Let's not beat around the bush, Chrono Trigger is one of the greatest RPGs of all time, so it's understandably one of those games treated with an almost palpable sense of reverence. So when Square Enix, seemingly out of nowhere, released a port on PC, fans old and new rejoiced. Until, that is, they realised it was a port of the iOS and Android versions. Uh oh...
The SNES classic has been subject to plenty of ports over the years - including the original PlayStation and Nintendo DS incarnations - but the mobile version is easily the least popular. It's not broken by any stretch of the imagination, but some bizarre changes to the game's fonts and some ugly sprite filtering made it less than favourable among fans. And the PC version includes all those graphical niggles, only now it's jumped from your smartphone to your Steam account.
The Nintendo DS version - which hit the handheld device in 2008 - is far more faithful to the SNES original, and manages to do so without somehow looking inferior to a game that came out generations prior. This is the one we'd opt to play over that borked PC version. If you want to learn more, developer Fred Wood has offered some really insightful comparisons between the PC port and the original - check out his Twitter feed for more.
But what do YOU think about this whole fiasco? Which version of the game would you rather play? Does it even really matter? Let us know your thoughts below...
[source twitter.com]
Comments 85
I just hope they don't bring this version to the Switch.
... now that's something you won't see me type every day.
I will just stick with my DS version of the game unless they port it to the Switch via VC or something, which would be amazing. I want to enjoy that game's wonderful music with my surround sound speaker!
Square Enix totally deserves all the negative criticisms. After all that's what they got for being lazy and also [RUINING] the Secret of Mana remake. I betcha they will be in even more hot water with Romancing SaGa 2 as well had that one ever made state-side back then but everyone gave the re-release one a passed cause it was actually new over here.
Who knew that PC gamers' salty quips about "Nintendo's quasitablet mostly getting mobile ports" would trigger such trollish karma. But SE reasoning puzzles me as well - between an Android port (or is it the only version currently in HD?) and a stealth release with no reported promotion campaign, it sure can seem like a waste of a nostalgia investment opportunity with one of the classics. Unless there's something I'm not accounting for, which is always more than likely.
@NewAdvent again with the "ruining" fallacy in fandoms. No remake can "ruin" or "improve" the original unless the latter is simultaneously erased from existence at all; they're separate entities just like adaptations of the same source material. Any new audiences ending up ignorant about the roots have their own lack of research and interest to blame for possibly missing out, especially in the internet era.
I might be in favour of a port of the DS version seeing as it was produced in limited quantities especially here in Europe. And a secondhand copy now costs as much as the game was back when it was new.
This is nonsense.
They didn't have to bring the game at all, but as per usual it's just a bunch of complaining.
Elation turned into disappointment quickly that day for me. Lack of money is what stopped me from getting the DS version back in the day (it was the only game I wanted a DS for) and it's pretty expensive in the secondary market still. There's no news of a Switch version and the opportunity to finally own it legally on PC was great news... Until the reviews came in. What a disaster.
Chrono Trigger is pretty much the only jRPG I ever liked and one of the few RPGs of all I finished. I count it in my top 3 alongside Fallout and Planescape: Torment. I thought I'd get a few of my friends who aren't interested in emulation into CT with Steam release, but not like this.
If only it was on the SNES Mini. I'll be honest, no Chrono Trigger = no buy.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I say blegh to ports! If you want it so bad you should've bought it when it was released! (And that's how people feel when you nag about wiiu ports. Maybe there was no opportunity for them to get it earlier, no reason to deny growing the fanbase for anything)
Chrono Trigger was made by Squaresoft. When Enix became involved they stopped caring about making good games, just using the Squaresoft name and churning out money making games which are very poor
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Although I have a US DS version I did preorder the EU version to get the bonus CD and then cheekely returned the game for a refund unopened.
Considering I regret doing so now I guess I got what I deserved.
@Dom
Is it normal now to include such bad language in articles?
This seems to be Square Enix’s style, dump crappy mobile ports onto Steam of its classic games with minimum effort and then have the gamers try to fix it themselves.
