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Mar. 22nd, 2026 10:13 pm
Chrono Cross is Weird
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brandynNow that the medication is working and my depression and ADHD symptoms are lessening I'm trying to rekindle my love for the JRPG genre and for some reason decided to start with a game I've known for years was a bit controversial, Chrono Cross. A sequel to Chrono Trigger that, both in terms of tone and gameplay nuances completely disregards what made Chrono Trigger so beloved to be it's own unique thing.
Chrono Trigger was a game that thrived on it's simplicity both in terms of gameplay and story. Very easy for anyone new to the genre to understand and the story is basic and thrives mostly on charming characters. Chrono Cross, so far, is...neither of those things. The plot so far is much more contemplative and a bit confusing compared to Chrono Trigger's straightforward plot and the gameplay...oh lord. It's a turn based JRPG just like Chrono Trigger but that is where the similarities end. Chrono Cross is the kind of game where to get the most out of it you need to have like an excel spreadsheet of all of the different things to keep track of. Maybe not the best game for someone who's barely keeping the ADHD in check but.
It's interesting so far though, from everything I've heard it's a game that mostly lives on it's atmosphere and yeah, that's really working for me. The moment to moment writing might not fully land but the early game reveals so far are compelling. Chrono Trigger is a simple time travel plot, Chrono Cross is seemingly going to be a more complex plot focusing on different timelines. This is like 40 minutes into the game so I'm not really considering it a spoiler but the main impetus of the plot is the main character being sucked into another timeline where they died as a child and a mysterious organization wanting to capture him.
I'm playing it off of the new re-release that came with the original Radical Dreamers, which was the team's first attempt at making a Chrono Trigger sequel, which ended up being a hastily put together text based adventure. Which, I've started and need to finish (Or look up a playthrough) before I get too far into Chrono Cross proper. Radical Dreamers isn't canon, but it does very clearly inform the ideas going into Chrono Cross, with different versions of the same characters showing up in Chrono Cross. Though, due to it's nature as a text based adventure Radical Dreamers has a much more horror tone to it than Chrono Cross' typical JRPG sensibilities.
Just generally interested in this weird piece of gaming history.
Chrono Trigger was a game that thrived on it's simplicity both in terms of gameplay and story. Very easy for anyone new to the genre to understand and the story is basic and thrives mostly on charming characters. Chrono Cross, so far, is...neither of those things. The plot so far is much more contemplative and a bit confusing compared to Chrono Trigger's straightforward plot and the gameplay...oh lord. It's a turn based JRPG just like Chrono Trigger but that is where the similarities end. Chrono Cross is the kind of game where to get the most out of it you need to have like an excel spreadsheet of all of the different things to keep track of. Maybe not the best game for someone who's barely keeping the ADHD in check but.
It's interesting so far though, from everything I've heard it's a game that mostly lives on it's atmosphere and yeah, that's really working for me. The moment to moment writing might not fully land but the early game reveals so far are compelling. Chrono Trigger is a simple time travel plot, Chrono Cross is seemingly going to be a more complex plot focusing on different timelines. This is like 40 minutes into the game so I'm not really considering it a spoiler but the main impetus of the plot is the main character being sucked into another timeline where they died as a child and a mysterious organization wanting to capture him.
I'm playing it off of the new re-release that came with the original Radical Dreamers, which was the team's first attempt at making a Chrono Trigger sequel, which ended up being a hastily put together text based adventure. Which, I've started and need to finish (Or look up a playthrough) before I get too far into Chrono Cross proper. Radical Dreamers isn't canon, but it does very clearly inform the ideas going into Chrono Cross, with different versions of the same characters showing up in Chrono Cross. Though, due to it's nature as a text based adventure Radical Dreamers has a much more horror tone to it than Chrono Cross' typical JRPG sensibilities.
Just generally interested in this weird piece of gaming history.
LONELY PROMPTS WEEK: 23 MARCH § DAY 1
In the past, we used to have a "winner" who completed the most fills every day, and at the end of the week, we'd announce an overall winner. But this time around, we're doing things differently! There are no winners or “losers”, just prompts that have been filled. At the end of the week, we'll be sharing a round-up post of all the lonely prompts that have been filled.
Monday’s Theme: Crossovers
More Information: All fills must be a crossover in some manner. Unfamiliar with what a crossover is? Crossovers bring together two or more unrelated (or related) fandoms into one story. Think unexpected meetings, chaotic team-ups, alternate universes, or characters wandering into worlds they absolutely do not belong in. The possibilities are endless!
Please number your fills when leaving more than one in a comment. This helps me when I'm ready to count them up.
To find those elusive Lonely Prompts, you can use LJ’s advanced search options to limit keyword results to only comments in this community. Fret not, DW members; we are working on a way to search through old entries for prompts for you! As of right now, the best way to search for a lonely prompt on DW is to search the community’s archive, which can be found [[HERE]].
While the use of LJ's advanced search and DW’s archive are options, bookmarking the links of prompts you like might work better for searching in the future.
To get things going, a few rules that I ask you all to follow.
1. You can only request five prompts to be filled.
2. You can request no more than three prompts from the same fandom.
3. You can, however, fill as many prompts as you'd like!
4. In the subject line, be sure to say whether this is a request or a fill!
5. You must link back to whatever the prompt is in the community logs (whether filling or requesting it be filled), and, if you're filling the prompt, please complete the fill as a response to the original prompt.
6. If you are filling an "any/any" prompt, please let us know what fandom (or, if original, say so!) you're using for the response.
7. If you filled any lonely prompts earlier this week, this is the place to share them!
8. Finally, we now have a community at AO3. If you have an AO3 account, please post your fills there. More information on how to do this is located at this link.
How to link:
[a href="http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/449155.html?thread=70682755#t70682755">MCU, Tony Stark/Pepper Potts, She's wearing daisy dukes and one of his button-down shirts.[/a]
(change the brackets to "<" and ">" respectively)
or:
http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/139897.html?thread=30155641#t30155641
Burn Notice, Sam/Michael/Fi, "It's always been you. And it's always gonna be you."
HAPPY REQUESTING/WRITING/FILLING!