Difference between revisions of "Supporting Material Translation"

Revision as of 23:26, 22 August 2010

While translated information is added to several relevant places in the encyclopedia, it is centralized here for easy access and tracking. Contributing translators are listed above image; we owe them everything!

Chrono Trigger Prerelease

EGM Alpha Screenshot

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  EGM #7, dialogue in screenshots

The upper left screenshot (with a monster or tech name) and the screenshot featuring a Goon battle in Manoria Cathedral were selected for translation, as the Cathedral screenshot contained unique dialogue.

The upper left screenshot says "Triple Tech" and "Arc Impulse", while the middle one reads, "Well, it's about time to get started. This will be your grave." or "Now, let's get on with it! Welcome to your grave!!"

Script

Chrono Trigger Prerelease Translations

The CT Prerelease is a beta version of Trigger distributed by Square in 1994. Check out this incredibly fascinating look from GlitterBerri at an earlier stage of development, with all sorts of goodies that didn't make it in or were changed for the final!

Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger Gamest Coverage

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Chrono Trigger Development Team Special Talk

"The latest RPG released by Square"

RPG; Super Nintendo; 11,400 yen (plus tax); 32-bit; on sale now from Square

Chrono Trigger, the epic collaboration of Yuji Horii, Akira Toriyama, and Hironobu Sakaguchi that is dominating all current hit charts, is an extremely entertaining work, packed with highlights. Here we present a special round-table discussion with the staff who contributed to its development as we delve into Chrono Trigger to find its appeal.

Excitement over the story and new battle system!

Our hero Crono's adventure begins when he goes to save a girl who was sucked into a time warp created by a teleportation device.

Such is the very simple start of Square's newest game, Chrono Trigger. But that simplicity is actually not to be trusted—the details of this story, that gradually reveals itself as you travel through time to each different era, far surpass the story's creation. It is truly a first-rate piece of entertainment.

Let us explain the two points that bring out the fun of Chrono Trigger.

First is the mystery of a time travel story in which adventuring through various eras influences later eras, and the situations change again and again. The statue of the hero worshiped in the fiend village changes in response to battles fought in the past! And the stingy, greedy village elder... and the desert... and the adventurer... nngh, I want to write them. But I won't. I want you to see it all for yourself as you fully enjoy playing the game. The bartering system in the prehistoric era is fun (you trade items), and the most minor bits of dialogue really hit home. Anyway, I recommend going back to later eras every time you do something. It's really very good how the eras are altered and the story changes.

The second point is the lively battle scenes that make the game seem like an action RPG. It's a turn-based RPG, but the field doesn't change, and the monsters move around the battle scenes. The characters' actions are very distinct as well. Frankly, you could say that the charm of Akira Toriyama's characters shines more and more, precisely because of this battle system. The appeal that the designer put into the characters is drawn out 100%, and in that sense, you might say that this is a true character game. I really want you to experience this thrilling adventure RPG.

Captions:

The trial scene, with its elaborate graphics.
This line makes my heart skip a beat. Wow. (Line: The person I hate most? My dad, of course.)
Who lives in the house in the desert?
The Great Adventurer Toma rests here. (Line: Crono, long time no see.)
You really feel presence in the battle scenes. They're turn-based, but suddenly you're at the edge of your seat!

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Development Team Special Talk

The battles are Chrono Trigger's greatest secret.

First, I'd like to ask about the biggest special feature: the battles.

Higuchi: Before, like in Final Fantasy for example, when you're walking around and you run into monsters, the screen would go fuzzy and it would cut to a battle scene, but that doesn't happen in Chrono Trigger.

So is it like Secret of Mana?

Higuchi: No, Secret of Mana is a real-time battle RPG type, where you control the characters and slice things up.... This is a turn-based RPG. This is the first time we've done anything like that.

Kamata: In appearance, it does look like Secret of Mana, but as for what you're doing, it's closer to Final Fantasy.

Was that really hard?

Higuchi: It was hard. We had to meet a lot of conditions, which is why we hadn't ever done it before.

You had been cutting to a new scene.

Higuchi: Yes. This all started when we decided to take on those conditions from the beginning.

Because that way is more natural than cutting to a new scene?

Higuchi: That's right. And also, the battle backgrounds, like the town or the castle ruins, can stay the way they are on the field.

So you're saying that before you had just one image to express the battle backgrounds before, but now you can just show them as they are?

Kamata: That's right; so the world's presence and things like that are completely different, and it can draw the players in because it's like they're really moving, fighting, and living inside that world. And on top of that, it's not an action battle, so people who aren't so good with action can still play.

When you do that, what kind of areas give you problems? For example, the monster graphics show up on the field, so you can't have monsters that are too big, maybe?

Kato: No, we do have big monsters. In the boss battles. They take up about half the screen.

So then do you make them move very forcefully?

Higuchi: They're not very forceful (laugh). Like one part of it will be kind of vague. It was really hard seeing how far we could stretch the limits of V-RAM capacity and processing speed. Like, there wasn't enough V-RAM, so we could only show so much, or we couldn't draw something this huge or make it move.

May I ask for more specifics?

Higuchi: We would get something from the field programmers, and the battle took place on it just as it was, but it was incredibly difficult to deliver it well so that the battle takes over smoothly and in a way that isn't obvious, and do it all in a way that wouldn't destroy the field programming and graphics. At first we couldn't really pull it off, and we'd destroy the monsters. Until now, in Final Fantasy type battles, there would be about a second of darkness, and a lot of things happened in that one second, and we were able to turn it into a battle scene. But this time, we couldn't do anything like that at all. We couldn't turn it black; we had to change it in a snap. That was extremely hard.

So it was an experiment that had never been tried before. As a programmer, how do you feel now that you've completed it?

Higuchi: I've worked on Final Fantasy up until now, and it was really more of a behind-the-scenes job, and what I did didn't show up on the surface very much. For example, my calculations would be processed where no one could see them...

Captions:

The sound of the bats sucking blood is a nice touch.
Five elite chosen to represent the Chrono development team of over 30 members.

Creator's Profile:

Katsuhisa Higuchi

Programmer. A veteran programmer who has worked on the Final Fantasy series for years. One of the people who toiled from beginning to end on the battle programming for Chrono Trigger. We hear that he became a father while working on Chrono Trigger.

Akihiko Matsui

Planning. After working on Final Fantasy and then completing Romancing Saga 2, he moved to the Chrono Trigger team in the middle of its development. He was in charge of moving the monsters in battle.

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Higuchi: ...and the only thing that actually showed up on screen were the numbers. Then this time, I did things like dimensions for the first time, and of course I struggled at first. Then somehow the schedule got tight, and I realized I had a mountain of work to do, and that's when I really hated it (laugh). But after getting through that and finding a kind of an end in sight, for the first time, I thought, “Wow, look at the great game I made.” But at first, it was nothing but hard, and there were a lot of times I wanted to give up (laugh).

But you started out thinking, “I think it'll work if I do this,” right?

Higuchi: Hmm, of course I did think that to an extent, but you don't know that it will work out the way you expect. It's that gap that's really hard. Actually, we were hoping to make something where the monsters moved better, and you could move around a lot doing the smallest actions, so it would move the same way as an action game, but the Super Nintendo had its limits—the processing speed was slow, there's only so much V-RAM, and we took a lot of time dealing with things like that.

You just mentioned the monsters. It seems like there aren't so many of them?

Matsui: Numberwise, they probably aren't that many.

Kamata: But the pattern numbers...

I see. Each character has a lot of different patterns.

Matsui: That's right. Because they need a pattern to do anything. You can pretty much just reverse right and left, but they move looking toward and away from the screen, so compared to Final Fantasy, where you only see them from the side, they have to have a lot more patterns.

So you're saying there are fewer monsters, but it takes the same amount of data because of all the patterns they have.

Kamata: No, this way uses up a lot more data.

Matsui: The amount of data we attached to everything went up quite a bit.

The side-view characters we've seen traditionally don't have so much data?

Higuchi: Because you only see them from one side. And in Chrono Trigger, you get more than just one side. They move around, and they have their attack patterns, so their graphic data is overwhelmingly greater.

Kato: The enemies in a normal RPG are just the one still picture. And if a really cool picture shows up, then it moves just a little bit in the battle. In this game, it's not like that. The enemies really exist, and they move around like the characters, and it takes an enormous amount of data to animate them. That's just how alive the enemies are.

Ideas are born from planning meetings with everyone participating

The basic premise is that it's about time travel. Where did that idea come from?

Kamata: At a general meeting. We wanted to start with something completely new, and we had a general meeting to solicit ideas of what kind of thing we wanted to do, and I guess someone suggested it there. They said, “I want to do something like a time patrol.” Then everybody thought that sounded interesting, so we threw ideas around, trying to think of scenarios that handled time.

It seems like it would be really hard to check for bugs on something like this. That goes for programming, too, but do you have to also check the story?

Kamata: What was hard about it was that we knew there were bugs, but when we fixed them, unexpected results would show up in other places. When you're working with something where the story only keeps going to the end, you only need to check what happens after that point, but here, there are places where it uses the thing you fixed and something happens before that point.

Right, if you open the treasure chest with the crest on it in the past, then it's not there in the future. I thought it was done very well.

Kato: On the other hand, if you open it in the future, and then go to the past, it's still there.

Ah!

Kato: When you think about the flow of time, you can do things like that. If you go get it in the future first, then if you go to the past, you can get it again.

I see, so that's how it is.

Kato: I think that once you see the entire flow of the story and understand it like that, you can think, “The way time flows, it should be like this,” and make all kinds of sweet discoveries.

But for the people making it, that would be incredibly hard.

Kato: Indeed. But the fun comes first when we're making it.

So did everybody get really excited at that planning meeting?

Kato: Actually, I came to Square from outside...

Captions:

All these monsters appear and move around in one battle.

Creator's Profile:

Masato Kato

Planning. After leaving another software company, Chrono Trigger was his first work with Square. He was in charge of story and events. He says that he had never experienced such intense planning meetings before, and they really left an impression on him.

Yasuhiko Kamata

Graphics. After working on Secret of Mana, he moved to the Chrono Trigger team. Mainly in charge of background graphics. He wracked his brain pulling the team along while managing group work--delegating jobs to the graphic team and creating entire images.

Yasunori Mitsuda

Music. After his training years (in his own words) of doing sound effects for Secret of Mana and sound engineering for Romancing Saga 2, he was finally able to attain is long-held dream of composing and was responsible for nearly all the music in Chrono Trigger. He used the full extent of his talent by composing up to 80 pieces.

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Kato: ...so this was my first game with Square. And a lot of people started from scratch to make it. So we were making the stories and this giant group of like 30 got together and clamored about at every meeting. It was pretty rough. My stomach would start hurting at the time (laugh).

Was it the first time you'd experienced anything like that?

Kato: Yes. Until then, I'd worked in small groups, where we'd just go ahead and make something, and it was like, “Okay, I'm going to do it like this.” Everyone working together is a pro in and of itself, but we'd have to change direction because of opinions that came up when we had meetings. But when meetings were taken up mostly with, “What the heck is this guy talking about?” kind of opinions (laugh), I would almost snap. There were times I just barely managed to get through by holding myself back. Well, I think everyone in every division is the same way. Because at the general meetings, we'd also argue about the graphics. But there were some really painful things involving the scenarios.

Higuchi: At first, your division has nothing to do with it, after all.

Kato: It's incredible. Everyone just says whatever they want without even thinking. That part was really hard to deal with, but once the basic parts are set, then everyone is left to their own devices to an extent, so it's like a battle of the game sense and abilities of the people working together on the various game events. It's very high-energy, and creates something with a lot of suspense, and that part of it is especially fun—it makes me happy. It's like we were fumbling around in the dark, trying to find the possibilities of this media, what we can do only in video games, but not make a normal, straightforward epic.

Wringing out every drop of ability in the limited time allotted.

Mr. Mitsuda, you were in charge of music. I understand this was your first game?

Mitsuda: Until now, I did sound effects for Secret of Mana and engineering for Romancing Saga 2. They never let me do music before. That was my training period (laugh).

What are your thoughts on your first game?

Mitsuda: Boy, it was tough. It was in development for two years, but I worked on Romancing Saga 2 in the middle of it, so I did it in the one year that was left. In the beginning, the music was ahead of everything. But towards the end, everyone had passed me by, and finally, the music was finished last (laugh).

Matsui: There are times when we're doing it and we realize there really isn't enough music. And we start talking like, “I really do want a musical theme here,” and we make a ton of requests at once. When we're working on something as a big group, we can immediately divide it all up, but with music, it all focuses on one person.

Mitsuda: The number one goal this time was to make something that you could listen to over and over without getting sick of it, so each piece is really long. Normally, the music loops after a minute, but all of my pieces are more than two minutes. So no one gets tired of them, but it's tough writing two minutes of music. Well, it takes twice as long as usual. Then in the end, the number of pieces needed jumped dramatically, and I got so busy I couldn't do anything. Anyway, there is a sense that I accomplished as much as I possibly could at this point.

Speaking in terms of the impressions I got playing, this game had a slightly different feel from the Final Fantasy and Romancing Saga games that I've played. I thought it was interesting.

