am super stoked to pick up a copy of the ds version of this game.
I love the DS version! I hope you'll get from Chrono Trigger even a fraction of the inspiration I received. It's so great! Thanks for taking the time to comment, Milton!
Man, you got me tearing up with this review. Chrono Trigger was a huge part of my lonely teenage years, and the reason I started working with videogames. At some point the passion becomes the grind, or “just a job” to stay afloat, but videos like these bring back the feelings of love and appreciation for the craft. Thanks for the great content, keep it up!
Chrono Trigger is an absolute Masterpiece, with a capital M. The fact it has changed your life is testament to it. Truly, the best games out there are more than just games. They provide guidance and life lessons, like great novels, legendary plays and iconic movies.
Even though I did not personally grow up with the game during the snes era since I wasn't around at the time (sadly), it still became a childhood favorite of mine. Calling this a timeless classic is a major understatement. I've played this in every version since
I personally prefer the PS1 version. I will always recommend the DS version to new players, as I do believe it is the definitive version, but the PS1 is the only one that contains Frog's original old-english speech pattern (faulty as it may be) as well as the new animated cutscenes which were what made me fall in love with the game in the first place :-) Plus, importing the game at a young age, I have great memories of me, just getting the hang of the english language, sitting on the livingroom with my siblings and my PS1, playing this game, as we all watched in awe as the story unfolded.
This review was absolutely amazing! The intro was hard hitting and relatable and i loved the piece on Yosunori Mitsuda. I could only imagine what he went through. And the work shows i love the game. I love the soundtrack sooo much. It really is a masterpiece. I love how the review came full circle too. You came back to how you feel about it and proved why it got you through the tough time mentioned in the intro. Well welllll worth the wait Mike!!! 👏
Thanks, Eric! It means a lot that people are picking up on the details here and appreciating them. I'm glad it lived up to everyone's expectations! Thanks for all the input on the discussion videos!
I played and owned the original release on the SNES which was later stolen in my dad's garage some years later but now have a version on my computer with a emulator. This was and still is a very great game. I can see how multiple people put their ideas into it. And the graphics.. great during its time, like Donkey Kong Country. Music was superb. It captured the imagination and the soul. I don't think another game like this will ever be made, but you never know!...
I'm a bit late to this party (this video), but holy shit...I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING! Seriously, well-done, and thank you for giving a review and analysis that does my favorite game of all time proper justice!
"Hey! Did you people just come out of the closet? Get outta here!" xD I only noticed this when you were talking about the balance of serious dramatic tension and humour in this game, although this particular line is probably not intentional. I just stumbled upon your reviews today, and I am so touched by this particular one. I am also at the moment going through a stage of doubts and anxiety... Watching your in-depth review transfers me into a state of higher alertness and concentration, which makes me realise how much I miss this feeling, a feeling that I was only able to have when I was working on something that I'm genuinely passionate about. I tend to trip into inertia when I feel lost of direction, although I think I have a lot to offer if I can work on the things that I actually love. Thank you for making this amazing review - I can clearly see the amount of effort that had gone into the research! I hope I can keep the fire burning in me now longer this time!
The way you talk about music is beautiful. In retrospect growing up playing all these games, I really was in it for Nobuo Uematsu and Yasunori Mitsuda. As a composer, these scores for have effected my understanding of melody, chords, and how to express feeling in music more than pretty much anything else. Its nice to see that I wasn't alone in the profound way you describe the music in your Chrono Trigger / ff 1 through 10 videos. Keep on going man, you are doing something really inspiring reminding me of how impactful these games were in my formative years. Also you have helped me remember to follow my passions, something that is easily forgotten in today's horrible age of monetary slavery. Thank you.
This review... wow ...it was easily worth the long wait. It is quite possibly your best review yet! Your revelation into how you found Chrono Trigger, the serendipitous story of how Hironobu Sakaguchi, Yuji Horii and Akira Toriyama all met up and the tragic tale of Yoshinori Matsuda's first attempt at being a lead composer - all perfectly interwoven within a review that touches upon everything that lets us know why it's so special to you. In any case, thank you for all your hard work Mike. Is it Xenogears that's up next?
It's crazy, your review almost perfectly sums up my own feelings and emotions towards Chrono Trigger. I was unemployed and down in the dumps when I played Chrono Trigger for the first time, and it left a lasting impact on me. I love Final Fantasy, but none of them are as good as Chrono Trigger.
Your music analysis brought tears to my eyes. I have enjoyed watching your videos in the past, but the way you poured your heart out in this one made me a subscriber. Thanks dude.
Let me start off by saying your review content is some of the most detailed and elegant content I've seen on youtube. The fact that you're emotionally attached to it just makes it so much more genuine, and I enjoy watching them. I couldn't agree more with this review, it is one of my favorite games of all time, and I've actually started playing it on my android maybe two weeks ago. 20-25 hours is more than enough when its THIS good, and if you have the combat set to active its not as easy-peasy as being able to sit there and make your selection while the enemy does nothing. I think its just hard and just easy enough to make the game enjoyable, without frustrating people into rage-quitting, and instead continuing their journey to the end. Keep making the great content man, its inspired me to make my own channel and try some lets-plays, or multiplayer recording as well as father-daughter sessions.
Wow, I only just discovered your channel today, but this was perhaps the most moving review I've ever seen. I've also greatly enjoyed a few of your other reviews so far! Subscribed! Thank you for the great content!
4 роки тому+6
My best friend who passed away last year told me she loved this game. I'd never play it before. Am I ready for it?
That end credits song... I don't think there's another song in existence that makes me feel a bit misty-eyed like that does. There is a lyrical remix of the song on OCRemix made by Pixietricks and Reuben Kee that does a great job of capturing the feeling of the original song. Another great remix I recommend is Atonement by Darangen.
One thing I like about Chrono is that, despite being a silent protagonist, he DOES have a unique personality (loves to eat, has a happy disposition, enjoys practicing swordsmanship, has a mom, values his friends, etc.) and leads the team efficiently just by example, without any dialogue; far from other silent protags that preceded or succeeded him. When you lose him for a while, it packs a hell of a punch.
