Chrono Cross The Radical Dreamers Edition

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is a remaster of the classic Japanese RPG, released in 1999 for the first generation PlayStation console. The game was developed by Square Enix.

The big attraction of this edition is the fact that the set comes with an English-language version of Radical Dreamers, a visual novel adventure set in the series' universe. The Chrono Cross remaster is the debut of this production in the West.

Story

The game takes place in a fantasy land. The plot revolves around a 17-year-old inhabitant of a fishing village named Sarge. One day he falls into an alternative world where his counterpart died ten years earlier. The protagonist decides to discover what really happened a decade earlier and tries to understand the rules governing interdimensional travel.

Chrono Cross is part of the series started by Chrono Trigger, but knowledge of that game is not required to play.

Mechanics

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition mostly faithfully reproduces the content of the original. So we get a classically realized jRPG game. During the game we explore locations, complete quests, develop characters and fight with enemies using the turn-based battle system.

The key role in battles plays a system of six elements, to which are assigned heroes, opponents, spells and items. Each of these is particularly effective against one of them, but performs poorly when confronted with others, forcing tactics to be tailored to the type of enemies and locations.

During battles we command a team consisting of up to three heroes chosen from a larger group of companions. In total, the player can recruit 45 characters in the game, some of which will only agree to join us if we make certain story decisions.

In the campaign, the player quickly gains the ability to travel freely between two dimensions. Choices and achievements in each of these worlds ultimately lead the storyline to one of more than a dozen alternate endings.

It is worth mentioning that the remaster adds some gameplay improvements in comparison with the original - the battle system has been improved and the option of automatic skirmishes has been implemented.

Game modes

The game offers only single player mode.

Technical issues

Compared to the original, Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition offers numerous improvements to the audiovisual setting. The remaster features 3D models converted to high resolution. Character designs have been modified, which was the responsibility of Nobuteru Yuuki, the artist responsible for the original. We also get nicer text fonts, background filtering and refreshed music, which was supervised by the composer of the original version of the game - Yasunori Mitsuda.

What is important, players can turn off all visual enhancements and play in the version with graphics identical to the original for the first PlayStation.