Chrono Cross review: The Radical Dreamers, a lazy remaster for a timeless RPG

A little over 20 years ago, Squaresoft launched a certain Chrono Cross on PlayStation. It was not a direct sequel to Chrono Trigger, launched in 1995 on the Super Nintendo, but the game nevertheless took up certain themes. A game that took the player to the side of El Nido, an archipelago of paradisiacal islands, and which would allow the exploration of two parallel worlds, in order to follow the adventures of Serge, a young boy who will find himself immersed in a parallel reality , in which he died ten years ago.

Chrono Cross review: The Radical Dreamers, a lazy remaster for a timeless RPG Lire la conclusionChrono Cross : The Radical Dreamers Edition

This scenario, this atmosphere
Graphically cutting edge (from the PlayStation)
The new accessibility options on the combat side
Chrono Cross in Spanish version!

This very "smooth" side, very "mobile" sometimes
Cutscenes in their juice
Unstable frame rate...
It's still a little "old-fashioned" huh

And if this Chrono Cross does not remind you of anything even though you had sanded the Final Fantasy, Legend of Dragoon, Wild Arms and other Suikoden at the time, it is "normal", since the latter never had the honors of a PAL version, and had been marketed only in Japan and the United States.

Test carried out on PS5, from a code provided by the publisher. Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is available on PlayStation and Xbox consoles, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Chrono what?

Also, a few weeks ago, Square-Enix formalized the availability of this Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, a remastered version of the game launched in 1999 on PlayStation. The opportunity to discover for the very first time (and officially) this Chrono Cross translated into our good old Spanish language. Obviously, Square-Enix promises an updated version, with great reinforcements of "HD" graphics and revised and corrected illustrations, without forgetting various new features, aimed at making the game more accessible / more enjoyable.

Obviously, there is no question of finding here a complete remake of Chrono Cross, like a Final Fantasy VII Remake. This is a remaster, and the player is therefore invited to find the original game, however, boosted with some very modern joys such as better resolution, but also reworked music, as well as revisited gameplay. There is also a filter option for the decorations, or the possibility of opting for “Pixel” or “HD” style writing.

On the gameplay side, it is again a question of finding the same experience as in 1999, with however here some new features, having mainly for objective to facilitate your task and to make the progression more “pleasant”. Thus, it is for example possible to deactivate any form of random combat. The fights themselves have also been revised for greater ease, with the possibility of boosting their characters. Those who have already browsed the re-releases of Final Fantasy, or even the most recent SaGa Frontier, know what to expect.

In fact, it is difficult to hide a certain emotion when it comes to (re)discovering this Chrono Cross so popular in the memories, which however very few players have been able to browse so far. Certainly, as mentioned above, you have to quickly revise your graphic expectations downwards, but the emotion is there, with always this so atypical RPG which seems to play with space-time, and this "Square" touch so characteristic of the late 90s, considered by some to be the golden age of J-RPGs.

A “mobile game” remaster?

However, whatever “HD” it may be, this Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition ultimately suffers from the same ailments as other RPGs that have benefited from a “Remaster” version at Square-Enix, namely a very… mobile side. Indeed, if the visual improvement is notable, just like the better rendering of the 3D models, it is difficult not to wince in the face of a "mobile game" side here, with sometimes (but not always, fortunately) a visual rendering that was in more pleasant reality on the 1999 version, the whole being a little too "smooth", too "clean", in this 2022 version.

However, you can switch to a so-called "Classic" graphics mode if you wish here, to find an "old-fashioned" appearance, without going back to the graphics of the original game (it's handy if you're allergic to these new very smooth bottoms in particular). This is not done on the fly, as in Diablo 2 Resurrected to name only him, since the operation here requires going through the initial menu.

JVFR

For the rest, we obviously find this RPG so emblematic, and very close to a Final Fantasy (PlayStation era) in its approach, with however this two-dimensional side so characteristic and a very different leveling. The turn-based combat system is also quite atypical, and we would not have been against a little "tutorial" displayed when the game was launched, for example (or accessible via the options). Note however that an NPC encountered at the start of the game will be able to teach you the basics, provided you don't miss it of course (yes, a bit like in Elden Ring after all).

JVFR

The great strength of this version of The Radical Dreamers is of course its Spanish localization, but also these few additions on the gameplay side, which make the task a little easier, even if it will (rightly) make purists scream. Of course, there are the different storylines, as well as the many characters to discover. This version also includes the content Radical Dreamers - The Forbidden Content, a visual novel released only in Japan in 1996.

JVFR

An RPG still as exceptional

Even if some will pout in the face of certain visual details, it must be admitted that more than 20 years later, this Chrono Cross remains an exceptional RPG. Admittedly, the "remaster" is a bit lazy (we're getting used to it) but the base here is so exceptional that the game manages to retain all its charm, and reminds us how much the developers at Square were real goldsmiths of video games at the end of the 90s, with an absolutely extraordinary achievement still today, "for the PlayStation".

JVFR

Added to this is a still remarkable OST too, with this melancholy again very characteristic of Chrono Cross. A (a little) lazy remaster therefore, but a Chrono Cross still as fabulous, which allows you to dive back into the golden age of Square and J-RPG.

Chrono Cross : The Radical Dreamers Edition

Like a Final Fantasy VII, Chrono Cross is one of those games that have been able to mark the life of a player. In 2022, Square-Enix finally agrees to send its masterpiece to Europe through a lazy remaster of course, but which nevertheless allows you to (re)discover, in Spanish, this masterpiece (almost) timeless.