Definitely not my favorite game of all time, but definitely in my top 5; however, like you, my favorite game of all time also helped boost my self-confidence when I felt I was at an all time low emotionally. I actually remember lining up at a Distant Worlds concert to meet Uematsu and I had my music CDs I wanted signed. I saw another Uematsu fan in line with the Chrono Trigger SNES cartridge and asked him why he'd be interested in having Uematsu sign something he had no part of. He was quick to correct me though - informing me that Uematsu stepped in towards the end of production. I did not know that Mitsuda has stomach ulcers and needed the assistance. That's what I like about your reviews; not only are they well written, but they serve to educate the ignorant (myself). What a touching story to create a game with an equally touching narrative. Well done, sir. Keep up the excellent work.
@@denumelon841 Because you're a melon, just like your name suggests. Why go to a review of a game you haven't finished, or more importantly, just started? Even seeing some of the things tend to ruin some sense of surprise or awe when you eventually play it. I played the game for the first time last month and I avoided every bit of media coverage I could outside of some guide tips here and there.
It is truly a masterpiece. It got me into RPGs but not only that but sometimes i find myself listening to the soundtrack when im feeling depressed/sad. The music itself is such a touching experiemce
Mario rpg was my first exposure to rpg's as a kid. When I was done I took it to video game trader and asked if there were anymore like it. The guy immediately turned and handed me chrono trigger. He didn't even ask if I wanted to look at others. He knew. And he was right.
Yep, same for me. Except I knew. Oh yes, I knew and was willing to trade my Mario RPG cartidge for Chrono Trigger. Worth it. Totally.
......i liked, a link to the past, and the pawn shop owner suggested wizardry as an on par rpg game......
You met Gaspar! He really did know... that's no accident, my dude.
Cool story, bro (meant seriously! 😄)
Just realized this is technically a spoiler-free review... Damn, this video is pretty much perfect.
I did my best! Thanks, BinaryDood!
The Chrono Trigger of reviews you may say 🤔
@@ShippoFoxDwell said, Sir Felix
Thank you everyone who participated in my discussion videos for this game. Your input was invaluable in shaping the direction for this review. I appreciate all of your feedback and criticism, and look forward to continuing the conversation in the comments! Thank you all for being beasts!
I've had this game on the back burner forever. I'm gonna get the ds version so I can finally experience it.
Do it! It's great!
Fantastic review, mate!!!
Thanks, redknight!
I was 11 years old when i first played this game. It's one of the main reason why i've been playing jrpgs for 20 years and have no reason to stop. thank you Chrono Trigger
probably one of the best reviews I've seen so far.
of all time?
of all time. Only time I've cried during a review.
Reuben Ahmed of like a UA-cam review of a game.
I completely agree and I've never even played the game but I'm going to now for sure.
The music in Chrono Trigger makes my arms shiver. The scenes, still to this day, warm my heart.
Me too!
Yep, gives me chills.
That schala theme ❤️
@@ottoandersson2216 Which is one reason why I hated Wiz Kallifa because of his "song' in which he used schala's theme. While I agree with people adoring games that I like, Schala's theme is about a woman, whom fearing for her life and the life of her brother and kingdom, not knowing what her mother would do. it's a touching track there is more that I can say, but I can't think of it off my head.
@@ForeverZero11 I had no clue about this. What's the name of the song. I'm gonna be lazy and ask you.
Feel like we havent seen a real review in almost a month. Glad to see they are back! This video was incredible. Definitely the best Chrono Trigger analysis I've ever seen. :D
It was almost exactly 1 month actually, haha. Hopefully I can get a schedule together that will make the bigger videos come on a weekly basis. Still working out some kinks on our end! Thanks, man! I enjoyed your review of Umbrella Corps by the way - even though I'm still salty about what Resident Evil has become, haha!
Hey dreamcast guy! Keeeeeep dreamiiin!
100% accurate with the review AND the feels. Even at 28, sometimes when I hear some of the songs I tear up on the spot... it had THAT much of an impact on me. So perfect, so touching, beautiful, and well done. It's really quite hard to find the perfect word to grasp that whole mix of emotions. I can't count how many times I replayed Chrono Trigger every time I feel down, sad, lonely, or when I'm losing focus of who I am... the game pulls me back into reality, back to when I was just a kid and carefree and not constantly thinking about work, money, and bills. I would pay $500 for a Chrono Trigger sequel or a remake with modern graphics.
Viet Nguyen so true man. have an entire playlist on spotify with Chrono Trigger. best game of all time by far
If you want a sequel, there's chrono cross. Though, it's no where near as great as Chrono Trigger.
I'm 47 and still play Chrono Trigger and other video games. I'm currently playing Chrono Cross on PS1.
john tracy how is it compared to chrono trigger?
Well quite a number of good songs by other games. I think Star Ocean does good job and some are great. IMO As Valkyre Profile music to. Although there are some great games,but wished they had decent song even. Like Parasite Eve. Love the game and maybe first to console. First game to have progressive difficulty to new game plus. Way before Bloodborn.
"I know why you like these games. It's because of the music." That's a direct quote from my father while I was playing this game as a kid. Miss those days :/
He was right tho, the music is amazing!
My wife doesn't really care for video games, however when she's sick or just tired after work, she asks me to play a Final Fantasy game because of the soothing music, I think she prefers Final Fantasy IX, but she also believes that Chrono Trigger is a Final Fantasy game as well, so it works just as well.
@@affliction1979 😃 Marriage material
One thing I love about your reviews is that you really approach them in a unique way. Most reviews talk about three or four categories independently and then give a score. You go through the history of the games and relate that history back to its core mechanics, characters and plot. It's very refreshing. This was well worth the wait, great job!
I would argue that this series of videos is almost more retrospective than review though. Great content
Thanks, cptawesome! I'm glad you enjoy the format. I've set out to challenge what people generally consider a proper "review" to be. I think in order to fairly criticize a game it's important to understand what the developers' goals were. When we understand what they set out to accomplish, it's much easier to reasonably evaluate it and give valid criticism.
