Left feeling a bit empty after playing it for the first time a few months ago(why did I wait so long?) I am afraid no JRPG will be able to surpass it. Would love to have a discussion about similar games that reach the same quality level (Note: I have already played Final Fantasy VI ).
I’m at the final boss of Super Mario RPG and can vouch for it being really fun. While it’s not as epic in scale and story as Chrono Trigger, it’s got good humorous writing, good pacing, and the difficulty is just right imo.
I also really like that if you lose a battle, the game resets you at your last save point and carries over any exp you gained, making grinding way less tedious.
Super Mario RPG is definitely worth playing. It was one of my favorite games on the SNES. I’m excited for the switch remake of it too.
Suikoden II is generally considered one of the best JRPGs on the PS1, and while the English translation isn’t spotless the writing and setpieces have a similar quality to Chrono Trigger. It is a sequel to Suikoden and you’ll enjoy the second game a bit more for having played the first one, but it’s not a requirement. The original Suikoden wasn’t nearly as polished and I’d hate for you to give up on Suikoden II because you burned out on it.
Absolutely loved Suikoden 2
More Chrono Trigger!
Have you seen all, IIRC, 11 endings?
Honestly, nothing ever hit the same for me. Even Chrono Cross, which I’m sure tons of people love and is supposed to be somewhat of a sequel to Chrono Trigger (I mean… Final Fantasy games did this too where the stories were totally unrelated but were still “sequels”), was unable to draw me in.
Something about the camaraderie between the characters in Trigger just also felt so much more special than in any other JRPG for me. Western RPGs tend to do this a lot; Baldur’s Gate 3 is extremely good at making you want to hang out with the companion characters.
Quick note, Cross is very deeply, broadly, and extensively a sequel to Trigger.
Eh officially it is. In reality though they tacked all the references to Chrono Trigger in at the end of development.
I’m not sure I’ve read that anywhere. Are you able to provide any sources?
I watched a few making of and other types of history videos about the series.
I’d love to see those.
The only one I could find was about them cutting Magus’s storyline out since the whole game, start to finish, tied directly into it, did so from the beginning, and would have required an immense amount of writing for a non-primary character, which is why they gave him a mask.Masato Kato: To let the cat out of the bag, in the early stages of development, Guile was indeed meant to be Magus. In our original plan, the true identity of Guile was supposed to be Magus after the events in Trigger. (At the end of Trigger, Magus [a.k.a. Janus in Trigger and Magil in Radical Dreamers] disappeared into a Time Gate to go searching for his big sister, Schala, who was lost somewhere in time.) However, as the game’s development progressed and we decided to use such a huge number of playable characters, we decided not to make him be Magus. We thought it was impossible to portray the relationship between Magus and Schala adequately in this game. So we changed tracks, made the colors of the Magus character design paler, and turned him into Guile, the magician. In a way, it’s a pity, as I really would like to have seen the valiant figure of Magus come to life again.
Archived copy of a GamePro interview with Director/Scenario Writer Masato Kato
Interesting. Thank you for finding that. I guess the videos I watched were wrong. I couldn’t tell you what videos they were, it’s been a long time.
There has been a great deal of speculation down through the years. Some of these interviews weren’t translated until relatively recently, so for a long time all we had was speculation.
Earthbound is fantastic. Also, Chrono Trigger has several different endings and secret things to accomplish along the way, so it is good for more than one play-through. Finally, I remember stumbling into a game decades ago around the same time I first discovered Chrono Trigger called Seiken Densetsu. I remember having a copy in English and really liking it.
Nothing else reaches the same quality as Chrono Trigger in the same way. You have to settle for lower quality with similar pacing, or try to reach the same level of quality in a different way.
Similar pacing, lower quality: Phantasy Star IV, Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy IV
Comparable quality, different style: Earthbound, Final Fantasy VII (FF6 is the real answer, but FF7 is the most similar game to FF6)
Similar aspects, lower quality: Dragon Quest IV, Radical Dreamers & Chrono Cross, possibly Radiant HistoriaRadiant Historia definitely hits some of the same notes.
Xenogears for PS1
Very different from all the later ‘Xeno-’ titles.
Same composer as CT.
Not as polished a game design, but overall outstanding and interesting in story, mechanics, and scope.
Illusions of Gaia and Secret of Mana 100% - they’re action JRPGs but have the same vibe in many ways.
