After Patch #5: Should You Buy Chrono Trigger On Steam? 

still many missing features :)

aroh Hopefully the modding community will deliver.

it's almost as if they watched this video! Now I can actually start playing it

Dark Pixel Gaming is it?

Do they ds ending on there too?

So you blame Enix, the guys who gave us Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma?!

+野島デンジ Yes because today they are bad.

The Enix half of the company is doing a good job lately with the well made 3DS remasters of Dragon Quest 7 and 8 and with Dragon Quest 11's positive critical reception. The Square half of the company is the part that's screwing up in recent years

They been releasing the same Chrono trigger game forever make something new already an in between trigger and cross interlude so we can see how things officially ended up as they did.

pc master race can't make good ports.

I have zero nostalgia for this game and still think original Steam release was a travesty.

You don't need to feel anything for the game to be able to look at it and scream internally.

The average IQ is less than 100. Square knows this. They have no interest in delivering quality products anymore.

I played the game 1st time on Steam and could feel it was an awful port, it would crash at times. That should say a lot.

amen

I wish they gave us the option to have the SNES UI

David There is an option to turn off cutscenes in the DS version.

This post triggered Fandom Tribal to the point that they're using an army of alt accounts to like-spam comments in this thread and do their best to troll with alt account comments further down in this thread. As of this edit, other comments' likes have been going up like clockwork for the past couple minutes. Not at all stealthy. original post: Or, even better, play the SNES version, which is the definitive version of Chrono Trigger. The NDS version is a major downgrade from the SNES version in most all ways: - the NDS version's translation is clunky, sterile, and awkward compared to the SNES version's translation: steamcommunity.com/app/613830/discussions/0/1744468917519536501/ - the NDS version has a lower resolution than the SNES version (256 x 224 on the SNES version, and 256 × 192 on the NDS version) - the NDS version has music looping issues that aren't in the SNES version due to RAM limitations on the NDS cartridge - the NDS version has significantly lower sound and music quality than the SNES version also due to ram limitations on the NDS cartridge - the NDS version has a worse font than the SNES version - the NDS version has a worse and uglier UI than the SNES version - the NDS version has worse colouring than the SNES version and looks like there's a pea soup-coloured filter over everything: imgur.com/eAfZ8wq Also, the NDS version's "bonus" content is of much lower quality than the original game's content, and is very grindey while the original game is not. The NDS' bonus content doesn't interact with the main game or its sub-archs, and so it feels tacked-on because it is. I also don't like that the NDS version has the PS1 cutscenes, as those cutscenes are jarring and disruptive and what they show is contradictory to what actually happens in the game. I guess the gameplay is canon while the alt-version telling of events in the aftermarket cutscenes are non-canon. So, unless the Steam version of CT receives some major updates to address a host of issues still present with it, the SNES version will remain the best, the definitive, and the most polished version of CT.

@ Eden Moto It sounds like you aren't familiar with the SNES version, because the SNES version's UI isn't present except when in battle. So, there's absolutely nothing stopping the player from seeing the game's beautiful graphics. Instead, those beautiful graphics will appear more beautiful on the SNES version because they are on a larger screen, with a larger resolution, and they have the correct colouring in the SNES version whereas the NDS version's colouring is off. It's also possible to more enjoy the atmosphere in the SNES version because the NDS version's sound and music quality is significantly lower than the SNES version's. The NDS version's bonus content is regularly criticized for being grindy and not a good addition to the game. Also, the NDS' translation is clunky and awkward compared to the SNES version's translation. Also, the SNES version is further better than the NDS version because it doesn't have an ugly UI or map open while you're exploring the world - which the NDS version does, on the lower screen. The SNES version is cleaner, with no screen clutter, and nothing obstructive the view or distracting the player's eye while exploring the beautiful environments.