Kamata: Looking at the consumers' reactions, I think they're loving it like crazy.

Mitsuda: Yeah. The reactions weren't bad. But around December 20 of last year, when I needed so much more music all at once, I was at a total loss (laugh). I wrote the last battle, and then a long one, about four minutes, for the end credits, and I thought I was done, then they'd say, “Haven't you written the sub-boss music yet?” (laugh). I stayed at my office for four days without sleep to write the music for the last sub-boss, but I really wanted to run away. Well, I used up every ounce of my abilities, so anything I have left to do will have to wait until next time.

Are there plans for a sequel?

Mitsuda: Hmm, I wonder (laugh). But I really don't know. I don't want to do it (laugh).

The music really is done by only a small number, huh?

Mitsuda: That's right. At our company, it's almost all done by one person.

About how many people work on the graphics?

Kamata: This time, we ultimately got help from some of the first development division, but when it's just our fourth division, it's about fifteen people. Including the first division, it's about twenty.

The first division? You mean, once they were done with Final Fantasy.

Kamata: Yes, they happened to have some free time. In autumn, we got eight more bits, but there was no way we could handle them. Game graphics aren't done once the picture's drawn. You draw the picture, and then you have to turn it into data and then process it into the map. That processing eats up all the time. Drawing the pictures takes a relatively short amount of time, but all the time after that is taken up with making that data afterward, and we weren't able to get to those extra bits we were given.

It seems like this game really emphasized the feel of light. Were there any specific goals you had for this project?

Kamata: Good question. Basically, we did have the fact that it was Mr. Akira Toriyama, but personally, I think the expressions of Ridley Scott, the director of Alien, with the rays of light and the smoke coming up are very beautiful, and I wanted to make that the main feel of the game.

Captions:

The sub-boss that caused the composer four days of all-nighters.
The light gives the screen a feeling of solemnity.
One of the highlights is this statue of Magus that changes based on battles fought in the past.

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I think the music has a lot to do with this, too, but it has a dank feeling. Is that what we might call the overall tone?

Kamata: To be honest, the first thing I thought was, “We need to make this something that's not Final Fantasy or Mana.” I wanted to make it something that wasn't either of those but still very much a Square game. So first I thought about the in between. It is dank, but it's not as dark as Final Fantasy.

And it's not as bright as Mana?

Kamata: Right. I think that Mana has white mixed in, like it's a pastel.

Individuality, cooperation, and curiosity. These are indispensable traits for a game developer.

Finally, this is technically supposed to be a personnel recruitment article, so please give a message to those aiming to work for Square.

Higuchi: If you're not motivated, don't bother (laugh).

Matsui: I'd like some interesting people to come work here. You don't have to be almighty, but if you have just one talent, even if it's really pointless, then be really well-versed in it.

What about you, Mr. Kato? Since you've only made one game since you started here.

Kato: You must be able to talk about normal things in a logical way (laugh). That's a major prerequisite. Of course, you need to have your own vision and game concepts, and have a clear idea of how you personally would want to make games, but before you get there, the very minimum requirement is to be able to talk normally and make games with other people (laugh).

What about the graphics representative?

Kamata: I think being able to draw is a good prerequisite, and you should like playing with computers. I think the graphics are rapidly going to move to CG, and in the next generation of consoles, they'll be completely CG. We need someone who would be like, “I wanna try this! I wanna try that!”

And what about the underpopulated music division?

Mitsuda: First, we need someone who can go along with new ideas. All of our musicians are idiots who aren't afraid to play along with crazy ideas (laugh). And it would probably be good to be interested in all kinds of things. I don't think they'll let anyone in who doesn't listen to lots of different music and think, “Oh, this is nice,” or, “I'd like to try that.” But it takes more time than regular music, so I think the workload would be really tough. You'd really have to be somebody who can stay awake for four days (laugh); I think it would be good to get somebody who can get by on little sleep.

Thank you very much.

Captions:

The team dissolves when the game is complete. When their break is over, they each have different games waiting for them.
The colorful events are one of the strong points of working as a team.

The Perfect: Talk Battle

Chrono Trigger: The Perfect "Talk Battle" developer interview with Yuji Horii and Hironobu Sakaguchi, translated by GlitterBerri. Thanks to CuteLucca for the source scans!

• Source

V Jump Books Dokusen Project!!

Two members of the Chrono Trigger team discuss the secret story behind the game!

It’s a scorching hot TALK BATTLE!!

Y. Horii VS H. Sakaguchi

DREAM PROJECT

Event ideas, character design, the real story is just inside! See the dynamic relationship between the developers revealed as we present this information to you!

They are, of course, Yuuji Horii and Hironobu Sakaguchi, masters of the Chrono Trigger world!! We conducted this special interview for our readers!

Let the interview begin!!

The game and its graphics were beyond belief.

—Let’s start the interview off with something basic. After completing the game and playing the final version, what were your thoughts? Do you think you were able to accomplish what you set out to do?

Horii:
In my mind, the game went beyond our expectations. There were highlights that, in the end, were more than I thought they’d be. The scene where you’re going into the jail – just the feeling I got from entering the dungeon surprised me. Seeing the scrolling background of the passage left a deep impression on me. Not just the mountains in the background; the inside as well.

Sakaguchi:
Our colleagues who worked on the graphics were also talking about that. If the prison had been done in the normal style, it would have been rather devoid of colour.

—Horii, would you say that he dungeon had the best visuals, in your opinion?

Horii:
Yes. The graphics were excellent, if that’s what you mean. I’m not a professional artist, so I appreciate someone else going in there for me.

—Sakaguchi, how about yourself? Do you find that there was a place that went far beyond what you had imagined?

Sakaguchi:
Something like the stained glass of the courtroom. That part was amazing. At the beginning I imagined the courthouse to be suspended in the sky, connected by a floating bridge to the mountains. I wasn’t thinking about the contrast with the light, that was created the efforts of the staff who drew it.

Horii:
As for this game, I’m only involved with the plot. If there’s a fairground, I just write that there’s a fairground; I don’t write down any of the details. Then the staff brainstorm and come up with a variety of attractions to put in. With entertainment like a robot battle and Square’s ride, there are many things with which to amuse yourself. I think it lent a certain freshness to the game to have everyone working together.

Ideas were brainstormed under the orders of the director.

—Do you think that working with each other, there were parts of the game that reflected your personalities?

Horii:
Off the top of my head, I think that the fairground events were very Sakaguchi-esque. Characters like Gonzalez, especially.

Sakaguchi:
I was the one who created Gonzales. (laughter)

—Is that so? (laughter)

Horii:
Suddenly bursting into song…

Sakaguchi:
Actually, I was also behind the primeval dance next door. (laughter)

Horii:
It’s a good thing that I started dancing to it too.

Sakaguchi:
Actually, Kitase, who was directing the game, was the one who asked me to put something in there.

—Was it because you would always say that to him when you were the director and now your positions have been reversed?

Sakaguchi:
That’s right. (laughter) Kitase only recently became director, so he was always saying “Sakaguchi, Sakaguchi, I’m really sorry about this, but since I’m the director now, I’m going to have to ask you to do this.” (bursts out laughing)

Square had a variety of new ideas – Horii

Chrono Trigger had a degree of freedom never-before-seen in games.

Sakaguchi:
There were times that I felt under pressure to make as much of a Toriyama-style world as possible, but contrary to my expectations I found that it was okay to play around with Toriyama’s universe. It felt like anything was possible.

Horii:
Because of this, even in really serious scenes there’s a lot of silliness. Take the part where you defeat the Dragon Tank after escaping from the prison. The enemies hanging off the edge link together to form a human bride. (laughter)

—Even with the character names, like “Sir Krawlie.” (laughing)

Sakaguchi:
That would be impossible with something like Final Fantasy. It would be rejected immediately. (laughter)

Horii:
We had a lot more freedom than we would with Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. We weren’t worried about the feel of the world; it would be whatever we ended up making.

Sakaguchi:
It was a totally new game.

—Sakaguchi-san, would you say there was a part where Horii’s personality shone through?

Sakaguchi:
Yes and no. When I read the faxes he sent me, I was surprised. They were written like flowcharts, and the response time showed an almost user-like mentality. I thought it was amazing.

They wanted to make the most of time travel.

—I thought I had played till the end, but after the Undersea Palace the game suddenly awarded the player a lot more freedom. You culd go around doing all sorts of things. What was your intention there, seeing as the story was so much linear before?

Sakaguchi:
FFVI wast he same. The style had its pros and cons. We had several events that had to be completed using time travel, so we wanted to make the most of them. Also, when we came up with ideas for bosses that you had to defeat by hitting their weak points, we began to realize we couldn’t put them into a linear story. Players would get stuck and need to consult a walkthrough. As a result, I wanted to make use of those ideas in areas that were optional for the player. The game is accordingly easier to understand than Final Fantasy, and in order to help the player progress through the game we made the Brink of Time (End of Time). We created it so the player could go there to receive hints and carry on.

—I feel that there is one particular optional event that you’d like the player to experience most. There were a lot of events that caused time paradoxes or made use of time travel, weren’t there?

Sakaguchi:
Those were the most popular Chrono-like parts according to the testers as well. Though surely if you just skipped through the story at that pace from the beginning, you wouldn’t be able to follow it, right?

Horii:
Isn’t that right. It wouldn’t make sense.

Sakaguchi:
Because the Chrono Trigger world could be understood through a linear story, I thought players would enjoy events that caused time paradoxes and required traveling through time.

Enjoy the differences between the 1st and 2nd playthrough! – Sakaguchi

The second playthrough will feel different.

—Chrono Trigger has the option for a second playthrough using your progress from the first game. Was this so players could enjoy the multiple endings?

Sakaguchi:
That was one of our intentions, but there was also something we didn’t expect…the testers themselves felt as though they wanted to travel through time again. They wated to start a new game, go to Leene Fair, and time travel once more. That was actually the good thing about time travel, I think. In normal RPGs, the second time through, it feels like a chore to play all the way from the beginning again. With the New Game + you’re able to keep your characters’ strength, so your sense of battle is different. You feel like time traveling in Chrono Trigger once more.

Horii:
With the options in Chrono Trigger, you often find yourself wondering about what would have happened had you chosen to do something different. The second time through gives you more chances to toy with what people say.

Sakaguchi:
Wherever we could, we tried to make it so that a slight change in your behavior caused subtle differences in people’s reactions, even down to the smallest details. If you feel the changes, I think the second playthrough will hold a whole new interest.

Horii:
For example, even if you’re found guilty during the trial the first time through, you might be found innocent the second time. During the initial playthrough, you won’t be aware of the hole in the dungeon wall; you’ll clear he game wondering what it is. But, later, if you try to clear the game 100%, you’ll go outside and realize that you could have gone out there in the first place. (laughter)

Sakaguchi:
Even just waiting I the dungeon for your punishment to be enforced, you’re able to expand the story.

—You can play through again with a different history. By changing history through your actions, you can change the ending, right?

Sakaguchi:
Everyone will probably play a second time to see the different endings. But multiple endings aside, I think that if you enjoy the differences between playthroughs, you’ll find the second time interesting as well.

You can toy with the subtle changes in people’s reactions – Horii

We’re often asked if we like frogs.

D—The world of Chrono Trigger is so varied that it gives rise to a variety of characters that suit it. Chrono Trigger seems to boast characters that have, until now, never before been seen in games like Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy. Where did those original ideas come from?

Horii:
The staff studied the drawings of Toriyama. They put a lot of effort in. We felt as though we couldn’t let the drawings go to waste.

—One of the protagonists is a frog. Was that your idea, Horii?

Horii:
Toriyama gave us the rough sketch of a frog character had had drawn.

—So what made you decide to use a character like that?

Horii:
For some reason, we had been talking about how we wanted a non-human character.

Sakaguchi:
We’re often asked that. Frogs have appeared before in the Final Fantasy series. People ask if it’s because Square likes frogs! (laughter) But that’s not the reason at all. (laughter)

Horii:
When we were creating the characters, we were thinking about what sort of friends Crono would have in each era. The game’s protagonist is a young boy, so how many females should we have? When Square was working on in the in-battle actions, they thought it would be boring to have only human characters. When trying to think up characters that weren’t human or robot, they started considering the frog. (laughter)

—Easy to understand that development. It has character.

Horii:
There were pigs, too. And monkeys. But they aren’t so different from humans.

I want to better capture the feel of a Toriyama-style world. – Sakaguchi

The events that make you burst into tears are the best.

—Out of all the events, which ones did you two like?

Horii:
It’s a normal part of the story, but there’s a course of action where Marle disappears somehow, you see the resulting future, and you have to do something to prevent it. That’s the start of it all; the rest of the story just stems from it. I like that part.

Sakaguchi:
I really like the episode with Marle and her father. That’s because in this game, contrary to what you’d expect, there are some family issues. (laughter) I like events that, rather than making you cry like in Final Fantasy, make you burst into tears.

No matter what the developers do, the game tends to be difficult.

—For the first time in a while, Sakaguchi designed detailed monsters.

