Questionnaire [READ AFTER FINISHING]

[ZeaLitY]

Characters

1. How did you like the characterization?
2. And the dialogue between characters, did it seem natural?
3. Which character do you think got the most development?
4. Which character was your favorite because of his or her actions in the game?
5. What did you think of King Zeal?
6. Did you enjoy the split-parties for the Reptite chapters? Which was your favorite? Marle, Lucca / Robo, Crono / Magus / Glenn...
7. Who would you say the main character in the game is?
8. Did you like how the Gurus were portrayed? Especially Belthasar?

Themes

1. What did you think of the themes of the game, if they were presented clearly?
2. What did you think of the issue of changing time for the better versus leaving things as they are? Resurrecting Zeal, versus leaving the Dark Ages as it is?
3. Did you like the choices and decisions in the game, like whether to side with Porre or the Mystics, or explaining things to Cakulha at the missile base?
4. Would you have sided with King Zeal and resurrected Zeal, or kept history as it was?

Events

1. What did you think of the Fall of Guardia? Do you think it's good enough to serve as fanon?
2. What did you think of the Reptite timeline? What did you think when you realized all of history had changed?
3. What did you think about the civil unrest in 1005 A.D. between the nations of the world?
4. Which puzzle did you enjoy the most in the game (Examples: Drum/conveyer belt/numote/Guillotine/fireball shooting/frog catching)
5. Which era would you say the primary era was?
6. Did you feel the game had enough light hearted moments, were there specific parts of the game that got too intense for a Chrono Trigger game?
7. Which event in the game caught you most by surprise ( New 605 AD, Reptite Timeline, Fall of Guardia)
8. Did you find the visual record of King Zeal's resurrection at Chronopolis (Project Anabasis)?
9. What felt like the most awesome, dramatic moment?

Difficulty:

1. Which chapter do you think was the hardest, the easiest?
2. Was tech learning to fast, to slow?
3. Did you ever wish you had more G, if so which chapter?
4. What was your final playtime?
5. What was your final level?
6. What percentage (you can just guess) of techs did you end up learning?

Maps

1. What did you think of the maps?
2. Did CE's new maps seem to fit in with Chrono Trigger's?
3. What did you think of Singing Mountain?
4. What did you think of the Darkness Beyond Time and ruiined timeline areas?
5. What was your favorite map, least favorite?

Sidequests / Secrets

1. How many sidequests and secrets did you find?
2. How did you like them?

Misc.

1. Which emulator did you use?
2. How did you hear about us?
3. How long have you known crimson echoes existed?

Music

1. Do you have any suggestions for music and songs?

Conclusion

1. What did you think about the game on whole? Do you think it's a worthy fan sequel?
2. Did you get a good feeling from playing another Chrono game? Did anything in the game make you excited?
3. If you have any other criticisms or suggestions on how the game could have been better...?

[Lenophis]

Characters

1. How did you like the characterization?

Unknown. I'm not sure how to answer this.

2. And the dialogue between characters, did it seem natural?

For the most part. It took some doing to get used to a real Frog, but I guess that was to be expected. No, the DS version is not really an option for the time being.

3. Which character do you think got the most development?

Magus, without a doubt.

4. Which character was your favorite because of his or her actions in the game?

Magus, without a doubt.

5. What did you think of King Zeal?

His entry to the plot was never expected by me, and his personality fits really well with the Enlightened thought process.

6. Did you enjoy the split-parties for the Reptite chapters? Which was your favorite? Marle, Lucca / Robo, Crono / Magus / Glenn...

At first it was tedious (Marle's mostly) but it was implemented very well. Didn't really have a favorite to choose from though.

7. Who would you say the main character in the game is?

Magus comes close, but I think it might actually be King Zeal.

8. Did you like how the Gurus were portrayed? Especially Belthasar?

Belthasar was an asshole. If that was the intention, it was pulled off very well. It almost seemed like Melchoir and Gaspar were duped by him, though they're smart enough to catch on. Overall, their characters were done well. The only question I have is why they would follow Zeal late in the game to raise the kingdom.

Themes

1. What did you think of the themes of the game, if they were presented clearly?

Themes are not my strong suit.

2. What did you think of the issue of changing time for the better versus leaving things as they are? Resurrecting Zeal, versus leaving the Dark Ages as it is?

I think I hate temporal mechanics. From a scientific standpoint, I can understand reviving Zeal. But as an overseer of events, he should've at least anticipated something going horribly wrong with reviving him. Hooray lack of foresight.

3. Did you like the choices and decisions in the game, like whether to side with Porre or the Mystics, or explaining things to Cakulha at the missile base?

The Mystics/Porre choices were pretty good. I thought the Cakulha scenes could've been done better though. Choosing anything made him (her?) instantly disappear, leaving the player with a "uhhh, ok, what now?" feeling.

4. Would you have sided with King Zeal and resurrected Zeal, or kept history as it was?

He had this sense of self-righteousness about him, which makes him an asshole like many others. His grilling of the team to get them to justify their actions was well-placed. Overall, no, I would've left history the way it was. Zeal was going to do more than revive his old kingdom (that's the impression it was giving, anyway).

