Old Game Memories/Revisited: Chrono Trigger.

Chrono Trigger is a game that holds a special place in my heart. Not because it reminds me of lost childhood: I have never owned a SNES so didn't have the chance to play it when it was new. Besides, I was five when it came out, and somehow I don't think I'd have been old enough to appreciate it in the way I was enjoying, say, Sonic at the time. 

No, my first encounter with Chrono Trigger came around 7 years ago (oh god, it's really been that long) when my previous flirtation with the dark art of emulation really took a turn for the serious. In this great lull of 2004, the period that stood between getting my first good PC the previous year and building my first great gaming rig in the following one (which would lead to me falling down a rabbit hole of PC gaming that I never escaped), I became enamoured with the possibilities represented by emulation. I was able to play all the greats I remembered from my time with the Mega Drive as well as the games my SNES equipped brethren had raved about, but that I had never really had a chance to get to grips with. Soon though, I had gone far beyond the known, into the realm of games I'd never even heard of before. Alien Soldier, Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Strider, Metal Warriors, Megaman X, ActRaiser,  these titles and many more all fell into my voracious grasp. 

However, it was my love for the Final Fantasy series that really dominated the nature of the games I played. At the time, I owned every Final Fantasy that I was capable of playing, from IV-X(-2... I know, I was young and foolish). As exciting as it was to buy the newer games as they were coming out, it was the process of going backwards, of filling the earlier gaps in my collection, that really opened my eyes. Final Fantasy VI captured my imagination in a way that none of the others, even my beloved VII or XI had. A feat made all the more astonishing by the fact that I played the other two when they were pretty much new! When their visuals, at least, were fresh, shiny and exciting. The version of VI I played only had the original sprite graphics and a few added FMV sequences. Remember, this was at the time of the PS2, the game was now ostensibly two generations out of date. In spite of this, VI won me over. I loved the characters, the setting, the story, even the battle system had nuances that differentiated it from all of the other ATB based FF games. |In fact, I would still argue that Final Fantasy VI is the best of the lot.

How did this get in here?!

The most important thing Final Fantasy VI did for me though was to direct my attention to the golden age of Square and Enix' (as well as a few others) vast outpouring of titles on the SNES. Even now, I would consider the battle for best RPG console to be between the PS2 and the SNES. With this newfound knowledge my consumption of emulated games came to an all time high as I burned through 40+ hour RPGs. Some were finished, some weren't. Some (not naming any names here, Star Ocean) generated corrupt save games when I was 15 hours and totally destroyed my motivation to play any more. In this sea of Lufias and Illusion of Gaias, one name stood out, one game that rose above the rest. That game, of course, was Chrono Trigger.

Chrono Trigger held me in complete awe. Even more so than FFVI, I was enchanted by every aspect of the game. The story was great, the characters sympathetic, and the game's main idiosyncrasy: time travel, made for a fascinating way to view the world. It also gave the designers the ability to justify giving you not only very distinct scenarios to face but also vastly different environments to explore. The different time periods all very much having their own flavour that kept the game from feeling bland. It's hard to convey in words without totally deconstructing the game, but suffice to say, Chrono Trigger had such an impact on me that for the longest time I considered it to be a contender for my favourite game ever.

I don't have any screenshots, so it's going to be awesome Toriyama character designs instead)

In the intervening time I've tried to play Chrono Trigger again but it's always ended up being spoiled by something getting in the way: responsibilities; newer, shinier games; or hard drive failures that destroy my save file and instigate some sort of meta rage-quit. Recently though, the prospect of shelling out a large amount of money to have a bunch of CT merchandise imported, got me wondering just how good the game is now, if it still deserved the reverence I held for it, or if itis just a case of shit smeared goggles. So in the interests of intellectual rigour I decided that I would hold off on buying anything until I'd played through Chrono Trigger again. Both to make sure I wasn't wasting my money buying items related to a crappy old game, and because I'm a dick that gets angry at others for being scared to be critical of their loves. It'd hardly be fitting of me to hold that view without doing the same to the things I hold dear.