Sakaguchi:
When we were making Final Fantasy III, Aoki, the producer of Chrono Trigger, was the one in charge of the monsters. He’s been poking his nose into it ever since. So, I designed some concepts for monsters, then I, Aoki, and two others crowded into a room and discussed things like needing a barrier to defeat certain types of magic. In this game there are many enemies you have to defeat by hitting their weak points. I think it shows that we like simulations.

—So that means that your personality shone through, Sakaguchi.

Sakaguchi:
At first getting through the game was tough. The testers were saying “You guys are being cruel. Whose idea was this?” It was mine! (laughter) Harsh, right?

Horii:
We developers had managed to make the game too difficult!

Sakaguchi:
It’s always like that the first time, no matter what.

Horii:
It’s because we know too much. The developers think the game’s just right; that they’re being too soft. They’re thinking from their own experience. The puzzles were the same. Lots of players didn’t figure out things we thought they’d get asily.

Sakaguchi:
There were exceptions to where people got stuck, though.

Horii:
Right, the places where players got stuck differed from person to person.

Sakaguchi:
You get to the point where you just need to talk to the person, so why don’t you talk to them? (laughter)

We’ll get Toriyama to draw the world map! (laughter) – Horii

They wanted to release the game by the end of the year.

—It’s hard to hear after everything’s finished, but do you feel there are places where you would have liked to have done something differently?

Sakaguchi:
If we had tried a little harder, we could have reached our goal of releasing the game by the end of the year. (bursts out laughing) It was a little heartbreaking to have to change the release date.

—Can we hear about what you’d like to do if you made a sequel?

Sakaguchi:
The sense of dancing you get from exploring Toriyama’s worlds is a little more difficult to capture than I initially thought. If we can successfully channel that feeling, we’ll be able to create a fantastic world. If we try to do a sequel, I want to perfect that completely.

Horii:
And we’ll get Toriyama to draw the world map for us! (laughter)

Sakaguchi:
Then it will really be a Toriyama-style world. (laughter)

—Well, everything turned out great! (laughter) Thank you very much for joining us today.

Hironobu Sakaguchi Profile

Born in 1962 in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture. Sakaguchi joined Square in 1982 and participated in development, starting with computer games. After the Famicom’ sKing’s Knight the Final Fantasy series became a big hit. Since then, he has continued to play an active role as producer.

Yuuji Horii Profile

Born in 1954 in Hyogo Prefecture. After having a hand in Free Writer, Horii was influenced by the Enix Game Contest which sparked his career. He was in charge of scenarios in the smash-hit Dragon Quest series, and has also worked on the Itadaki Street games.

V-Jump Video 1

Transcribed by GekkaHikko and translated by GlitterBerri. Screenshots and other information at the Alpha page.

V-Jump Video 2

Interview Dialogue

Transcribed by GekkaHikko and translated by GlitterBerri. Screenshots and other information at the Alpha page.

Screenshot Unique and Different Lines

Transcribed by GekkaHikko and translated by GlitterBerri.

             Director

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             Director

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Chrono Trigger Ultimania

Chrono Trigger Ultimania was released in January 2009, and featured interviews and concept art among other new content.

Opening Comments

• 

  Page 3, opening comments

Translated by Cherenkov.

In case you'd like romaji:

Sono hoshi ha yandeita.
Haruka oomukashi, soko ni sumu ningen ga mada, daichi
ni umareochita bakari no osanaki shuzoku datta jidai
---Hametsu wo motarasu byoumaga, hoshi no tainai fukaku ni
sukutta no datta.
Byousou ha senpuku shinagara nagai nengetsu wo kakete sodachi,
yagate mirai no itten de hoshi wo kuiyaburu. Chihyou heto
afure, hoshi ga hagukundekita kazuooku no seimei wo zetsumetsu he
to oiyaru. Sore ha douji ni, hoshi no inochi sono mono
no shuuen wo imi shita.
Horobi no hi wo mukaeta sono setsuna, hoshi ha yume wo miru.
Mizukara no ue de---chijou de tsumugaretekita iki
monotachi no rekishi wo, soumatou no you ni omoikaesu.
Tsuuka shite kita ikutsumono no jidai wo, peeji wo meku
ru you ni tsugi tsugi to musou suru.
Sore ha, iki no biyou to suru inochi ga, kioku no
dokoka ni shi no unmei kara nogareru sube ga shirusarete
hainaikato, kenmei no sagashi tsuzukeru koui da
tta. Muishiki ni agakou to suru, rifujin na shi ni
sarasareta seimei no aru beki sugata datta.
Kono yume ni, kotaeru monotachi ga ita.
Hoshi no metsubou ga kettei suru hi kara, 999 nen wo saka
nobotta jidai ni ikiru 3 nin no wakamono tachi. Guuzen
nimo toki wo koeru shudan wo te ni ireta karera ha, zetsubou
ni tsutsumareta hoshi no yukusue wo shiri, ketsui suru.
Jibun tachi ni ha kakawari no nai, ki ga tooku naru hodo
saki no mirai de arou tomo, kanarazu hametsu kara sukutte
miseyouto. Toki wo tabi shite rekishi wo kae, daichi
ni ikirumono tachi no chikara wo kesshuu shite, hoshi no inochi wo
okasu byouma wo sono te de tori nozoku no da---to.
Kakushite, hoshi no yume de tsunagareta itsutsu no jidai
wo ikiki suru, kurono tachi no jikuu wo koeta daibouken
no maku ga agaru.
[Mirai wo, kaerunda!]

Table of Contents

Translated by Lorenz.

• 

  4 Table of Contents

• 

  5 Table of Contents

Let’s go back about nine years – to the end of 1999.

When the members of the production staff were working on the Ultimania Guide for Chrono Cross, the sequel to Chrono Trigger, one idea kept raising its head:

We wanted to try to write an Ultimania, not just for Chrono Cross, but for Chrono Trigger, too.

But there was little hope that that dream was ever going to come true.

That is because there was no reason for a publishing company to ok an Ultimania guide when the original game had been newly released back in 1995.

But there were some big changes at the end of 2008.

Thanks to the massive Time Gate called the Nintendo DS appearing in this world, Chrono Trigger has emerged in the present as a new product once more.

Along with Chrono Trigger’s reemergence, our dream has also become a reality.

Who could have predicted this turn of events?!

Quickly, we hatched a Time Egg of our own memories and brought back tons of information from 13 years ago.

The cramming together of the accumulated knowledge of the past and the newly minted “know-how” gained from a fresh play-through of the DS version resulted in this book.

Both as an attendant on a magnificent trip through time, and as a guide for viewing all of Chrono Trigger’s endings, we hope you will be able to take full advantage of this guidebook.

(Note: I am not certain about the last sentence in the introduction. I believe it is a shortened version of a common polite phrase, but the wording is a little strange to me.)

CONTENTS

Prologue
World Map
An Introduction to Chrono Trigger

CHAPTER 1
Characters
Chrono
Marle
Lucca
Robo
Frog
Ayla
Magus
NPCs (literally “people you encounter on your adventure” in the Japanese)

A Guidebook to Ultimania 1
Dialog Options (literally “Let’s enjoy the changing of lines,” in the Japanese)

CHAPTER 2
Game System
Before setting out on your journey
Map movement
Menu
Parameters
Battle basics
Attack basics
Techs and Double/Triple Techs (literally “skills and combination skills” in the Japanese)
Tech list (literally “skill list”)
Status Effects
Affinities/Attributes? (I forget what this is called in the English version. It refers to the elemental alignment of a character, for example Lucca is fire and Frog is water.)

A Guidebook to Ultimania 2
Battle Technique Course

CHAPTER 3
Main Scenarios
View of the main scenario’s chapters
1 Departure! Dreaming 1,000-Year-Festival
2 The Prodigal Queen
3 The Vanished Princess
4 I’m home!
5 Kingdom Trial
6 Beyond the Ruins…
7 The Mysterious Country’s Factory Ruins
8 The Brink of Time
9 The People of Demon Village
10 The Appearance of the Legendary Hero
11 Tata and Frog
12 Red Stone, Rare Stone
13 Footprints! Chase!
14 Fight, Grand Leon!
15 The Decisive Battle! Magus’ Castle!!
16 Waking up in the Primitive Age
17 Earth’s Laws
18 Magic Kingdom Zeal
19 Release the seal, summon the storm.
20 The Wise Men of the Mountain of Grief
21 What Waits in the Heavens
22 Lavos’ Call
23 The New Ancient Emperor
24 The Time Egg
25 To the Fated Time
26 At the End of the Planet’s Dream

A Guidebook to Ultimania 3
Advanced: Monster Evasion

CHAPTER 4 Side Quests (literally “multi-events”)
Side Quest Challenge
A) The Green Dream
B) Ozzy's Palace (Ozzy is called "Vinegar" in the Japanese)
C) Geno Dome (in Japanese, an abbreviation/pun on “Genocide Dome”)
D) Sun Stone
E) Hero’s Tomb
F) Rainbow Shells
G) Dragon’s Sanctuary
H) Dimensional Vortex
I) Darkness at the End of Time (lit. “Time’s Darkness”)

A Guidebook to Ultimania 4
Go for it! Quiz master!

CHAPTER 5
Items
Item Classification
Shops
Item List

A Guidebook to Ultimania 5
A Guide to “Seduction” Items (This references Ayla’s tech.)

CHAPTER 6
Monsters
Monster List

A Guidebook to Ultimania 6
Recommendations for Completing your Compendium (This references the extras that track and display the enemies in the game, may also include the same features as they apply to items, techs, etc…)

CHAPTER 7 Arena of Ages (literally “Dimensional Arena”)
How to Compete (literally “play”) in the Arena of the Ages
Arena of Ages’ Facilities
Choose your monster
Train your monster (lit. “Strengthen your monster with training.”)
Battle your monster (lit. “Challenge monster battles.”)
Arena of Ages Monster List

A Guidebook to Ultimania 7
Arena of Ages: Training and Battle Guidance

CHAPTER 8
Secrets
Complete Ending Guide
Complete Gallery (lit. “Gallery’s everything”)
Secret 30
Masato Kato Mail Interview
Mitsuda Yasunori Interview

INDEX : )

Foldout poster
Front: Effects and Tech List
Back: Chart of each episode’s main acts and an ending guide

• In this book, each main scenario is listed numerically from 1 to 26; each side quest is listed alphabetically from A to I.

DBT/Quiz Walkthrough Pages

Translated by Nagareochiru.

• 

  Page 408

• 

  Page 409

• 

  Page 410, Quiz

408

作者---{流れ落ちる}

• Created with a monospaced font (to keep charts and the like in line), so please use one while you read for best results.
• This guide was written without using an official game script and, as a result, likely contains a few translations of dialogue that don't precisely match the game's text. Please compare it to a game script if you'd like to see the official translations of any in-game text.*
• Sections are loosely arranged in a left-to-right, top-to-bottom reading order. <> tags indicate commentary or additional guidance on what each section refers to on the original page.*

_____

<BLUE BAR; TOP OF THE PAGE>
[Episode 1]

<WHITE HEADER TEXT>
Darkness of Time

_____

Time's Eclipse

<HEADER; MAIN TEXT>
The bucket sitting at the End of Time that is connected to the Day of Lavos——it also seems to connect to another dimension. Chrono and his allies leap through the bucket to ascertain the true form of the dreadful Lavos-like presence that has emerged there.

<SCREENSHOT>
MAOH: Up ahead, a new enemy is being born. It's spreading outward just ahead, in the depths of the Darkness of Time.

<WHITE BOX BELOW SCREENSHOT>
PARTY

Chrono Marl Lucca Robo Kaeru Eira Maoh

<BLACK BAR>
[Route of Journey]

<SCREENSHOT; TITLE BAR>
∞ The End of Time

<SCREENSHOT BELOW FIRST SHOT (PARTY TALKING WITH HASH/GASPAR)>
From a different, faraway dimension... well on the other side of the Darkness of Time... it seems like a great power is flowing through.

<BLUE BAR NEXT TO MAOH/MAGUS' SPRITE>
[Maoh]

<GRAY BAR>
[A world where an even greater threat sleeps]

<MAIN TEXT>
In traveling through space and time to defeat Lavos, who falls on the planet in ancient times and brings the future to ruin, we change the history that the planet should otherwise follow. In other words, all that we are attempting to do amounts to nothing more than seizing a single possibility from many through our actions.
If that is so, then do the other histories we do not choose simply fade into nothing? Of course not. Countless and endlessly branching apart are "possible" worlds, worlds that slide off our own dimension and overlap each other, continuing to exist in separate spacetimes. Perhaps there are worlds where were unable to stop Lavos... or worlds where we are trampled underfoot by much more troublesome magical monsters*.
At any rate, I expect to keep fighting and resisting. Whatever cruel fate may come, I must...!