Eden, a lot of what you wrote is simply not actual: - The NDS version has a pea soup-green filter over it that makes all the colouring appear off. I doubt you even know what the colour difference between the SNES and NDS versions is before I show it to you: imgur.com/eAfZ8wq So, a pea soup-green filter over everything is a bit better than the natural colouring, to you? Certainly not to me and I think to most people. - What's wrong with the map is that it's like a mini cheat-sheet that isn't needed, and the lower NDS screen in CT is filled with ugly UI elements that are distracting and pointless. In the SNES version, just press the 'X' button to get all that info (other than the minimap, which isn't needed anywhere) - The anime cutscenes literally contradict what happens in the game, as the game and the cutscenes show events as transpiring in totally distinct ways. The cutscenes do not tell the game's story, and the game doesn't tell the cutscenes story. You don't have magic cutscenes in your NDS copy of CT that nobody else has. - Your comment about the music in the NDS version is just nonsensical. There aren't different instruments in the SNES and NDS versions. The only difference is that the NDS version's music and sound effects are rendered at a much lower bitrate, and so the NDS music and sound is of lower audio fidelity. But they use the same instruments as the SNES version. - What UI improvements in the NDS version? In the NDS version the UI is just repositioned, with some ugly icons added, and some redundant information. Oh, and there's the minimap which is entirely not necessary and for someone like me isn't wanted. It can be objectively said that the NDS version is a major downgrade over the SNES version in a lot of ways: the NDS version has a lower resolution than the SNES version - the NDS version has music cycling issues that aren't in the SNES version - the NDS version has lower sound and music quality than the SNES version - the NDS version has a worse font than the SNES version - the NDS version has a worse UI than the SNES version - the NDS version has worse colouring than the SNES version - the NDS version has a clunkier, awkward, emotion-lacking translation compared to the SNES version: steamcommunity.com/app/613830/discussions/0/1744468917519536501/ The SNES version is the most refined and polished presentation of CT there is. Other than the bonus content (which is of low quality and it criticized for being grindey and fatiguing), the NDS is a downgrade from the SNES version.

Eden Moto I prefer the NDS version too, I had always been under the impression that the retro community had a near consensus that the NDS version was the definitive version... in fact it's one of the only "classic" JRPGs where that is generally been the case, or at least that's the impression I've always been under.

And it's still far worse than the SNES version.

Not just any rom. Chrono Trigger.

they are patching their own stupidity

Well that has become the norm these days. Release a broken, buggy mess to rush it out for money. Then maybe patch it.

@@David-ob2gn so would you recommend to just use an emulator? I dont want to pay money for a bad emulation on steam!

4

It's mainly since back in the day when they finished games they would just delete all the files and code. It seems like they're aware how bad so many of the ports were and are trying to get things better.

Square didn’t even port it to pc it eidos square couldn’t provide them with a finished build of the game as for the music this was back in 98 so people likely didn’t have the PlayStation sound font on their computers, quality of sound depended on the card so to be universal across eligible PCs they used midi arrangements instead.

@@brianjong8945 Imagine thinking they would still use midis when porting it to computers that can do more.

Katze it's not as bad as others make it out to be. But I do agree it was pointless and the original format was better

I don't have a problem with the bar being where it is, but it's intrusive and doesn't match the rest of the graphics, which is jarring. The bar should be only a few pixels wide at most.

The game is at least worth owning now. I always prefer to play a legit copy over emulation whenever it's viable and I really don't want to always have to dig out my SNES or my DS from storage to play Chrono Trigger. I haven't bought this version yet (was burned by FFV and VI on Steam, wasn't going to get burned again) but I actually will get this now, at least at some point.

It's minor issues anyway, any version of chrono trigger is still miles ahead in quality compared to other games of that genre and era. I'm replaying Breath of fire II right now and it really hasn't aged well at all, chrono still blows me away, visually, musically, and thematically.