Bunch of lazy <beeeeeeeeeeeeep> who probably spend all their time <beeeeeeeeeeeeep> all the while stroking their new characters shiny new custom engine developed <beep>.
I've seen the screenshots and god, it does have some awful bilinear filter above the sprites. I know not everyone is into pixel graphics but just applying some random filter doesn't cut, at least for me.
I'm glad i still got my DS copy, i have a feeling they will try to pull this on the Switch too.
Didn't they do the same with FFV and VI, porting the mobile versions with the awful graphics to PC?
If they bring these games to Switch or anywhere else, please don't use the mobile versions.
@Shiryu i don't think wé'll have to worry about that Square has been rather, how should i put it..., reticent it seems about releasing any major game on with the obvious exception of DQ builders, setsuna and Lost Sphear, wich are great games. considering however the vast library of games they could port / remake or just release as a "classic" their visible efforts to "support" the switch have been rather shallow till now. Octopath has been announced quite a while as has DQ11 not to mention DQ10 wich has been out in Japan for years...
This isn't as bad as the Finfal Fantasy VI release on mobile devices, but it's still sad to see a corporation like SE make decisions this poor.
After everything happening from Cavestory to Undertale, you'd think the big publishers would have understood that PC players are able to appreciate pixel graphic.
@Pineapple_Mohawk I said "might". And like the Wii U ports, Chrono Trigger is available for people to buy on DS, even now if they really want it. They weren't that bothered back then. Plus people can play it portably seeing as they care about that feature so much. It never originally came to Europe but I bought the Virtual Console version. It was a very good game, I might have thought about it more highly had I played it originally back in the day.
People can buy it on the Wii Shop for less than €10 and play it on their Wii U.
@ktej75 I really want that Secret of Mana remake tough...
@Shiryu Apparently it doesn't do justice to the original.
@dew12333 I was thinking the same. Usually that sort of language is discouraged in the comments.
@Saego I have accepted the game's flaws and embraced it's new vision of the world in 3D. I have been dabbing with the PC version and so far so good.
It really feels like it belongs on the Switch IMO.
@dew12333 It was a tweet, not our copy. But it's been removed
My virgin eyes! Thanks for editing out that profane tweet.
As for the port, S-E have done this with their other games. It's the cheapest, easiest method.
What's more, I wouldn't be surprised if it required you to register with the square-enix site each time you want to play it like with Final Fantasy 7 and 8 on steam, although I could be wrong.
@Saego Yep, that's what I've seen too from various sites and videos. They took the cheap route with the Remake. It was one of my absolute favourite SNES games, it's in the Top 5.
Not surprised, Square pulled the same crap with the PC ports of FF IV, V & VI.
@Iam16bit I guess I should have paid more attention to those... But Final Fantasy bores me. CT's port wouldn't have been such a bitter surprise then.
Sounds like they were....Chrono Triggered.
I feel like people have to take these games away from Square for their own good. Like how they took Star Wars away from George Lucas.
It's like thoses mobile ports of FFV and FFVI,they look awful
@JaxonH I'm very sorry Jaxon, but are people seriously not allowed to complain about a bad product? Am I seeing you say that correctly here?
Or are you trying to invalidate the majority of Steam reviews, by quite frankly being a D?
WOE BE ON THE PEOPLE WHO DARE EXPECT SOMETHING FOR THEIR 15 EUROS! Jaxon, please.......
As for the rest of this article's comments, it's good to see that "It's not my system's version that has issues, so it's all good" mentality going strong. Ah well, fie on me for expecting better
Rubbish port of a rubbish port and people give bad feedback.
Expected!
Why would anyone still play these antique games? Yes they were good in the old days, but come on... there are better games to play.
Chrono Trigger on PC is the worst port ever made ....digusting ....
@Nincompoop 1 Word: Nostalgia
@Shiryu Except it doesn't.
Glad I have the SNES cart and a copy of the DS version .
Man, hands down my favorite game of all time. I still have the SNES cart of this game (though I'm sure the battery and my saves are long dead by now.)
