As well-liked as Chrono Cross was in its time, Chrono Trigger is more famously acclaimed, still regarded as a top-tier RPG some twenty-five years after its release. Chrono Trigger has a received a few different ports over the years, coming to the Nintendo DS and to PC, but a truly new version hasn’t cropped up in a while. It’s high time that Square Enix remade Chrono Trigger, and not just because the rest of the game industry is excited about remakes right now. A new version of Chrono Trigger could both revitalize the Chrono IP and inspire other RPG developers working on next-gen games.
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Chrono Trigger’s Potential Change and Influence
The unique aspects of Chrono Trigger’s combat could really flourish in a remake. The battle system distinguished itself thanks to Active Time Battles, where each character carried out actions in real time but had cooldowns before they could act again, as well as each character’s Techs and the potent Double or Triple Techs that resulted from party members teaming up. A Chrono Trigger remake could add new Techs and Double Tech combinations to each character’s moveset, building on the feature, while simultaneously reminding other turn-based RPG franchises of possibilities built into these team attacks, as well as the intense Active Time Battle model’s potential to replace turn-based combat.
Chrono Trigger’s compelling storytelling would also be more than worth revisiting through a remake. In Chrono Trigger, players meet and team up with characters from all across the world’s timeline, resulting in some really unique characters banding together to save their timeline from catastrophe. While a Chrono Trigger remake wouldn’t necessarily introduce a deluge of new characters, Square Enix could potentially write new endings to the game by reexamining how players might impact the game’s plot. Chrono Trigger is well known for having a large number of endings, but introducing some more would be a huge selling point for RPG enthusiasts.
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Overall, the biggest potential benefit of a Chrono Trigger remake is its potential to revive the Chrono series in general. Chrono Cross could certainly accomplish something similar, but Chrono Trigger’s greater status as an RPG icon might mean it has the gravity necessary to pull RPG fans back into the franchise. Once that’s done, Square Enix will be well poised to finally make a new Chrono game, succeeding the cancelled Chrono Break. A franchise revival starting with a Chrono Trigger remake also has even greater potential to get other developers thinking about time travel storylines, Active Time Battles, and more, potentially causing a broader shift in the JRPG genre.
Hope for a Chrono Trigger Remake
It’s hard to say if a Chrono Trigger remake is in the cards right now. If Square Enix really is working on a Chrono Cross remake, then it’s probably not focusing on Chrono Trigger at the same time, although a well received Chrono Cross Remastered would almost certainly lead to Chrono Trigger getting remade, too. Since Chrono Trigger’s Steam version got a mixed reception at launch, a remake of either game would make some sense; Square Enix has a motive to bolster the franchise’s image. Chrono Cross may be the star of recent rumors, but if Chrono Cross Remastered is really on the way, then there’s hope that Chrono Trigger will follow suit.
Chrono Trigger is available now on PC.
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