There are other games of comparable quality on SNES, but most never got out of Japan. They're also all mostly somewhat flawed. Tales of Phantasia is a technical marvel, and probably the best JRPG on the snes on a technical level (but falls flat on gameplay). Seiken Densetsu 3 (which would've been Secret of Mana 2 if ever released in the west), is gorgeous, and it's story structure is really interesting. Plus the music is... Well, Secret of mana but better so yeah. But, gameplay is very grindy, and it got annoying towards the end because of it. Then there's Terranigma. - this one actually has an English release officially (and German). Basically, it's arguable either way whether Chrono Trigger or Terranigma is the best, but either way it's ONE of those two. The gameplay in Terranigma is somewhat different, and possibly it's weakest point. (though not tedious in the way Seiken Densetsu becomes), but the story... It's just something else... Seriously, it's just... Hard to put into words how a game can pull off something like that... So, really, what happened back in the day is Japan got all this stuff, then the US got Chrono Trigger, and Europe got Terranigma. Unfortunately, Terranigma doesn't get the respect Chrono Trigger does; You don't get anyone talking about re-releasing Terranigma, even in as bad a form as this. No, it's doomed to just be forgotten entirely it seems. And it's a shame, because it's amazing and it deserves better. I mean, it didn't even make it on the the Virtual console on the Wii. Neither did it's predecessor, (illusion of Gaia/Time), even though Nintendo themselves ended up publishing that one... Egh... I'm so disappointed. All the more so knowing that I can't get a legal copy of the English release of Terranigma for anything even remotely resembling a reasonable price. (last listing I saw was $350, and that wasn't even a boxed copy, just a loose cartridge) Now, the Japanese version can be had for less than $20... But that means knowing Japanese... (incidentally a Japanese copy of chrono trigger on SNES costs about $5. It's not valuable in the slightest, but the US version of it costs a fortune.)

I can't fucking believe it... it's gotta be a joke

Arsch Dee It almost feels like they do this kind of crap on purpose sometimes, doesn't it?

They fixed it, luckily.

Mas, Guilherme... Tu não acha que depois de todos os patchs lançados, o jogo não está bom? Eu ouvi que haviam algumas cut scenes faltando e algumas quedas de FPS de vez em quando, mas fora isso, o jogo parece estar redondinho. Tem mais algum problema?

@@pedro2205pl Cara, é que eu penso o seguinte. Esse é um jogo 16 bits lançado nos anos 90. Não tem desculpa pra essa não ser a versão definitiva do jogo, com a melhor performance e não ter todas as features das anteriores. E se não fosse o protesto da galera, nós teríamos uma versão muito pior. A partir do momento que eles aproximarem um projeto com a intenção de ser o melhor possível logo de cara, aí sim eles vão ter meu apoio.

Totally. I mean, the NDS' UI is OK as far as the stuff on the first screen goes, and how the battle UI can be moved to the 2nd NDS screen. However, when not in battle the NDS version for some reason thinks that it has to fill up the 2nd screen with unnecessary information and a cheat-sheet minimap that, for me, takes away from the immersion and the experience of exploring and discovering everything without having a quest marker or guide down there pointing stuff out.

Oh man don't get me started. I'd love nothing more than the team behind Bravely/Octopath to create lovingly-crafted TRUE definitive editions of these classics, but on the other hand that would cut into time spent making all new excellent games when we all have ways to enjoy the classics well enough as it is...

There are very few things I want more than a port/remastering of FFVI in the style of Octopath.

Even the new FFVI sprites are by the original artist, so you've got to ask who's really to blame? She did a piss-poor job on the new sprites. Good HD sprites are a very doable thing, but the artist (Kazuko Shibuya) clearly couldn't be bothered doing justice to the game that she in part crafted. So I wouldn't blame Square-Enix collectively for this. I don't know what the hell happened to Kazuko. She probably now has Parkinson's or something.

They should just do what they did with Final Fantasy 4 and it's DS version. Take the old version, put in it 3D, (make it a lot less blocky this time though) add a few things here and there, but otherwise keep it exactly the same as before.

