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[Draugoth]

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition owes its existence to the fact that the devs at Square Enix were afraid that the original version of the classic Japanese RPG was about to become "unplayable."

Details on the origins of the project come to us from a new, official Square Enix interview with the developers behind the project. The Radical Dreamers Edition originally began as a way to commemorate the game's 20th anniversary - which would have been in 2019 - but ended up coming out in 2022, awkwardly timed with the 23rd anniversary. The intent of the project is nice to hear, though.

Back when the project was launched, Chrono Cross was possibly going to become unplayable," remaster producer Koichiro Sakamoto explains. "There was a Game Archive service on PlayStation 3 that allowed you to play PlayStation 1 games. But PlayStation 4 was already on the market. We didn't know at the time if PlayStation 4 would also have a Game Archive service. It looked like Chrono Cross could become unplayable. So, a remaster project was set up. That's the backstory.

 

[jshackles]

Cool, now do Vagrant Story. And Xenogears.

 

[Deft Beck]

Why wouldn't you? The game is still very popular and critically acclaimed.

 

[Andyliini]

I still need to play this. Maybe now I should, as the patch improved things. Even got the physical release from Asia.

 

[Big Baller]

The future is now

 

[ClanOfNone]

How bout y'all remake Crono Trigger and FFVI using that gorgeous Octopath 2 engine.

 

[Crayon]

Change up the battle theme please. Please.

 

[adamsapple]

The sentiment is nice but the fact that they "remastered" it in a state that it ran worse than the PS1 and needed a full year before it got patched to an acceptable level is ridiculous.

 

[kiphalfton]

How bout y'all remake Crono Trigger and FFVI using that gorgeous Octopath 2 engine.

How about no.

 

[Killer8]

I sad indictment of Sony's dogshit backwards compatibility the last couple of generations.

 

[nial]

We didn't know at the time if PlayStation 4 would also have a Game Archive service

Now it does, so put all your PS1 and PSP classics in there, Square.

 

[Myths]

And Vagrant Story and Parasite Eve aren’t?

 

[Ar¢tos]

I sad indictment of Sony's dogshit backwards compatibility the last couple of generations.

Stupid comment, Ps4 was the only one without BC (and ps5 regarding PS1, ps2, ps3).
One console is not "generations".

 

[cash_longfellow]

In that case, they need to fear Chrono Trigger becoming unplayable and gimme that shit.

 

[Killer8]

Stupid comment, Ps4 was the only one without BC (and ps5 regarding PS1, ps2, ps3).
One console is not "generations".

PS4 had no BC while PS5 has BC but it's lackluster, incomplete and partially locked behind a paywall.

That's two generations. The comment stands.

 

[Rykan]

I still need to play this. Maybe now I should, as the patch improved things. Even got the physical release from Asia.

If you haven't played it yet, it's certainly worth picking up now.

 

[35cent]

There was always emulation but it's good there was an official release of it anyway. I might pick it up now that they've improve the framerate.

 

[adamsapple]

I still need to play this. Maybe now I should, as the patch improved things. Even got the physical release from Asia.

Yeah, the patch has made it much better on all platforms, even Switch. Field runs at a solid 30, battles at solid 60.

 

[Neff]

Cool, now do Vagrant Story. And Xenogears.

And Final Fantasy Tactics and the first two Parasite Eve games.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

How bout y'all remake Crono Trigger and FFVI using that gorgeous Octopath 2 engine.

Or xenogears with this engine?

 

[Satansblade]

And Vagrant Story and Parasite Eve aren’t?

While those should be redone, they aren’t nearly as important as this, Tactics Ogre, FFT, etc.

 

[Virex]

Why'd they release an almost 'unplayable' remaster then?

 

[TheGreatMusashi]

I don’t agree with the sentiment, but I hope this idea continues just to get these games on newer platforms.

There are way too many games lost to time/old hardware/etc. Port old games, look at the numbers, revive what sticks, leave what doesn’t.

