Chrono Trigger is the favorite Role Playing Game of many a gamer, and many people will agree with me when I say that it is better than Final Fantasy VII, Dragon Warrior, and the other "great RPGs" that have come out over the years. Few players would argue that Chrono Trigger wasn't an excellent game, even if it didn't happen to be their particular favorite.
And so, inevitably, a sequel to the game was made (not counting Radical Dreamers, the pseudo-sequel), and it was called Chrono Cross. It was five years in between Chrono games, and the Chrono starved fans of the original game ran out to buy a copy of the PlayStation sequel.
Gaming magazines and internet sites gave the game exceptional ratings, many hailing it as the greatest game of the year. So naturally more and more people bought the game and new people were introduced to the Chrono series who found themselves wanting to play the prequel. So eventually Squaresoft ported the old Super Nintendo game over to the Playstation, along with Final Fantasy IV.
All is well for a while, but as time goes by, we Chrono Trigger and Cross fans grow more and more restless for another sequel. Many rumors fly around about a potential sequel, dubbed "Chrono Break" (or Chrono Brake). Allegedly, Squaresoft trademarked the name along with Unlimited Saga (which is actually a game now), but has now dropped Chrono Break all together.
Which leaves me wondering, will there me another Chrono sequel? Will there be a Chrono Trigger 3? I have hoped for one ever since playing Cross, and scan IGN and Gamespot from time to time in hopes there will be some big news release outlining details of a new Chrono Trigger game. So far, there has been no luck...
I am sure that if you've found this site, you are like me and have been searching for Chrono sequel news in popular search engines. And as I have found, the only "information" to be gathered is from a bunch of rumors circulating in various message boards and forums.
But, I plan on using this page to post all of the Chrono sequel related news I can find, even if said "news" turns out to just be more rumors. I also intend to use this page for posting my thoughts on the series in general, and any Chrono Trigger remakes, petitions, etc.
**Breaking Chrono News!**
6-15-12
Another E3 come and gone, and still no Chrono Trigger 3... Looks like Square-Enix is just going to make a thousand Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts sequels and... a Tomb Raider game?! I'm sure they'll all be good, but I'm not buying them.
8-22-11 (edit: 6-20-12 for worldwide Chrono Cross sales)
So I am sure you are all aware that another E3 has come and is long gone, and there was no Chrono Trigger 3 announcement. I think I'm finally giving up on another Chrono sequel ever happening and have to settle with the Wii VC and DS ports.
That being said, the DS version did add some new content, and we finally find out that the weakling Dalton was responsible for the overthrow of Gaurdia (lame), and that Magus intentionally lost his memory after losing to the Dream Devourer (a kind of segway into Chrono Cross's Time Devourer) and probably ended up as Crono Cross's character Guile.
Oh, and I am aware of the latest (actually it is a couple years old now) Chrono related comment out of Square-Enix by its Senior Vice President Shinji Hashimoto in which he says, "Why does everyone ask about Chrono Trigger? If people want a sequel, they should buy more!" (source: rpgsite.net). Kind of a ridiculous statement, as Chrono Trigger and Cross were both high selling RPGs (Trigger was one of the top selling RPGs of the SNES era) not to mention the high critical success.
Worldwide sales proof courtesy http://gamrreview.vgchartz.com:
Chrono Trigger (SNES): 2,309,769
Chrono Trigger (DS): 1,108,918
Final Fantasy Chronicles(PSX): 520,000
Chrono Cross: 1,860,000
That's nearly 5.8 million Chrono copies sold, not counting Radical Dreamers or the Wii Ware, Playstation 3, and X-box 360 downloadable ports. I mean, it's no Pokemon or World of Warcraft, but it's better than the non Final Fantasy RPGs they are making now (i.e. Dungeon Siege) and certainly sequel worthy. We all know a new Chrono game would sell, and big.
I guess at this point the only thing us Chrono Trigger fans have to hope for is that Monolith Soft will make a "Chrono inspired" game like they they did with the Xenogears inspired Xenosaga series.