<*In the above the word "mamono" is used where I have "magical monsters". It seems to indicate the Magic Tribe's/Mystics' "army of monsters" rather than the people themselves. However, the fortunes of the Magic Tribe ARE tied to their rise in power during the war, so you might say it really is the Magic Tribe as a whole that tramples humans in the alternate world Maoh describes here.>

<BLACK BAR>
Advancement Chart

<BLUE BAR>
∞ The End of Time

<GRAY BOX; TITLE BAR>
The End of Time (→P.169)

| 1 | Square
•Talk with the old man
•Check the bucket

<RED TEXT AND PARAGRAPH>
The Door to the Darkness of Time Opens

When you clear the dimensional distortions in all three eras and visit the End of Time, the old man will call out to you. After speaking with him and then checking the bucket, you can choose to move to the Day of Lavos or to the Darkness of Time.

<GRAY BAR; BLUE ARROW POINTS TO IT>
See next page

Secrets

Translated by Lorenz.

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  Page 572

• 

  Page 581

• Page 572

Page 572 Secret 30

Many unknown secrets are buried between the flow of thousands of years. Here, we present you with 30 stringently selected secrets, ranging from practical techniques to some rare phenomenon that will make you laugh.

01)

In the DS version of Chrono Trigger there are various features that weren’t its SNES or PS predecessors. Not only are there different menu layouts, but there are also some big changes as well. So, we have compiled a list of the features new to the DS version, especially the major, standout changes. Let’s take a look:

• Arena of Ages (see page 530)

The Arena of Ages, where you raise and battle monsters, makes its debut. You can also battle against other players via Wi-Fi.

Caption: The battle system used in the Arena of Ages is completely different than the one found in the main game.

• New Events and New Endings (see pages 344, 378, 408, 561)

Three new side quests have been added: G (Dragon Sanctuary), H (Dimensional Vortex) and I (Time’s Darkness). Upon clearing I (Time’s Darkness), you can view a new ending connecting the original game with its sequel, Chrono Cross (see page 581).

Caption: If you challenge yourself to unlock the additional ending, you can enjoy a new story.

Picture: In the photo Magus is saying, "From the depths of the Darkness of Time that stretches before us, a new enemy is trying to be born."

(NOTE: As usual, there a several ways even I can think of translate this line, so I am sure that others will devise other interpretations, as well. Literally, it is more like this: “Ahead, a new enemy is attempting to be born. Expanding from beyond this point, at the bottom of Time’s Darkness.” I would also point out that the word “new” is used in the English here, but the Japanese word actually implies more a “fresh” concept, implying some connection to a previous enemy who has changed in same way, likely referring to Lavos metamorphosing into the Dream/Time Devourer.)

• New Items (see page 413)

There are 56 additional types of items that were not present in the SNES and PS versions of the game. You can obtain these items through the Arena of Ages and the added side quests.

• New Monsters (see pages 513-527)

40 types of monsters have been added. They appear in the new side quests.

• Controls Unique to the DS (see pages 45-60)

You can control most of the game using the touch screen. During battles, you can choose between two modes: an easy-to-use touch screen control setup (DS) and one that is similar to the SNES version (Classic) (see page 60-61).

Caption: Characters and monsters are no longer hidden behind battle gauges in the DS game mode.

• Change to the Menu Setup (see page 48)

The entire design of the menus has changed. Along with that, the way in which you navigate the menus has also changed.

Caption: The menus have been changed so that you can easily navigate them with the touch screen.

Picture: The menu shows Crono’s equipment menu. He is equipped with a Swallow, Haste Helm, Nova Armor and Gold Earring. The player is currently examining the list of available swords.

• Kanji for Item and Tech Names (see page 416-434)

The bulk of item and weapons that were written in hiragana in the SNES and PS versions now have their names displayed in kanji.

(NOTE: Obviously, this doesn’t really matter much to western audiences, but it does make the game easier to play in Japanese in my opinion. Once you learn the language, reading things in kanji is much faster and smoother than doing so with only kana. This also may reflect the games maturation, as it is now expected that older gamers, those who probably couldn’t read a great deal of kanji when the first played the game, are now going to be playing it anew.)

• “Bonus” is now the “Gallery” (see page 564)

What was called the “Bonus” section in the PS version has been renamed “Gallery” in this version. Also, in the PS version entries increased according to the types of endings you achieved, but in the DS version entries increase as you encounter them throughout the core game.

(NOTE: I have never played the PS version, so this final point is a little difficult fore me. I am pretty sure it is saying that when you beat the PS version, it updates you “Bonus/Gallery” with the appropriate items, whereas in the DS version the game updates you spoils as you play. So if I get the Swallow in PS version, it won’t show up in my Bonus area until I get an ending with it in my inventory, in the PS version. Whereas, in the DS version, obviously the second you acquire the Swallow it is available for viewing in the Gallery area.)

• Page 580

22 Initiation into the ways of speedy “Monster Extermination”

    Mini-Game

You can clear the “Monster Extermination” mini-game in Leene Square’s Beckerah Experiment Hut without having to touch the blue light on the left side of the screen by use lightning fast timing to knock back the monsters in this order: middle, left, right, left, right, right. The trick is to press the D-Pad in a diagonal-up direction when moving your character. (See Page 117)

Picture Caption: Even if you start run a little bit behind, if you hit the left and right monster one more time each it is still possible to clear the game without touching the blue light.

23 Secrets of the Poyozo doll and the Doppleganger Doll Mini-Game

By clearing a mini-game at Leene Square’ Beckerah Experiment Hut you can get two types of dolls: a Poyozo and a Doppleganger. As shown in the chart below, the dolls will be sent to various locations depending on who is the head of your party. While on the topic, the result of examining the dolls will change as well, with the Poyozo playing a different tune until you exit to the world map and the Doppleganger assuming different random positions.

Chart Destination of the Dolls and Poyozo’s BGM

Character	Destination					BGM
Crono		Truce, Crono’s House, 2F			Crono and Marle, Far Away Promise
Marle   	Guardia Castle (Present Day), Princess's Room	Crono and Marle, Far Away Promise  
Lucca		Lucca’s House, Lucca's Room			Crono and Marle, Far Away Promise
Robo		Prometheus Dome, Entrance      			Robo’s Theme
Frog		Monster Frog Forest, Frog's Hidden House	Frog’s Theme
Ayla		Ioka Village, Chief’s Tent			Ayla’s Theme
Magus		North Cape					Magus’ Decisive Battle

24 A Must See for Top Breeders – The Mechanism Behind the Fluctuation in the Number of Cats Mini-Game

You can first get a cat by winning at “Monster Extermination” at Leene Square’s Beckrah Experiment Hut, increasing the number of cats at Chrono’s house to two. From that point on, the number of cats in Chrono’s House will fluctuate depending on the amount of cat food you have (you win more by playing the same mini-game, see Page 117). The actual method for determining this is spelled out below. If the number of cats increases, the number of cats that appear when the Silver Bird remains undamaged (lit “ShiruBa-do,” perhaps a shortening of/pun of Silver and Bird) in ending 001 “To the Other Side of Time” will also increase accordingly.

Info Box: The Process of Fluctuation in the Number of Cats

• Every time the party enters the fountain area of Leene Square, the amount of cat food decreases by 0-3 grams. If that exhausts your cat food supply there is an approximately 4-35% chance that you will lose a cat (the greater the number of cats, the greater chance one will disappear). Provided you still have some cat food, the probability that you will gain a cat is between 0-77 percent (the less cats you have, the greater the chance that an extra one will appear).
• After a new cat has appeared, the amount of cat food will drop between 2-200 grams (the more cats there are, the more likely it is that a large amount of food will disappear).
• The maximum number of cats you can have is 11, the minimum is 2.

25 What Happens if You Change a Character’s Name? Name Change

In the game you are able to decide the names of the characters yourself. Even after you have chosen a name once, you have the freedom to go back and change them later (See Page 217, 240). Changing their names will influence the game in the following ways:

Info Box: The Effects of Changing Names

• Marle’s real name will become “the first 3 character of her name” + “dia.”
• After defeating Yakra the 13th and returning to the banquet hall in Guardia Castle (present day), the HP and MP recovery meal you will be able to eat will be named “the first two character of Chrono’s name” + “Special.”
• The character names as they appear in the quiz available in The Dimensional Vortex’s Mysterious Town will also change to reflect any alterations made to their names.

Picture: Depending on the names you choose, Tech names and in-game explanations can end up sounding hilarious. (NOTE: The picture shows Ayla doing the “kuronage” attack. It is called this because “kuro” are the first two characters of Chrono’s name, and “nage” comes from the verb “nageru,” meaning “to throw.” So the attack literally means “Throw Chrono,” or “Chrono Toss.” However, the player renamed Chrono “ha” in Japanese. Thus, the explanation highlighted within the red square in the top left corner of the picture shows that, accordingly, the explanation of the Tech has been changed to “hanage” instead of “kuronage.” This would be funny to Squeenix’s – and Ultimania’s – target Japanese audience since the new word it creates “hanage” means “nose hair” in Japanese, certainly one of the most fearsome-sounding attacks in the game. It’s almost as bad as being smashed by an Omega Flare… or licked by Frog.)

• Page 581

26 What happens if you examine curtain, thrones and so on?

Things on the Map

Investigate particular places on the map and objects will move, characters will perform special actions. You might enjoy visiting those places and checking out those reactions.

Info Box: List of Places Where Something Happens When You Investigate

Location					Happening
Truce, Second Floor of Crono's house		The curtain opens and closes.
Sky Prison, Cell Block				A man turns into a skeleton.
Ozzy’s (Vinegar’s) Palace, Conveyer belt path	Examine the pulley and the upper part of the chain moves
Giant’s Claw, Old Throne Room			The party leader sits on the throne and laughs.

27 The Piano Player’s Song List Grows Larger and Larger

Pianist’s Songs

If you treat the female piano player at Truce Inn to a drink, she’ll play you a song, and the number of songs she can play increases the story progresses. The type of song and the requirements for unlocking those songs are listed below. Also, after you unlock two or more songs every time you buy her a drink the song she’ll play is chosen at random.

Info Box: Additional Songs and Conditions to Unlock Them

Song Name			Condition
Green Remembrance		Can be heard from the start of the game
The Wind’s Longing		Return to the Present in chapter 4, “I’m Home!”
Desolate World			Return to the Present in chapter 9, “The People of Demon Village”.
Wind, Sky and Earth Rhythym	Go to the Primitive Age in chapter 12, “Red Stone, Rare Stone”.
Corridors of Time		Go to the Ancient Age in chapter 18, “Magic Kingdom Zeal”

28 Dialog Before and After Battles Changes According to the Situation

    Enemy Dialogue

During the story there are a lot of bosses to fight, but one part of those battles, the conversations that lead into and follow them, can change depending on the circumstances. For example, the battle that occurs in Zeal Temple with the Dalton Golem – regardless of the outcome of this fight the story will progress, but if you win a frustrated speech by Dalton will be added. Also, the lines delivered when you battle Nizbel in Pteran Castle change depending on whether or not you spoke with Nizbel before the fight.

29 The Unexpected Origin of AU, the Name of the Character Hiding Behind the Shield

Monsters’ Names

In the Black Dream there is a monster who goes by the strange name of “AU.” At first glance you may think this mean “hero,” but the truth is that the golden shield braced before the shadowy figure is also one part of the origin of this name. In the Periodic Table of Elements, gold is represented by the symbol “Au,” so that is where his name is derived from. (Gold shield – Au Shield – “AU”)

(NOTE: Ok. This one is tricky and may require a bit of Japanese knowledge and a gander at the original scan to understand. Also, I honestly don’t remember what this guy’s name is in the English version anyway; so that only further impedes my ability to explain this satisfactorily. Moral of the story is the enemy’s name is a really lame pun. In Japanese, a lot of words with different meanings sound the same; a fertile ground for punning. The big joke here is that in katakana the enemy’s name is “eiyu-“ which shares its pronunciation with the two-character kanji meaning, basically, “hero” or “brave person.” So a Japanese person would probably assume that was the meaning. However – and here’s the real knee-slapper – it turns out that they named him that because they were trying to awkwardly transliterate the Periodic Table symbol for gold, Au, into Japanese. Get it? He has a gold shield and… oh never mind… Let’s just get to the big finish, shall we?)

30 A Door to Another Chrono Hidden Within the Ending (lit. “…the Ending, etc…/ the Ending and other places” but that sounds really awkward.)

Examination of Events

In an ending movie and some of the additions special to the DS version, there are some parts that you won’t understand if you have only played Chrono Trigger. The truth is that these sections suggest a connection to Chrono Trigger’s sequel, Chrono Cross. That game is set in a Gaurdia Kingdom that has been decimated by Porre (lit. “Parepori”) 20 years after the adventure of Chrono and company, and there are clues as to how that came to pass hidden within Chrono Trigger.

Picture 1: In one ending, is the baby picked up by Lucca really Chrono Cross’ heroine, Kid?

Picture 2: In Event I, “The Darkness at the End of Time” (lit. “Time’s Darkness), the “Dream Devourer” you battle makes one think of an evolved form of Chrono Cross’ final boss, “The Devourer of Time."

(NOTE: In the screenshot, the dialogue box basically reads: “If everything vanishes, that is fine. If everything is lost, then so be it.” Now, I know this is the kind of thing people love to overanalyze – I have read some of those Magus/Guile posts : ) – so I’ll leave it at that for now. BUT I will say there are definitely a few different ways to translate/interpret what Magus/Janus/Jacky is saying here.)