immortalfrieza From what I heard, they originally were planning to remake 5 and 6 on the DS in the same vein as 4. I guess they just ended up cancelled, assuming that was true in the first place, but I'm not sure why. Speaking of cancelled remakes, I REALLY find it a shame that the Wonderswan version of FF3 never got made (and thus failed to get a PS1 or GBA port). ALL of the first 6 games could've been consistently playable with 16/32-bit graphics. Instead, the only options for 3 are either the original 8-bit (which is itself rare due to only being available in Japanese and, if you're looking for something somewhat current, Nintendo's WiiU or 3DS Virtual Consoles), or a full-on 3D remake, which kinda clashes with the styles available for the rest of the original six (with the exception of 4, the only other entry to get a 3D remake). What really bugs me is that Final Fantasy 1, 2, and 4 each got about 10 different ports and remakes all to themselves, which really makes it feel like 3's been consistently screwed over (as well as 5 and 6, albeit for different reasons). Though, I guess some of it was simply the result of bad timing: 1 and 2 would obviously come first in line for getting remakes, and by the time 3 was supposed to get one, the Wonderswan was already dead, and then the PS1 was on its last legs as well. Meanwhile, I guess 4 just happened to be easy to port to systems like the WS and GBA, which could handle 16-bit graphics (graphics which could pass for portable games of the time without looking too outdated, unlike 8-bit graphics). By the time 3 finally could get a remake on the DS, they probably just decided to forego a 16-bit makeover in favor of taking advantage of the new portable's 3D capabilities (and then do the same thing with 4 afterwards, with 5 and 6 supposedly following). However, I'm not sure how to explain the PSP remakes..... 1 and 2 get another 2D makeover for the 20th anniversary version. Makes sense. Then 3 just had the DS version ported over, seems simple enough...... but then 4, rather than having its DS version ported, ends up getting ANOTHER 2D makeover along with The After Years. Why? If it was about including The After Years, it's not like they couldn't have done a 3D version of that (as the Steam and mobile ports prove).

We ain't got no one but ourselves to blame.. We kept buying their shit when they were going downhill and we all knew it. If we voted with our dollar, we could've had three new chrono trigger releases that all performed excellently to our expectations.

Solomon Kane Oh hell no I don't keep buying their shit. I just lament that they keep making crap not worth buying.

uhhhh... they made Octopath traveler...

which kinda sucks honestly

Yes it does.

Square hasn't got anything 'right' in about a decade. Except perhaps the MMOs I don't play those so can't say either way.

Will people quit whining? For the first time in ages they've actually gone out of their way to address complaints and greatly improve a game. If they keep this up maybe we'll see FFV and FFVI patches. But so long as whiners keep crying, it'll discourage them a little from doing so.

...silence is about the dumbest thing possible Mantis. If nobody "whines" (read: gives valid fucking criticism) then SE will think their hack job ports of mobile versions is perfectly fine and continue to let them go through. SE has been a fucking horrible company since the merger. The Enix side of things has mostly survived okay but JFC everything out of the Square side has been a complete shitshow. They're totally being held together by the western devs though bought out and publishing deals with smaller devs behind games like Octopath Traveler and the Bravely Default games. FF13 trilogy was a disaster, FF14 was so awful they had to fire everyone and rebuild it, FF15 wasn't terrible but wasn't what gamers deserved after a nine year wait. Nearly every other franchise SE owns outside of FF and Dragon Quest has been driven into the dirt. Mana has been an unmitigated shitfest lately, Kingdom Hearts has become a fucking meme at this point with how long the third main entry is taking and how idiotic the story has gotten. Let's not even mention that SE stuck their dick so far into Eidos that they've killed the Deus Ex reboot series after messing with it too much. And then there is the non-stop joke that is the FF7 remake; changing the story around, removing beloved elements, converting combat into hack-n-slash garbage and then splitting the title into at least 3 parts. I loved Square. I fucking despise Square-Enix.

Mantis: Mega Outlaw Star Fan actually....no. if we stay quiet then that means they get away with it. Squeaky wheel gets the oil. You dont get anything if you dknt say something

The criticism was indeed very valid, but now Squeenix has vastly improved the port to the point of-in my opinion anyway-completion, maybe except a couple of very minor things like inserting a couple of FMVs. The DS extras aren't that important to me. They've done a great job on Chrono Trigger, so my reasoning is that we should accept and appreciate that this time they've gone the extra mile and just encourage them to work on FFV/FFVI instead. To put it better, you're whining about the wrong thing. It _was worth_ whining about Chrono Trigger, yes. I'm not a fan of SE in the slightest (Final Fantasy sucked after Squaresoft) but I enjoy ports when they're decent. CT is very decent now.

Yeah those bars under the characters is a horrid desicion. Whoever was in charge of porting this game to Steam should really find another line of work.

Deal breaker. Looks like shit

Yeah, out of all the shit mentioned, the ATB bars were oddly the most annoying thing, haha! Tons of blank space in and around the Name/HP/MP area for it.