Events

1. What did you think of the Fall of Guardia? Do you think it's good enough to serve as fanon?

Having played the PS port, and knowing what I knew about that, I thought the implementation of it in Crimson Echoes was portrayed fairly well. There are still a couple of loose ends that are untied (perhaps intentionally), but overall the grand scheme was covered. During the ending, I was fully expecting Lynx to appear and have his way with the trio in 1005, though that would be a plothole since Lucca had not found Kid yet.

The only issue I take with it is how Marle just suddenly gave it up during the ending. Her mindset was like her father had just died, even though that was not the case. She was also acting like Porre was solely responsible for his death. Granted, they did play a role, but wasn't Montcrief already ousted by the time that happened?

2. What did you think of the Reptite timeline? What did you think when you realized all of history had changed?

The Reptite timeline was done very well. With Coyopa and company being observers to the timeline (and them being completely oblivious to their own extinction, though I suspect that was more a product of someone pulling the wool over their eyes) it was refreshing to see a different perspective. Their attempt to preserve themselves after they discover the human race was the original surviving race went as expected.

3. What did you think about the civil unrest in 1005 A.D. between the nations of the world?

I'm surprised that the original didn't go into this at all. I'm also a little surprised that in 5 years Porre managed to build up an army like they had, since it seemed to be completely non-existent in the original.

4. Which puzzle did you enjoy the most in the game (Examples: Drum/conveyer belt/numote/Guillotine/fireball shooting/frog catching)

Of these choices, the drum game. Frog catching turned into a snooze-fest, since you can't really do anything until time runs out. You can easily get all 5 frogs within 2 minutes.

The conveyor belt game was thought out pretty well, and it does test your ability to think. A favorite? No, but well done nonetheless.

The Numote game seemed to be a bit plain. Unfortunately, I do not how it can be improved at the moment.

The fireball game seems to depend a little bit on luck, which is ok.

The guillotine game could use some refining. Almost immediately after the game starts can the imps get past all four guillotines, thereby forcing you to wait for them to get past the overpass so it'll reset (this takes some time, too).

The drum game was the most thought out one of the bunch, it seems. Even after Lucca states the shapes being the notes themselves, I was still looking at their positions on the scale to try and figure it out (hooray reading comprehension). The hints supplied were just right, too.

The Nu riddle in Kajar is still evil, though.

5. Which era would you say the primary era was?

I'm not really sure.

6. Did you feel the game had enough light hearted moments, were there specific parts of the game that got too intense for a Chrono Trigger game?

There didn't seem to be that many light-hearted moments. Given the story that was in front of the player, there wasn't much room for many. I'm not sure how I would change this, or even if I would. The intensity was not a problem.

7. Which event in the game caught you most by surprise ( New 605 AD, Reptite Timeline, Fall of Guardia)

The new 605 AD, for sure. The entry of the Vanguard and the rise of a new Mystic were the deciding factors.

8. Did you find the visual record of King Zeal's resurrection at Chronopolis (Project Anabasis)?

If it's what I think it is, it's this (I'd advise other users to not open this link unless you are at least near the end of the game).

9. What felt like the most awesome, dramatic moment?

I'd probably say the encounter with Zeal in 64,999,995 BC, before he decides to send everybody to different eras to have some fun.

Difficulty:

1. Which chapter do you think was the hardest, the easiest?

Difficult to say which was the hardest. Marle's first trip in 1 AD can be pretty hard if you don't find the Fay Arrow. The easiest one was probably the Lucca/Robo Reptite scenario (that may have been due to my overleveling on the Acid/Alkaline though).

2. Was tech learning to fast, to slow?

Overall, slow. Most of the techs are really powerful, though.

3. Did you ever wish you had more G, if so which chapter?

All the time, but it was less of an issue later in the game, since supplies weren't needed as much.

4. What was your final playtime?

Unknown, but my time at the final save point is 24:40.

5. What was your final level?

Chrono: 59
Marle: 59
Lucca: 61
Robo: 62
Frog: 59
Ayla: 62
Magus: 59

6. What percentage (you can just guess) of techs did you end up learning?

Unknown. I learned all single techs except for Luminaire and Frog Squash. Luminaire is 522 points away from being learned, Frog Squash is 142 points away. I'm sure I'm missing a bunch of doubles and triples, since I haven't paired up all party combinations yet.

Maps

1. What did you think of the maps?

Most of the maps were good. The ones I have issues with are ones you guys said you would fix anyway, so it's moot to point that out.

2. Did CE's new maps seem to fit in with Chrono Trigger's?

Yes, they did.

3. What did you think of Singing Mountain?

For some reason, I was always expecting this to be in the future, for whatever reason. I blame Son of Sun.

4. What did you think of the Darkness Beyond Time and ruiined timeline areas?

Darkness Beyond Time makes an excellent final dungeon. The meshed timelines fit the area pretty well, too. It did take some getting used to, since it seemed like the maps were corrupted, but overall it was good.

5. What was your favorite map, least favorite?

Unsure on favorite, but least favorite was Kasmir's Den in 605.

Sidequests / Secrets

1. How many sidequests and secrets did you find?

Probably not that many. Found the Mystic Den in Choras, couldn't find Spekkio, and I didn't complete the trading game with Johnny or fill the museum's exhibits.

2. How did you like them?

Can't say for sure if I liked them or not, since I wasn't able to complete any (except the Den in Choras).

Misc.