One day I’d love to be able to load up Dino Crisis or Parasite Eve or Legacy of Kain or whatever on current gen. I’ll buy it again just to support it. I can emulate it all day but that doesn’t equate to new entries in long lost series that new players haven’t gotten to experience because they’ve never heard of it.

 

[delfrickintree]

The current form of ps1 games getting released is a good system, includes rewind and save states and trophies. Although we need about 100x more games released. Also why does something like Legend of Dragoon take up 9 gigabytes??

 

[AV]

This is finally fixed, right? I was looking at recent Steam reviews and it seems that way. One of the last on my "catch up on some old JRPGs" list with Sukioden(s) and Paper Mario.

 

[Andyliini]

This is finally fixed, right? I was looking at recent Steam reviews and it seems that way. One of the last on my "catch up on some old JRPGs" list with Sukioden(s) and Paper Mario.

I have not played the game yet, but from what I read, the latest patch fixed most, if not all of the performance problems.

 

[Hypereides]

PS4 had no BC while PS5 has BC but it's lackluster, incomplete and partially locked behind a paywall.

That's two generations. The comment stands.

Good man.

Honestly more gamers should stand their ground and advocate for proper BC instead of buying the same games ten times in new packaging.

 

[Myths]

While those should be redone, they aren’t nearly as important as this, Tactics Ogre, FFT, etc.

Important in what way?

 

[Satansblade]

Important in what way?

To the history of gaming, period.
Very few care about Vagrant Story (I do, but im the minority), but Chrono Cross, Tactics, FF in general, these games have important historical context in the industry, have huge fanbases, and it’s important we keep them playable.

 

[Myths]

To the history of gaming, period.
Very few care about Vagrant Story (I do, but im the minority), but Chrono Cross, Tactics, FF in general, these games have important historical context in the industry, have huge fanbases, and it’s important we keep them playable.

Yeah, no. That’s a fairly ridiculous claim to make, and doesn’t justify one over the other here. Not to mention it has nothing to do with what they stated, which was more of a lack of support (possibly) through software compatibility on newer hardware.

 

[Lokaum D+]

They call that a remaster ?

 

[diffusionx]

Einhander, Vagrant Story, Brave Fencer Musashi, Tobal 2, Front Mission 3, Parasite Eve, Bushido Blade, Sony released a LOT of stuff on PSX and most of it is worth being available today.

 

[Fuz]

Then why the changes?

 

[Fuz]

How bout y'all remake Crono Trigger and FFVI using that gorgeous Octopath 2 engine.

What if instead they do it properly?

 

[poodaddy]

So I've got a Series X in the game room but a One X in the living room downstairs. Question, has anyone here played it on One X? Does it run well? I tend to keep the more classic and low tech stuff on the One X to save space for the larger data sizes of more modern games on the Series X upstairs. Also considering just getting it on Steam to play it there on my daughter's deck that she never touches anymore.

 

[diunxx]

In consoles I guess, the game lives on by emulation.

 

[Satansblade]

Yeah, no. That’s a fairly ridiculous claim to make, and doesn’t justify one over the other here. Not to mention it has nothing to do with what they stated, which was more of a lack of support (possibly) through software compatibility on newer hardware.

No, it's not. One is a massively successful and beloved sequel to one of the best JRPG's of all time, the other is Vagrant Story, a game almost nobody cares about. You asked if VS and PE weren't as important, and I am telling you, without a doubt, SE looks at the Chrono series to be far, far more important to their history than two niche games hardly anyone played when they were new.

 

[nial]

PS4 had no BC while PS5 has BC but it's lackluster, incomplete and partially locked behind a paywall.

That's two generations. The comment stands.

I mean, if we consider the PS3 catalog via cloud streaming and PS1, PS2, and PSP games as digital-only to be BC, then the PS4 DOES have it, it's just not good at all. Even then, I agree with your opinion, although PS5 has good BC with PS4 games. It could be much worse, though (Switch)...

 

[TheInfamousKira]

*laughs in emulator*

Unplayable? You meant unpayable.