Author Topic: The Choice to Save the Future  (Read 1271 times)

Nangbaby

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The Choice to Save the Future
« on: January 09, 2016, 02:23:23 am »
Recently I started playing Chrono Trigger again, and I played past the part where Chrono, Marle, and Lucca see a clip of the Day of Lavos.  Afterward, the player is given the "decision" as to whether to save the future or not.

When I was a kid, I thought this was a no-brainer; this bleak world should not even be allowed to exist.  Replaying the game, though, made me appreciate that the characters were going to fight for a future they would never get to truly live in and that they could have simply walked away from adventure after finding a way back home.  Still, there was something off about how this decision was presented.

However, on this latest replay of the game, what struck me was how willing both Marle and Lucca were to change things for the better, practically goading the player into hitting yes. While I understand this was done in part to push players to choose to agree to fight destiny, this also robbed the decision of the weight it was supposed to have. Glossing over the ethics is understandable, but the lack of hesitancy or even bringing up a counterpoint doesn't make the decision seem like much of an actual choice.

What do you think?  Do you think this scene was fine as is, or do you think that there could have been a little back-and-forth to drive the weight of this decision home?

Razig

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Re: The Choice to Save the Future
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2016, 01:21:02 pm »
If one of the characters had suggested that they simply return home and forget what they'd seen (as they'll all be long dead by 1999 AD and Lavos destroying the world isn't their problem), that character would have been cast in a negative light for the rest of the game. I suspect most players would probably dump her off at the End of Time at the earliest opportunity and never pick her up again.

The fact that they immediately set out to save the future without considering any selfish alternatives, just makes the team seem all the more altruistic when the player realizes—in hindsight and without prompting from the game itself—that there were alternatives.

xcalibur

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Re: The Choice to Save the Future
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2016, 02:53:42 am »
I think they should've had a line in the endgame where Lucca/Marle discuss how they could've just turned back, lived out their lives in the present and forgotten about Lavos. But then they agree that for all the trouble, they made the right choice. that would've been cool imo and caused the player to consider the weight of the decision as you said.

Mauron

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Re: The Choice to Save the Future
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2016, 06:44:21 pm »
Maybe they could have pulled a Golden Sun, and if you say no enough it's a game over.

Acacia Sgt

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Re: The Choice to Save the Future
« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2016, 11:14:06 pm »
That would've been interesting to see.

dragonstear

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Re: The Choice to Save the Future
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2016, 06:10:56 pm »
On a replay of the game, I selected no to saving the world.  This simply results in Lucca calling you a dummy and a coward basically.  Then it goes straight into the okay let's go save the world with no decision at all.  It probably have have been an endgame had the writers let you decide no.