About 15 years ago I managed to get a ROM and an SNES emulator, and I've been playing that version on and off ever since. If they make a physical copy of the original game (I prefer the old names like Shiva Edge to Suzaku, and Dark Ages to Tranquility, for example) for the Switch or 3DS, I'll definitely buy several copies of the cart.
Best game of all time. No challenge.
@MFD
Did I say that? No I didn't.
But complaining is all people seem to be good at, it's all they do. They didn't have to port it over. People wanna complain it's a mobile port? Then don't buy it!
@Knighty_IX Cory in the House has my vote.
Nah, but seriously, my favorite had to be PokéMon Platinum.
@Shiryu I heard that Square Enix are thinking about it doing a Switch port of Secret of Mana:
https://gematsu.com/2018/01/square-enix-considering-secret-mana-remake-switch-seiken-densetsu-collection-localization
@LaytonPuzzle27 But first they should attend the already released Seiken Densetsu Collection. It almost feels they don't like our moneys sometimes...
@JaxonH And how would they have known that it was a mobile port without buying it? I don't see Square telling them that anywhere.
@Nincompoop Because there are certain games that hold up to the test of time. In my opinion in particular SNES era sprites really hold up well if you are playing the original and not some crappy port. I still go back to my Super Nintendo games all the time because I really enjoy them. Final Fantasy VI in particular is still my favorite Final Fantasy game of all time, and I go back and play it often enough to say it's not just Nistolgia glasses. Games from that era are just different than games of today. Yes I enjoy games of today as well, but no reason you can't like both.
Meh. Chrono Trigger is highly overrated as it is (like Earthbound), so I wouldn't buy the port regardless. Give me the FF games (and the Lunar games) over Chrono Trigger any day.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Maybe a DS VC release? They did a few for the Wii U if I remember right. Or even something as part of the subscription retro games library (we still need more info on that)?
@MFD
Screenshots and videos on the page make it abundantly clear what it is.
A shame it wasn't on the SNES Classic, Chrono Trigger was among the SNES' top 20 games in terms of sales.
@JaxonH People should criticize bad products. Did you see this: https://twitter.com/thatsmytrunks/status/968534796816343044?
@JaxonH Doesn't say so in the Q and A, and I don't see any difference between screenshots from the DS version or any as such. Sounds to me like you're making excuses.
@MFD Thankfully Steam has a working refund system. Unlike some other digital distribution platforms.
@itslukec I wouldn't wish my worst enemy to suffer the fate of Star Wars post-Lucas.
After the atrocious FFVI "remake"(the only thing FFVI got for its 20th anniversary no less), I haven't trusted Square with any of their classic games.
There's no respect for the art or the legacy these games have. It just serves to get Squeenix a quick buck with the least amount of effort possible.
It boggles my mind that people would go out of their way to defend this garbage.
These games deserve better.
@MFD
Funny, that's exactly what it seems you and everyone else are doing. Any excuse to complain, never pass an opportunity, even when it doesn't affect you, right?
I wish Chrono Trigger had been included with the SNES Classic. I would also accept a Virtual Console re-release of the DS port on Wii U or 3DS. I might just have to pay the high price and get the DS game card somewhere so at the very least I can play it on my 3DS. Square Enix really should have treated this game better.
@JaxonH My roommate is a huge fan of Chrono Trigger, and I felt really bad telling him about it, and then having to explain him that it's the mobile phone version.
So people have a ton of legitimate complaints, and you're basically crapping on them. Why are you even defending a bad port for PC?
This makes me extremely glad that I managed to snag a discounted copy of the DS game early last year from SE's online store.
@MFD
No, I'm just sick of the internet being one giant complaint department.
With RPG franchises so big, why must they treat the legacy like trash?
On well, you still have 1 month left to buy it off the Wii Shop at least.....
@Ernest_The_Crab I'm not sure a DS VC release would be good. The way it was done on Wii U was really poor and only justice it got was given due to the dual screen aspect with TV and Gamepad.
They could scrap traditional controls all together, use only its touch based version and have the dual screens shown on the switich in vertical mode, but that will certainly cut down its customer demographic.