1. Which emulator did you use?

Briefly tested on bsnes v0.039 and v0.015. That equals about 5 minutes worth. Played it on Zsnes v1.51.

2. How did you hear about us?

"Us?"

3. How long have you known crimson echoes existed?

Not very long, honestly. I didn't make an effort to keep up to date with the project thread at RHDN (big and many screenshots can do that), and I wasn't really looking here, either.

Music

1. Do you have any suggestions for music and songs?

Yes, a couple.

Chrono Cross - Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World (unsure where it would go though)
Chrono Cross - The Brink of Death (a good spot would be the Dalton/Porre/Kasmir invasion of Guardia).
Legend of Mana - The Darkness Nova (unsure where it would go though)
This is of course assuming MIDI's exist for these, or they can be made. If not, disregard.

Conclusion

1. What did you think about the game on whole? Do you think it's a worthy fan sequel?

The hack was well-made. Whether or not I think it is a worthy sequel is irrelevant, that is for the populous to decide. That said, I do think it is a worthy sequel.

2. Did you get a good feeling from playing another Chrono game?

Yes, actually.

Did anything in the game make you excited?

Nothing specific.

3. If you have any other criticisms or suggestions on how the game could have been better...?

I'll play through the game again, then give you some opinions on this.

Edit fixes a couple typos.

[ZeaLitY]

Just a couple notes:

• The Gurus followed King Zeal because they feared he would absolutely kill them on the spot if they resisted.
• Yeah, that 1005 A.D. ending will be changed. That was back before Chrono Trigger DS; the game's release prompted us to put the Fall of Guardia in the game by moving the date up to 1005 A.D.

Thanks for the list. We're preparing to anticipate all sorts of criticisms and praise, both deserved, and this helped us know what to expect. And thanks for beta testing; I feel better about the project now that I know a non-Chrono-diehard ROM hacker went through it.

[FaustWolf]

Characters

1. How did you like the characterization?
One thing that struck me as "off" was the surviving Xamoltan's reaction after the Porre Lab episode, like s/he was more interested in the recovery of the datacube than the fact that his/her comrade was just morphed into a horrible beast and then slaughtered. However, the player doesn't know enough about the Xamoltans to suppose that they would react otherwise -- maybe they're just so into technological and time-travely things that they don't really get emotional over things.

I don't think the Schala/Magus discussion during Ayla's recovery party was brought to its full potential, although it was certainly functional and did the job that needed to be done. I suspect there's no way to really make fans universally "happy" with the outcome of this scene though, since every fan is going to have his or her own vision of how Magus and Schala's monumental reunion should work out.

I really loved the characterization of the Gurus: Melchior as this badass who can fight with the best of them (a continuation of the characterization presented in Prophet's Guile); Belthasar as the daring mad scientist who's willing to use every means at his disposal to better history and correct past mistakes; and Gaspar as the one most concerned with the moral aspects of time travel.

CE's presentation of Marle was really daring, in that her character suffers from the flaw of uneven leadership ability. I think that's a good thing. It might piss off Marle fans...but are there any Marle fans?

2. And the dialogue between characters, did it seem natural?
I thought the dialogue was superb all around. King Zeal's speech during the Atash Kedah is definitely my favorite passage.

3. Which character do you think got the most development?
I think Marle actually received the most development, since various scenes delve into unexplored areas of her past, and you actually took some time to give her some flaws, which really humanizes her.

4. Which character was your favorite because of his or her actions in the game?
Definitely Cedric the Executor, or Guardia I I presume. You'd expect the founder of Guardia to be this total saint who was completely just in everything he did (because that's sort of how canon portrays his kingdom), but it was really amazing to find out just how much of a complete bastard he was. That surprise made him the most noteworthy NPC in the game I think, and really brought out some moral dilemmas in the player's mind.

5. What did you think of King Zeal?
A much better villain that Queen Zeal was in Chrono Trigger; whereas QZ wanted to sort of be nebulously immortal and rule the world, King Zeal has a concrete goal. You can definitely identify with his aims, and the fact that what he's doing really isn't too different from what Crono & co. did in Chrono Trigger. Plus he gives awesome speeches.

6. Did you enjoy the split-parties for the Reptite chapters? Which was your favorite? Marle, Lucca / Robo, Crono / Magus / Glenn...
It's hard to pick a favorite because they were all awesome, but if I have to, it would probably be the Lucca/Robo chapter. The Reptite/Robot war was just so unexpected. Like, man -- lizards vs. robots! How awesome is that!? Plus, fighting the Vision Serpent was really cool.

7. Who would you say the main character in the game is?
Definitely no main character for me. It felt very much like Final Fantasy VI in that regard.

8. Did you like how the Gurus were portrayed? Especially Belthasar?
Yeah, the Gurus were all awesome.


Themes

1. What did you think of the themes of the game, if they were presented clearly?
To me, the main theme of CT:CE is that a time traveler has to consider and accept huge moral consequences for his or her actions. The way the game presents it, a time traveler basically commits the Holocaust a million times over each time he or she makes a significant change in historical events. On balance, the time traveler brings into being millions and millions of lives that never would have existed otherwise. That's heavy stuff, and something that I felt was lacking from Chrono Trigger. There, it was just sort of a happy-go-lucky romp through time for the most part, and the time travelers could do no wrong.