Developers and designers are so infrequently discussed when evaluating games and I think it's a shame. Knowing what people put into a game really provides perspective for the audience as well
I play this game every year on its anniversary
You can't go wrong with a review of such a great game. Chrono Trigger, to this day, is still one of the best games ever made. Frog is my favourite character of any franchise, horrible dialogue and all.
It helps that he has such an awesome theme song. Definitely stirs up the emotions.
This might border on TMI but it's probably the theme that I find myself whistling in the shower the most. It definitely conjures up some goosebumps.
Frog might be the best sidekick ever of any game I've played (Calling him a sidekick seems like a disservice as he's a good character on his own).
And yeah, his theme is awesome - both versions.
frog is still cool he immediately became my favorite
Man when Frog cuts the mountain to get to Magus' castle with the Masamune! Such a badass!
As someone who got this game the year it released and later went on to be a professional musician (though not a composer) the music in this game evokes the excitement for the future with the longing for the nostalgia of the past in such a brilliant way that still gives 41 year old me goosebumps when I hear it. Bravo sir!
Chrono Trigger, always, has been centered around the most emotional moments of every gamer's life, somehow without fail. Always. It is the greatest game ever developed, and the reason I joined Square-Enix as a developer. It will never be repeated.
Masato Kato, thank you for helping me become a great writer.
You work in Square-Enix? Man, that's great! I hope you help to create great games just like Chrono Trigger :)
PD: For me Masato Kato is almost a god of story-telling in videogames.
@Jin Lee Not always. How many of truly great writers lived their lives with little to no recognition? Only to gain acclaim and recognition after their death? A great writer is one who pours their heart and soul into the development of their craft and style, exploring nuance and technique to convey their specific perceptions in a manner that satisfies their vision...
Many great writers get passed over for piss poor hacks which just know how to play off the lowest common denominator.
That's like saying 'Great' music is only the stuff which sells the most, and is listened to by the most people. A pure fallacy.
speaking from experience here.
To *be* a great writer is a personal journey, and it cannot be made merely for a vain and egotistical pursuit of recognition and praise. It is made because, to the writer in question, there is no question. There is no other way.
6 paragraph replies, great... 🙄
Oh my god! No review has had me in tears before! But that ending was just brilliant!
SAME???
no lie, at the end of his video when he said "my favorite video game of all time", i simultaneously said the same outloud.
I cried while watching this, for real. I haven't had a review of a video game be so emotional that it brought me to tears. Amazing review as always.
Holy... shit... dude.... This is an incredible video that deserves SO many more views.
Your thoughts on Yasunori Mitsuda finally made me understand what I've been feeling this whole time. I had no idea of his endeavors. It makes so much sense! The main theme makes me well with emotion and it's EXACTLY what you describe.
You and I share similar passion on music. I dig it, dude!
Great job!
I first played Chrono Trigger in a chaotic stage of life - unstable family, moving to new places, losing friends & family - and the game's story and music swept me away. Growing up, I played video games partly for their story or challenge or aesthetics, but at least part of it was the escapism, having a safe place. With Chrono Trigger, I found my favorite "safe place" - but beyond that, it inspired me in so many ways - to create, to be a fierce friend, to affect change in the world around me.
Fred "Mr" Rogers was known primarily as being a nice-guy-on-TV doing a children's show, but in real life he was one of the wisest, kindest people anyone had ever met. He once said, "Deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex." I can't think of a phrase that better fits with Chrono Trigger, which is rich with deep themes of humanity, existence, friendship, longing, and works extremely hard at "keeping it simple" - a true challenge any designer knows well. The game manages to strike a chord at each corner, each turn, each mountain, each valley.
Without sharing & critique, art fades from the memory of history, but I don't fear for Chrono Trigger with videos like this. Your analysis was spectacular and I loved seeing your incorporation from the discussion videos & the comments they spawned. So glad to see that Mitsuda's story was spotlighted in the video - the game's music is really something else. I used to just go to the End of Time to talk to characters just to hear their theme come up and sit and listen - sometimes for fun, sometimes to cheer me up, sometimes just to have that safe place to be afraid or sad.
But today, I find myself on the other side of the turbulent years of my youth. Chrono Trigger was such a wonderful companion in that time (and remains today - I'm due for a replay!). The effort that went into it, and its sheer improbability always astounds me. It's an A+, 10/10 game in my book, and my favorite to boot. I am not at all surprised that you've done the game justice, Mike. Keep up the excellent, inspiring work.
Kyle, this comment was better than my review :'). Thanks for taking the time to share that personal story! Beautifully worded and perfectly articulated. I could not agree more!
You are far, far too kind! And here's why: just as I have a sense of "contribution" ("ownership" is too strong a word) to this video and your thoughts by participating in the discussion videos' comments, so you too should feel a sense of contribution to my own thoughts above. So - thank you for creating a deep dialogue surrounding Chrono Trigger, and the concepts it embodies.
By the way - have you listened to the rearrangement album "Chrono Cinematica" by Sam Dillard? Or "Chrono Trigger Symphony" by The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra? The former is more of a rearrangement, movie/cinematic treatment to the music, whereas the latter is more of a track-for-track modern interpretation of the OST with minor arrangement changes. Both are good in their own ways, and I have to make sure that fellow Chrono fans have heard about them.
I recently hit a life goal and bought an absurdly expensive Chrono Trigger Snes cart. Possibly my favorite game of all time. I've been looking forward to this review.
Absolutely worth it. Congratulations!
You guys really know how to make a INSANELY GOOD gaming review. Omg, the feels in this video is too much to handle! Makes me want to play Chrono Trigger all over again, even though i beat it 4 times already. Hahahaha!
If there is a game I will always remember, treasure as a source of undying inspiration, and the embodiment of the awe-inspiring art videogames are... it is, and will always be Chrono Trigger.