@JaxonH In this case, their complaints are pretty damn well justified. There's far better things to whine about complaints on.
@MFD
I'm sure there are.
Just as there are far better things for you to whine about than my opinion.
So, which one should I get? The Wii VC one or the DS port (if I can find it)?
@JaxonH The SNES version looks much better than the PC version: https://twitter.com/thatsmytrunks/status/968560845176352768.
@Devlind The DS version has a more accurate translation and more content. The additional content isn't a big deal, though.
@JaxonH I'll happily admit that I whine too much, but in this case, I see you being annoyed about people that are complaining about a product being bad. That's their right, and you, as a fellow-consumer, should be supporting that. I thought you said you played on PC? What happened to that?
@XenoShaun Maybe they could split the screen? Probably run into number of issues with that though.
Well they could always port the SNES version but it'd be missing the additional content.
@NewAdvent There is no reason that this shouldn't have been on the SNES Classic.
@QBertFarnsworth He talked about Secret of Mana. It's on the Super NES Classic Edition.
Sorry, meant Chrono Trigger should be on SNES Classic.
I'd totally buy Chrono Trigger again on Switch if it was like the DS version, and NOT just smeary with ugly menus
@JaxonH Setting aside the ridiculousness of complaining about complaining (would that be metacomplaining?), while Square Enix didn't have to bring the game to PC, once they decided to do so they did have to be transparent in what they were selling, which I see no evidence of. The negative criticism is warranted.
@JimmySpades
Oh for goodness sakes, I made one passing comment and I get seven different responses lecturing me. There is no "complaining about complaints". Only passing observation and personal dismay at the perpetual revolving door of dissatisfaction of complaining. That's not complaining about complaints, that stating the obvious and giving my two cents about it. I didn't wake up today and go on the Internet looking to complain about this. I simply made a off-the-cuff remark and shared my thoughts on the matter.
Find something more suitable to do with your time then telling strangers on the internet what they should think. This is a bunch of nonsense. The game is what it is- if people don't want it they shouldn't buy it, or maybe stop buying games they know nothing about completely blind and then complain about what they get. Don't want it, don't buy it, simple as that. Already bought it and don't like it? Get a refund. Simple as that.
@JaxonH So your two cents are passing observation, and everyone else's two cents are complaint. Got it.
@JimmySpades
There's a difference.
Man wtf, here they go again always complaining I'm so sick of it why don't these people just shut up, they just go on and on and on and blah blah blah blah
^^^ Complaining
yep, more outrage and people complaining about something they were never forced to buy and can refund at will, go figure...
^^^ passing observation acknowledging complaints
Here they go again, screwing up another game, what the heck are they thinking, this is BS, blah blah blah
You tell me what category that falls into. Until you can do that I don't think you "got" anything
@JaxonH So you know better than me what I got. Got it.
I'll stick with my DS version, please
@JaxonH You're protesting too much...
@Shiryu if I had to choose from this version or no version, I'd choose this all day.
@bLiNdSiDe82 Fair point, but... owning the both the SNES and the DS version, I know a quick money grab scheme when I see it.
Ugh. Those mobile ports are terrible, it would have been far better if they ported the DS version.
It's just people being stupid. You can already play the original SNES version on PC so if that's what people want then that's what they should play. The DS version doesn't even look good on a DSi XL so it would look terrible on an HDTV. Plus there is no second screen so there is no porting the DS version as is. Instead, the mobile version is the DS port (minus the Arena of the Ages) with upgraded graphics and UI.
@NewAdvent It is on my SNES Classic and I bet it's on yours too.
Would rather CT for DS. I'd say it's the definitive version that should make its way to Switch.
Fun fact: the PC port is a port of the smartphone version, which is a port of the DS one...which is a port of the SNES original with cutscenes from the PS port. Someone call Xzibit.
@BRAINFOX Skipped a step, the DS version is a port of the PS1 version.
So PC -> Mobile -> DS -> PS1 -> SNES.
This is Sonic Adventure 1 levels of portception.
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