With this in mind, I've been playing Chrono Trigger for the last few days and have got reasonably far into it. Far enough at least that I feel that I can comment on how it has shaped up compared to my memories.  At this point, I have to admit that it's as tight as I remember it being. As an overall package, it's about as advanced as an RPG could be on the Super Nintendo. In fact, I think I appreciate it more now than I did when I first played it. Being that now I have a much larger wealth of gaming experiences to fall back on as well as a reasonably developed knowledge of the larger context of gaming, it's history, trends and the capabilities of consoles in varying eras. I keep noticing the little things as I play, like just how expressive the character sprites are. In an era where JRPGs, especially, are pushing for more and more spectacle through ever better visuals, it amazes me that I feel these characters to be more 'human' despite being silent sprites with a limited animation selection than more modern, ostensibly better looking, fully voiced characters of other games. 

Moreover, even though I have the game's soundtrack, I never fully realised how well utilised it is in the game. It always gives areas and scenes an ambiance or emotional intensity that just feels right. Yet it does this without being obtrusive, adding to the experience without distracting from what's going on. When I wrote about Mass Effect 2 I commented that bad sound choices draw attention to themselves. That doesn't mean that good sound work is all about being forgettable, more that it should fit the tone of the action onscreen to the point where the two are so well matched that it just 'feels' right. This, obviously, has a large element of subjectivity to it, but as far as I'm concerned, CT nailed it.

There are other little touches too, like being able to equip characters within a shop's menu, not just an option to equip whatever gear you just bought, but to totally re-equip every character, even those not in your party. It's only a little thing, but even people who love JRPGs will cop to how annoying it is to come out of a shop menu only to have to go straight into the equipment menu. Switching party characters is a snap too, just hit Y and you can swap them out. No going to a specific area or save point to do it, very convenient. I also enjoy the lack of unannounced random battles in the game. Virtually all enemies in an area are visible to you and you can choose whether or not to engage them.

As well as generally being avoidable, the battles in Chrono Trigger also happen to be some of the best in any JRPG. They have the standard battle menu and share an ATB derived turn based system with the contemporary Final Fantasy games, but that's where the similarities end. For one thing, all battles take place in the game environment: when you touch an enemy, your characters draw their weapons and it's on. No loading, no switching to a battle screen, just instant fighting. This also means that there are no battles on the world map, which is a big plus as it means that you are free to explore. I always used to hate getting lost on an FF worldmap as it would invariably mean more battles that were either too easy to be engaging, or an absolute slog as my characters ran out of MP and were reduced to physical attacks. The battle system itself is also interesting in that characters learn 'Dual Techs' and 'Triple Techs' that are dependent on who's in the party in a given battle. This adds an extra element to consider when deciding who to put in the party, as characters that were seemingly less capable can be redeemed by contributing to a strong Dual or Triple tech. Beyond that, it's a slick, well executed take on turn based RPG combat. I'd call it it one of the best, if not the best examples of the breed. That being qualified by the fact that I haven't played enough RPGs recently... or ever, to make a definitive claim. Still, I like it.

In the midst of all this gushing, it seems almost a shame to talk about Chrono Trigger's issues, but it needs to be done... so it will be. For one thing, the set up for the plot is paper thin. It's a good romp once it gets going, especially the stories of individual party members, but in the beginning it all seems very consequential. The grand set up for the rest of the plot, the lynchpin action that sets story proper into motion, is one character seeing the end of the world (this is very early into the game) and deciding that they (your party) have to stop it. That's it. On the plus side, at least shows some character agency: it isn't the standard foretold prophesy nonsense, or your party being swept up into events outside of their control. I suppose it also allows the game to move along at a decent pace. Still, the almost nonchalant way that your characters decide to save the world was a little grating to me.

Best character: Robo. Hands down.

Another small problem comes from enemies respawning in areas that you've cleared. I wouldn't mind if this happened if you go more than a certain distance away, (in FFXII enemies only respawned once you were three loading 'gates' away from their area) or if an amount of time had to elapse etc etc. But it takes the piss a little that you can clear an area of enemies, enter a side room to look for treasure (thus causing a new area to load) and when you leave, the place you had cleared will be full of enemies again. Yes, it's less annoying than random battles, but it can still get a little irritating as there are some fights that you will have to do again. You may be able to see almost every fight coming, but that doesn't mean that they're all optional. 