Picture 3: In Event H, “The Dimensional Vortex,” Dalton’s declaration that Porre will seize political power is in agreement with the background of Chrono Cross.

(NOTE: In the screenshot, Dalton is saying: “Because someday I will make Porre into world’s the strongest military nation and destroy your country. Don’t ever forget that, Crono!” Again, some minor variance probably exists in how to translate that one as well, but I’m fairly confident with that one.)

Yasunori Mitsuda Interview

Translated by Lorenz.

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  Page 586

• 

  Page 587

"Chrono Trigger is crammed full of every idea I had about music at the time."

Mitsuda Yasunori
Interview

When attempting to convey the charm of Chrono Trigger, one cannot forget to include the music of Yasunori Mitsuda. Whether it be stories from the days of the SNES version’s development or concerns about the DS version’s sound, we went and spoke with Mr. Mitsuda about all kinds of interesting topics.

"I feel the “wild, unrefined quality” lends a lot of power to the music."

• The SNES version of Chrono Trigger marked your debut at a composer in the game industry. Once more, could you please tell us how you came to be in charge of the music?

Mitsuda: From the start, I joined Square (now Square-Enix) because I wanted to compose songs. However, back then there were only a few people who could make sound effects and work as sound engineers, so for the first two years that was the only type of job they’d give me. Then, one day I went directly to Mr. Sakaguchi (Executive Producer Hironobu Sakaguchi) and said, “I want to write songs. I don’t care what kind of project it is, just please let me give it a shot.” At that time Mr. Sakaguchi said, “All right then, try this,” referring to some project that had just come up, a game called Chrono Trigger. So, it wasn’t like, “We need you for this project or else we’re doomed.” It was more like, “Well, if you really want to give it a shot, knock yourself out.” The whole decision was surprisingly nonchalant.

• But, as far as you were concerned, this was finally the chance you had been waiting for, right?

Mitsuda: Well, to tell you truth, even when I was working in sound effects, I was still secretly writing and compiling songs. But no matter how many I made, I could never present them to anyone, so I was really frustrated those two years. Because of that, when I was assigned to Chrono Trigger, even though I had technically just begun work as a composer, I would go through the pile of songs I had already stored up and choose one that I thought fit the game world. If I felt that I didn’t already have a song to fit a particular scene, then I would go back and create a new piece of music.

• Is the game’s main theme, “Chrono Trigger,” also one of the pieces you had stockpiled earlier?

Mitsuda: That song, “Chrono Trigger,” was one that I wrote only when the game’s development had begun in earnest. I wrote the whole thing in one sitting; I just couldn’t contain my excitement at finally being able to write music. The day after I was told, “Well, we’re leaving it up to you,” the final version was just about finished. I think the feeling of careening along in the intro part is all of my pent-up desire to be a composer finally bursting into existence.

• Chrono Trigger spans several time periods, each composed of varied genres. This is another one of the game’s unique characteristics, isn’t it?

Mitsuda: I have always liked different genres myself, so challenging myself to create a variety of songs – without just milking one genre – was really a lot of fun. The “me” that existed back then, every time he thought, “I’d like try and make this kind of song,” he took all of those ideas and jammed them into the game. In a way, I suppose you could say that’s the meaning of “Chrono Trigger.” If I go back and try to listen to those songs again now, there are a lot of parts that are rough around the edges. It’s kind of embarrassing, but at the same time I feel like if you look at it in a positive way the wild, unrefined quality brings a lot of power to the work.

• In your mind, is their a single theme that unites your entire oeuvre?

Mitsuda: If I were to try and put it into a few words, I’d say, “Music that can conjure up a scene.” Take, for example, the Middle Ages world map theme: rolling fields stretching into the distance, a lone windmill… I am driven to create the type of song that can allow you to clearly visualize that scene, even if you just listen to the music without looking at the screen. Songs can really strengthen something’s meaning. That’s because it makes it easy for most people to imagine the same scene and, when coupled with the game’s visuals, it can create for players an even stronger impression of that scene. With regard to that concept, it’s something that I knew I absolutely wanted to do ever since I began working on Chrono Trigger.

• Which is your favorite song?

Mitsuda: Though I enjoy songs such as the main theme, I’d have to say the ending music, “To Far Away Times,” has a very special place in my heart. I’d go so far as to say it’s a song that I may not be able to write now. That song was based on a piece I wrote a long time ago. I mixed in a phrase from Chrono Trigger’s main theme and reworked it a bit, imagining scenes with Crono and company and the thoughts that come with them. I wanted the piece to capture the kind of feelings you can’t truly express in words like, “After coming back from a long journey, I’m happy that we saved our planet’s future, but I’m sad because now I have to say good bye to all my friends.”

{NOTE: “To Far Away Times” is, as far as I can tell, literally translated as “To His Direction When Time Becomes Far Away” or “To Him When Time Grows Distant.” Obviously, this doesn’t quite have the ring of the name they eventually decided on.}

{NOTE: I chose the word “scenes” to describe what Yasunori is discussing about halfway through his response. I think this makes sense in context, and he uses a Japanese word for scene [シーン] several times over the course of this interview. However, I do have to point out that after zooming into the PDF a million times there is not doubt that the actual word in the Japanese version of the interview is ジーン. That means “gene,” like DNA and all that good stuff. Now, he could be using the term in a poetic way, referring to the more meme-like concepts of Chrono Trigger that continue to propagate themselves in the minds of players long after the adventure has concluded. He could. But I really don’t think so. I honestly suspect it is a typo as the two words are very similar – just two small dots separate them – and the idea of “scenes” fits much more readily with his response than that of some impromptu discussion of genetics. Regardless, for the sake of accuracy I just wanted to make a note. I’m certainly open to different opinions on this one.}

• Did you really watch the in-game ending and then write that song?

Mitsuda: No, the visuals still weren’t done, so I composed the song first, based on what I had heard from someone in the planning department. Then the programmers created visuals that would fit the music. I had heard that the final sequence would show Crono and company flying around in Epoch the so I thought I’d like to create a song with the feeling that you were careening through the entirety of the Chrono Trigger story. I’m sure you agree that the programmers did a great job matching visuals to that idea.

{NOTE: The Epoch is literally the Shiruba-do/Silver Bird, likely a pun similar to Jenosaido-mu/Genocide Dome, the Japanese name for Geno Dome}

• By the way, there is a song called “MITSUDA” in the Music Room of the Gallery (see page 569) that doesn’t seem to be used anywhere in the game…

Mitsuda: You see, I originally made that song to be used in the Developers’ Room (see page 562). I had heard that you can do whatever you want in the Developer’s Room, so I was going to have that song play when my comment came up. However, in the end it wasn’t used [smiles].

The Theme for the DS Version’s Audio: “A Perfect Replica of the SNES Version”

• How did you feel when you heard that the game was going to be rereleased on the DS?

Mitsuda: Well, it’s pretty complicated, right? I mean, I am extremely happy, but at the same time I was really inexperienced at the time I was working on Chrono Trigger. Putting that part of me out there into the world again is painful [smiles]. It’s a battle between my joy that there are people playing Chrono Trigger once more… and my embarrassment. I think it’s both.

• You are officially involved with the DS version as the Music Supervisor , but is there a specific area where you are focusing your energy?

Mitsuda: I think a lot of people who were elementary and middle school students when Chrono Trigger came out on the SNES are now adults and are saying, “Maybe I’ll play a little Chrono Trigger again.” The image they have of the original game is vividly burned into their memories. Players are sharp, so if there is even the smallest change in the music they are going to be able to tell the difference. And if that’s the case, we have to work to make this version a perfect replica of the SNES version. That said, because the Super Nintendo version was made using considerably older equipment, we can’t just bring it over to the DS “as-is.” So we search for sounds in the latest synthesizers that are as close as possible to the original sounds and use them to create the music. From the perspective of a composer, this is an unusually arduous task. But if you think about the fan’s feelings, wouldn’t they be happier if the music was just like they remember it from the SNES original?

• On the other side of the coin, 13 years have passed since the SNES version was released. I think there are also a lot of players who have never experienced the original game. How do you feel about that?

Mitsuda: With today’s games, it’s expected that they’re going to have full symphonic scores blaring out of the speakers, right? So, I’m extremely interested in how today’s players will feel when they play Chrono Trigger and hear the music, which was originally composed on a system that only had eight sounds. I would be especially happy if I could have elementary and middle school students, people for whom the DS version is their first version, send me an e-mail or post their impressions on my home page’s bulletin board. Also, since this version of Chono Trigger is on a handheld, I think there will be a lot of people who will end up playing with the volume turned down. By all means, I would like to encourage them to plug in their headphones and listen to the music while they play. That is my heart-felt request, as a composer [smiles].

{NOTE: This is a request that would be particularly important in Japan, where the idea of playing music or making noise in general in a lot of public settings is frowned upon. If you were to play your DS on the bus or train or while waiting at a store, you would be expected to have the volume off so as not be a nuisance. With that mindset, I can definitely see why Yasunori would specifically implore people to bust out the headphones since they would be doing themselves (and him) a great disservice if they never really listened to the game.}

(2008/11/14 Recorded at Square-Enix)

Comment at the bottom of page 587, next to his picture:
I’m extremely interested in how kids today will feel about this game’s music.

{NOTE: A quotation is a quotation. It can’t change, so some people may wonder why sometimes the text in the body of the interview and pull-out blurbs scattered on the pages don’t always match in this translation. That’s because they don’t always match in the Japanese either. Several of the headers and pull-outs are paraphrases, and thusly not put in actual quotation marks though they are based on something Yasunori said in his responses.}

Written at the bottom of page 587, below his picture:

• Yasunori Mitsuda’s official homepage “Our Millennial Fair” can be found at:

http://www.procyon-studio.com/

Written at the top right of page 587, in the Character Profile Info-Box:

Yasunori Mitsuda
Profile
He joined then-Square in 1992. He began his career as a composer on Chrono Trigger. Since 1998, he has been a multi-faceted freelancer, working on varied game, anime and movie projects.

Chrono Trigger DS Retranslation

Dream's Epilogue

by Arc Impulse

？？？「ここには、もうラヴォスはいない。 ここはすでにラヴォスが倒された 未来の時空だ。 俺たちがヤツを滅ぼした。

???: Lavos is no longer here. This is a future timespace where Lavos has already been defeated. We destroyed him. [I find it curious that this future(?) Magus refers to himself throughout this ending as 'ore'-- Magus in the rest of CT refers to himself as 'watashi' everywhere but a single scene.]

Ｍａｇｕｓ「もっとも、お前たちが やってきた世界で 俺たちが手を組んでいたかどうかは 知らぬがな。

Magus: Although I don't know whether or not I joined forces with you, in the world you come from. [He said this to me with Magus in my party, so I assume he says the same thing no matter what.]

世界は、せんたくの数だけ存在する。

There are as many worlds out there as there are choices.

Ｍａｇｕｓ「この先で、新たな敵が 生まれようとしている。 この先に広がる、時の闇の底で。

Magus: Beyond [this Gate], a new enemy is trying to come into being. In the deepest depths of the Darkness of Time beyond this point.

人の記憶を、夢を、想いを 喰らおうとしている...。

It's trying to devour people's memories, their dreams, their thoughts...

Ｍａｇｕｓ「俺のジャマをするな。 お前たちはそこで見ているがいい...。

Magus: Don't get in my way. You just stay there and watch...

((blah blah, Magus fights DD, sucks at it))

Ｍａｇｕｓ「クッ... ま、まだだ......。

Magus: Ungh... Not-- not yet...

((the party enters. In my party of Crono/Magus/Marle nothing interesting was said))

Ｍａｇｕｓ「ジャマはするなと 言ったはずだ...。

Magus: I told you not to get in my way...

サラ「なにもかも、消えてしまえばいい。 失われてしまえばいい......！

Schala: Everything should just disappear. It should all be lost forever...!

Ｍａｇｕｓ「ダメだ！目を覚ませ！ 目を覚ましてくれ......、サラ......！

Magus: No, don't! Open your eyes! Please, wake up... Schala...! ['open your eyes/wake up' have the same metaphorical meaning in Japanese as they do in English -- he's begging her to break free of Lavos's influence.]

誰か「あ、あぶない！！

Somebody in the party: Look out!

((more boring messages from the party here))

サラ「滅びなさい、すべてのものよ！！

Schala: Let all things perish!!

((DD battle goes here. Moment of editorializing: was pathetically easy at lvl 60 once I equipped status immunity items.))

Ｍａｇｕｓ「ダメだ！ いけない、サラ......！

Magus: No, don't! You can't do this, Schala...!

Ｍａｇｕｓ「くッ......！　姉上！

Magus: Ungh...! Schala! [he actually says 'ane-ue', i.e. "big sister". This is what Janus/Jyaki always calls her in the JP version.]

Ｍａｇｕｓ「あ、姉上......？

Magus: S-- Schala...?

サラ「いずれ私の意識は、 完全にラヴォスに 飲み込まれてしまうでしょう。

Schala: Sooner or later, my consciousness will probably be completely swallowed up by Lavos.