Sea of Stars JUST dropped.
Sea of Stars
I’ve heard a lot of vague talk about it. I have Game Pass (which it’s one). Does it live up to the hype? It might be my next try if/when I cool on Starfield.
It’s directly Chrono Trigger inspired.
If this wasn’t !PatientGamers, this’d be a lay up for Sea of Stars, and every comment would just say “Sea of Stars”.
Nice. You definitely just nudged it up on my playlist.
What I’ve heard is that it’s very much like Chrono Trigger aesthetics-wise but very different regarding writing quality. Now, a lot of people play JRPGs not necessarily for their plot, story, character motivation/development and quality of prose but for their particular atmosphere crafted by their use of graphics, music, animation/sprites, etc and there’s nothing wrong with that, so maybe it will be your vibe
I played the demo and liked it a lot. Beautiful looking game that feels good to control. The only reason I’m not playing the full game is that I feel like I owe Baldur’s Gate III my attention, since I so rarely buy new games :p
I can’t believe it hasn’t been mentioned much but Secret of Mana is definitely a strong contender as GOAT JRPG, as good if not better than Chrono Trigge imo.
Better? Never. I will say it is the by far the best real multi player rpg I’ve played.
multiplayer? would it be a good game for a couple?
Oh totally, and one player can readily dip in and dip out if you’ve got differing interest levels.
damn, never realized that’s a thing. My SO doesn’t have the time to game that much, so that’d be really helpful.
Can you recommend other games with similar multiplayer mechanics as well?
I agree. When I have my SNES nostalgia, I play Secret of Mana first, then Chromo Trigger for the withdrawals.
None of those reach the same level as Chrono Trigger in my opinion, but they’re still great:
- Lufia II - Rise of the Sinistrals (SNES). Note: Lufia is best played out of order, since the start of Lufia I spoils the end of Lufia II.
- Tales of Phantasia (SNES). Preferably through the DeJap translation, IMO better than the official.
- Pokémon Fire Red or Leaf Green (GBA). Pokémon as a series decayed a fair bit, but Gen III was amazing.
ROM hacks of gen 3 games are pretty fun, and the most up to date ones are very high quality.
-Pokemon Gaia is my favorite, still feels like a classic pokemon game and its really polished. No postgame yet though, there’s a big update thats been “coming soon” for a few years, but the devs say they’re still working on it.
-Pokemon Unbound is by far the most complex pokemon game in existence, with content up to gen 8, side quests, mechanics from later games, and tons of postgame content. Also a more “adult” storyline, although I think that actually detracts from the feeling of a pokemon game
-Altered Emerald and Polished Crystal, if you want to play expanded versions of official games
-One that people usually recommend is Pokemon Glazed, but i don’t really like that one. It’s a big game but the balance and pacing of it is way off.
I am only a few hours into Chrono Trigger so I don’t know what metrics to assess quality but currently Xenogears, not mentioned at the time of this post was my absolute favorite go to game.
Its such a whirlwind of a story, and while the second disk is a bit of a let down playability wise, lots of story and exposition is still there. The last few fights are amazing.
And additionally Final Fantasy XIV, the MMO has one of the best story narratives I’ve ever experienced across the main game and it’s expansions concluding with endwalker last year. I love Xenogears, but if I ever got to wipe my memory to experience something for the first time I’d pick FFXIV. It’s a stout 150hrs ish though to get through it though at this point but all soloable/minimal party play.
I guess that depends on what you liked about it. Here are some other JRPGs I’ve enjoyed:
- Golden Sun
- Xenoblade Chronicles
- Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
I personally prefer more action, so here are some ARPGs I really enjoy:
- Ys series - especially Ys 1 and Ys Origin
- Zelda series - currently playing Skyward Sword and loving it
- Tokyo Xanadu Ex+
JRPG isn’t my favorite category (I prefer ARPGs with minimal loot), so I’m probably looking for something different than you, but hopefully something here was helpful.
I liked Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age more than Chrono Trigger.
Super Mario RPG is pretty high up there, as well.
Lost Odyssey is a gem that doesn’t get enough love. Chrono Trigger might be a bit higher on my list, by this is definitely worth a playthrough. Be prepared for some real pulls at your heart strings if you read through the short stories in the game.
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I just love everything about Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. The second game never came close for me. But most have already played it.