Not my first RPG, but the one that made me love the genre. Whatever other people may say, for me, Chrono Trigger is flawless perfection. A game you simply CANNOT let go until you finish it. The one RPG game I know BY HEART. Every nook and crannie, every room, every scene, everything. I have played this game so many times, I like it that much.
And the music... like you said, Mike, bliss. I would never forget that first time I heard the theme, Chrono Trigger. The way it builds up, the shifts, its cressendoes, its close. Often, if I had no time to play it, I would let the intro play just to hear that theme. And then there are the others: Frog's theme, Corridors of Time, The Battle with Magus, At The Bottom of Night, The Day the World Revived, Schala's Theme, World Revolution... so many auditorial jewels that have become part of my life.
Guess I sympathize with you, and while it may not have appeared in my life at an existencial valley, it has ressonated with me fiercly. A game created by an impossible team, never seen again in RPG history. A game about time, that has transcended its own time... perhaps Chrono Trigger's mos astounding fact.
Forever will this tale remain a landmark in gaming, taking newcomers and veterans alike To Far Away Times.
I'm 1 minute and 30 seconds in and you already BLEW MY F****** MIND!
Yes.
Wow.. the feels that you expressed about this game was explained so well. Your detailed explanation of what Yasunori Mitsuda endured writing the score put me in tears because I know EXACTLY how it feels when the music in anything especially a video game can hit you on such an emotional level. Well done sir
There is a reason that Chrono Trigger is a game that appears as a top 3 pick on virtually every "Best RPG of All Time" list being made by someone who played during the SNES era. While Shining Force II holds a special place in my heart for being the "first" RPG I ever really played, I will grudgingly admit that I consider CT to be the best RPG ever made. It had the perfect balance of grind vs expedience that allowed you the freedom to spend as little or as much time in the world without feeling bogged down by fluff or constantly distracted by mindless battles. I loved the idea of multiple runs through the game and my brother and I had a personal mission to complete all of the endings in the SNES original (purchased for the outlandish price of $80 in 1995).
As for the music... I agree whole-heartedly with your statement about it being the best soundtrack in a game and it's one of the reasons I consider Chrono Trigger to be the best RPG of all time. There are songs (including several in your video) that will immediately send me careening back to when I was in high school playing this game... I get that emotional lump in my throat, that feeling in my stomach and the not quite tears moistness in my eyes that comes with powerful emotion. It was that significant for me and the best way I can explain it to someone who hasn't felt that way because of a video game is this:
Picture a moment in your life when you've been completely at your wits end, whether it was a stressful situation or just that you had too much going on and no idea how you were supposed to get through it. Think about what got you through, whether it was a particular CD, a favorite book or movie, or a friend who you would talk with every day and keep you grounded. There was probably a moment where you finally realized that things were going to be ok and the significance of the thing that got you through imprinted itself on you. Maybe you realized it and maybe it dawned on you later, but that feeling you get whenever you hear that album play, or watch that movie, or get a chance to reminisce with that friend... that's the feeling I'm talking about.
Something that was so emotionally significant that it only grows more powerful with time. The kind of music that would drive an entire theater full of people attending the first Dear Friends (with Nobuo Uematsu) to tears when Aerith's Theme started to play. Which btw, was the single most powerful moment of shared group emotion I've ever been a part of... the indrawn breath and immediate visceral reaction of the entire crowd was overwhelming (and yes, I teared up... one or two may have escaped my eyes but I admit nothing!). This entire soundtrack was like that for me and even thinking about it writing this I get goosebumps.
I love this game. Is it perfect? No, and nothing is or ever will be... but this game comes pretty damn close and at least for me I don't think it will ever be surpassed.
PS: this is not a detractor from the game, but it's an absolute *CRIME* that this game isn't on the SNES Classic Mini. I understand fully that Chrono Trigger still brings in serious money with every launch and virtual edition and that Square-Enix likely wanted a large licensing fee compared to their other IP's... but COME ON MAN. This is arguably the best GAME (not just RPG) of all time, it deserves to be showcased front and center on a piece of hardware that is 100% entirely catered to the nostalgia gamer. Nintendo... Square-Enix... you are what you are today because of people like me and games like Chrono Trigger... next time: work it out.
@Aaron9 sounds like you're a little butthurt about something good sir. I agree it's not perfect either but it IS pretty close. No need to flip out over his opinion.
@Aaron9 yes it is, so YOU shut up.
Hello DPG, to be honest I hardly ever care for these review videos at all. They all look the same to me. They all sound the same to me (because they also have bad audio 90% of the time). However, I need to comment on this. Out of all the classic game review videos I've watched, this one is my favorite by far. You are not simply one more fanboy expressing his love for a classic game. You tell us WHY the younger generation of gamers should appreciate this game, and you pour your heart and your emotions in this review. This is well-researched, well-produced, extremely high-quality review content, and I salute you for it.
The music and ending segments gave me absolute chills. I have been struggling with anxiety over the past few years and I can totally relate to both your and Mitsuda's story. Very heartwarming. I'm really glad the game helped you get through a tough time, because I can also say this game is my "safe place". Sometimes, when I feel down/depressed, I go back to it and play segments that I particularly love. That's what art is for, no? It touches us in ways words can't always explain...even when art is in the form of an outdated 2D role-playing game. I'm glad you chose this version over a more typical "This game is good, I give it 5 cartridges out of 5" shtick. I know I wouldn't have commented on this if you hadn't!
Keep raising the bar on these review videos!
I still get the feels from this game after 20 years. The music... Is just breath taking.
this video was pretty heavily responsible for me getting chrono trigger, which has become one of my favorite games of all time. this review is seriously so well made and beautiful and your passion for this game truly shines through. even though I’ve played through this game multiple times (gotta get all those endings after all) rewatching this video always makes me feel that sense of wonder and love i felt on my very first playthrough, and makes me want to dive in all over again
I cried near the end of this thing. Never cried from a review before. Can't say that CT is my favorite game, but it's up there. I don't think any soundtrack has quite moved me the same way. The next closest to me is probably Chrono Cross. Another excellent review.