絶望と悲しみの底で、 すべてを消し去ることを...... 自分を消し去ってしまうことさえ 望んだのは、私自身なのだから......。

Because I myself was the one who, in deepest grief and despair, wished that everything... that even my own existence would be erased...

サラ「いまのあなた方のちからでは、 私を解放することは不可能です。

Schala: All of you -- with your power as it stands now, it's impossible for you to free me. [Note that she's specifically speaking in the plural, addressing the party as well as Magus.]

いえ、むしろ、 ちからに頼っている限り、 あなた方には世界の絶望も悲しみも、 いやすことはできないものです。

No, rather-- For as long as you rely on power, none of you can heal this world's grief, or its despair.

さあ、いまは、自分たちの時代に おもどりなさい。

For now... back to your own eras with all of you.

Ｍａｇｕｓ「姉上......。

Magus: Schala...

サラ「ジャキ......、ありがとう。 私は、もう以前の私ではないの......。 あなたは、強く生きて......。

Schala: Janus... thank you. I'm not the same person that I was before... Please, live on and be strong*... [*literally "live strongly". In this part, she talks in an informal style, and her speech almost sounds like the slang of a perfectly normal girl... you can really feel her love for Janus in this bit, I think.]

Ｍａｇｕｓ「姉上！？

Magus: Schala!?

サラ「さようなら......

Schala: Goodbye... [a formal "sayounara", which hints that she expects never to see him again.]

Ｍａｇｕｓ「姉上ーッ！

Magus: Schala--!!

Ｍａｇｕｓ「俺の力では、どうあっても かなわぬというのか？

Magus: Do you really mean to say that with my power, no matter what happens it will never be enough?

ならば、俺という存在に、 これからの俺の日々に いったいどんな意味があると いうのか......？

If that's the way it is, just what meaning could there ever be in my existence, or in my days to come?

Ｍａｇｕｓ「フッ、いいだろう......。 ならば、俺もすべてを投げ出して 消え去ってしまうとしよう。

Magus: Heh... very well, then... If that's how it is, I too will throw away everything and disappear.

それでもまだ何かが残り、俺という 存在が続いていくというのならば...... その時こそ新たな何かが生まれ、 始まるのだろう。

And if even then, something still remains-- if some part of this being I call "myself" still keeps existing... Maybe then it will be possible for something new to be born, to begin.

((Cue Magus poofing into the darkness, then reawakening in Random Forest A.))

ここは......？

うっ......

Where...?

Unh...

俺は......俺は、だれなんだ？ 何も思い出せない......。 いったい、何がどうなっている......？

I...... Who-- Who am I? I can't remember anything... What in the world is going on...?

俺には、何か、どうしてもやらなくては いけないことが......、見つけ出さなくては ならないものがあった......はずだ。

There was something I... had to do... no matter what... Something I had to find... I'm sure of it.

それを、なんとしても取り戻してみせる。 きっと、な。 No matter what happens, I'll get it back again. No matter what.

And that's that. Like I said, not a lot different, but it's evident that the translator wasn't too worried about preserving nuance.

Chrono Trigger DS Original Soundtrack

Liner notes, of course! These were translated by Lorenz.

It has been a long, long time since the birth of Chrono Trigger, but I am pleasantly surprised that it continues to be loved by people to this very day.

When Chrono Trigger was released, I was just a twenty-year old beginner, a baby chick that didn't know its right from its left. Who would want to listen to songs composed by some amateur who had only spent a few years on the long road to becoming a composer? I still clearly remember the medley of emotions, the negativity blending with the desire to write music. Focusing every day solely on writing songs may have been the only way I swept away my trepidation.

Of course, even the game's release did little to assuage my fears and insecurities. This was before the Internet era; I wasn't able to check online right away to find out if people liked the music. It wasn't until after the release of the Chrono Trigger Soundtrack that people started sending me postcards and letters saying, "That's good music!" Little by little, I started to gain some confidence.

Chrono Trigger marked the beginning of my career, but no matter how much times passes the things people said and the lessons I learned are indelibly etched in my mind. I am sure that going forward there is still a great deal for me to learn from this work, so I hope that—much like its theme, "Transcending Time"—the work itself is able to continue to find a place in people's hearts.

One last thing. To everyone who played Chrono Trigger; everyone involved in making the game; and all the people who helped to bring up the Mitsuda Yasunori, the composer, I would like to express my gratitude. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

6/10/2009
Mitsuda Yasunori

Chrono Cross

OST Liner Notes

1 Yasunori Mitsuda

Yasunori Mitsuda commented on each track; his words have been translated by Ongakusei, and posted at Chudah's Corner. Ongakusei has graciously allowed us to display the notes here; these are the absolute best available.

Still Green Around the gills

Seems it's been nearly 10 years since I started really coming to grips with my "musical job" (including my days of training). When I think about it carefully, it now seems I was charging on with no thought to consequence. And I'll probably keep doing the same thing... until I die... (laughs). Back in my days of youth, I often thought, "I'm working hard but...why does no one acknowledge it?" and flared up at various people for that. Considering it now, I realize that the production process is not important to others; what matters is the result, the meaning the listener gets out of my work. But at that time, I was too young to realize this. Even now, my immaturity hasn't changed, but I do feel that the real value for me is not in being recognized for my hard work, but in the emotions my music stirs in people. So perhaps I have grown a bit. Were you all moved to cry just once in this game?

Only Death Stops Learning

People keep learning until they die. My father always used to say that. For someone like me who hated studying, I really resisted this (laughs).

But recently I've come to think that it's not "studying" he was talking about, so much as "internalization". The world is full of fashion trends, but most people don't seriously question why something becomes fashionable, and simply submit to the vogue of the day. I'm the kind of person who isn't satisfied when something doesn't pass through my internal filter, so if something's concerning me, I always analyze it and attempt to digest it. So I finally arrived at an understanding of what my dad meant when he said "study".

I had no thought of writing "fashionable" music, and I realized that my awareness of this destiny, which finally passed through my internal filter, was directly tied to my personality, so I can't ignore that one really does "keep learning until they die". Heh. I'm trying, dad. (laughs).

The Power of Sound

Sound has a mysterious power. A power greater than anything you can say with words. I think that no matter how good a piece of music may be, if it isn't expressed with the right sound, it has no meaning. A composer saying that sounds don't matter is the same as him saying that he has no love for his own music. There are so many colors in sounds.

By way of understanding this, you'll notice that most of this soundtrack is built on a "guitar sound". Of course, it can't compete with the sound of a real guitar, but to enable people to perceive this atmosphere, I tried to use the "nerve" of the guitar to the maximum extent possible (does that make sense?). In pursuit of this, synthesizer programmer Ryo Yamazaki supported me without giving up to the very end. I cannot thank him enough.

If even a bit of the emotion this music possesses reaches you, you could say it's because of the power of his sounds.

The Power of All

Not just in this project, but always, producing game music requires the total commitment of everyone involved.

For example, to accommodate the slow disc loading speed, sound memory was reduced, so even if someone on the production level wanted to do something, the programmers frequently had to nix it. If I can only do half of what I envisage, I'm satisfied.

In the sound for this project, thanks to the combined efforts of the main programmer, the battle programmer, and many many others, we were able to overcome things I thought were physically impossible and finally arrive at this point. I would like to emphasize that the music echoing from these CDs is built on the power of all these people.

Folk Music Continues Onwards

I tried to apply a Mediterranean sound to all of this music, experimenting with Fado guitar type sounds.

I have a strong sense of Fado style as being represented by deeply expressive lyrics and minor-key music. But for a challenge, I tried to make my overall theme as writing music that could penetrate to the depths of one's heart with a bright, major-key sound.

In addition, as I've recently been studying African percussion, I made use of the rhythms of Africa, and the sounds of the ancient music of various lands like Finland, China, Mongolia and Greece. Of course, my Irish sound is also doing well...(laughs).

When I listen to this collection of music, the one thing I admire is that I'm able to achieve a well organized form out of seemingly disparate sounds. Could that be my greatest accomplishment!?...probably. (laughs).

From here on, in order to deliver more of that enjoyable yet mysterious Mitsuda sound, I'm really going to crack the whip on myself. Please have fun and wait for it.

Liner notes by Ryo Yamazaki (Sound Programmer):

Have any of you ever wondered while hearing the music in a game whether it's running off CD or being produced by the PlayStation sound chip? A lot of people might say "Well if the music's good, it doesn't matter", but for us who handle sound it's a big problem. Compared to recording the music, the process of cramming all the sounds into the hardware's available memory requires a lot more time and labor. When I work with outside creators who have no experience dealing with chip generated sound, they're generally dumbfounded by the hopeless hardware specs.

Because of that, a lot of creators who have to compose chip music give up or delegate the work out, but working with Mitsuda on this project, I never saw a trace of that disappointing attitude. Rather, he took the attitude that chip generated music was a challenge to be faced, and I felt incredible sympathy for him for that.

I did at times think it somewhat reckless to attempt to express some humanity through mechanical, computerized performances, but I was also just as often encouraged by Mitsuda's enthusiasm and insistence on communicating exactly what he wanted to convey through his music.

Afterall, achieving sound of this quality through the internal sound module may be due to no more than the ego of the developers, or else part of a process that gets left behind as hardware evolves. But no matter when or on what hardware, I would like for creators never to forget the history of conflict that arose in attempting to communicate something with all one's skill.

If listening to this soundtrack, permeated as it is with our obsessions, brings you to ponder even briefly your viewpoint on this thing called game music, it would be an honor.

Disc 1 ~ Awakening

Chrono Cross - Scars of Time -

The music adorning the opening of Chrono Cross. I think you can really sense how high the level of the musicians was. During the recording, new ideas constantly came to me and were quickly incorporated. The ambiguity of what the lead instrument is makes for a high tension piece. The mixing was extremely difficult. I thought the sound produced by laying a Gran Cassa (a huge drum) on its side and hitting it with brush sticks was very interesting.

Deadline

I think there is one version of this with voices and one without, but I included the version with voices on the CD. I don't like the standard orchestral style very much, so I tried emphasizing the percussion. I really am such a contrarian (laughs).

Aruni Village ~ Home

All the "first town" themes I'd written to this point were very sunny and bright, so this time I tried to make something with a calmer atmosphere. I thought Fado guitar style music would be great for this town, but Fado music typically has a dark, sorrowful image. So I thought, if I tried writing a bright, peaceful song with a Fado guitar, what kind of music would it turn out to be? Well, maybe in that case it's not really Fado...(laughs)

The Field of Time ~ Home World

Oh! Where have we heard this melody before? That's right, I rearranged the main theme from Chrono Trigger. But since a simple rearrangement wouldn't be interesting, I started with the "C" melody section. So it takes a while before you realize it's from Chrono Trigger. Somehow, the sound of sitar seems to go well with Chrono.

Dance with the Lizards

The strange piece from the first dungeon in the game. I don't think there are many people who would use the hammered dulcimer in a shuffle tune. And since the Angklung (an Indonesian instrument) is rarely heard in games, I tried playing it faintly in the background. It's nice having a dungeon that reminds you of good weather, isn't it? (laughs)

Reminiscing ~ Enduring Memories

I wanted to bring out the sense of a memory both nostalgic and painful on solo piano. I'm not a very good pianist, but I was able to play the whole thing with only a few later corrections (for Playstation playback). I played it over and over again until it had the right emotion, so even though it's simple, you can feel the love right!? (laughs)

On the Shore of Dreams ~ Another World

Those who know will recognize this as the main theme of Radical Dreamers. The use of the themes from Chrono Trigger and Radical Dreamers for "Home" and "Another World" was the idea of Masato Kato, the director. I'm glad this theme didn't wind up being forever unknown.

Aruni Village ~ Another

Aruni Village Another gives you the sense of non-existence that comes from pure emptiness. So I arranged Aruni Village Home with a feeling of emptiness as the theme for this piece. The desolate sound of piano and guitar fit this village well.

Transient Thoughts

This is another simple piece, using only electric piano and clarinet, but it's full of Lena's thoughts for Serge. Love is by no means a major theme of this game, but working in the common thoughts one feels towards the opposite sex in every day life was terribly hard.

Lost Fragments

A guitar and cello version of the Chrono Cross opening theme. I tried to approximate Kira-san's phrasing in my sequencing of his guitar part. I was really worried it wouldn't work out.

Drowned Valley

I was trying to create a medieval-style melody featuring two recorders, and before I knew it, the piece had wound up in 5/8 meter. (laughs). I suppose when you compose from a melody, rather than consciously try to create an odd metered piece, the result sounds very natural.

Telmina ~ Another

Yup, here it is! This is my 18th festive song with a 6/8 beat. This time, I tried arranging it with a Scottish feel. However, it sounds just like the Guardia Millennial Fair from Chrono Trigger! (laughs). . . Well, you've got to have at least one of this kind of piece, you know.

Departed Souls

I wish I could have expressed the heroism of the Dragon Knights even more emphatically in the second half of this piece. The sense of harmony one perceives in the sound of the Shakuhachi and the Shinobue would have worked well here, but synthesized emulations cannot capture the particular essence of the actual instruments, so I didn't want to use them. And this is how the piece turned out. But I wonder if there wasn't a better solution?

