Techs that steal have accuracy that is around the same amount as the strong attack. Give the enemy a few pokes to boost accuracy before stealing. Also make sure to steal from bosses.
and run away if you steal the WRONG ITEM as in most of the time you'll steal the useless Photon Beam element off of Harlie and will and MUST Steal the Moon Glasses off of her so either run away if steal either FAILS or you steal the Photon beam element off off her.
@@veghesther3204 Odd... I thought Harle dropped the Moonglasses if and only if you beat her before she uses her signature move, Moon Beams. I never knew you could steal a pair from her.
@@veghesther3204 Well, butter my buns and call me a biscuit! The guide I used way back when claimed it was guaranteed if she didn't get the chance to cast Moon Beams and I got them, so I had no reason to doubt it for all these years. I wonder if the Sunglasses the Sphinx dropped (for fighting him like any other boss instead of solving his puzzle) were or were not a fixed drop.
For that boss its a 100% drop as long as you do NOT fight its Riddle mode form at all so you MUST attack it before it asks the first Riddle in order to get the Sun Glasses at a 100% rate it however DOES have a Rainbow Shell as a RARE steal however without at least 1 Yellow plate user Crisosphinx is nearly impossible to kill even on a 1st run with Diminish used nobody will really survive 3 Yellow attacks in 1 turn unless you absorb it Magic Negate doesn't last for the entire battle which is why the Yellow Plate is a must. However you still need the Yellow Plate user to Survive its physical hit turns which I could NOT actually do WITHOUT equipping the Stolen/dropped Moon Glasses on Lynx/Serge at all. I could kill Harlie without her ever using Moon beams and rarely got the Moon Glasses to drop IF ever its like a 1% drop rate. The Boss of Guile's Viper Manor guide route CAN drop the first Ice Blast element when killed but its NOT a 100% drop rate off that boss Marcy as a boss will always drop it.
Here's another, which goes along with ditching Kid: Chrono Cross doesn't just have "New Game +", it has "Continue Game +". After you beat the game, you can port your end game stats to ANY save file you have made. So any time you are forced to chose between one party member and another, simply copy your save. Here's an example: The Hydra Humor quest is important for the storyline, but it locks you out of getting Glenn. So before you choose whether to help Kid or not, split your save file. Play through the Hydra Humor quest (and get Razzly), save, and then go back to your main save file. Once you beat the game, you can Continue Game + from this save file, quickly beat the game, and then use the Chrono Cross to bring Razzly to your main save file. This trick can also be used when you have to choose 1 of 3 guides to Viper Manor. Split your save file right before making the choice, and you can get the other 2 guides in your final save file in no time flat.
I did that but it still takes 3 runs in order to keep Harlie as a permanent party member but I prefer physical hits over spells which is why for me Razzly still sucks on a first run of the game.
Its 3 since you need to beat the game with Harlie in the party in order to keep her then use THAT save file to start ANOTHER NG+ run and get the 3rd Viper manor guide in my case I had Pierre be the 3rd and last one of the 3.
Brings back so many memories... Especially, when I first played CC... I refused 'Kid' because I was tired of always being so 'nice' in RPG's... (Back then I didn't even know it was the only way to get Leena on first run) ... So when she joined... I learned to choose the 'dark' side once in a while for the next 20+ years in RPG's ... lol
Re: running from bosses, this os especially key for the 'trap' elements which let you cancel & steal specific spell elements. If you see a boss use a spell you have a trap for in your inventory, then run away to equip the trap so you can get that spell.
These tips are actually fantastic, for real. I'm so conditioned to not be able to run from boss fights in RPGs, I probably wouldn't have even tried to. I'm also a chronic yes-sayer when anyone in a game asks to join my party, so I no doubt would have taken Kid and missed out on some great characters
It's not your fault cause it's really not a good game design choice. There's absolutely no reason to turn her down when she offers to join you and even though you can turn her down for a lot of the game, this is the only instance where you get anything out of it. It also REALLY feels like a "but thou must" because why would you be able to turn down someone who is obviously a main character?