On a side note, if you are in North America and have finished playing through the Wii VC Chrono Trigger (received a perfect 10 rating on IGN.com) and are looking forward to those great Japanese RPGs you've read about (Xenoblade and The Last Story) you are probably out of luck because Nintendo isn't releasing them here... However, Operation Rainfall seems to be a fan driven effort to get these games released stateside, so feel free to join that cause since we may not ever get a Chrono sequel
7-8-08
Well... Still no news of a Chrono sequel, but I did find a sight that ensures a remake or port for Chrono Trigger on the Nintendo DS.
http://www.chronotrigger.jp/
6-06-05
Yet another fan made Chrono Trigger project has been shut down (chrono-trigger.com) by the great Square-Enix...
And, another E3 comes and goes with no news of a Chrono sequel or remake...
These be sad times for Chrono fans. I fear we'll see a Final Fantasy XXVI before any new Chrono game will come out...
And if any fan-based project is going to be... squelched, then I guess us Chrono fans will have to settle for... fanfiction?
Note: Why did Square wait so long to send these game designers a cease and desist warning? Waiting for them to get so far in the development process, only to crush them after months and months of work is just, well, cruel. Please Square, if you're going to kill the fan projects, then at least have the courtesy to do it while they're still early in development; before the makers and fans alike have their hopes so high. Or do you get some kind of perverse and sadistic pleasure out of messing with them and us?
9-18-04
While reading the November 2004 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM), I stumbled upon some "kind of Chrono news" in the most unlikely of places... the letters section. I usually just skip past this section, but this letter and its response from EGM caught my eye:
"Any word on a sequel to Square Enix's classics Chrono Trigger (SNES) and Chrono Cross (PS1)? Please say yes.
-Jim Hackler
Square Enix issued an expected "no comment" on the subject, but we've heard rumblings about the future of the Chrono franchise. A few years back, Square registered a trademark for "Chrono Break," but so far, nothing has came of this project. Also, Square recently surveyed Japanese players, asking if they'd like to see a remake of Chrono Trigger for the Nintendo DS. If you're in serious need of a Chrono fix, though, check out Namco's Baten Kaitos for Gamecube: It's the work of the director and scenario writer of Chrono Cross, and the similarities are all too obvious."
Not exactly encouraging news for a Chrono sequel, but after reading a preview of Baten Kaitos on IGN (and looking at the pretty pictures), I'm starting to get pretty excited about the game (Kaitos that is). I was glad to see that Monolith Software (or just Monolith Soft) is the team heading up the project, as they worked on Xenosaga (not really my favorite game, though it is still good). Here is a direct link to IGN's coverage if you're interested in reading it:
http://cube.ign.com/articles/445/445082p1.html
9-07-04
Square has recently forced one of the more promising fan made Chrono projects, Chrono Resurrection, to shut down its activities. You can read all about it on the Resurrection site, or settle with the quote here:
It is with our deepest regrets in that we have to announce the closure of the Chrono Resurrection project. Square Enix Co., Ltd recently issued a Cease and Desist letter which will mean the project is closed indefinitely.
We have devoted enormous amounts of energy in creating our vision of Chrono Trigger. We hope everyone enjoyed this experience as much as we did. As a goodbye gift to fans, we have a trailer and screenshots of the last part of development of Chrono Resurrection.
We want to thank over 500 of our message board users for their continued support. We'll be back soon with something new and fresh.
If you watch the trailer posted at that site, you will see how great of a product this would have been, and it is a shame Square-Enix put a stop to it. If you are angry about this sudden legal action by Square, then sign this guy's Petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/ct1ctr/petition.html
I personally have been very disgruntled with Square-Enix lately, and their seemingly "let's make as many Final Fantasies and as much money off of them as possible while we still can!" mind set. In my opinion, the Final Fantasy series has went steadily downhill since Final Fantasy VII, like Square isn't even trying anymore. In conjunction with their unwillingness to make another Chrono sequel, and this "destroying" of one of the better fan-made projects, Square has done a lot to make fans unhappy...
And so, I have decided to boycott all Square-Enix products until the day when they either allow the Resurrection staff to continue production or Squaresoft instead makes another Chrono sequel. If they do not do either of these things, then they should at least make a Final Fantasy game that is superior in gameplay to the previous versions (instead of just the "improved graphics" they've been settling with).
I would encourage the other disgruntled Square fans of the world to boycott as well, and make sure to by plenty of non-Square RPGs to help Square's competitors out whilst hurting Square themselves.
Good day...
