Chrono Trigger is a game that needs no introduction… but it’s so epic, I’m going to give it one anyway. For many, Chrono Trigger was the epitome of creativity for 90’s gaming. It was developed by a so-called Dream Team which included such storied contributors as Akira Toriyama, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Nobuo Uematsu, and the newcomer composer (and now highly respected) Yasunori Mitsuda, who reports having come down with an ulcer after his relentless work on completing the game’s soundtrack. It was also among the first games to feature many different dynamic endings, some of which were truly bizarre. This game is truly a defining point in the history of role-playing games and to see it brought to life once more on the ubiquitous Nintendo DS is something that puts a smile on all of our collective faces.
Chrono Trigger DS for the Nintendo DS is much in the same vein as the Final Fantasy remakes we’ve seen for the Game Boy Advance over the past few years. It hasn’t been given a graphical overhaul or anything of that nature, and in fact, in CTDS’ case, not even the soundtrack has been touched (it sounds exactly the same as the original—I checked). Instead, it’s merely been adapted to the Nintendo DS with a few extra features and a little bit of additional content. First off, you get a slick FMV intro. Next, in order to make use of the dual-screen setup, the bottom screen now displays a map at all times, something that’s sure to prove useful during the damned Airship Blackbird chapter (which I won’t spoil for any of you poor souls who have never experienced this masterpiece of a game). However, the map will unfold only after you’ve been in the area previously, so don’t worry about it ruining anything for you.
In addition to that, the battle sequences are now touch-compatible, with the usual menus forgone in favor of buttons that can either be tapped or navigated via D-Pad and face buttons. Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, there’ll also be a new dungeon in CTDS, which we hope is long, difficult, and very creative. Oh, and you can battle your friends online as well, though as is usually the case with these portable RPGs, I doubt that feature will prove too compelling (but you never know).
To my delight, I discovered that Chrono Trigger DS was playable on the show floor, so I ran uncontrollably toward it and dropped my bag at my feet carelessly in preparation. Same gameplay—check. Same visuals—check. Same audio—check—to a tee. The first thing I noticed that was different was the battle system. Sure, it’s all buttonized now, but it actually seems to work well regardless. Now, the actual location of the commands has changed, so if you’re the type of person who’s played the game so much that you’ve memorized the button presses necessary to cast a spell, you’re going to need to commit to some relearning. Also, if you’re playing entirely with the stylus, it’s a little goofy trying to select which enemy to attack (it’s much simpler to use the D-pad in this regard). But apart from that, everything feels very smooth. You can even use the stylus to move by dragging on the bottom screen. Overall, the accommodation of stylus controls is hardly a game-changing feature, but it’s still a nice touch (I’m going to fire myself for that one).
Another thing I noticed that I quite liked was the smaller-sized text. Now, more words fit on the screen, allowing for the same great content but less A Button tapping. I didn’t spend a whole heck of a lot of time in the game’s menus, but they, too had been reworked to allow for touch control. You can access anything in the menu from a bar at the bottom of the screen, which is also nice.
After spending around fifteen minutes with the game playing through the opening sequence at the Millennial Fair, everything seemed quite finished already. But we’ve also been told that CTDS will be a Q4 2008 title, so don’t expect it before November probably.
Square Enix catches a lot of flack over their precipitating remakes of the older Final Fantasy games for handheld systems, but Square, you can remake Chrono Trigger as many times as you like and I won’t yell at you—I promise. At least, not until the review anyway.