You miss out on great characters basically no matter what you do. If you don't save Kid you get Glenn, one of the best fighters (if you finish his side quest and get his weapons). If you DO save Kid, you get Razzly, one of the best Element-users in the game. You can't get them both on the same run (except in new game +)
@@baixiaolang lol in my case I missed out on both my first run because I didn't realize that blob of pixels in the corner of that pit was a fairy in a cage.
Grinding is not useless, at least in the original game. You get huge stat gains when you beat a boss, but if you grind enough mobs, there is a "mid-level-level" in which you gain similar huge stat boosts. This is easy to miss as you can skip so many of the encounters, but if you skip your mid-level stat gains your characters will be hugely gimped. I'm not saying it's a good thing, it's actually one of my main gripes with the original game, because gimping my characters bothers me so much that I can't resist the grind, and therefore have less fun because of it.
one of the worse things is sometimes you will have two bosses one after the other which will cause you to miss out on getting a chance to get the secondary stat boost between each star level. unless when running it would allow you to backtrack and farm some enemies for a few fights to get them. Having not known about the being able to run from bosses thing maybe it is possible to get each of the stat boosts between star levels. will have to test that out
You can't for a back to back boss fight you must fight them BOTH so no you can't boost stats after killing the first boss since the 2nd fight would trigger immediately afterwards but the game would not allow you to leave the boss room for stat gains after killing the first of the 2 or 3 back to back fights at all and you can't save the game in between the back to back boss fights either.
Thanks for the tips! I had played CC back in the day, but I have largely forgot most of the game, and though I was already aware of most of these tips, it's still good to be reminded of them. Though that whole bit about refusing Kid at every opportunity really sucks. I'd feel so bad about being such a jerk to her, just to get better group members. But at least you can always get an ending, any ending, and then go back through the game and then accept Kid but still have access to Glenn.
I disagree with the 'ditch kid' advice, at least for a player's first run. Kid is important to the endgame story in a way that almost none of the dozens of other characters are. Yes, you get stronger characters for your party if you ditch her, but you can always pick those characters up in ng+. IMO, for a first run, spend as much time with Kid as you can. If you can learn to like her and invest in her emotionally then the story just lands harder. Missing Glenn is a major shame, especially with his connection to one of the stronger side plots, and forcing you to choose between kid and glenn is one of the game's biggest mistakes. But even so I recommend at least trying to connect to kid.
@@_Tizoc_ for subsequent play thorughs, absolutely. Glenn is a fantastic character, one of the game's best, and the fact that he's miss-able is one of cross's many huge flaws. But for a first time run? Without back seat driving most players are going to rescue kid, and for a first impression of the game I really do think that's the best way to go.
@@Malisteen I don't think the decision between saving Kid is that important, the time Kid is unavailable if you choose not to save her is very short, Technically is just the boss battle at Radius' home and the Ghost ship (and none of them offer anything substantial to Kid's story arc). Also, there is no choice between Kid and Glenn, the real choice is between Glenn and Razzly, one of the best (if not the best) warriors and one of the best mages in the game respectively, that is the decision that hurts. Story wise, Razzly shines during the Hydra Marshes and Water Dragon Isle arcs and that's it. Glenn is more connected to the main story and to Dario's subplot, however, aside of Dario's battle, none of Glenn's other interactions or scenes need him to even be recruited at all. So, in the end is about who you like more, but without a guide most people will obviously choose to save Kid. Still, I disagree with the "leaving stronger characters for a second run" argument, because by the time you start a second run, any character will be overpowered anyway, so I find more important to get stronger characters for a first run. Both Glenn and Razzly are great characters anyway, so you cannot go wrong either way, it's more about who you like more, but Macha and Doc are way better than Korcha and Mel, but that only counts if you plan to use any of them.
If my memory serves me correctly, during New Game Pluses, you can merge past party members if you use the Chrono Cross somewhere in or around Sprigg's home. Like if you get Guile in the first playthrough and Pierre in the second (but you can't get both in the same playthrough) then you can still have both Pierre and Guile available to you at the same time. It's been years since I played so you're more than welcome to correct any errors I made.