This leads into the final real criticism that I have to level at the game: the frequency and subsequent dullness of normal battles, something that honestly, is more a problem with the genre than CT itself. In fairness I like JRPGs, I like most kinds of turn based combat, but nothing wears out a good thing more than repetition. As good as CT's battle system is, and it is good, it does become tedious when you're just cutting your way through lackeys without even having to pay attention. So long as you're the correct level for an area, most battles will be easy enough that 'hammer A to win' is a perfectly valid strategy. No magic, no awesome Dual Techs, just pound standard attack until you win. In fact, you're actively discouraged from using fancier attacks on weak enemies as that'll drain you of MP pretty quickly, and could leave you out of options if a tougher enemy does appear. This all changes when faced with a boss or miniboss as it actually becomes worth playing properly, and the combat system shines for it. The rest of the time though, the lack of challenge makes for a lack of fulfillment. Still, as I said, this is a genre rather than a game problem. Even then, CT is far from the worst offender, it only really becomes a problem if you get lost or have to double back on yourself in an area made up of several sub rooms or floors with each needing you to pass through an enemy-respawning load.

If my criticisms seem nitpicky or unnecessarily harsh, it's because I held this game to such a high standard before, so any flaw becomes magnified tenfold.  Nevertheless, my intention was to find out if CT was still as good a game as I remember, and as far as I can tell, it is. It may have more competition than it did back then, but I still hold it in very high regard. If people listened to me, I'd urge anyone even remotely interested in the genre to play it any way they can. (can't see the recent iOS version being very good though, too long a game to play on an iPad) Chrono Trigger is a classic, and not in that damning with faint praise 'good for it's time' sort of way. It's still an amazing game. So amazing that I can't even fathom how people playing it 16 years ago must have felt. 

How much was it to import that stuff again...?

Animated Film Review: Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

Cover Image Courtesy of covershut.com

Batman and Superman, the twin pillars from which all things that comprise DC seem to be suspended. Through the decades, despite changing trends; reboots; and death itself; these two have remained at the core of all that is DC. In short, it would be difficult to find a pair of comic-book characters with more combined importance, more gravitas, to throw together in a story, especially in a one shot animated film. So, the question remaining to be asked is: Just how good is Superman/Batman: Public Enemies? Well, it’s alright I suppose.

From the outset, I would point out that all of these straight to DVD DC movies that I’ve seen so far are aimed at existing fans. Unlike Hollywood comic films, they are assuming a level of background knowledge. As such I would not see them as being a good way into the mythos. At least, not on their own. 

Personally, I’m coming from a position of having watched pretty much the entire DC Animated Universe. Added to this, I’ve read a fair amount of DC graphic novels and have spent far, far, too long reading around the fiction online. This at least meant that I recognised most of the characters, even the minor ones just making cameos, and that I was equipped to keep track of a plot which seems to be struggling a bit to stay within its runtime. Both things I’ll get onto in more detail before the end.

Seeing as it’s so important, and I’ve just alluded to it, it makes sense to take a look at the plot of the film first. Straight out of the gate, in the opening sequence, we are treated to a nice concise dose of back-story showing how Lex Luthor gained the presidency of the United States. Before the opening credits have even run, Luthor has declared that “no one is above the law.” In addition to this, he has a group of Superheroes that have joined up in service of the government. It’s not quite the Keene Act or the Superhero Registration Act, but the astute will have already seen where the ‘Public Enemies’ part of the title is going to come from.