I think this has been your best edited RPG review, that bit about Mitsuda where you cut to black was just perfect.
*slow clap* damn dude, when you spoke about the music I was with you. It's how i feel about music as well. Made my heart feel warm and I got very emotional.
Wow, that's quite a story about the composer. The soundtrack truly is one of the greatest of all time.
This game is the essence of my childhood. I remember my brother in 96 borrowed it from a friend, having no idea what to expect we watched the intro....up until the moment i have never felt a video game in that way. I remember coming home from school and just watching the intro over and over again. It still gives me chills...they put their souls into this game. A true timeless master piece... (no pun intended). This video is awesome bro, you nailed everything ive felt about this game. Subbed
cant argue that game along with ff6 and mario rpg are near perfect games
yup
I add in Star Ocean 2,Valkyre Profile, Lunar: Silver Star Story, Metal Gear 2, Lufia 2: Rise of the Sintrials. Also very liked Persona 2,to the two types to it and Persona 4. Like 2 do to a villian,Maya,her bad ass curseing in battle blondie ( not censored in any version ) and a character most likely not seen correctly by viewers. No not reffering to Kanji or the "detective".
@@AllenTax it dissapoint me you didn't mention suikoden 2
This game helped me deal with - :
Mother abandoning me,
Being abused by my family, taken away by police and given to old religious people when I was 3.
Having no parental figures in my life,
bullying,
having night terrors every night (nightmares that feel so real it wakes you up as you scream uncontrollably)
This game, followed by Xenogears was my childhood obsession, and to this day I have been disappointed by every game as nothing has ever lived up to these 2 games.
La VoS es DeuS I'm sorry to hear you had those horrible experiences in your life. I had a horrific childhood as well, and the game that made me happy was Final Fantasy 6, which is probably a reason why it's my favorite game of all time.
Sorry to hear it. Given your taste, I feel like you would really enjoy Final Fantasy X. Alternatively... have you tried Dark Souls? O:-)
Your life sounds like A Little Life. I’m sorry, but I’m happy you were able to find happiness in these games :)
I love you! It's amazing how much you relate to me as such as this game's life has. This chrono trigger dream project game took me into world's I never even believed! It took a level of our minds and made us play with our hearts. I am terribly sorry for the suffering you were forced to endure and feel even worse that your mother was not around for you! But I'm sure somewhere someway she is thinking of you and you are in her heart just as much as this game is in all of ours! Thank you for your story and great words on this game and please remember as long as you breathe then Chrono Trigger will always be a game you can come back to and have hope for our future! I just hope one day you can pass on what you have learned and experienced from this game to your children!
La VoS es DeuS Likewise as a kid id get my ass kicked by both parents in my Teens,i would play and get away in this games for long hours.It helped
The way you explained the music.... Nobody nailed anything better in a review. Ever.
Whenever I hear To Far Away Times I just tear up. It combines all the emotion within CT. In the game's ending its almost like a final goodbye. This game trully has a heart
I still stop now and then to listen to a song from this game's OST, and I always replay it every few years or so.
I got shivers throughout the entire video, good job.
Omg! Such a great review of one of my top 3 games of all times. And that bit at the end, when you say that they cried when they heard the score for the first time and then you start playing "To far away times" which always make my heart melt, just perfect. To me, that song along is the best track for ending any adventure on a high and joyous, yet emotional, note.
That last bit gave me goosebumps. 2 years and I'm still coming back to this video
Wow, this was an extremely heartfelt review, you can feel it in every word and see it on every screen selected. Even more touching is it is about the game that completely turned my own opinion of JRPGs around and introduced me to a new world.
Having grown up on the Commodore 64 and Amiga computers, I was all about the unlimited open story worlds of western CRPGs like Ultima III and IV, The Bard's Tale, Might and Magic I and II, etc. and found the limited story-bound Final Fantasy and Dragon Warriors of the NES to be laughable in comparison. Until I got a job working at Electronic Arts Canada at the dawn of the Saturn/PSX era in the late 90s, and during downtime we were allowed alot of freedom. One guy brought his SNES and was playing something that caught my eye, and ear: it was the Giga Gaia battle of Chrono Trigger, and I was impressed as hell at how the boss fight went down, the tactics, healings, occasional tension (though not a tough fight, it was a gorgeous one) and then the consequences of the battle and what happened afterwords. After grilling the poor bastard to the point of annoyance I still had to know more: I dug out the SNES my wife and I used to play Super Mario World on, found copies of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy III (VI) at the local used game store, and a new world opened up to me.
So I completely understand how this game is such a touchpoint for you, it is for me as well, and I couldn't have asked for it's story to be told any better then you have. Thank you, and consider me subscribed.
Your analysis is gorgeous. It's thoughtful, empathetic, and emotive in ways that are sorely lacking from so many other reviews, which I always find myself craving but unable to easily find for the games, movies, and music that I deeply cherish. I can't believe it's taken nearly two years since I became broadly interested in the critical appraisal of games to discover your channel, but I'm excited I have. Thank you very much for your review, I hugely appreciate the thought and work that must have gone into it, and I feel an even greater appreciation for Chrono Trigger now.
P.S.
For something you might enjoy, you should give a listen to TPR's melancholy arrangement of the Chrono Trigger soundtrack.
Man, this absolutely is spot on about how I felt about the game and most of all the soundtrack. This is my favorite game of all time. I find myself time and time again, coming back and experiencing it all over again. I have the soundtrack to both CT, and Cross and listen very often. Awesome review.
This review is so heartfelt and this review was really well thought out. You can tell you truly appreciate it, and its very heart warming!
This review is more articulate and in depth than any movie critic's. And I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only grown man that tears up to the music in this game. What beautiful memories! The last piece reminds me that Life is a Journey and that timeis the accelerant that will bring us all to our final destination. The clock ticks...
