CAUTION! This review contains spoilers for the hack! Read no further should you desire a blind play through! Likewise, please forgive any grammatical errors, proof-reading is not my strong suit and I typed this all in a .txt file (and we all know how well THEY transfer).

As of writing this review I have completed my run of this Chrono Trigger hack. Overall I look upon it favorably, and I do recommend it to any other Chrono fan. That said, let’s go more in depth.

THE PROS: The best bits in my opinion.

1. New Locales.

I very much enjoyed the additional homes and villages and spots to visit scattered throughout the time periods. It tied a lot of the games events together nicely.

I am especially fond of the “Zeal remnant” with the corpse inside. Fittingly depressing and very much what the original game needed on that map, in my opinion.

I also loved having a third tribe off to the east in pre-history. Though I would have also liked to explore a Reptite village.

2. The majority of the new dialogue.

MOST of the new writing and additional dialogue was fantastic. Everybody in 600 AD speaks as expected (rather than just Frog), and in the same era the NPCs will react to Magus once he is in your party. Finally!

Some of the new lines are a bit corny, particularly I found some of Magus’ new dialogue too upbeat; but for the most part it’s all a nice addition.

3. New techs for Frog and Marle.

At last Frog and Marle get useful final techs. That’s all there is to it. It’s something that always pestered me greatly about the original game.

4. Chrono Cross references that don’t suck.

A few nice nods to Cross are added that do not feel out of place or shoe-horned. I am fond of that. Too often Cross references in CT hacks feel… strained.

5. New equipment, and equipment adjustments.

There a few new weapons and accessories added to the game, as well as redundant accessories removed. Likewise, some treasure locations have been shuffled to accomodate. The “rock” accessories are now transformed into more useful equipment, actually offering a benefit alongside the proposed triple tech.

6. A few new monsters!

And they are pretty cool! No longer will you face the same monsters in the Rainbow Shell sidequest as you did in the cathedral. Now they will be a bit more on your level at the time.

7. Additional Clutter.

Extra trees, extra rock formations, and extra decorations on interior locations. Particularly Medina square. Loved this touch.

8. Changes made to Spekkio.

I LOVED being able to fight Spekkio’s forms on my own time. BIG up on this one.

THE CONS: Yes, there are a few changes I did not enjoy so much, and here they are!

1. Respawning monsters in Heckran’s cave.

Why? I always took the lack of re-spawn to signify that you wiped out Heckran’s little cult.

2. NPCs no longer walk in place.

Again, why? This may seem like a good idea at first but the eerie stillness is noticable and is creepy. I did not enjoy this.

3. Frog’s new Tech is boring.

So Frog’s new tech (Nirvana X) is useful, but boring. It is just leap slash but stronger. I would have liked it to have some kind of flashy effect or maybe at least have repeated the hit animation thrice like Cyrus in the cutscene.

4. Robo Tackle is OP.

I have no idea why, but Robo Tackle is the gods own fist. It is, in fact, the games most powerful attack now. Uzzi Punch? Child’s play. Useless. Delta Storm? Forget it. Luminaire? You MUST be joking! Robo Tackle kills the universe.

5. The new dungeons are very straight forward.

Now for the Blackbird crash site this is fine actually. It is a giant airship after all, it’s going to be straight forward. However, I would have liked to see more variety in the forest.

6. The graphic change on the world map for 1000 AD north of Leene Square.

Now, I get it. I am pretty sure this little dirt patch was meant to be the plateau where the gate is, but it just looks odd. I would have preferred if the mountain was restored behind Leene Square instead. It always caused me consternation that an entire mountain vanished in so short a time. For that matter… where DID the island of Giant’s Claw go?

THE THINGS THAT WERE NIETHER HITHER, NOR THITHER: Changes I found to not really add nor subtract from the experience were as follows-

1. Lack of Lavos’ boss medley.

Eh… I never minded it. However having it gone doesn’t bother me either.

2. Seeing the Frog King in 1000 AD.

Cute. Innocuous, pointless, but cute.

BUuDgS: Error

Bugs were minor as of version 2.1, only some graphic flaws here and there and a few lengthy loading times. Yes, loading times. The game can stall a bit between some cut scenes but don’t panic! It is not frozen.

OVERALL:

I would not call this the definitive way to play Chrono Trigger. However if I were to assemble a definitive CT experience (through my own eyes of course) I would pull quite a lot from this hack. I give it a solid 4/5. Near perfect hack. Wholly recommended.