Squeenix Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition remaster

[Infinitron]

 

[Duraframe300]

Apparently framerate is now 60fps.

Not sure if this isn't going to lead to a bit of buginess. Still waiting for Silverlimit's hd upscales anyway.

 

[Poseidon00]

Yes, I played this. And yes, I enjoyed it. I have no shame about it! Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross are some of the best examples of good jrpgs.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

Is it worth installing a difficulty mod with this? I just started playing, the game looks nice (strong FFVIII vibes, which I like), the battle system looks interesting in theory, but it's just WAAAY too easy. I'm emulating the PS1 version.

 

[Puukko]

Back when I looked into it, there was only one difficulty mod made by someone whose mods were known to lean towards the grindy unfun side (LandonRay...?) but this was just the impression I got, I didn't actually try it out and there wasn't much info on it anyway. I'd say go for it, the game lands solidly in the easy-medium axis and looking back on it that would be one of my main complaints about it as well.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

I saw there was a new one for the remastered version (according to this Steam guide), but the description is hard to decipher. I'll probably give LandonRay's mod a try. I'm quite familiar with his FFVIII and FFIX mods and have greatly enjoyed them, even if I can't recommend the VIII one for a first time player as it can be brutal, at times. I wouldn't call them grindy, though--at least I played them without grinding. I'm hesitating a bit because he apparently has removed some content. From the log:

Chrono Cross - Time's Anguish v3.7

This patch is a difficulty modification for the PSX NTSC-U version of Chrono Cross.

Enemy HP, Attack, and Magic have been increased. Enemy Action Points have been reduced. Enemies drop less gold. MagNegate and PhysNegate can no longer be purchased from shops. Traps can no longer be purchased from shops. FrogPrince, RedWolf, Sonja, Golem, MotherShip, and Unicorn can now be purchased from shops. The cost of all elements has been increased. Weakened the Mastermune and both Einlanzers. Removed the Black, White, Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green Plates. Removed Saints, GrimReaper, BlueWhale, Salamander, Genie, and ThundaSnake.

v3.7 Changes
massively buffed slash, flea, and ozzie
buffed the criosphinx and both time devourers

v3.5 Changes
altered portalgiest's treasure list
reduced enemy gold
increased element cost
added level 7 summons to shops
altered the mastermune and einlanzers
removed the elemental plates
removed the level 8 summons
removed magnegate and physnegate from shops
removed traps from shops

v2.1 Changes
fixed a minor glitch
tweaked all enemies

v1.4 Changes
fixed another hp based glitch

v1.3 Changes
fixed some glitches cause by hp values

v1.2 Changes
overall reduction in difficulty from v1.1

No idea how much I'll be missing out. No use playing without challenge, though.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Removed the Black, White, Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green Plates. Removed Saints, GrimReaper, BlueWhale, Salamander, Genie, and ThundaSnake.

The plates are armor that absorbs the respective element, can be stolen from the same bosses that award these summons. Removing them instead of nerfing is excessive but it's not a lot of content.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

I've been playing with with LandonRay's patch and I'm currently at the Viper Manor, struggling with the two radish looking bosses. Since I'm going blind, I didn't really understand leveling until 5 hours in or so, and I neglected to upgrade my equipment in the previous town, as you get almost no money with the mod and I didn't feel like grinding. I'm going to try again later, but I think I'll need a bit of luck to win this fight. It kind of sucks, as the difficulty of the random encounters felt just right.

I think the mod is great if you have experience with the game, but if it's your first time you should at least take your time leveling and upgrading equipment. It really requires you to strategize and learn the combat system. I don't think this game has anything to do with Chrono Trigger, the gameplay is much more interesting. It also has some alternative paths at certain points, despite its annoying JRPG railroading. The only things I don't like about it are the obscure leveling mechanic and the fact that you apparently gimp your characters if you don't use the same party throughout the game.

I'm only around 7 hours in, so I'm unsure whether I should start over, but I'd rather not. I may be able to catch up once I can dump PIERRE!

 

[flyingjohn]

two radish looking bosses

Um,what? The only "radish" looking boss on Pierre's route is Salt.