2. What did you think of the issue of changing time for the better versus leaving things as they are? Heavy stuff, as described above. This issue really struck me during the Cedric sidequest where you could accompany him on his (forceful) negotiations with Cambyses of Choras. I totally wanted to axe Cedric's effort and I did, and I thought, "Cool, history is better for it." Then I found out from Agent 12 that I just, like, freaking erased Guardia from the world map, and when I poisoned poor Cambyses to restore the "proper" way of things, I was like, Dude. Holy shit. This is morally intense.

3. Did you like the choices and decisions in the game, like whether to side with Porre or the Mystics, or explaining things to Cakulha at the missile base?
The Mystic/Porre/Neutral decision was definitely the highlight of the game for me. You could really feel Frog's moral and political dilemma, and seeing how things turned out both in 605AD and in 1000AD really brought home the fact that the player just had an impact on the game world. I don't think the Cakulha missile base explanations had any effect on the way things turned out though, because Cakulha just disappeared without any reaction. Maybe that wasn't implemented yet when I went through the Missile Base.

4. Would you have sided with King Zeal and resurrected Zeal, or kept history as it was?
I'd like to know what a world in which Zeal lasted past the Ocean Palace incident would look like first. It's really amazing how the Xamoltan were able to hold back from trying various changes to world history and seeing the results, basically using an experimental method to build a "best possible" chain of events.


Events

1. What did you think of the Fall of Guardia? Do you think it's good enough to serve as fanon?
I think the way the Fall of Guardia happens in CT:CE should actually satisfy a lot of fans who are pissed at Masato Kato basically proposing that Dalton could make it happen all on his own. Throwing King Zeal and Kasmir into the mix made the situation a bit more believable given the canonical presentation of Dalton.

2. What did you think of the Reptite timeline? What did you think when you realized all of history had changed?
The Reptite chapters were some of the best in the game, definitely. I was fascinated by the similarities and differences between Reptite and human civilization, especially the fact that the Reptites distrusted themselves so much that they were willing to give their free will up to the Vision Serpent. That's a fairly unique idea in Sci Fi, but maybe I haven't kept up on latest trends in the genre or something.

3. What did you think about the civil unrest in 1005 A.D. between the nations of the world?
As a huge lover of politics and a World War I/II buff, I thought this was done especially well. I really felt the uneasiness hanging over the Guardian and Porrean populations, and Choras kind of figuring out what the heck it would do as if it were the US in 1939.

4. Which puzzle did you enjoy the most in the game (Examples: Drum/conveyer belt/numote/Guillotine/fireball shooting/frog catching).
Definitely the drums, that was a real challenge. I really liked that question mark box in the Nu riddle though. 

5. Which era would you say the primary era was?
Definitely 1005AD, because the player already knows that events in Chrono Cross are going to be shaped there. I think it receives the most attention and development, and for good reason.


6. Did you feel the game had enough light hearted moments, were there specific parts of the game that got too intense for a Chrono Trigger game?
I thought Chrono Trigger could have stood to be much more intense (I felt more at home with the dolorous mood of Cross), so I might be the "wrong" person to ask. However, I remember laughing at certain points in CE. I can't remember specifically where or how many times that happened, but I thought it certainly had enough good humor.

7. Which event in the game caught you most by surprise (New 605 AD, Reptite Timeline, Fall of Guardia)
I think the truth behind Guardia's founding in 1AD actually took me by surprise the most. Cedric really made a huge impression on me. He's like Guardia's Jebediah Springfield, totally not what the historical record might suggest.

8. Did you find the visual record of King Zeal's resurrection at Chronopolis (Project Anabasis)?
Huh? Oh snap, I want to see that now!! Where the heck is it?

9. What felt like the most awesome, dramatic moment?
Definitely the Etash Kedah. Oh yeah. So, does it suggest that a dimension exists in which King Zeal was actually victorious? Did Lavos come to the surface briefly and get zapped by utter hellfire, and Zeal never had an Ocean Palace incident? (You may wish to make this a question answered in the CE Q&A feature; it's great having the scenario developers in close enough contact for this sort of thing ).

Difficulty:

1. Which chapter do you think was the hardest, the easiest?
I thought the most insanely difficult part was fighting the Golem with Magus; you guys just love sending Magus to get creamed vs. a Golem, don't you? Same thing happened in Prophet's Guile. The easiest was ironically the last battles, but that may be because I had a really, really, ridiculously good equipment setup; a party of Magus, Marle, and Lucca also, contrary to popular belief, has huge strategic advantages between OmniShield, All-Protect, and All-Haste. I imagine the AI for the last boss will be changed though, so the jury's still out for this one.

2. Was tech learning too fast, too slow?
I thought the tech learning rate was just right.

3. Did you ever wish you had more G, if so which chapter?
The battle system is all about techs, not equipment; having the best weapon, especially, really doesn't do the player any good in CE because you're going to be hacking away at enemies for minutes on end unless you pull out your big guns and determine the enemy's elemental weaknesses. The ethers the player needs as a result are amply provided for in battle IMO. The wallet, available as early as the prologue, should ease any money problems the player perceives.

4. What was your final playtime?
28 hours, 30 minutes.

5. What was your final level?
Late 40s or early 50s IIRC.

6. What percentage (you can just guess) of techs did you end up learning?
Probably 65%; 100% for my favored party of Magus/Marle/Lucca, and 40% average for Crono, Robo, Frog and Ayla. There's certainly opportunity to learn 100% techs, since the amount of tech points per battle goes way up late in the game.