You can change the equipements and elements of all the characters in the main menu, just press Left while chosing a character of the party. Just found that after 40 hours of teleporter shenanigans.
I wish I had known during my first playthrough that Miguel was gonna be a thing. I was so unprepared for him back in the day. Got him on the 2nd attempt, but still.
Battle boost cheats make all enemies attacks have a 100% MISS rate including Holy dragon sword when Miguel spams it without those cheats do NOT use a 2nd Black Innate user Harlie against both him and Garai at all.
In a sense, yes, because he's a story progression boss. Dario you can fight at any point once he becomes available so you can get much stronger (and use the Black Plate to absorb damage)
However if you turn on the Evade ALL attacks cheat you won't even need the Black Plate since that Evade boost cheat makes it impossible to take damage and lose HP IN battles though with that Cheat on you'll still be able to absorb his elements if you equip the Black Plate. With every cheat on NOTHING in game will cause damage to you save for Lava/the Poison damage from Hydra Marsh.
@@BB-te8tc Thanks, I do remember both being some of the hardest bosses in the game and taking me a few tries. The hardest boss in the game for me would have to be the Criosphinx though.
David you and I have always disagreed on Chrono Cross, but I appreciate how you put up tons of content about a game you don’t particularly like. It’s really great for consumers who are excited about this game even though you may dislike it. That being said, I can’t wait to play this game for the fifth time haha!
For the healing, I always put at least 1 Recover All and Heal All in each level. Yes, you get those Negative points for putting it in a level below what it's supposed to be at but it can save you in a pinch. Having a weak party heal beats nothing at all.
I played it back in 2001, and I’m playing the remastered version. I loved the game then and it brings back many memories. I’m glad this awesome game wasn’t left behind and is being shared with today’s young generation!
Ditching Kid does open up some doors when it comes to character recruitment but it closes others. Unless I'm mistaken (I need to refresh myself on all the character recruitment requirements) you miss out on Razzely the fairy if you choose not to save Kid. Maybe one or two other characters too? Regardless, if this is indeed your very first playthrough, I strongly recommend recruiting Kid and keeping her around as much as possible. Given her importance to the overall story, it's important for new players to try and develop a bond with her. Plus she's one of only two characters that acquires a Stealing ability, letting you snag some very valuable gear from bosses.
I want to like Chrono Cross. I really do. I bought it for the Playstation when it was new and got it on my Vita as well. And every time I play it, I remember why I don't like it.
Same! LOVE Chrono trigger, love the music but can’t get into it. Lack of character development, even in combat. The characters are all the same practically.
Ain't nothing wrong with that! Sometimes the game just doesn't click, and tbh I'm unsure if it'll click for me again like it did the first time I played it
Everyone has likes and dislikes, don't force yourself, I personally love Chrono Cross, but it happens, there games that simply do not connect with you. I know the feeling, because that is exactly what it happens to me with FF9, I even bought it again for switch, and just like you I just remember why I never liked the game.
Those are grea tips, i did finish this game back in the day, but i don't remeber much of how to play it right now, so i really appreciate your tips for a another game play of this master piece!
Actually you can't this version doesn't allow you to PAUSE the Roulette wheel so that you always land with it facing North 100% of the time so theirs no way for a 100% RNG method.
If you want Razzly's ultimate move, you can't bring her into the boss fight with the Hydra or else she will find it was pregnant and deliver the babies, saving the Hydra Marsh in Home World and stopping the Dwarves from ravaging Water Dragon Isle and killing the faerie Rosetta. Rosetta needs to die or the tree won't bloom, this is vital if you need the trophy for using Delta Force triple tech.
Lmfao, I didn't know that you could run from boss battles, and I've been playing through Chrono Cross since 2000. Well done, David(also great points about 3). As far as what I wish I knew going into Chrono Cross... hmm... If you don't use an element at the end of your attack round, then you will get stamina reimbursement faster, allowing for you to attack again sooner. Always using an element puts you into negative stamina range, which inevitably loops you into a turn where you have 4.0 stamina, so you do less damage per turn unless your elements are superbly powerful for what you are fighting. Use this knowledge to your advantage to really take advantage of the physical power houses after their physical personal elements are depleted. Unless the remaster is changing something, like they've altered character portraits(largely for the worse), make sure to stock up on consumable elements, particularly the ones that heals status ailments. Over the last decades, modern RPGs have been taking the Super Mario RPG route of having enfeebling status ailments wear off after battle, but Chrono Cross is and should be old school. Believe me, nothing sucks more than getting the Sprained ailment, and having no Braces to take it off.