Forest of Shadows

One of my favorite genres of music is minimalism; repeating the same motif over and over produces such a nice sensation. I don't know how many times I dozed off while writing this song. . . Did you all fall asleep while listening to this in the game too?

Jakotsu Mansion

We had extra memory here, so synthesizer programmer Ryo Yamazaki and I thought "what would be a really interesting sound to put in here?", and wound up putting in this really cool sound. We still laugh about it and think "how stupid".

Victory ~ Gifts of Spring

This is the same fanfare from Chrono Trigger, arranged for orchestra. Personally, I didn't like using fanfares, but when I put this one in, it gave it the flavor of an old-school RPG. I think this game has a real sense of the theatrical.

A Child Lost in Time

I'm particularly fond of the sound of the cello and the pizzicato phrases in the second half of this piece. Does it cause you a sense of unease? Personally it just makes me laugh...this one's stupid too. (laughs).

Galdorf ~ Another

When you move back and forth between the dimensions in this game, the "Home" and "Another" towns each have their own versions of their themes. But sometimes you lose track of which dimension you're in, probably because of the different arrangements. But personally, I thought the effect of losing track of where you are was kind of interesting...

Hydra Swamp

I broadly synchronized this to the movements of the dwarves. If the timing's right, it should look like the dwarves are dancing. I hope, anyway... This map had both a sense of pop and a sense of mystery, so it was tough trying to attend to both of those elements.

Pieces of Dreams

You may have noticed already, but in one of Kato-san's projects, you always have to have a music box theme. I really think that even though the music box is very simple, it's a strange instrument (or is it a machine?) capable of powerfully affecting musical expression.

Sailing ~ Another World

The kind of music I'd like to hear while lazily sailing around on a boat. At first glance (or is that first listen?) it sounds perfectly natural, but the form and chord changes make it a good but kind of strange piece. In musical terms, it changes key rapidly via a II-V progression until the harmony comes full circle and arrives back at the original key. So it's a mischievous piece.

Phantom Ship

No matter what, when I hear the sound of a Vibra Slap, I think of Saburo Kitajima's song "Yosaku". I was conscious of this when I used the sound and tried to slip past that image so the listener wouldn't make the association but...it was no good (laughs). This piece really makes you realize the impact of "Yosaku".

Death Volcano

After a fretless bass intro, an African beat fades in slowly. After that, the development changes up and the Uillean Pipes of Ireland and distinctive Udo percussion come in. There are instruments from all over the world in this piece.

Ancient Dragon's Fort

I had to rearrange this piece 2 or 3 times before I was satisfied with it. At first, it was a progressive rock piece that sounded like the Italian band Goblin, but as I rearranged it, it took on a completely different feel. If I had more space on the staff paper, I would have written a long 20-minute track (laughs).

Grief

Please listen to Mitose's "demonic wails" (laughs). The track lasts only a few seconds, but it produced a very frightening effect when synched with the video. This sort of thing is the most interesting aspect of writing music for images. I tripled each of Mitose's 6 parts to make an 18 voice choir altogether. (In fact I wanted to include even more...) You keened very nicely for me, Mitose-san, thank you.

Disc 2 ~ Acceptance'

Beginning of a Dream

This was composed for Square's internal presentation, not used in the game itself. But I figured only a few people had heard it and I'd gone to the trouble of writing it, so I should include the full version here. This was my first image of Chrono Cross. It truly sounds like the sea.

The Bend of Time

I had a pressing urge to compose this, and finished it in 2 hours. (laughs) Some strong inspiration must have hit me. If it was like this all the time, I could finish a whole soundtrack in 10 days (laughs).

Telmina ~ Home

The way I handled the music for Telmina was special, so strictly speaking I would call this the theme music for events that occur in Telmina. I also based this on ancient music, while preserving something of the feel of a festival.

Dragon Knights

This is so-called pop orchestra (laughs). This type of feel brings out the knights' bravery and pride. Yamazaki-san re-recorded this numerous times to get the brass sound right.

Sailing ~ Home World

I sampled a distortion guitar very meticulously, so the sound actually approached the quality of the real thing. I wanted this one to be very fast paced.

Galdorf ~ Home

I composed this piece early on in the production, and so thought of using it for Aruni village, but I switched it over to Galdorf instead, which it fit very well. I put a guitar tremolo in midway through, but I declined to even try to play it on a real guitar. I really wish I was better at guitar...

Marbule ~ Home

I composed this with medieval music in mind. Because ancient instruments have so many limitations, it was difficult to write this as if it could have been genuinely performed, but I wonder if it wouldn't be possible afterall...If I ever do an ancient music arranged album, I'd like to take a shot at it.

Zelbess

In this comfortable, pleasurable town of paradise, you learn an important lesson about how to live your life. Enjoying yourself is important, but as a human, so is experiencing hardship. This town teaches you how to best find that balance (laughs).

The Great Sneff's Troupe

Somehow when I hear the word "magic", I think of China, but why? Is it only me? I like how this track messes with my mind. (laughs)

Bed Time

OK everyone, let's sleep. 1. .2. .3. . zzzz...

Chronomantique

This is my cheap attempt at a reggae version of Chrono Trigger (laughs). It's only heard briefly in the game, but it's a pretty long track (for game music). In arranging it, it really turned into a different piece of music. This piece makes me think I need to study up on arranging a lot more.

Predicament

Just like with "Jakotsu Mansion", we had extra memory for this track, so I wondered if I couldn't do something with voices, and added in the exclamation "Zon!" with a male voice. It changed the character of the music, but I thought it was interesting. Do you get a sense of climbing up a cliff?

Optimism

Somehow optimistic, but also a bit funky. It develops into a very sweet arrangement in the second half, but the first half is so cheerful it makes me laugh. There sure are a lot of tracks that make me laugh in this game...

Island of Departed Souls

This was a dungeon theme I really felt compelled to write. I thought the flute keening that comes in midway through made a big impact; I liked that a lot. I also thought the Ring Rhythm (my own term) percussion came off great (laughs). To explain, "Ring Rhythm" creates the effect of revolving percussion through speaker positioning. I was able to put minimalism and polyrhythm to use. If the piece was just rotating percussion, it wouldn't have been much.

Dead Sea / Ruined Tower

The sound of the clarinet was very troubling to me here. A particular problem with the Playstation hardware is that reverb breaks up the sound to which it's applied, and since there were very few tracks in this piece, it was extremely noticeable. On top of that, the volume was very low and out of balance with the other pieces, so it was a really bad situation. Thanks to Yamazaki-san, the issue was skillfully solved.

Prisoners of Fate

The heart-wrenching scene of the fateful battle with Migel (Lena's father). When I heard this song during the battle, my hands faltered in inputting the commands. In any case, I used the emotion of this scene to shape the chord progressions and string arrangement. So sad, so sad...

A Light for Lost Hopes

This was the first track to be programmed into the game. The theme of this one was a "guitar sound", and I wrote it while checking the memory. This piece was very important in determining the overall sound for the game. Even so, they only used it as the game over message theme, so this game does have its poisons. (laughs)

Earth Dragon's Island

I think this piece really dealt with the concept of atmosphere well. The sense of transparency matched up to the images nicely and really expressed a sensation of space, despite the music's simplicity. Somehow it turned out really well, but it was just as much thanks to Yamazaki-san's power as mine. (laughs)

Navel of the World

Percussion was the focus here, and produced a very fast-paced mood. Even though the scene it's used in has a very laid-back feel, it matched up unexpectedly well. There were so many tracks in this one, mixing it was a real trial.

Hurricane

The abundant use of polyrhythm created a battle theme unlike anything else. Mixing 9/8, 3/4 and 4/4 meters together in the climax, then throwing 5/4 in as well, resulted in something completely crazy. I call this "Radical Traditional" (laughs).

Victory ~ Shouts of Summer

This trackname was thought up by Kato-san, and what a great title it is. It's the "Shouts of Summer"! I've never seen a jingle tune with such a great title before (laughs). It ties in so well with "Gifts of Spring"(laughs).

Marbule ~ Another

I arranged the Marbule theme in so many different ways, I wasn't really sure which one was the "original", but this was the first version. It's really simple, isn't it. I wanted to use instruments of the thinnest possible sound, as it's always a task of mine to make my music as clear as possible.

The Fairy's Magic

This is the "model" of this tune for the important scene where the dancer Miki teaches Slash about music and the joys of life. At first I just used the sound of Slash's guitar for this, but it was much too floaty, so I made up this version very quickly.

Etude 1

Kigoshi-san, who came up with this event, told me "Slash does know his way around a guitar, so rather than having him play wrong notes at the start, please show his development through the 'soul' he puts into the music", so that's what I had to do. (It was really hard!) I wonder if you can really tell the difference?

Etude 2

I think this has more "soul" than Etude 1 but...what do you think? I'm sorry if I didn't really get it.

Magical Dreamers ~ Wind, Stars, and Waves

As I listened to Etude 2 more, I decided it did sound like a satisfying performance, but for me, this version has the most "soul", so I decided to use this take. The Mike Oldfield-style guitar in the second half really enhanced the medieval quality of the melody and gave the whole thing a very unique flavor, I thought...

Disc 3 ~ Return

Garden of the Gods

I had planned to use a boys' choir only in the "Garden of the Gods" sequence, but it was used right in the opening. But to recreate the originally intended track sequencing, I put it on the CD here. It's perfect for the start of disc 3. And now, the surging waves of high-tension music begin...

Chronopolis

I created this track using the chord progression from "Chrono Trigger" over a techno rhythm. You might think this one track is far removed from the general image of Chrono Cross, but I really think this kind of music has a place in Chrono. Perhaps those who have played Chrono Trigger will understand.

FATE ~ God of Destiny

Once again, a progressive tune. I particularly like the 4 measures in the middle where the organ and bass take over. This was the very last piece I composed for this game; incidentally, in Chrono Trigger, the 2nd boss battle theme was also the last one I composed. Somehow, the two situations wound up being the same. How strange...(laughs).

Jellyfish Sea

This is an ambient style piece. The transparent sound of the fretless bass and piano really evoke the impression of being deep underwater. If I'm picking my top 5 pieces from the soundtrack, this is one of them. Just like with "Forest of Shadows", I kept falling asleep while listening to this (laughs).

Orphanage Fire

When I tried combining a female Gregorian chant chorus and a male operatic chorus, this was the result. I really love the sudden modulation just before the final chord loops back to the beginning. Hearing this music should make you want to swear vengeance against Yamaneko. Yamanekooooooooooo!

The Girl who Stole the Stars

Hidden within Kid's tough exterior is a kind heart, and this piece portrays that side of her. Noriko Mitose's "lan, la, la, lan" scat suited Kid's image perfectly. She was personally one of my favorite characters in the game.

Dreams of Time

This was the music for the demo version's trailer, but I made some slight alterations here. It tries to sum up the essence of the whole game by including the themes from Chrono Trigger and Radical Dreamers. The perfect music for quickly giving a sense of the game's content from a storefront demo.

Dragon's Prayer

Jerry Goldsmith is one of my favorite composers, and I challenged myself to somehow absorb his unique sense of development and orchestration for this track. But...I'm at a loss for words. (laughs). I still need to study how to write various styles of music...

Star Tower

At first, there may appear to be nothing unusual about this track, but the Yoik vocals that slowly fade in and out give it a real sense of the macabre. This piece serves to remind you that you're getting closer and closer to the end. Did everyone's heart start to pound?

Frozen Flame

This piece was used in Radical Dreamers, but here it paints the beauty of the frozen flame, and describes the pattern of human misery that surrounds the gem. The music sounds normal on the surface, but I believe it actually presents a parade of key changes. I don't really remember how I composed this one (laughs).

Dragon God

This piece makes use of Yoik vocals and string quartet, on top of which I added a sizeable amount of percussion. To better frame the introductory Yoik vocal, I kept the strings and brass arrangements in the middle simple. I tried playing this battle before there was any music, and thought "what an easy going last boss", but when I put the music in, it became an incredibly up-tempo battle.

Life ~ Faraway Promise

In this piece, sound effects gradually synchronize into music, but it can't really be explained without the images. I had goosebumps for days after I first saw this scene. I suppose there are people who've bought this CD without playing the game, but if you get a chance, you should really hear this one song with the visuals.

Reminiscing ~ Enduring Memories

This piece is heard at the beginning, but also appears at the end of the story, as the keyword "enduring memories" for the 2 people. Which were the most important memories to Serge? And what was the meaning of that photograph...?

Radical Dreamers ~ Unstealable Gem

Kira's piquant guitar and Mitose's beautiful voice matched so well in this song. Initially, I twice thought about adding strings to the song, but it promised to sound too conventional, so I dared myself to stick only to vocal and guitar to the very end. It took a real act of courage to bring such a simple song for the ending theme. The difficulty of pulling off a song with so few parts is really felt keenly here. If the song truly is persuasive enough, I would consider that a great success. Noriko Mitose's lyrics are wonderful too, so please reflect on them while you listen.