Maps

1. What did you think of the maps?
God, I'm glad this is a Temporal Flux project and not an RPGMaker project.

2. Did CE's new maps seem to fit in with Chrono Trigger's?
Absolutely.

3. What did you think of Singing Mountain?
Square Enix should be shaking in its boots for not having your rendition of Singing Mountain in Chrono Trigger or CT:DS.

4. What did you think of the Darkness Beyond Time and ruiined timeline areas?
To borrow a quote from ZeaLitY, "visual sex."

5. What was your favorite map, least favorite?
Fave map: The Darkness Beyond Time. Definitely. That was brilliant.
Least fave: Probably the ruined Ocean Palace from which King Zeal removes the Masamune. Chrono Trigger's native tilesets just aren't meant for such an environment.


Sidequests / Secrets

1. How many sidequests and secrets did you find?
Enough to keep me entertained.

2. How did you like them?
Lots. I certainly didn't get bored by the ones I decided to pursue. The bartering, while innovative, lost its charm quickly (as does anything we have to go through a lot of work to accomplish), but it's not like I was forced to do it.

Misc.

1. Which emulator did you use?
ZSNES, v 1.51

2. How did you hear about us?
I think I did a web search on "Chrono Trigger" back in 2003 and kept track of the Compendium off and on since then, finally joining due to the Dream Splash in 2007.

3. How long have you known crimson echoes existed?
I'm pretty sure I knew about it before I joined.

Music

1. Do you have any suggestions for music and songs?
I thought the music currently in use is perfectly functional. All bases are covered; no music piece seems out of place or anything.

Conclusion

1. What did you think about the game on whole? Do you think it's a worthy fan sequel?
Quite frankly, I consider it (gasp) canon! I mean, in Masato Kato's silence, something from the Chrono Compendium is the closest thing. I don't think you guys should feel ashamed by this observation, but definitely don't go flaunting it on GameFAQs or anything.    But Square Enix's failure is your success.

2. Did you get a good feeling from playing another Chrono game? Did anything in the game make you excited?
I was pretty excited about it from beginning to end.

3. If you have any other criticisms or suggestions on how the game could have been better...?
As a Magus/Marle/Lucca player as consistently as possible, I found Magus' brand-new techs, and Marle's and Lucca's souped-up techs, the most exciting aspects of the gameplay. Once the techs stopped being "new", i.e., once Magus got into the "Dark Mist" > "Dark Matter" range, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu that ultimately detracted from gameplay; I probably would have had this questionnaire filled out a week earlier had I not felt that current hacking capabilities could improve the sense of "newness" a player feels when experimenting with CE's techs. I just got bored once my party learned their full tech sets, probably because I knew the ins and outs of these techs from my time with Chrono Trigger. I did not find the tech situation to be a problem during the early stages of gameplay; even counting Magus' new techs out, Crono, Marle, and Lucca had fresh strategic options available to them early on by virtue of the fact that they had access to Lighting/Ice/Fire during their earliest battles. It's only something I felt once I realized that the rest of the tech sets would be identical to what the players had in Chrono Trigger.

On the other side of the coin, players might appreciate this sense of nostalgia. Next week I'd like to create some new techs with jsondag's editor and the comprehensive tech spreadsheet, and I'll submit new techs one-by-one for the CE team's consideration. Maybe the beta testers can vote on the quality of proposed techs too.

Closing Comments: Nice effing work, CE team. Not only have you created the first high-end, full-game scale Chrono project that incorporates and explains as much canon as possible, but it turned out mighty fine. As a fan of the series since the day I fatefully picked up an issue of Nintendo Power in late 1994 or early 1995, my hat is off to you. People will invariably bombard you with comments like, "the storyline is uninspired, the dialogue sucks" because they want to rain on your parade, but screw them.

See you next mission.

[ZeaLitY]

Thanks. As for King Zeal and the Atash Kedah, it's basically moot since in the same breath of time, the Frozen Flame used the Dragon Tooth to do the "Carmine Genesis" and resurrect the Reptites (3,000,000 B.C.).

I feel so reinvigorated after reading the questionnaire answers.

[FaustWolf]

Oh, so the Atash Kedah sort of indirectly resulted in the Carmine Genesis then?

[ZeaLitY]

Yeah. King Zeal's little Gate there at the A.K. takes the Dragon Tooth to 3,000,000 B.C.

[FaustWolf]

Man, we should totally do a "CE:Ultimania," and unlike the real ultimanias, it'll actually contain full storyline explanations.

[Agent 12]

Yea that's why Sorin jumps in the gate after the dragon tooth.  He stops it from merging with reptites to create the reptite timeline (i think).  Sadly I sort of glossed over this in my initial skeleton but chrono'99 managed to put it back in nicely.  We can probably do a better job of explaining it....but even if we do i think it'll go over 90% of peoples heads.

As for the reaction to the porre lab....i always thought they party just didn't tell the reptites about his mutated brother?  Is there like......recognition that it happened and it's just bland, or is there no recognition at all?

--JP

EDIT:

Huh? Oh snap, I want to see that now!! Where the heck is it?