Kid might not be the best but she's possibly one of the most important characters storywise in the whole game. I can't spoil anything but I checked the wiki just now and even the wiki doesn't mention what I want to say
Recruiting Leena and Poshul was great, I wish I knew about the Glenn method. I said no to Kid 3 times to see what would happen. I really like Kid and Korcha I don’t get the hate for them…
Havent saw the video yet so sorry if this is mentioned, But the Hydra Marshes. If you kill the hydra For its humor before you Invite Razzly to your party, She is a fairy, Being held captive by the pentapus, A huge octopus-looking thing. You have to find and kill the Wingapede by using the beba flute, If you kill the Hydra before you free Razzly, She is lost to you until the next playthrough.
Kid is hands down the coolest looking character in this game. The fact that the meta encourages you not to recruit her turns me off from the experience entirely.
Ditch Kid tip is really good. Though the grinding one.. I think you can fight a few fights and then an important stat will increase.. like strength.. then nothing will increase until you get your next star.. I remember grinding up to that point before each boss made me significantly stronger.. when I started fresh.
That Kid pushes her way into the party even if you don't try and save her. I just started playing it blind and my friend told me about this just after making the decision to save her. Now I gotta replay the whole game just to do it the right way
Hi David! I wasn't a huge fan of Chrono Cross for many of the reasons you've stated previously. Anyway, just dropping by to comment and 👍the vid. Have a blessed day everyone!
1- I wish I knew the story, because most of the time you're just wandering around without a purpose and it becomes boring. Only by the end of the game(or if you read external material) you'll understand what's going on. 2- I wish I knew where El Nido archipelago is located in the Chrono Trigger world map. 3- I wish I knew why no character mentions they're living in an archipelago surrounded by mountains without access to the external world. 4- I wish I knew how Porre was able to invade El Nido. 5- I wish I knew most party members are just battle units and not characters.
@@ahmadmanga It was created in the future but traveled back in time to when the game takes place. So it has to be somewhere and not having the world map visible bugged me a lot back when I played it.
"4- I wish I knew how Porre was able to invade El Nido." The added content for the DS and Steam/mobile versions of Chrono Trigger alludes to this. A certain character orchestrates it via time travel abuse.
"2- I wish I knew where El Nido archipelago is located in the Chrono Trigger world map" I always assumed it was the "whirlpool" where the Heckran cave is.
"3- I wish I knew why no character mentions they're living in an archipelago surrounded by mountains without access to the external world." It's convoluted but the Records of Fate are responsible for that, I think.
I really suffer a lot with the decision of saving Kid or not, not because of her, but both Glenn and Razzly are two of my most favorite characters, and awesome green innates. When I play the three cycles of the game at least I can have all, but when I am just in the mood to play one cycle I suffer A LOT with this decision. Normally if I am planning to play only one cycle my decisions are: Team up with Kid from the beginning (ditching Leena), Choosing Guile as a guide, and then I always debate if I choose Glenn or Razzly (I think most of the time I go for Glenn only because he is more connected to the story, tho Razzly's arc in WDI is very cool too).
@@veghesther3204 . I don't remember Razzly sucking in any way, I even remember she surprised me as she demonstrated to be a very strong character, and I didn't see that coming the first time I played the game.
@@veghesther3204 . Well, for that I use Riddel (my favorite mage), as with her I one shot mobs most of the time with a target-all spell, like Holy Light, Ultranova or even Carnivore.
I don't either the ONLY good spell end game is almost always going to be Black Hole only and I'd rather still use a 3x Physical hits users setup and Riddel STILL sucks even against Dario where I'd rather equip the Black plate to LYNX and never to her.
