Chrono Trigger

55 - Chrono Trigger

Year: 1995
Platform(s): Super Nintendo
Designer(s): Takashi Tokita, Yoshinori Kitase & Akihiko Matsui
Developer: Square
Publisher: Square

"Years before Jonathan Blow created Braid and briefly became the toast of the gaming world, years before we started having (and almost immediately growing sick of) the “are games art?” argument, and years before Final Fantasy VII made nerds weep, a Square Enix RPG called Chrono Trigger was showing them all how it was done. Yes, the time-travel element is what dominates the conversation around this game (the heroes find themselves transported to pre-history, Medieval times, and a dystopian futureworld); and yes, the tone is on the light side, thanks to quirky characters and a sweet sense of humor. But make no mistake: this game asked the big questions. Can we erase the mistakes of the past? Prevent the mistakes of the future? What lies at the end of time? There are roughly a dozen endings to this game, not all of them happy. It’s evocative, haunting, and moving. Maybe instead of hailing advances in video-game storytelling, we should be congratulating designers on catching up to 1995." - Ryan Stewart, Boston Phoenix

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