CHRONO TRIGGER®

I've been trying games on my steam that I bought and didn't get around to, or forgot to play. This is one of such games. It's been sat in my library for a while.

Out of over 10 games so far, this is by far the best. For an old JRPG, this game is surprisingly innovative. Awesome and unique combat, good story writing, fantastic soundtrack and looks pretty.

I'll start with issues I had.
None, that's it... okay okay okay, I did have a couple.
Sense of direction is bewildering sometimes. I've mostly guessed which direction to go and sometimes been correct. I've had to look up a walkthrough a couple times because between time travel and many different locations, it's difficult to know where to go sometimes.

Boss fights are sometimes extremely difficult, I recommend not skipping mobs like I did, kill everything in your path.

You can only have 3 party members at once. And you cannot replace the main character. So out of all the lovely characters, you can only choose to take two with you at a time. I can see this being great for replays to see different dialogues and interactions. But only choosing two characters at a time is a big downer.

Akira Toriyama's art, yes, this is a negative. There's not enough of it, there needs to be more of it. Rest in Peace, Akira, you were the best at what you did. <3 (Okay, so this isn't a real negative. I'm done with negatives)

Honestly, this game is quite old, your mileage may vary... but for me? I'm too frankly tired of most games these days, buggy on release, full of microtransactions, always online requirements, huge file sizes, people justifying cosmetic items being for sale... Sigh. No, all of this is bad, but this game? Has none of that. This game was made in a time when gaming was good. You should play it.

This game also, to my surprise, has awesome cinematics, that play like a 90's cartoon. They are beautiful. There's not very many, but even one would've been enough for me. (The one where you meet Ayla for the first time, if I'm choosing which. You'll see, she looks like Launch from Dragon Ball.)

Seriously, just play this game. It's inexpensive for how good it is, it runs well, keys are re-mapable, it is worth your time.

If you play the game, I hope you have as much fun as I did. Take your time, explore the world, speak to your mother (Yes, you have a mother in game, who you can talk to! Here's a tip, every time you get a new party member, introduce them to your mother, there's unique dialogue!)

I full heartedily recommend this game. I don't have nostalgia, I didn't play this when I was younger. I played Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Breath of Fire, but never Chrono Trigger. But I can very quickly see why people call it their favourite of the four. (My favourite is Breath of Fire, but mostly sentimental reasons.)

If you read this rambly review, I love you and want you to have a wonderful day.
Thank you. <3

Classic and must play. Pretty short too so you really got nothing to lose. BUT the steam version specifically kinda sucks just because there are some bugs due to bad porting. Overall still great experience though. Either way just play this game somehow.

Best RPG of all time. Steam version is great but SNES is the definitive version for me. Steam version has most of the extra DS content like Dimensional Vortex and Lost Sanctum.

The downsides are the stuttering when moving diagonally and of course, the removal of Frog's accent from the translation of the SNES version. Oh well. Still great game. Highly recomend!

I was always told that Chrono Trigger was one of those timeless classics, one of the best games of all time, and that you NEED to play it. After doing just that... I now see why.
This game is so good man. Such a simple yet deep combat system that's so fun to experiment with using all the different party members for unique tech combinations or using the ATV system to it's full extent to gain a tactical and positional advantage. The pacing and the difficulty curve is incredible, giving you just the right items and amount of exp to make every boss encounter challenging, but very beatable and fair. So much attention to detail with the game's world and its use of time travel. The game is visually gorgeous with its spritework. The soundtrack is a bop! So many good moments and interesting locations. The characters are great Frog my beloved, and the game can be beaten over a weekend!
I never played the SNES Original nor the DS Version but as far as my understanding goes, this version of the game is prone to a few graphical bugs and outright game crashes. As far as I've played this version turned out mostly alright aside from a few cutscene glitches. Still a decent enough version to play but many others have suggested the original as the definitive version instead.
Chrono Trigger was just really nice to play through, and then I immediately did so again, getting every single other ending in New Game+. Not many other classic RPGs managed to capture in the same way Chrono Trigger did. It truly is a timeless masterpiece.

Works fine on my steam deck. I'm not having any of the problems other people seem to be having, but I understand that doesn't mean it isn't happening. Square-Enix games are hit or miss on Steam, unfortunately.
I rented this game back in '97 or so and hated the battle system. Replaying it now makes me realize I missed out on a masterpiece of an RPG because of a bad first impression of a system I didn't understand properly.
The pacing is great.
The story is great.
Combat is quite entertaining.
No crappy party members.
No filler.

Played it for the first time as an adult in 2023 and can confirm that it's one of the best JRPGs ever made.

As someone who owned the original game on Super Nintendo and again on Playstation, I can vouch that the kept all the original content just how it should be... Perfect. The additional post game content was refreshing for me and didn't take anything away from the game. Total winner for those who love old school rpgs.