Chrono Trigger Screenshots

Last year, a friend of mine (who has his own blog) introduced me to the world of classic console RPG gaming. I'd heard of stuff like Final Fantasy before, but didn't really know anything about it. It turns out, most of these SNES games from the 90s are free now, and easy to play on the computer with free SNES emulators. I played Final Fantasy six last year - and LOVED it! It was like reading a novel, only you get to be one of the characters (no, fourteen, actually!) and fight all the bad guys, figure out where you're going to go, etc. I've played other Final Fantasy games since then (seven, four, and tactics) but FF6, IMO, is the best. Tactics has a lot more intrigue, generally a better story, and a completely different battle system, but FF6 is much, much more emotional and moving! Anyways, one of the games he burned for me was Chrono Trigger - another major classic in the old-school RPG gaming sphere - but I only played it for a little while and got distracted from it. Just the other day, I decided to pick it up and play it.

In Chrono Trigger, you basically play as a bunch of friends who find out how to travel through time - and by accident, you end up in the far future, and find that the world has been destroyed by a monster called Lavos. Lavos was summoned by Magus 400 years before your own time - it took Lavos that long to get all his power and devastation together. Now that you've found out about this, you and your friends embark on a quest to change the course of time and keep Lavos from destroying the world - to return things to balance. I'm not that far into the game yet, but here, Chrono and Marle are teaming up to attack that snake on the bottom left of the screenshot. The game is not, however, just about killing things and getting cool stuff from it. There is a very complicated and moving storyline, loveable characters, ethical dilemmas, etc. I don't really like mindless computer games very much, but these classic RPGs are a lot better than that - they are stories and worlds full of imagination! I like to tap into that every once and a while.

One of the best things about Chrono Trigger is the music! Nobuo Uematsu was on the team, I think, that composed the music for this game. Nobuo also did all the music for the Final Fantasy games. His music is so moving and inspiring! Terra's theme from FF6 was especially moving for me! And Chrono Trigger is just as good! There is a whole community of people online who compose and synthesize different remixes and arrangements of various video game music, and put it out for free - that's actually where I get some of my favorite music. It's quite nostalgic, especially for the games that you grew up playing! The same people did a special project for Chrono Trigger, where they made a two disc soundtrack for the game, all orchestral, professionally done, with jacket and CD art, and everything! It's a free download, all of it! Pretty sweet! Last month, this girl I know was having her 21st birthday party, and she invited me. She was in my ward over the summer, and I knew that she was a gamer girl and that Chrono Trigger was one of her favorite games. The party was pretty casual, but I burned these CDs for her and printed out the jacket art, and gave it to her for her birthday. Fun, easy, and not too expensive! But really, the music for these classic RPG games is VERY good - it's not just blips and bleeps like something from Mario, RPG music, especially anything by Nobuo Uematsu, is like something from a feature length four star movie! Quality stuff!