Best easter egg of the game   it's in chronopolis somewhere.  I was pretty sure we had an NPC give a hint?  Actually..Zeality might have asked me if we should give a hint and I told him no i wanted it to be a super secret   Lenophis found it though so right now it's 50/50 so we'll see.

[FaustWolf]

For the post-Porre Lab reaction, there was no indication given that the party even told the surviving Xamoltan. That's an alternative explanation for the Chronopolis Xamoltan's reaction.

[Zephira]

Characters

1. How did you like the characterization?
It seemed very natural. It was a shock seeing Crono speak at first, but it grew on me after a while.
2. And the dialogue between characters, did it seem natural?
It was natural enough. I like how Frog and Magus bicker every now and then.
3. Which character do you think got the most development?
Magus, mainly because I paid the most attention to him. Shameless fangirl.
4. Which character was your favorite because of his or her actions in the game?
Read above.
5. What did you think of King Zeal?
King Zeal is a dick. But, I love what you did with him. Great antagonist!
6. Did you enjoy the split-parties for the Reptite chapters? Which was your favorite? Marle, Lucca / Robo, Crono / Magus / Glenn...
The split parties were very enjoyable, quite a good twist. They were pretty hard, since I hadn't levelled much with Robo and Lucca, but not too bad. EDIII was my favourite, for the interaction between Magus and Frog.
7. Who would you say the main character in the game is?
It's different for every player. I would say Magus.
8. Did you like how the Gurus were portrayed? Especially Belthasar?
Belthesar is also a dick. But yes, the Gurus were portrayed well. I almost wanted to see more reactions from Gaspar, but I like how they interacted.

Themes

1. What did you think of the themes of the game, if they were presented clearly?
The themes were very engaging. There was a bit of a negative feel to some of the events, I could really feel the desperation.
2. What did you think of the issue of changing time for the better versus leaving things as they are? Resurrecting Zeal, versus leaving the Dark Ages as it is?
Definitely an issue that should be explored. It's a moral grey area. Of course the heroes would want to leave Antiquity as it was or else they might never exist, but would a world Enlightened see any less suffering than an Earthbound world?
3. Did you like the choices and decisions in the game, like whether to side with Porre or the Mystics, or explaining things to Cakulha at the missile base?
The choices were nice. I haven't explored them all yet, but I was content with the choices I made.
4. Would you have sided with King Zeal and resurrected Zeal, or kept history as it was?
Again, a moral grey area. To relieve the suffering of the people in Antiquity, I might have raised Zeal. Perhaps the Enlightened would have found a way to rescue Schala.

Events

1. What did you think of the Fall of Guardia? Do you think it's good enough to serve as fanon?
Badass. Another time where you can just feel the desperation in the air.
2. What did you think of the Reptite timeline? What did you think when you realized all of history had changed?
The Reptite timeline was a great addition. It's strange how many things Crono Co changed in CT and the beginning of CE without too many adverse effects. This time, they finally pushed too far.
3. What did you think about the civil unrest in 1005 A.D. between the nations of the world?
Another interesting addition. I liked going between the villages and reading all the flavor text. Although, I would like to see a Porrean and a Guardian meeting in a bar and arguing.
4. Which puzzle did you enjoy the most in the game (Examples: Drum/conveyer belt/numote/Guillotine/fireball shooting/frog catching)
The drum puzzle was very confusing, though not too bad after giving up a couple times and having Magus explain it. I think frog catching was my favourite, though it needs a little bit more explanation.
5. Which era would you say the primary era was?
I think Antiquity, because the game basically began and ended there.
6. Did you feel the game had enough light hearted moments, were there specific parts of the game that got too intense for a Chrono Trigger game?
I wouldn't say it was too intense. It might not be what people expect, especially with the hopeless atmosphere in Truce after the Fall of Guardia.
7. Which event in the game caught you most by surprise ( New 605 AD, Reptite Timeline, Fall of Guardia)
The Fall of Guardia. I should have seen it coming, but it really caught me off guard.
8. Did you find the visual record of King Zeal's resurrection at Chronopolis (Project Anabasis)?
I did.
9. What felt like the most awesome, dramatic moment?
There's a few.. the Fall of Guardia definitely stands out the most, but the very end where Alphard wakes up in what looks to be a dungeon, and the Flame dungeon where Magus deflected that fireball at Schala were also awesomely dramatic.

Difficulty:

1. Which chapter do you think was the hardest, the easiest?
EDI, running around with Marle, was the hardest. I'm not sure which was the easiest, they all seemed to hold a consistent level of difficulty. Maybe that one chapter that is only talking in Chronopolis.
2. Was tech learning to fast, to slow?
I want to say too slow, but it balanced out in the end.
3. Did you ever wish you had more G, if so which chapter?
I wished I had more G in every chapter before EDII. When I did a grinding run on Alkaline and Acid in Huacan Dome, I got enough G to last me another couple chapters.
4. What was your final playtime?
30:19
5. What was your final level?
Magus: 67, Marle: 63, Crono: 64.
6. What percentage (you can just guess) of techs did you end up learning?
All of them except for Ayla's and Frog's Final Tech.