Alright, gonna have to ask you to stop setting that bar so damn high. This is a superlative review. Moving, wonderfully edited, and each sentence almost perfectly constructed. Great work. My only wish is that you had been able to dig a little deeper into how often CT subverted and altered tropes and expectations of character design and background. I know and respect why you didn't but would love to hear you chew on that.
Thanks! That's a great suggestion. I am putting together a follow up discussion video for the review, so I'll definitely talk about that in that video!
Your description of love and appreciation of music is the exact same way i feel about acting. By far, you achieved to do what i had never been able to put into words, my indescribable in words love for acting. Superb video and analysis. Hats off.
These reviews are actually very well structured and informative.
Major props for creating masterpiece reviews.
I’m blown away. This game will always hold a very special place in my heart. Thanks for making this! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
I played this game on the original SNES, when it was new. It blew my mind. When I had heard there were 'over a dozen possible endings', it was amazing. The only thing about the game plus was the plot-driven requirement to make the sword Masamune, which was the only piece of equipment which any character didn't carry over into the new game, which kinda made Frog seem a bit like he was picked on for it.
Having said that, I absolutely loved this game, easily one of the best RPGs of all time. I even loved Frog's butchering of classical English. It was cheesy and campy, like you had an actor chewing the scene because he was so into the part. It became an iconic part of the character, much like phrases like 'you spoony bard' or 'son of a submariner' which were unintentional, but lent charm to the characters. It was endearing, rather than annoying, much like Cyan's Thee's and Thou's.
This was, I feel, the heyday of Squaresoft. If it was an RPG, and it was awesome, it had Square's logo on it. Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger... and this game stood out among even those great offerings.
This game hits me in the feels in a way that very few other games have. Maybe it was such amazing RPG's on the SNES that caused me to become upset with some of the sequels on the Playstation. It set expectations that were so high that, really, no one could match it. FF IV, VI, Secret of Mana, and Chrono Trigger all came out on the same game system within a few short years of each other. Trying to follow in their footsteps would be like trying to follow after Robin Williams in a comedy routine. Like trying to follow Joshua Bell at a violin performance. Like trying to follow up with a new Studio Ghibli offering after Miyazaki left. It's just not possible.
Every so often, something will come along, something so profound that it will be the epitome to which all future offerings of the genre will inevitably be compared to. Chrono Trigger was this to the JRPG genre, and it still is to this day. Maybe someone will come along, someone with the passion, drive, and creativity and create a new milestone, a new work that will go down in the annals of history. Until that time, however, we have Chrono Trigger, and we are content.
No game will exist in the genre, crono used epoch to make sure of that, but to put it simply the word masterpiece is only the beginning of his legacy and that there is no word to deescribe what is left at the end.
I must admit the way you construct your reviews pulls me along with you as you convey your viewpoints. Thanks for sharing
Man, empathy lessons through game reviews. I like it a lot more than I expected!
I completely understand what you mean when you talk about the music. There are numerous times I will hear certain songs from the Squaresoft games that just hits a chord and really sends me back and I get really emotional. Still some of my favorite music of all time. Big thumbs up...
My favorite game of all time.
Really enjoy the way you review. Talking about the development, the creators and the way you talk about the soundtrack. Great work for one of my favourite games of all time.
Excellent work. I can tell that you really poured your heart into making this, just like the CT team themselves. :) I loved your in-depth look at the music of the game and Yasunori Mitsuda's story, as I feel the soundtrack is so important to Chrono Trigger, and is also a score very, very dear to myself. I also love that you really translated your own experience with the game and your passion for it really showed, rather than just gave a straight analysis of the game's strengths and weaknesses.
That said I do have one small criticism. I think you may have been a little too self-conscious about including dissenting opinions in this one because of how attached you are to the game and I feel the frequent asides in this regard took me out of the review a bit and hurt the flow...just a little. Hearing your own passion for the game was my favorite part of the review; when someone is really close to a work of art, I love hearing why, so putting such a focus on injecting "other opinions" into the mix felt a bit intrusive to me. I know this goes against your own personal philosophy on reviews and that you wanted to challenge yourself to treat CT in a similar way as other games in this regard and I can respect that and think it's a valid approach, but I suppose with reviews, I personally love hearing people's unique opinion and outlook on something first and foremost, so I think that's why I had an issue in this regard.
That said, I do believe criticism is generally very important and ultimately I do think you did a pretty good job balancing a critical eye with a more emotional take, but I guess I'm just saying that I think it's ok to just let loose and go all-out praise sometimes and simply gush about why you love something or think it's great without worrying what others think, especially when it's something so personal. I'm not saying you didn't largely do that here necessarily, I just could kinda feel you straining for some objectivity, when similar to what you said about music, sometimes you just need to let objectivity go and give into emotion when discussing something as emotional and nebulous as art. You may disagree and that's fine, but these are just my current thoughts on the whole matter. :)
Anyway, I'm kind of rambling and ultimately this was just a very small issue I had with the review, because mostly I loved it and think that all the hard work and research you put into it paid off. I didn't know a lot of the development details you shared, and it all makes me admire the game even more! Again, excellent work!
As a musician, that whole section about the composer was beautiful. I've always loved the music in this game but didn't know the story behind it. Thank you.
you just made me replay this game... Thanks
same
It's obvious that you put a lot of passion into this video. I especially love when you moved to discussing the music, and told the story of Yasunori Mitsuda. I loved how at one point you simply stopped talking at let the music speak for itself. I've always loved Chrono Trigger, and I've always loved it's soundtrack. Knowing the story of it's chief composer now, I think I love it even more. Hearing the music juxtaposed against Mitsuda's story made it all the more emotional and definitely had me tearing up.
It's amazing to me how sometimes you play a game and it's so evident that passion and love was poured into it. Games like Chrono Trigger and Undertale embody this so perfectly, and I think your review is a fine bit of analysis that showcases that fact.
The fact that the game brings so much passion out of you makes me want to replay it right now!
Well, I'm watching a bunch of your videos because I never played JRPG's and I really want to try this genre. However, it really caughts my attention how a 20+ hours experience is considered "short" by many RPG fans. It kinda scares me actually :D
Yeah, JRPGs are really, really long. Usually they run between 40-50 hours, and many of them are much longer than that.