I honestly hate the bars as well. But you know what's hilarious to me? That OPs comment is worded perfectly to be also taken sarcastically

Yeah basically.

xBox360BENUTZER, Well, some stuff they are only the publisher for, like the Tomb Raider reboot are just fine.

xBox360BENUTZER FFXII and FFXV's PC ports are pretty good. It's just the mobile ports that are bad.

I like supreme commander 2

FFIV's Steam version is now my preferred way of playing the game. The other Final Fantasy games seem fine, as well. Though, many people complain about FFV and VI's new character sprites.

Waiting for this to buy

There are rumors of a possible Chrono Trigger Remake going on. Fingers crossed.

Why, so they can fuck up that port, too?

@@darksuns7384 no. So they could do it right ff

Never buy into corporate bull$hit! Most of the time, there are other... better ways for the consumer.

Oh man. I really feel for you there. That sucks.

I'm really sorry to hear that.

PREACH man. I'm Indian too, and I still have to rely on emulation to play this masterpiece.

I'll stick to the SNES version and wait for a sale. I love Chrono Trigger but I really don't want to fork 899 for this version.

I mean considering how the game is almost 25+ years old it's damn near impossible to fuck it up but they still did...

Tony hawk pro skater 5 anyone?

No. It just shows how incompetent SquareEnix is

Not making something right the first time is it’s own form of incompetence. But they did fix the save glitch, so now it’s just ugly.

S March or just want grab money.

I couldn't believe how bad the port was when it first released.

It's amazing that they ported it so poorly onto a PC when it's been ported onto the PSX and DS successfully (minus the shitty translations). Oh well, stick to the OG systems!

@Tuho if you buy it on steam it does.i however will wait for the summer sail than buy it

The PSX version is mega trash. Because bad programming that game has massive slowdowns. Bascially every time you enter combat.

Hey I like those useless bars underneath the characters they are helpful

>deep breath< Going from two screens to one. DS code being less portable than Android code. Android version already covering a wide range of screen sizes/shapes where the DS version only needs to handle 2 sizes. The DS port having been handled by a third-party company, so the mobile version's source being more available to/understood by the team doing the Steam version...

'k. That makes sense.

They kinda did with the ffiv. The pc version is the same as the DS. Thats what I think.

A better question is, why didn't they port the original SNES version? SNES version of Chrono Trigger > NDS version of Chrono Trigger. The NDS version marks the start of where CT started to be made worse.

The mobile version is ported from the DS version, and then heavily modified for mobiles. Then the DS-based mobile version was ported to PC.

Very much so. Just look at the garbage that is Breath of Fire 6. Meanwhile, the old games were exce, with 3 being an underrated gem. Where is the HD port of those games ?

Thiago Rosario, Only downside is you can't play it on a TV.

Problem is, most people won't buy the DS version, but pirate it. Even if they bought the cart it wouldn't really be supporting Square. So they'll just go back to putting out things players won't pirate.

Can you turn that off in the Steam release?

Thats the thing, these fcking bars need to be optional. Problem solved. Uh, that was easy. Almost the first thing that comes to mind...

The Chrono Pat It's fixed now

we fixed bois

Yeah, I saw the update. Great thing they listen!

In all honesty, SNES Emulators had all the filters since the 90s. And this megacorp is too incompetent to integrate a Filter List? Thats just shameful. Not to mention the people who believe porting the lowest version, a Mobile Port is a good thing. The people responsible must be sniffing fumes that shoots their brains out. There simply is no other explanation than pure incompetence and stupidity.

It would be awesome if they created an HD Remix. Like truly taking the time to build the game from the ground up more. That or create a sequel that fans would love more than their Official Sequel. Considering that a Rom of the SNES version has been out for decades, and still runs perfectly fine on modern hardware....really goes to show just how fucking incompetent they are.