Statement about Grinding is not entirely correct. After 3/4 battles your current party will not gain any boost in stats, however if you switch your party members then those who did not get the bonus are getting a "big" boost" after one fight and one fight only. This is really helpful if we want to have more than 3 characters pumped up. So basically you fight couple of fights until your main party stops getting bonuses and then you rotate all the remaining characters, make one fight and repeat - this is grinding in this game.
You’ve slightly missed the distinction between star bonuses, which you get from boss fights and affect everyone, minor stat bonuses, where one stat increases after a normal battle for party members, and major stat increases, which increase multiple stats after a regular battle for party members, and only happen once per star level. For characters you regularly use, grinding a few fights (only like 3-5 in most cases) every star level to get the major stat increase to happen can be valuable if you are not speed running.
Really awesome advice. I’d love this for other rereleases in the future for games you have a lot of knowledge on. I’d played chrono cross already, and there was still some things I learned from this
Number 6: This ain't Chrono Trigger. A lot, and I mean _a lot_ of people expect this game to be Chrono Trigger: The Sequel, but it works very differently. The art style is different, your companions are different, the battle system is different, and the overall tone is different. Trigger was essentially a feel-good buddy RPG across time, where as Cross is more of a happy-looking mash-up of European folklore and JRPG plot twists, with some existentialist conundrums thrown in (because why not?). And while the characters in Trigger were endearing and memorable, there were also rather flat, whereas Cross gets pretty dark and psychological at times. Finally, the two game intersect in terms of story and plot, but Cross leaves a lot of those connections for the player to figure out rather than explicitly stating them. Thank you for listening to my TED talk.
Having element of every color is an awful advice. Unless the character has high MAG stat, using offensive elements is useless. And if your character has great MAG stat, it's more efficient to change color of the enemy with Turn [Color]. So when I play with Leena, I fill her grid with blue spells and cast Turn Red on the boss. But this only works until Fort Dragonia. After that point, offensive magic is completely useless. You can use Turn Black on boss to make Serge hit harder. Eagle Eye and Vigor are the best spells in the game because they allow Serge to land a lot of level 3 attacks. You can put Eagle Eye, Strengthen, Weaken, Turn Black/White on level 1, it says -3, but these spells are not weaker. Use Diminish to halve the damage of boss techniques. While offensive elements are useless, offensive techniques (ones with yin-yang mark next to name) are still good because they scale with ATK and not with MAG. So using Dash&Slash is very effective through entire game. Even if a technique looks "magical", it still scales with ATK. And most important - shops that sell elements change the offer as plot progresses, so don't forget to revisit vendors after you defeated an important boss. There are three element shops: in Termina, Guldove and Marbule.
Thanks for explaining this. I haven’t played it since PS1 so pointers like these will make the game more enjoyable this time around. It’s been so long I honestly don’t know if I had once remembered this stuff or not. Lol!
I’m genuinely excited for my physical copy from Playasia! I think I’m probably the only lifelong Jrpg junkie who hasn’t played this game ever. Never owned the consoles it appeared on. So I get to experience it for the first time. Ditto: Chrono Trigger if they EVER do anything with it, because I was Genesis that generation.
Modifiers do not affect buff and debuff elements, so put elements like Eagle Eye as LOW as possible. You can select another active party member during combat by pressing left or right on the d-pad. Using this with the last tip, you can give your weakest party member Eagle Eye in level 1, select that party member, attack, and use that element on Serge. Now Serge starts with 99% accuracy strong attacks. In Termina, there's a big house down the road from the blacksmith. There's a hidden chest there containing an item that the smith can disassemble for 3 iron. You can use this to give Serge an iron swallow much earlier than he would normally get one. ...and don't bother with feeding 100 dragon-horse-things. It only gives you an iron vest, and the extra defense isn't worth the stress.
I remember when Chrono Cross originally released I was getting ready for another year at college. I bought Wild Arms 2 that day. I never regretted my choice.
Eagle Eye is one of the best elements in the game! Put it as low down on the element grid as you can and feel free to go to town with physical hits. Not to mention using strengthen as well.