Fan Made Chrono Trigger Sequels and Remakes
(note: you may need to turn off your pop-up blocker to view these, as I've set them to load in new windows)
Chrono Trigger Resurrection: A very promising 3D remake of Chrono Trigger, and the fan-made production I'm looking forward to the most. Though it will only be a demo, this is one I'm really anxious to play. It'll be great to see Crono and company fully three-dimensional!
This product was recently terminated by Square-Enix itself, read the "Breaking news!" section for details
The Chrono Trigger Remake Project: Appears to be a Chrono Trigger MOD, or as they put it on the site, a "total conversion of Unreal Tournament." Has screenshots, 3D models, videos, etc of the game as it is so far. The project information page says that they may build their own engine instead, so that those of us without UT 2004 can play the Chrono remake.
Another project "offed" by Square.
Unofficial Crono Trigger 2: Another 3D Chrono project, using its own engine. I can't really tell how far along this project is, though it does have some alpha builds for download. Of which, I have tried build 11. Although there wasn't much there, it did look pretty good (2D sprites in a 3D background).
Chrono Trigger 2: Day of Thantos: Seems to be a "doomed" project as one staff member posted in the site news. Has some interesting content though... And was made with RPG Maker software.
I've seen several others in the Google search engine that seem earlier in development than these, so I haven't linked to them yet. They all seem to be RPG Maker projects as well... I was thinking about how great it'd be if all of the staff members of the various Chrono projects got together and focused on a single project. I think their progress would be much faster.
Random Chrono Sequel Thoughts...
Sure, this deserves its own header (cough).
I was thinking about the plot lines of Chrono Trigger and Cross and wondering just how exactly Square Enix would go about making a sequel. I think it would be pretty difficult to actually make a sequel to any epic story about time travel, as the heroes will have seen the future and know it turns out alright after their adventures.
But, if you recall the letter from Lucca in Chrono Cross, you'll remember her worrying about people from alternate timelines hurting her and her Lavos defeating friends. For example, after the Chrono Trigger team defeated Lavos, they erased an entire future where humanity struggles to survive in the post-apocalyptic world. People that should have been born in that time were not even allowed to exist. Now what if some crazy guy in the "new" timeline figures out a way to go back in time and undo the "wrongs" the Chrono team did while they were seemingly saving the world? If he actually succeeds in killing the CT team before they go to fight Lavos, then the original timeline (the post apocalyptic one) would still exist, and Lavos would rain fire down on the planet.
Although this is a horribly construed plot I just made up off the top of my head (yay for cliches), something similar was the main point of Chrono Cross. Where a part of Lavos that merged with Schala actually pulls a time travel laboratory (the Chronopolis) through time from the version of the future where Lavos is defeated. With it, he is able to mess up a lot of things in an attempt to devour space-time itself... But of course, Serge and company put a stop to that, so what is left for there to be in a sequel? Not much I'd say...
Now that Squaresoft and Enix have merged into one company though, it makes me want a third Chrono game despite what would no doubt be a difficult storyline to develop. After all, there were three Back to the Future movies! Now even if Square-Enix decides to never make another Chrono sequel, I'd still like to see them get all of the old "Dream Team" members back together to work on a completely new project (please not Final Fantasy related...). Which brings me to another rant... If Square has enough time to make Final Fantasy after Final Fantasy, then why not give us Chrono starved fans another sequel!? Surely Square Enix is aware of all of the Chrono remake projects and unofficial sequels, so they must know that the demand for a new game is there. I don't care what sytem you release it on Square, just make a sequel!
Chrono Sequel Petitions
So far, I've only found one online petition asking for a 3rd Chrono game, and you'll find it here: http://www.petitiononline.com/3rdCG/petition.html
Will it help Square decide to make a sequel? Maybe... After all, there were a lot of petitions asking for a US version of the PSX Chrono Trigger remake, and that eventually happened. Oh, and lets not forget all of the Final Fantasy VII fans begging for a direct sequel, and now there is a DVD called Final Fantasy Advent Children in the works.
Now for those of you who have read about Squarsoft's destruction of the fan-made product, Chrono Trigger Resurrection, this petition may interest you: http://www.petitiononline.com/ct1ctr/petition.html
Note: if anyone finds a Chrono Trigger 3 petition with more signatures than the one I've posted here, please e-mail me the link so I can advertise it here with this one.
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