This is not to say that the film simply retreads the, by now, old ground of the idea of superhero civil war or public hatred of the power of costumed heroes. In fact, due to the run time, and the other major plot point: the gigantic kryptonite meteor heading towards earth, the ‘public enemies’ idea doesn’t really get as much mileage as one would expect from the title. Yeah, there are some exciting fight scenes, but that’s about it. Superman and Batman beating up villains and a few lower-tier heroes, but that is about the extent to which they are ‘public enemies’. I’m not sure what else could have been done, but a little more public revulsion to them would be nice. Instead, by being nominally outside the law, all that happens is that Supes and Bats fight heroes that are barely characterised within the bounds of the film.  As such the enemies they face may as well be B-list villains or juiced up flunkies made for the film.

It’s in these areas that the film really starts to come apart for the non-DC fan. I get a kick out of seeing Hawkman and Captain Marvel fight the titular heroes, but for somebody that maybe doesn’t know much about the DC universe even beyond feature films, it would be perfectly fair for them to wonder why a dude with wings and a guy in a bad superman costume have turned up out of nowhere to pummel the protagonists. It’s moments like these that make it clear that this is aimed squarely at the pre-existing fan base. On the other side of the coin however, you don’t need to be an uberfan to understand and enjoy what is going on. I’m certainly not, and I had fun with the film.

In the end, as has been hinted to, the real problem with the plot is the time constraint. The film really packs a lot into just over an hour, and does an admirable job of it, but it’s impossible not to notice that there is a definite strain to get everything in. When characters are appearing out of nowhere with little explanation, and major elements of the final act are only just being introduced at the same time that they become vitally important, it reeks of the writers having to cut things down to get the essentials in. In fact, if anything, the film has the feel of a good multipart episode from the Superman or Justice League DCAU series, only without the built in back-story coming from being part of an ongoing saga to lean on.

Speaking of the DC Animated Universe, the returning voice actors, especially in the case of Kevin Conroy as Batman and Clancy Brown as Luthor are real treat. For me, those two are the definitive non-comic incarnations of the characters. Luthor’s voice in particular really carries the arrogant superiority of the character; you can hear the smirk on his face. Even without seeing him, the voice tells you that the man is totally certain of himself, to the point where the mere suggestion that he hasn’t accounted for everything is laughable. The rest of the voice work is variable. Even then, it never drops to a level that jars you out of immersion.

Trust me, the stills don't look like it does in motion.

Other comparisons with the DCAU are unavoidable, and sadly less flattering. I found the character designs to seem a little off. Yes, the Superman/Batman comic line provided an aesthetic basis for the film, but still, the heavy detail; bright colours; and the minimal, but high contrast, shading really don’t fit in with the art direction of other elements of the film. Sometimes there is a real disconnect between the heroes and the backgrounds they’re on, and once you see it, it’s difficult to ignore. Moreover, this may be a minor gripe, but Superman’s design seems a little young. Whilst this fits some of the impetuousness he shows in the story, Superman and Batman are generally shown as looking roughly the same age, this is not the case here.

I would also like to add that these problems are not a product of this film choosing a different style to other DC animation, I loved The Batman’s style and that was a radical departure from both the DCAU and the ‘traditional’ Batman look. It’s the inconsistent aesthetic style and lack of cohesion that that brings that I find fault with.  A case in point is Power Girl; her look is different to anyone else’s with eyes and a facial shape that are much more heavily stylised. In all honesty, she immediately made me think of that freaky photoshopped girl from the Playstation adverts.

Pictured: Power Girl undermining my point by looking normal.

In spite of all this, the film doesn’t look bad overall, it’s just inconsistent. The animation has a few hiccups (watch any scenes of people walking down a hall toward the ‘camera’ then search ‘Weebl’s Stuff Scampi’) but beyond that it’s nothing worth losing sleep over. Moreover, despite my own issues with the design choices, the bright colours and minimal yet heavy stylised shading do make a change from the general grim n’ gritty colour palette that seemed to infiltrate design culture in the mid to late nineties and still has yet to be totally ousted. 

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is a solid animated DC adventure. It is far from being great, but it doesn’t need to be. When it all boils down, it provides an hour-ish of superhero entertainment and that’s clearly what the aim was. It may feel rushed in places and the art direction may be a little wayward, but overall it never becomes a bad film. If you’re looking for something to spice up a boring Sunday afternoon, it’s definitely worth picking up.