Having playing the original Chrono Cross, my old JRPG mentality got the best of me and I never realized you could flee from boss fights and just come back to them later! ^_^
Grinding is not completely usless there is a minimum amount of battles needed to max each star upgrades stats also there is a hidden counter going from 0 to 5 to add an extra layer to the grouth rates this counter starts randomly each time you hard start the game
#2 is only half right. While you don't get exp like in other games, the number of battles you have in between Star battles decides how many bonuses you get. So, more battles mean more Star bonuses. also the battle system is too great not to just fight everything you see.
I was kinda hoping this was going to be a piss take like "Number One: Dont play Chrono Cross" "Number Two: The writers hate the Chrono Trigger cast" etc
I wish I know how to tech better. I beaten this game numerous time as a kid. I don't think I ever double or triple tech once or at least I don't remember such mechanic. I only found out that you can dual tech after I watch a random streamer's let's play....
1) It's the best game ever made 2) It's the best game ever made 3) It's the best game ever made 4) It's the best game ever made 5) It's the best game ever made
I have a caveat or two regarding your no-grinding suggestion. In general, it doesn't help with stats or experience, but there are times when you can use traps to get some really nice stuff (you can trap a Tornado element from the dragonfly boss, run, and repeat, for example). There's also the shiny materials you get from killing enemies with summons. Each rainbow weapon requires one of each to forge and you're going to need to do some harvesting to get them. :3 Also, steal from bosses when you can. They can have some really good stuff. :3
@@veghesther3204 Actually, Wingapede can be put off until later if you want to do the Save Kid route. However, that would mean that you wouldn't get Razzly as a result. :3
Exactly and even though I never use Razzly in battle their still a trophy for having all party members in the roster besides Lynx so I'd rather fight trap tornado off of it on a 2nd run of the game.
excellent video david and i admit those are some good pointers to playing this game but fun fact i actully do try to save kid because i want to challenge myself but regardless a excellent video
If grinding is useless, why do you get bonus stats between star levels and how do these not count as being useful when you don't have to fight the random mobs? Also, grinding isn't useless for using Pip's Elements or for hunting down various forms for Sprigg.
I bought this game YEARS ago when it first came out. Im playing it again for the first time in 20 years and realizing I remember absolutely NOTHING!! ....i just told a 16 year old girl to walk home alone after we got jumped in a graveyard. 3 times!! ...sounds like I'm gonna do it for most the game too lol. edit: oops I almost forget. Whole reason I commented. Once again thank you for the great video and tips!! I'm slowly realizing how much I liked this game but never quite gave it a fair and full playthrough. I really needed these tips! Thank you.
I just started the radical dreamers edition. I missed A couple teammates like right away in the game and had no idea. I have the key items for two of them but they are very specific windows on when to get them. The game seems great otherwise but i don’t like all the missable teammates
Excellent intel, I wish I knew all of this before I played CC for the first time. I missed out on so many characters and wasted a lot of time “grinding” for nothing 😂
I don’t agree. I feel you are not being honest telling people to skip all battles. I remember on the psx there was something called a star level then a mini star level. Mini star levels are just as important as star levels. After every star you grind 5 battles. Usually on the 4th or 5th you get 3 hp, 1 str 1 something else something like that. It’s HUGE telling people to forget about them is a very wrong way to play. The optimal would be once you get the mini star level then turn off battles until your next star level.
I am extremely tempted to get this on the switch! This wasn’t the first RPG I played, but it was the first one I played through very seriously and enjoyed as a kid! I’m just afraid of getting stuck on it 😬
If I remember right, I think there's only one boss in the game that's both difficult and in a place where you can't leave. Every other tough boss you can leave and regroup, get better gear/ elements, etc, so the game is pretty manageable for the most part
Been playing on this game didn't choose kid all the way.killed black dragon still no teleporter to switch characters it's tough cuz I'm at point where I can't change characters unless I get a new character.
Number #6 Download a mod that will allow to swap Serge out of the party....😆😆😆 All kidding aside if you do decide to rescue Kid you gain access to Razzly, The best green Innate Mage in the game so either way you get a powerful Green innate. It's too bad that a large portion of the party members suck big time as there are only 2-4 of each innate that are actually useful.
