Many say its the greatest RPGs of all time. Its developers were called the "Dream Team". Headed by the creator of Final Fantasy, the creator of Dragon Quest, and the manga artist that made Dragon Ball (For those unfamiliar, those are three of the biggest media franchises in Japan) it was a match made in gaming heaven. The final product of their efforts was released in 1995 on the SNES. Its name was Chrono Trigger.
The game is about the adventurer Crono and his friends who travel through time to stop an alien parasite from destroying the world. It has over a dozen endings and multiple in-depth plotlines about its characters. Its filled to the brim with secrets big and small that take multiple playthroughs to find.
SPOILER WARNING: Some aspects of the game's endings are discussed below.
10 10. How To Get Unlimited Items
Items are always needed in RPGs and luckily there are ways players can easily cheat the system and get as many as they need to support themselves on their time-traveling journey.
While escaping prison, the player will enter a room with three guards. Defeating them will have each drop a Mid Tonic. Exit and return to the room and each time the guards are beaten they'll drop the same item again. In the 600 A.D. time period, there is a moving bush in Guardia Forest. Interacting with it will result in a creature popping out and leaving a shelter. Similar to the tonic technique, exit and redo this event over and over to get as many shelter items that can fit in the inventory.
9 9. Name Etymology
Many pieces of media have hidden meanings behind the character's names. Chrono Trigger is no different.
Crono is the most obvious, with his name being a slight deviation from the Titan of time Kronos. Arle's real name, Nadia, means hope, tender, and delicate. The prehistoric Ayla most likely is a reference to the protagonist of the same name from the Earth's Children novels. The theory is supported by both characters having long blond hair. Lucca's bright personality could be a reference to her name being similar to the name "Lucia" which means light.
8 8. Crono's Link To Link
Both are left-handed and silent protagonists. Both are legendary heroes who save their world. And both are left-handed.
Except for a few entries, Link from The Legend of Zelda has always been left-handed. Crono is as well. Why this is exactly is unclear. The fact that neither speaks is most likely because the developers wanted the player to empathize with the character. Them being left-handed is less clear. It is possible the decision was made to make their main protagonist stand out against other characters.
7 7. Anti-Piracy Measures
Piracy (illegally downloading games for free) has always been a big issue in the world of gaming. Unauthorized downloads of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl lost Nintendo over $100 million. In recent years developers have begun to add creative ways to stop pirates from accessing their games.
On the Nintendo DS version of Chrono Trigger, when the player first goes through a time travel portal they are supposed to drop into the past. However, if players have access to a pirated copy they'll be stuck in an infinite loop and never be able to leave the portal.
6 6. Crono Was Originally Meant To Die
A key plot point in the final game is when Crono dies when he has his first encounter with the game's big bad Lavos. However, using the titular "Chrono Trigger" players are given the option to replace Crono with a clone right before the moment of his death. Even if they don't choose to do this there are endings where the other characters are given the ability to save him. However, it wasn't always supposed to be this way.
Masato Kato, the game's writer, revealed that instead of replacing Crono with a clone originally they were supposed to recruit a younger version of the character. Then even if they were able to defeat Lavos the younger Cronos would still be returned to his time period and die. This was thought to be too disheartening so the ending was changed to be more optimistic.
5 5. It Coined The Term "New Game Plus"
New Game Plus. Its become an industry standard for players to play the replay the game in this mode with all of the equipment they picked up on their first playthrough.
Once defeating the final boss players will have the option to restart with all of their experience and items in a New Game Plus game save. The reason for its inclusion is so that players can access all of the alternate endings without having to start over from scratch. Its a feature that's used to this day, most recently in The Last of Part II.
4 4. Marle Tries To Kill Her Father
The relationship between Marle, a princess, and her royal father is quite strained at the beginning of the game. Shortly after her birth, Marle's mother died which caused her father to become overprotective.
At one point in the game, Marle and her father get into an argument. The King's favorite food is spiced jerky, so the player can offer him some in an attempt to placate him. However, the King will interpret this as his daughter trying to kill him by raising his cholesterol before running away and locking himself in his room. Its an interesting reaction. Try this at home to see how your parents, friends, or pets respond.
3 3. Crono The Feline Fiend
Image from Nookipedia
At the beginning of the game, players can find a cat in Crono's house. He's clearly a cat person. However, this passion can be taken too far.
If players want to get food for the cat they can earn it by winning a carnival game at the Millenial Fair. Bringing it home to Crono's cat will cause another cat to appear. Doing this over and over will cause 11 cats at max to take residence in Crono's house. While it does seem excessive everyone is entitled to whatever makes them happy as long as they aren't hurting anyone.
2 2. Secret Endings
Including rereleases, Chrono Trigger has 14 endings with massive variations from each other. Most of them will be dictated by the order and method that the player defeats the major bosses.
The endings are all dramatically different in terms of tone and story. One ends with Marle and Crono getting married. Another ends with Frog returning to his true form. A few others have their actions in the past resulting in humans being replaced with reptiles or amphibians. Another is just a group of frogs pranking each other during the credits. However, there is one more conclusion that even the most dedicated Chrono Trigger fans might have trouble finding.
1 1. An Even Secreter Ending
If players are somehow capable of defeating Lavos in their first encounter using only Crono and Marle they unlock the most well-hidden ending in the game (They can also accomplish this by beating Lavos in the Ocean Palace).
They then will be taken to a variety of rooms where they'll be able to meet various members of the development team. After meeting every developer they'll be taken to a room with the Dream Team (The three men mentioned at the beginning of the article). They congratulate the player for completing the game so fast and make them the newest member of the Dream Team.