Platform: PS
Release year:
1999 (Japan)
2000 (US)
Not released in Europe. 
Yes, my first Sunday Random Rant Post will be about a Playstation Game. What did you expect? ;)
Me and my trusty Partner in Crime, MR. A, went nostalgic and decided to play Chrono Cross a while ago. We beat it too. AMG AMG!
Chrono Cross never got that famous in Sweden. Squaresoft never released it in Europe, and Playstation games didn’t emulate too well. It’s the sequel to Chrono Trigger, which got heaps more attention, despite not being released in Europe either (WTF, Squaresoft?) but managed to get ridiculously famous (well deserved fame, mind you, as it’s quite possibly one of the best games ever made, imo) and SNES has always been more… cooperative when it comes to emulation ^_~
Chrono Trigger handles jumping through different time periods. Chrono Cross is about alternate universes. I want to spoil the story and tell everything that happens, but I won’t. This is not a review, this is a Fangirl Post.
Now, this game is very pretty for its time. The graphics are well made and the cut scenes are just lovely. What really draws me in is the music, though; CC has a fantastic soundtrack. The dialogue is very epic. In contrast to the usual generic “Welcome to X village!” responses, the NPCs tend to rather quote poetry or give you deep theories on the meaning of life and death. It’s amusing. Me and Mr. A had quite a giggle.
Insanity leads to chaos
Then to solitude
The fruitless effort of adding
Meaning to what is meaningless
A lone, crimson tear
Falls to the sea…
The echo of the remaining star
Cries out in the infinite vacuum
The least I can do
Is send my distant prayers
Over the wind of time,
Setting sale on dreams…
- Arni Villager
Characters selection is a very yummy part of CC. There are around 24 (more or less, correct me if I’m wrong) of them to collect. They vary a lot from Pure Awesomeness to Pure Retardation (We had a plant in our party for a while. Complete with flower pot. Go figure…). You’re “limited” to 3 at the time, though, but this huge variety of characters enables lots of room for strategic set-ups depending on situation.
Love is deeper and darker than the black seas of hell.
- Lynx
I should whine about something… erh… well… Lynx/Yamaneco is a cat man. I’m no fan of furries, but Lynx is sinister, badass, kickass and epic in every way. Believe it or not, he does make sense, and he’s one of my favourite game villains. Sure, Kid could have had a longer skirt; her dagger covers more of her knickers than her skirt does. The story is pretty cliché, but I can live with it, for the pure epicness of this game 
Show yer face Lynx! Yer 9 lives are up!!!
- Kid
One thing I adore about CC is the balance of it. It manages to mix Incredibly Serious with Very Silly. Sometimes the seriousness goes overboard and becomes silly. It kept me and Mr. A amused.
I’ll kick yer sorry arses hard you’ll kiss the moons!
- Kid
Battles are fun. Pretty traditional sideways fighting but with a fun elemental system which both makes for tactics and is easy to get. Some of the bosses have ridiculous strategies though (Don’t even get me started on the Masamune fight “Use only the red elements and he’ll waste all his attacks on useless debuffs!” or the Time Devourer “Make the spells/attacks in the right order to create a harmony in the element field and then, when the combination is right, use the device!” ) but that’s seriously just amusing, especially when you get it right.
All in all, I adore this game so much I can rant myself silly about it. A big part of it is due to nostalgia, of course, but seriously, it makes me purr like a little kitten. 
Lookie: Intro Video | Ending Video
What was the start of all this?
When did the cogs of fate begin to turn?
Perhaps it is impossible to grasp that answer now,
From deep within the flow of time…
But, for a certainty, back then,
We loved so many, yet hated so much,
We hurt others and were hurt ourselves…
Yet even then we ran like the wind
Whilst our laughter echoed,
Under cerulean skies…
- Intro Text (English version. Obviously.)
The ending video obviously contains spoilers. Duh.
The ending was epic, but it left us wanting more. We’ll replay it on NewGame+ soon, unlock ALL characters and hunt for more endings.
Note: Yes, I know Squaresoft is now SquareEnix, but they were Squaresoft when this game was released, so shush!
Anyone who can be arsed to read this entire post deserves love and cookies
The characters and the story + the figthing system made med dissapointed :( Sad panda. I didn’t think the fighting was very amusing and I didn’t care for much of the characters….didn’t meet the plant though and I’m actually happy for that. WTF a plant? GOD!!!!!!! I am too serious and gonna go shoot myself. Also I remebered your sunday rant! Go me and my glory of awesomeness
The music and graphics are really awesome though, not considering the lot’s of tha character design,,,,I guess it’s to happy for me…I need death and despair in culture,,,like everybody die in the end….and I own the fucking game….gah
Dani: It’s not a happy go lucky game. Seriously. It includes “AMG silly” and tragedy of epic proportions. I promise ;)
And you remembered Sunday Rant! You are, indeed, awesome