I would like true 2D version from them. Not 3D version. Just 2D with very high graphic style that makes you go wow

By hacking? cuz its not on mine

yeah, just hack it

Spit Dragon LOLLLLL Worth 0$ to collectors? You mean the millions of people who already own the mini systems? It's not rare and never will be rare.. Also why not be able to play all the games you like including NES, Gameboy, GBC, GBA and so on I sure have a lot more fun playing in front of the TV with my friends then playing on my pc

Nintendo seems to have intentionally allowed for the adding of games to the SNES and the NES Classic. There is a lot of additional storage space in those systems, and adding games to them is pretty simple (thanks to community efforts). Nintendo was fully aware that people were adding games to the NES Classic when they released the SNES Classic, and I think I recall reading that there's even a nod-and-wink comment suggestively about adding games in a text file on the SNES Classic, only possible to be found after people have accesses the files of their SNES Classic device.

Honestly, the extra space is probably because they couldn'y find a smaller hard drive.

and not a word about emulators zsnes and snes9x by the halfwit DPG. Talk about ignoring the elephant in the room. what other aspects of reality don't exist in his fictional delusional perspective? if he can ignore snes emulators when talking about playing snes games on the pc, he's capable of ignoring anything. Maybe he's shat himself and ignores that too.

Im emulation the ds version with drastic and im loving it. Having other information in a smaller screen in the corner is very useful

What information on the NDS' second screen is useful? It's looks to me like it's just there to fill up the NDS' second screen. I don't like it because its distracting visual clutter and the minimap for such small, well-designed, and easy-to-navigate areas is like a cheat-sheet.

I haven't needed such a thing. And if playing a game for the first time, I don't want trackers, quest markers, item locations... part of the thrill of playing the game is exploring and finding those things and figuring things out - not having them pointed out to you.

That's not the definitive version either

bilinear option should've been included. all emulators have it and 2D looks just even better. Such a pitty

oh god, yes re: music. FFIX's music somehow sounds sooooo tinny like a bad digitization (half-assed resampling, to be exact). i don't even know how they pulled that off (i don't THINK they're MP3s/other lossy format as the game is so small)

Ds but you can play this as well

The SNES version is hands-down the best version available to be played. The PC version is the worst available version. So, between those options, I think the answer is straight-forwardly the SNES version. The DS version of the game itself is also a significant downgrade from the SNES version: - the NDS version has a lower resolution than the SNES version - the NDS version has music cycling issues that aren't in the SNES version - the NDS version has lower sound and music quality than the SNES version - the NDS version has a worse font than the SNES version - the NDS version has a worse UI than the SNES version - the NDS version has worse colouring than the SNES version (comparison here: imgur.com/eAfZ8wq ) - the NDS version has a clunkier, awkward, emotion-lacking translation compared to the SNES version

I would say that there's no benefit to buying the PC version of the game. It was never fixed, it's still a mess and is ugly and is lacking the SNES translation even as an option. If you have an emulator, or an SNES Classic, that's the way to play the game. I have the PC version, but there's no reason for me to play it when I also have it on my SNES Classic.

Which is the superior version.

The SNES version is even better than the NDS version: - the NDS version's translation is clunky, sterile, and awkward compared to the SNES version's translation: steamcommunity.com/app/613830/discussions/0/1744468917519536501/ - the NDS version has a lower resolution than the SNES version (256 x 224 on the SNES version, and 256 × 192 on the NDS version) - the NDS version has music looping issues that aren't in the SNES version due to RAM limitations on the NDS cartridge - the NDS version has significantly lower sound and music quality than the SNES version also due to ram limitations on the NDS cartridge - the NDS version has a worse font than the SNES version - the NDS version has a worse and uglier UI than the SNES version - the NDS version has worse colouring than the SNES version and looks like there's a pea soup-coloured filter over everything: imgur.com/eAfZ8wq

it's annoying having 2 screens emulated. Snes for me :P

Alucard8319 there are ingame settings to turn off the 2nd screen and most ds emulators have the option to move to only 1 screen.

David the PlayStation version translate the snes version on point

Yep, was happy until this. Still not buying.

You know, i could deal with the save spot bugginess. The two spots that you can't reach are really early into the game and honestly not really needed. But the ATB/Health bars under the characters instead of at the bottom? Nope, can't deal with that.

Shhhh... Snes9x.com

Which is exactly why I suggested putting the ATB bar essentially where it was in the SNES version, lol.

I wonder why 😛

yea, the som remake isnt BAD, per se, but its not really "good" either. i may be ONE of the biggest som fanboys out there, but even i havent finished the remake yet because its just so "meh"