Maps

1. What did you think of the maps?
The maps were pleasing, but a lot require some graphical polishing.
2. Did CE's new maps seem to fit in with Chrono Trigger's?
They did.
3. What did you think of Singing Mountain?
It was a nice dungeon, though a lot of the waterfalls have repetitive tiles.
4. What did you think of the Darkness Beyond Time and ruined timeline areas?
The DBT was an awesome dungeon, and a great way to cap off the game. That kid walking in circles and growing old then turning into Lavoid monsters, that diary in Zeal, that NOT FOUND computer, and all those transition noises were excellent.
5. What was your favorite map, least favorite?
I think my favourite map is the DBT dungeon. My least favourite.. hard to decide. Probably EDIII because of glitchy tiles. Needs graphical polishing.

Sidequests / Secrets

1. How many sidequests and secrets did you find?
I didn't find the Glass Rose until the final chapter. I finished all sidequests except for the three volunteers in 600, and the Pink Nu in the treasury. There should be a reminder somewhere to tell you to search the room that Magus was imprisoned in; perhaps have Magus say he forgot a weapon or piece of armor back there.
2. How did you like them?
They were pretty fun. Johnny's sidequest was pretty confusing though, some more clues in that one would be useful.

Misc.

1. Which emulator did you use?
ZSNESW.
2. How did you hear about us?
Read about CE in the news posts, Zeality told me to beta.
3. How long have you known crimson echoes existed?
About as long as I've been apart of the Compendium.

Music

1. Do you have any suggestions for music and songs?
There are certain places that the Sewer music is used, but you need to remove the water ambience.

Conclusion

1. What did you think about the game on whole? Do you think it's a worthy fan sequel?
Badass!
2. Did you get a good feeling from playing another Chrono game? Did anything in the game make you excited?
Again, badass!
3. If you have any other criticisms or suggestions on how the game could have been better...?
Make hugging sprites for the Magus/Schala and Crono/Marle scenes. That's really all I can think of for now.

[Romana]

Characters

1. How did you like the characterization?
I thought it flowed really well. It was interesting to see an extension/deconstruction of the characters' typical basic personalities (e.g. Crono snapping and becoming violent from his short temper, Glenn's choices to bring about justice)
2. And the dialogue between characters, did it seem natural?
To me it was flawless.
3. Which character do you think got the most development?
Magus, I think.
4. Which character was your favorite because of his or her actions in the game?
Glenn, Magus and Ayla all got a lot of powerful scenes, particularly in showing their bravery and respective resolutions.
5. What did you think of King Zeal?
At first I felt he might've been an idea resorted to due to the fact he was easy to bring up in the plot (going basically unmentioned in CT), but I was
surprised to see over the course of the story how he developed and his reasons for his plan could even be sympathized with to an extent. He was tragic in a way, and executed wonderfully in the game's end as he speaks to the party.
6. Did you enjoy the split-parties for the Reptite chapters? Which was your favorite? Marle, Lucca / Robo, Crono / Magus / Glenn...
I thought this was a pretty interesting section of the game, totally unexpected. Out of the parties I enjoyed Lucca and Robo's most, probably due to all the interesting dialogue.
7. Who would you say the main character in the game is?
This is something I wondered about a lot, funny enough. Early on Marle felt like the protagonist, although later this sort of drifted on to Glenn and Crono far later.
8. Did you like how the Gurus were portrayed? Especially Belthasar?
This was excellent. The focus was mainly on Belthasar, but that's the point. The build-up to him having other motives behind helping out the party was really great, and his subsequent 'return' to Crono's side was realistically done.


Themes

1. What did you think of the themes of the game, if they were presented clearly?
If the struggle between dreams and the inevitability of war and fighting are the main themes, then that got through to me. Written superbly. It was
interesting and a little disheartening to be shown that one's actions aren't totally perfect and others will end up hurt because of it.
2. What did you think of the issue of changing time for the better versus leaving things as they are? Resurrecting Zeal, versus leaving the Dark Ages as it is?
I had to stop and think about this near the end when King Zeal prompted this. It's difficult to think about... would Zeal be better off if it was resurrected? I think they'd repeat past mistakes and become too power-hungry without proper guidance.
3. Did you like the choices and decisions in the game, like whether to side with Porre or the Mystics, or explaining things to Cakulha at the missile base?
Yes, it was neat how you could affect the outcome of the battles during the Porre/Mystic scenes. At pretty much every choice in the game I load stated to see them all.
4. Would you have sided with King Zeal and resurrected Zeal, or kept history as it was?
For the safety and simplicity of avoiding risk, I probably would've kept things as they were. King Zeal would've been too much of a loose cannon, more so than he already was, should he regain his kingdom.