I mean, I really want to try the genre, but it seems very time consuming, and I'm not sure if I can mantain that degree of sustained motivation requiered while having a full time work at the same time. The last long RPG I played was the Mass Effect trilogy altogether last year, but I was unemployed at the time. I think I can bear with the 20 hours that Chrono Trigger lasts, but maybe not with other games I really want to experience first hand, like the Final Fantasy series.
Yeah, I feel you there. Give Chrono Trigger and Terranigma a shot!
Dark Pixel Gaming Terranigma? Never heard of that one before. You say is short enough to give it a try then?
Kenny4ag I will! I'm the kind of guy who likes to experiment on every genre. But time isn't my ally lately.
I wish there was a LOVE button, because I absolutely love how you elaborated on the music, gave credit to mitsuda for pouring his soul into this. I have heard many takes on this game over the years, but no one ever quite expresses how much of its greatness comes from the masterpiece soundtrack
Great review. Much like you feel the passion of the developers through the game, I too feel yours through this review. Thanks for sharing.
This review is not only a brilliant analysis of a game that I admittedly have never gotten around to playing (will be rectified once i've played through a couple of other games i'm half way through playing) but you ooze personality into this review making me more compelled to get to know the reviewers as well as play the game. This rarely happens and you nailed it! Mass kudos!
You cant start a video with that sad theme! The feels.. the best.
I hope you guys gets tons of work from these!
;_;
What a wonderful...dare I say, documentary? The care you've taken with the script and the delivery had me engaged the whole way through, and I got a little emotional during the section about Mitsuda's struggle (my favorite composer). Your passion for the game not only mirrors that which was evident from the team that created it, but is infectious to the point that, while I love Chrono Trigger (It was the first SNES game I purchased back in the day, and I have two complete copies on each system: SNES, DS, and PS1), I still felt pumped to go back to my old friends once again despite how often we've gone on that adventure together.
I came here after watching your Xenogears video (my favorite game of all time) and can say that I love your approach to this kind of video;it has become apparent that they are extremely well planned, penned, and executed.
I don't subscribe to anything easily, but subscribing to your channel was a no-brain-er.
best rpg ever
and i should know all i do is stream and play rpgs lol
FF 6 for me
not a bad pick both great
Xenogears for me....Then obviously CT...
fallout 2 or baldur's gate 2 > chrono trigger. sorry
I'm so happy I found this channel a few weeks back. Your reviews and analysis videos are on another level compared to the rest of the competition in the industry. I've played Chrono Trigger when I was in middle school many years ago but never got around to completing it. I've always wanted to go back to it and this totally give me the motivation to do so. Just picked up a new 3ds recently and am super stoked to pick up a copy of the ds version of this game.
I love the DS version! I hope you'll get from Chrono Trigger even a fraction of the inspiration I received. It's so great! Thanks for taking the time to comment, Milton!
A minute and a half in and you could just feel the passion you have for this game, you sir earned a like.
Man, you got me tearing up with this review. Chrono Trigger was a huge part of my lonely teenage years, and the reason I started working with videogames.
At some point the passion becomes the grind, or “just a job” to stay afloat, but videos like these bring back the feelings of love and appreciation for the craft.
Thanks for the great content, keep it up!
Chrono Trigger is an absolute Masterpiece, with a capital M. The fact it has changed your life is testament to it. Truly, the best games out there are more than just games. They provide guidance and life lessons, like great novels, legendary plays and iconic movies.
Even though I did not personally grow up with the game during the snes era since I wasn't around at the time (sadly), it still became a childhood favorite of mine. Calling this a timeless classic is a major understatement. I've played this in every version since
I personally prefer the PS1 version. I will always recommend the DS version to new players, as I do believe it is the definitive version, but the PS1 is the only one that contains Frog's original old-english speech pattern (faulty as it may be) as well as the new animated cutscenes which were what made me fall in love with the game in the first place :-) Plus, importing the game at a young age, I have great memories of me, just getting the hang of the english language, sitting on the livingroom with my siblings and my PS1, playing this game, as we all watched in awe as the story unfolded.
Why is ds the definitive version
@@leonard9624 It has a bunch of extra content, a more accurate translation, the anime cutscenes and ties in the game more with Chrono Cross.
This review was absolutely amazing! The intro was hard hitting and relatable and i loved the piece on Yosunori Mitsuda. I could only imagine what he went through. And the work shows i love the game. I love the soundtrack sooo much. It really is a masterpiece. I love how the review came full circle too. You came back to how you feel about it and proved why it got you through the tough time mentioned in the intro. Well welllll worth the wait Mike!!! 👏
Thanks, Eric! It means a lot that people are picking up on the details here and appreciating them. I'm glad it lived up to everyone's expectations! Thanks for all the input on the discussion videos!
Your g-parents have a nice place :)
fancy seeing you here
Wow. Once in a while, I come across absolutely flawless videos like this and my hope in people hangs on a bit longer. Great work.
your intro had me in tears. way to persevere my friend
Thanks for taking the time to reach out, Kyle! I really appreciate it!
I played and owned the original release on the SNES which was later stolen in my dad's garage some years later but now have a version on my computer with a emulator. This was and still is a very great game. I can see how multiple people put their ideas into it. And the graphics.. great during its time, like Donkey Kong Country. Music was superb. It captured the imagination and the soul. I don't think another game like this will ever be made, but you never know!...
I'm a bit late to this party (this video), but holy shit...I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING! Seriously, well-done, and thank you for giving a review and analysis that does my favorite game of all time proper justice!
Very touching review. This was my introduction to your work and I look forward to seeing more.
"Hey! Did you people just come out of the closet? Get outta here!" xD I only noticed this when you were talking about the balance of serious dramatic tension and humour in this game, although this particular line is probably not intentional.
