This mostly confirms what I wrote earlier on this previous post: ****/r/JRPG/comments/1rk1o1p/first_time_playing_chrono_cross_but_not_liking_it/ . My experience with Chrono Cross stayed the same after continuing to play.I kept playing knowing it wouldn’t suddenly become a god-tier game for story or gameplay. The late-game “twists” people praise are overblown, aside from a neat mid-game “swap,” nothing really lands. The story stays bland and anonymous: important explanations are dumped at the end, and progression often depends on obscure design choices (for example, the final dungeon needs a specific secondary character but gives no real clues (a single NPC mentions it casually as if it were a secret tip, not a plot gateway). The “secret” ending is locked behind an anti–game-design code; there’s no satisfying justification like “the crystals hint at it”, "the notes they make" or “the boss before him uses those elements in order.” It’s just a poor choice.Mechanically, summons requiring an entire field of one color are annoying, I never managed to use a single one because enemies and bosses died before I could set it up. I only used them at the end because I enabled an emulator cheat that removed the field requirement. The summon animations are nice, and moves generally look good, but I never felt challenged: most enemies died quickly and without stress. Miguel was the only slightly tough fight because of a combo that can reliably kill a party member; I only reloaded a couple of times because I wanted to beat him with all three characters to give them equal experience (another odd, annoying design decision), but otherwise I could beat him just fine with two remaining characters.Everything else holds: too many shallow characters, a plot that effectively “starts” only at the end so you lack motivation to continue, and numerous objective writing, design, and logic errors. Altogether, these mostly anonymous and unremarkable elements make this game, for me, a 5/10. In my scale that’s a neutral/mediocre score. I’m not saying the game is complete trash, it’s somewhat enjoyable, but it never stands out and remains too anonymous. The music is good, well composed and pleasant, but music alone isn’t enough. “Vibes” alone don’t save a game, unlike what some people seem to believe.Regarding the “sequel” aspect, I don’t even consider it here. Everything I’ve said is criticism of the game taken on its own. I’m not bothered by how it treats the previous story, I’m not that kind of purist, especially since you can simply view it as an alternate dimension. The flaws would be the same even if the game didn’t have “Chrono” in the title, so there are no excuses.Another factor is probably that I played it as an adult. I wasn’t a kid in 1999, so I don’t have nostalgia bias and I could look at it with a more mature perspective. The fact that it’s old doesn’t bother me, I like many older games, and when I evaluate them I consider both the historical context and how much I enjoy them **** course, like anything else, this game has fans. As review sites like Metacritic show, there will always be something that someone rates a 10 while someone else rates it a 0. The only explanation I can give myself is that the small group of people who really love it were lucky enough to play it under the most favorable circumstances, whether that means playing it first, playing it as kids, or having a smaller gaming background at the time. Some issues go well beyond simple personal taste.

Tengo 37 años y ningún titulo de la infinidad que he podido jugar, me ha dejado tan contento y con ganas de re jugarlo como Chrono Cross. Para mi el mejor juego de la historia.-

This game is part of what made me a gamer, and still going at 33. Perfect story, perfect gameplay still not outdated, and everything that an RPG needs. I'd still recommend to play it, even in 2025