Events

1. What did you think of the Fall of Guardia? Do you think it's good enough to serve as fanon?
This was possibly my favourite scene. The Fall of Guardia was just done so damn well, especially the infamous Masamune scene. The 'stomping' noise in the background with no music playing made it particularly tense.
2. What did you think of the Reptite timeline? What did you think when you realized all of history had changed?
I thought "Whoa, it's like a serious extension of that optional ending". It was pretty fun to play through since up to now we'd only really seen the Reptites portrayed as antagonists.
3. What did you think about the civil unrest in 1005 A.D. between the nations of the world?
It was developed realistically. Obviously one of the main themes of the game would be the reason for Porre's uprising, and I was pleased with how it was executed.
4. Which puzzle did you enjoy the most in the game (Examples: Drum/conveyer belt/numote/Guillotine/fireball shooting/frog catching)
The drum puzzle took me a while to get, but it wasn't bad. The conveyor belt... I think I had trouble with that one. As for the numote, that was kinda fun and quirky. The guillotine puzzle was neat but ended too quickly and the imps moved in a too tight fashion (too tight...?). Same goes for the fireball one. As for frog catching, I don't even remember doing it.
5. Which era would you say the primary era was?
1005 AD and 11,995 BC. I'd say 2302 AD, but I hardly ever left Chronopolis for the mainland.
6. Did you feel the game had enough light hearted moments, were there specific parts of the game that got too intense for a Chrono Trigger game?
I thought there was enough humour and the Woolsey style was still there, great on job on maintaining that. It touched on a lot more philosophical themes than CT, but it did it so well it's not a concern of breaking the player's suspension of disbelief or anything.
7. Which event in the game caught you most by surprise ( New 605 AD, Reptite Timeline, Fall of Guardia)
Interesting as it was to see the huge differences in 605 AD, the Reptite Timeline was really unexpected.
8. Did you find the visual record of King Zeal's resurrection at Chronopolis (Project Anabasis)?
I found it, yeah. Nice touch.
9. What felt like the most awesome, dramatic moment?
The end of the game when the party reaches the Darkness Beyond Time/Eclipse. Hearing the familiar wind effect signalling the Black Wind, along with the eerie design of the area was really something. I liked being able to speak with each of the party members and see what they had to say about it, too.


Difficulty:
Well nuts, I altered my stats/items through Chrono Edit at around chapter 3 or 4 so I can't really give satisfying answers here.

1. Which chapter do you think was the hardest, the easiest?
Everyone complained about this at some point, but Magus's fights at the beginning were a pain. I'm guessing that's toned down a bit now anyway. I guess can't say what was easiest... although I have to say, it'd be nice to see the last two King Zeal bosses do something... new or unique.
2. Was tech learning to fast, to slow?
Not sure here either.
3. Did you ever wish you had more G, if so which chapter?
I didn't mess with my money till endgame (I only sold stuff for money when playing the high rollers game repeatedly in the casino), so I can answer this, ha. I was fine for money the whole way, I usually had plenty since I fought pretty much everything.
4. What was your final playtime?
...09:45. At one point I picked up where I left off (ch16) with a newly-patched rom, before that I had... 13 or so hours?
5. What was your final level?
Hahaha, everyone was 82+ due to Edit.
6. What percentage (you can just guess) of techs did you end up learning?
I don't think I missed any except the last few of Marle's since I barely used her. So about 85%...?


Maps

1. What did you think of the maps?
Most of them were excellent, although I have to say some (Ocean Palace Ruins) seemed a little hastily-done, although I'm aware how limited and annoying the tilesets can be.
2. Did CE's new maps seem to fit in with Chrono Trigger's?
Yeah, perfectly.
3. What did you think of Singing Mountain?
Good dungeon, very lovely to look at, especially the area with the waterfalls.
4. What did you think of the Darkness Beyond Time and ruiined timeline areas?
Absolutely brilliant.
5. What was your favorite map, least favorite?
Favourite, DBT without a doubt. Least, probably the Ocean Palace Ruins. Oh, and can I say (this is odd) Lucca's house during the epilogue? I LITERALLY COULDN'T GET PAST LARA FOR A FEW MINUTES.


Sidequests / Secrets

1. How many sidequests and secrets did you find?
To be honest I did like 1 or 2 tops. I'll have to go back and do the rest now that I've finished the story.
2. How did you like them?
Pretty good, Spekkio's journey to view battles in different eras is a nice concept.


Misc.

1. Which emulator did you use?
Latest version of ZSNES.
2. How did you hear about us?
I googled 'chrono trigger' (either that or I found it through Wikipedia's page) and found the site about 3 1/2 years ago when I had gotten into Chrono Trigger. Lurked for a while before I registered.
3. How long have you known crimson echoes existed?
...Uhh since as long as I can remember.


Music

1. Do you have any suggestions for music and songs?
I guess just try and mess with the instruments in Temporal Flux a bit, and maybe import a Radical Dreamers song or two.


Conclusion

1. What did you think about the game on whole? Do you think it's a worthy fan sequel?
Absolutely. The Dream Team could honestly never top this.
2. Did you get a good feeling from playing another Chrono game? Did anything in the game make you excited?
Of course. It felt like an honest to goodness new Chrono game rather than a hack. The things I was most looking forward to seeing were how the Fall of Guardia/Dalton and Schala would be handled. I was also interested in King Zeal's motives and found him to be a genuinely deep character.
3. If you have any other criticisms or suggestions on how the game could have been better...?
Hm... Everything's pretty top notch as it is. If I had to suggest anything, I'd say something crazy like "be able to enter a distortion into RD's Viper Manor and fight Lynx with an imported version of his battle theme from the same game". Oh and uh, maybe some more features added to casino.

WELL DONE YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARDS, I ENJOYED CRIMSON ECHOES IMMENSELY

[Agent 12]

Yay!

I was worried that you were so turned off by chapter 1 that you wouldn't enjoy the game!  Glad to see it redeemed itself!

--JP

[Romana]

Haha, I wasn't turned off by chapter 1 at all, just the difficulty.