I just stumbled upon your reviews today, and I am so touched by this particular one. I am also at the moment going through a stage of doubts and anxiety... Watching your in-depth review transfers me into a state of higher alertness and concentration, which makes me realise how much I miss this feeling, a feeling that I was only able to have when I was working on something that I'm genuinely passionate about. I tend to trip into inertia when I feel lost of direction, although I think I have a lot to offer if I can work on the things that I actually love. Thank you for making this amazing review - I can clearly see the amount of effort that had gone into the research! I hope I can keep the fire burning in me now longer this time!
Love that line. Haha!
Ha! oops. I just saw your reply after I edited the comment :)
Wow. Your description of your outlook on life vs your relationship to music mirrors my own.
Absolutely amazing video!
The way you talk about music is beautiful. In retrospect growing up playing all these games, I really was in it for Nobuo Uematsu and Yasunori Mitsuda. As a composer, these scores for have effected my understanding of melody, chords, and how to express feeling in music more than pretty much anything else. Its nice to see that I wasn't alone in the profound way you describe the music in your Chrono Trigger / ff 1 through 10 videos. Keep on going man, you are doing something really inspiring reminding me of how impactful these games were in my formative years. Also you have helped me remember to follow my passions, something that is easily forgotten in today's horrible age of monetary slavery. Thank you.
Now i want to hear mitsuda's lost tracks
I think that is the reason he would name the theme for Chrono Cross 'Scars of Time'... that must have hurt BAD.
This review... wow ...it was easily worth the long wait. It is quite possibly your best review yet! Your revelation into how you found Chrono Trigger, the serendipitous story of how Hironobu Sakaguchi, Yuji Horii and Akira Toriyama all met up and the tragic tale of Yoshinori Matsuda's first attempt at being a lead composer - all perfectly interwoven within a review that touches upon everything that lets us know why it's so special to you.
In any case, thank you for all your hard work Mike. Is it Xenogears that's up next?
Thanks, Matski! I'm glad you liked it. Yes! Xenogears is up next!
One of the most beautiful reviews I've ever seen. Amazing job.
Thank you, Anonymous_X!
It's crazy, your review almost perfectly sums up my own feelings and emotions towards Chrono Trigger. I was unemployed and down in the dumps when I played Chrono Trigger for the first time, and it left a lasting impact on me. I love Final Fantasy, but none of them are as good as Chrono Trigger.
What a perfect review for a perfect game :')
Your music analysis brought tears to my eyes. I have enjoyed watching your videos in the past, but the way you poured your heart out in this one made me a subscriber. Thanks dude.
Truly great review!
Thanks, Jordan!
I like your name
+Rad Rat Video likewise
Such a great review. Your comments on the game really resonated with me as I'm sure it did for many other Chrono Trigger fans
Trying not to tear up during the music portion like ; ;
I loved the sound track for this game.
Every time Glenn split the mountain, I got the chills.
Let me start off by saying your review content is some of the most detailed and elegant content I've seen on youtube. The fact that you're emotionally attached to it just makes it so much more genuine, and I enjoy watching them. I couldn't agree more with this review, it is one of my favorite games of all time, and I've actually started playing it on my android maybe two weeks ago. 20-25 hours is more than enough when its THIS good, and if you have the combat set to active its not as easy-peasy as being able to sit there and make your selection while the enemy does nothing. I think its just hard and just easy enough to make the game enjoyable, without frustrating people into rage-quitting, and instead continuing their journey to the end.
Keep making the great content man, its inspired me to make my own channel and try some lets-plays, or multiplayer recording as well as father-daughter sessions.
I really enjoyed this! Thank you for this analysis :)
Wow, I only just discovered your channel today, but this was perhaps the most moving review I've ever seen. I've also greatly enjoyed a few of your other reviews so far! Subscribed! Thank you for the great content!
My best friend who passed away last year told me she loved this game. I'd never play it before. Am I ready for it?
Beatriz only one way to find out
That end credits song... I don't think there's another song in existence that makes me feel a bit misty-eyed like that does. There is a lyrical remix of the song on OCRemix made by Pixietricks and Reuben Kee that does a great job of capturing the feeling of the original song. Another great remix I recommend is Atonement by Darangen.
One thing I like about Chrono is that, despite being a silent protagonist, he DOES have a unique personality (loves to eat, has a happy disposition, enjoys practicing swordsmanship, has a mom, values his friends, etc.) and leads the team efficiently just by example, without any dialogue; far from other silent protags that preceded or succeeded him. When you lose him for a while, it packs a hell of a punch.
Definitely not my favorite game of all time, but definitely in my top 5; however, like you, my favorite game of all time also helped boost my self-confidence when I felt I was at an all time low emotionally. I actually remember lining up at a Distant Worlds concert to meet Uematsu and I had my music CDs I wanted signed. I saw another Uematsu fan in line with the Chrono Trigger SNES cartridge and asked him why he'd be interested in having Uematsu sign something he had no part of. He was quick to correct me though - informing me that Uematsu stepped in towards the end of production. I did not know that Mitsuda has stomach ulcers and needed the assistance. That's what I like about your reviews; not only are they well written, but they serve to educate the ignorant (myself). What a touching story to create a game with an equally touching narrative. Well done, sir. Keep up the excellent work.
“People say the story doesn’t take enough risks.”
They kill the main character half way through and you can recruit the main villain.
You just spoilt it for me !!!!!
I just started playing chrono trigger.
WHY
JUST WHY
@@denumelon841 you come into a review of a game you never heard of comment section and expect no spoiler lollllll
@@denumelon841 Because you're a melon, just like your name suggests. Why go to a review of a game you haven't finished, or more importantly, just started? Even seeing some of the things tend to ruin some sense of surprise or awe when you eventually play it. I played the game for the first time last month and I avoided every bit of media coverage I could outside of some guide tips here and there.
It is truly a masterpiece. It got me into RPGs but not only that but sometimes i find myself listening to the soundtrack when im feeling depressed/sad. The music itself is such a touching experiemce
Nice video, but I have to disagree that the OST is the best ever. Mitsuda topped himself when he did the OST for Chrono Cross.