Since I'm going blind, I didn't really understand leveling until 5 hours in or so

Leveling is simple.:
-Beat boss and get big boost
-Beat normal enemies after a boss fight and you get mini boosts in hp that may get you stat boosts if your stats are too low. This happens 1-2 times per character.

neglected to upgrade my equipment in the previous town

That is only because it is the first proper weaponsmith. You should be able to win the game even if you don't upgrade every time, regardless of mod difficulty.

no money with the mod

Oh great,one of these mods. Wouldn't be surprised if the autist thinks farming hours for money for a rainbow item is considered normal.
Get a cheat engine and just give yourself enough money to buy the stuff you need.

I'll need a bit of luck to win this fight.

Do you know that psychical hits carry elemental weakness? So if a red guy hits a blue guy,the damaged is increased.Buffing your strength and then just going all in psychical was how you break the original game.Don't know if the mods nerfed psychical too much.

I don't think this game has anything to do with Chrono Trigger,

Yeah, minus the plot, final villain and one of the major characters.Trust me,it is a trigger sequel regardless of what Kato says.

gimp your characters if you don't use the same party throughout the game.

Here is the thing, levelling doesn't give you fixed gains.The gains are calculated by how far away from the max the stats are based on the story position.And bosses stars give everybody a boost.
So if axeman has max 80 str and he has currently 40 and you are at halfway of the game he is gonna get minimum +5 or something like that.
And if he is at 30 he is gonna get +10.

There is actual formula somewhere instead of me bullshitting numbers, but the point is that you can use whatever you want.
The problem is that some characters have shit max stats and unless the mod fixed that, they will get terrible stat ups regardless of being present for the small stars gain during non boss encounters.
Like Pierre for example,unless you equip the full hero set and event hen he is nowhere near top 10.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

two radish looking bosses

Um,what? The only "radish" looking boss on Pierre's route is Salt.

Since I'm going blind, I didn't really understand leveling until 5 hours in or so

Leveling is simple.:
-Beat boss and get big boost
-Beat normal enemies after a boss fight and you get mini boosts in hp that may get you stat boosts if your stats are too low. This happens 1-2 times per character.

neglected to upgrade my equipment in the previous town

That is only because it is the first proper weaponsmith. You should be able to win the game even if you don't upgrade every time, regardless of mod difficulty.

no money with the mod

Oh great,one of these mods. Wouldn't be surprised if the autist thinks farming hours for money for a rainbow item is considered normal.
Get a cheat engine and just give yourself enough money to buy the stuff you need.

I'll need a bit of luck to win this fight.

Do you know that psychical hits carry elemental weakness? So if a red guy hits a blue guy,the damaged is increased.Buffing your strength and then just going all in psychical was how you break the original game.Don't know if the mods nerfed psychical too much.

I don't think this game has anything to do with Chrono Trigger,

Yeah, minus the plot, final villain and one of the major characters.Trust me,it is a trigger sequel regardless of what Kato says.

gimp your characters if you don't use the same party throughout the game.

Here is the thing, levelling doesn't give you fixed gains.The gains are calculated by how far away from the max the stats are based on the story position.And bosses stars give everybody a boost.
So if axeman has max 80 str and he has currently 40 and you are at halfway of the game he is gonna get minimum +5 or something like that.
And if he is at 30 he is gonna get +10.

There is actual formula somewhere instead of me bullshitting numbers, but the point is that you can use whatever you want.
The problem is that some characters have shit max stats and unless the mod fixed that, they will get terrible stat ups regardless of being present for the small stars gain during non boss encounters.
Like Pierre for example, unless you equip the full hero set and event hen he is nowhere near top 10.

"Neo-N-Bulbs", I suppose they look more like onions! Their magic attack is hitting upwards of 80 dmg and Pierre is still in the upper 70s. He's completely useless for attacking, but I rely on him for healing.

Yes, I know about Elemental physical attacks, although I've been mostly relying on Turn Blue plus attacking with Red magic until now. Serge is the only one who can deal good physical damage so far. I may try using Turn Black on one of the enemies and use Serge for damage dealing while the others just heal. That was actually the best strategy in LandonRay's FF8 mod, often the only way to survive boss battles.

The money is really tight in this mod, yes, but that may turn out OK as you can get a lot of items with Pilfer. Unfortunately, I've only started using this skill recently. You can't turn back once you're in the manor.

What you said about stats put me at ease, I'll try to win the battle even if I have to use save states, and put more effort into optimizing later. It's not an ideal situation, but the mod is made for those who know the game inside out. It's still preferable to sleepwalking through vanilla and I'm having fun so far.