Fragment of Dreams

Listening to this tune will surely put you into a peaceful state of mind. (laughs). After I finished watching the ending, I just sat there for awhile, listening to this music. Quietly close your eyes, and think back on the many adventures you had in the game.

2 Hiromichi Tanaka

“Eh, listen here now, have you seen it? They say it’s some kind of next-generation thingamajig.”

“Saaaay, Ayumi, um, whadza a next-generation machine?”

The world is aflutter with talk of the coming next-generation machines, from the gossipy old ladies to kindergartners. The evolution of hardware sure is amazing. It has brought about the birth of computers! Now that’s something there, computers.

But, why do you suppose everybody is trying to get their hands on the latest hardware? There was nothing wrong with the good ol’ days, when a simple square bounced left and right across a black and white screen was all the fun you needed. So how about the transformation that has taken place in a mere 20 years? Where did the game systems of yesteryear get off to? What people are looking for in the new hardware isn’t improved calculating power or faster processing; people only want better graphics and sound!

And I suppose there is a pretty sizable gap between the current systems and the next-gen systems. But, wait, hold on! You can’t just go racing off down the pass! Just like a student driver has to spend some time practicing driving around with a sign on their car, we need time to develop our computer skills, too. After all, which do you figure is faster, a student driver in a sports car, or an F1 driver in a sedan?

Well, that introduction ran a little long. Anyway, Chrono Cross is in some ways a continuation of Chrono Trigger and in other ways it is not.

It has been five years since Chrono Trigger. Modern game systems have dramatically improved in every way imaginable; their hardly even comparable to the systems of just a few years ago. The F1 drivers working on Chrono Trigger wanted to create a game that would push the limits of the current generation of consoles so far that it would even be able to stand up to even next generation games. That was the starting point for the Chrono Trigger development team.

The anti-Square people out there often go around proclaiming, “The only reason Square can make a game like that is because they tossed a ton of money at the project!” Well, it simply won’t do to have people go around spewing out nonsense. No matter how much money you put out there, if you don’t have talented and passionate workers you will never be able to make a game like Chrono Cross. The truth is that without putting out loads of money and whatnot every single character that appears in Chrono Cross was modeled by just people. The monster design was done by only one guy. Sure, he cried the whole time, but he did it! And of course, poor Yasunori was able write every song, arrange the score and digitize the effects all by his lonesome.

And so we finally come to the topic of music. What are these crazy sounds?! Back in the day, game music was just blips and beeps. Do you think that you could imitate the sounds of Chrono Cross even today? Fat chance. You can even hear the fingers gliding across the strings of the guitar; that kind of attention to detail is pure genius, enough to make you swoon. And, as I’m sure people who have already played the game are well aware, the people in the graphics department are no slouches either, filling the game with unbelievably refined visuals. Hmm, I wonder what kind of craziness Yasunori and his pals are working on now. Those guys are true game maniac: They don’t know how to give less than a 100 percent.

So here’s how I’m looking at it today. Even with today’s technology, as long as you have a team of driven, dedicated and passionate people, you can make an astonishingly good game. Heck, who needs this “next generation machine!”

Credits

CHRONO CROSS ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK

All Music Composed, Arranged & Produced by: Yasunori Mitsuda

Synthesizer Programmer: Ryo Yamazaki
Sound Programmer: Minoru Akao
Recorded & Mixed by: Kenzi Nagashima
Mastered by: Ichiko Furukawa (Bernie Grundman MASTERING)
             Hitomi Misaizu (Bernie Grundman MASTERING)

Art Direction & Design: Keiichi Yamashita (LOTUS GRAPHICS)

Directed by: Kishio Ozawa, Tsuyoshi Takemura
Sales Promotion: Saiko Fukui

Production Coordinator: Kosei Ito
Production Assistant: Emiko Funahashi
Production Manager: Keiji Hamada
Supervisor: Susumu Arai, Hirofumi Yokota
Co-Executive Producer: Kensuke Matsushita
Executive Producer: Nobuo Uematsu

Presented by SQUARE ENIX CO. LTD.


CHRONO CROSS ~Toki no Kizuato~

Composed & Arranged by: Yasunori Mitsuda

Acoustic Guitar & Bouzouki: Tomohiko Kita (ZABADAK)
Shinobue & Shakuhachi: Kinya Sogawa
Percussion: Tamao Fujii
Electric Upright Bass: Hitoshi Watanabe
Keyboards: Yasunori Mitsuda
Strings Quartet:
1st Violin: Hijiri Kuwano
2nd Violin: Motoko Fujiie
Viola: Jun Yamamoto
Cello: Haruki Matsuba

Recorded & Mixed by: Kenzi Nagashima
Assistant Engineer: Ken Hiranai (GREENBIRD)
Recorded at STUDIO GREENBIRD
Recording Coordinator: Kenichi Funayama



RADICAL DREAMERS ~Nusumenai Houseki ~
Composed & Arranged by: Yasunori Mitsuda
Words by : Noriko Mitose (Kirche)

Acoustic Guitar: Tomohiko Kira (ZABADAK)
Vocal: Noriko Mitose (Kirche)

Recorded & Mixed by: Kenzi Nagashima
Assistant Engineer: Ken Hiranai (GREENBIRD)
Recorded at STUDIO GREENBIRD
Recording Coordinator: Kenichi Funayama


Special Thanks to:
Hiromichi Tanaka, Masato Kato, Keiji Kawamori,
Takeharu Ishimoto, Satoshi Akamatsu, Hideaki Katayanagi (MAGNET),
Fumio Takano (TOUSHITSU), All Staffs of "Project KID = CHRONO CROSS"

Missing Piece

Character Information

• 111 Serge, Lynx, Harle (Chris)

The Real Cast and concept tidbits

Serge

1. This Serge is equipped in a fairly wild style. Odds are this guy would probably be scolded by Leena or Kid for trying dirty things.
2. This rugged looking Serge emanates an aura from his whole body of a fearless drifter. Completely different from the normal Serge.
3. Formal wear Serge. Lightly studded with accessories.
4. There was also a test Serge that wore a green and purple vest.

Lynx

1. The appearance of a drifter, or a nobleman that was turned down. “Very similar to a Mongolian,” was the strange reason for the drawing.
2. A sudden change, this is a more full on cat style Lynx. This one actually seems a little more obscene.
3. This is a more human version, rather than a cat like creature. Maybe the factor that he didn’t really look villainous was why he was turned down.

Harle

1. Tough to request any other characters to have more of an impacting appearance. Here’s a more clownish style.

• 113 Dario, Glenn, Karsh (GlitterBerri)

Karsh:

1. Though Karsh is a brave knight, saying he is troubled and strange would be closer to the point...
2. Karsh with armour. It was judged that he looked like too much of a knight and didn't fit with the game's atmosphere, perhaps [the armour] was discarded?
3. Though misunderstood because of his character flaws, Karsh is one of the most attractive characters of Chrono Cross.

Dario

1. It's hard to tell in-game, but Dario is actually quite tall. Is this due to his Garai blood?
2. The epaulets on Dario's armor are big, differentiating him from Karsh.
3. Perhaps due to our (too?) strong desire to make the leader of the Acacia Dragoons a large figure, Dario gives off a rather amusing impression of a middle-aged fellow.
4. He looks more like a samurai than a knight? With his slender sword, Dario has an uncanny resemblance to a samurai.

Glenn

Glenn's appearance is that of a boy knight. His hairstyle is also the so-called "zealous hero." It wouldn't even be a stretch to call him the game's protagonist.

• 119 Unused Characters (Chris)

Mechanical Doll

By combining various parts you could probably control the style and settings of her attacks. It’s a shame she was turned down.

Baker’s Daughter

Looks like a character that attacks with the bread she holds. The top picture looks like a child, while the one on the left is more developed.

Grappler

Appears to be a Chinese monk that uses his hands. Thinking about the salesclerk on page 118, maybe they originally planned a Chinese style town.

Ninja

Like the RPG’s of yesterday, there was always a ninja. This also could have been a variation of Grobyc.

Journeyer to the West (?)

What? There was a plan in Chrono Cross to have a Journeyer to the West (Character from a Manga)? Maybe some sort of heroic female preist, or a character wearing all seeing goggles…or whatever Square’s interpretation was.

Ultimania

Developer Interviews

• Room #1 - Event Team

Transcribed and translated by GlitterBerri.

• 

  Original

• 

  Scanlation 1

• 

  Scanlation 2

• Room #4 - Yasunori Mitsuda

Translated by Chronoshock, originally here.

"Wanted to create RPG music that is not based on Orchestrated Sound"

• Could you tell us how you stepped into the path of music and how you first became interested in composing music for video games?

Mitsuda: Usually, the people who follow that path tend to be in a band during high school. However, that was not the case for me. I just went home and enjoyed watching movies and that's how I spent my free time. I loved watching "The Railroad Man" and movies that cast Audrey Hepburn, and the music in it was so good. I started thinking, "It would be awesome if I could create movie soundtracks like that" and my dreams gradually leaned towards music. I was an assistant of a man whom one could call a "master" in a 2 year college I attended. He just so happened to be composing video game music, and when I was close to graduating and getting a full-time job, I was skimming through the game magazines that were in my work place, I saw an ad from Square saying they needed a music composer and I applied and got hired by them.

• Your debut first official composition was "Chrono Trigger" correct?

Mitsuda: In the beginning, I was in charge of the sound effect department, but I wanted to compose music, so I kept trying to convince Sakaguchi-san (Hironobu Sakaguchi, Vice President of Square at the time) directly of my desire to compose music. Well, at the time, I was not in a very good financial situation (laughs bitterly). Then, Sakaguchi-san gave me an opportunity to compose music for a game named "Chrono Trigger" and I am very grateful to him for that.

• And this time, you composed for "Chrono Cross" as a freelancer...

Mitsuda: When I first received this offer, I couldn't believe it. I quit Square and Square has many composers and I assumed one of them will be the one composing. But Kato-san, who was the director, strongly convinced the others for me to do it. And in that situation, I thought "I gotta give my best to create the best music."

• What kind of theme did you use to compose music for "Chrono Cross"?

Mitsuda: I had previously worked on "Xenogears" and that game's composition was based on Orchestrated sound. As you may already know many RPG's use Orchestrated sound, but I wanted to take them into a different direction and discussed this with Kato-san. And what I am really good at is creating Traditional music. It was then decided that we use Tradtional sound as a base and center the music around the guitar.

• How did Traditional music become your forte?

Mitsuda: While I was in that 2 year college, my master heavily worked on Asian music, and because of that, I became interested and totally got into it. I've been working on those types of music ever since, but I realized that it was quite maniacal and if you listen to it normally, it's just too much for Japanese people. So I wanted to find a way to make it very pleasant to listen to it with the "foreign country" music feel. I think the work I put in has paid off to the music I've recently composed.

"The opening theme ended up exceeding my expectation"

• Chrono Cross centers around parallel worlds, did you compose it with that theme in mind?

Mitsuda: I first thought about making songs that are totally different songs for each world, But as you go back and forth those worlds, I thought that the player would not be able to distinguish between the worlds. But if I made totally different music for 2, one'd lose that feeling and I didn't want that. So I composed them with a similar tone but a little different type of feel. Generally speaking, I arranged it so that HOME WORLD is brighter, and ANOTHER WORLD has darker music.

• You kept your previous works "Chrono Trigger" and prequel "Radical Dreamers" themes, correct?

Mitsuda: Yes. I adapted them so that I don't betray "Chrono Trigger" fans, and although it's not very well known, but I also used elements from "Radical Dreamers" so that people who know that game will notice them. Chrono Cross has its own uniqueness as well so, it's basically a mix of 3 sounds to create 1 outlook on the worlds.

• I really love the ending theme with the vocals. It has a really nice atmosphere.

Mitsuda: We've already decided that we'll be putting in vocals to it from the beginning due to Kato-san's strong demand for them. Noriko Mitose, who is an artist who Kato-san has recruited, has a very transparent voice. We wanted to make use of her voice and the warm sound of the guitar to create tone, so we decided not to use any other instruments. We asked Tomohiko Kira from ZABADAK, with whom I worked in the past when we were creating the arranged version of Xenogears's soundtrack, to play the crucial guitar parts.

• Any song you like in particular?

Mitsuda: Opening theme of course! (Chrono Cross ~ Scars of Time, disc 1, track 1) It far exceeded my expectation and I think it gives an enormous impact to the listener. Though, unexpectedly, I like "Jelly Fish Sea" (Disc 3, track 4) as well... I think. I doubt there are many people who like that song (laughs).

• And any songs that were hard to compose?

Mitsuda: Fortress of Ancient Dragon (Disc 1, track 24). I received "redo" from Kato-san 3-4 times (laughs). It was really hard to come up with a song that has a scary tone but is easy to accompany. Kato-san is really fastidious (laughs). He has a huge collection of music CD's himself, and because of that, he'll demand more from even the very small parts of the song. I don't think there are any directors who are able to demand that much from music (laughs). But that's why it is really fun to work with him.

"I think people should create songs that sway the player's feelings."

• What do you consider good game music?

Mitsuda: People try to make it sound like music from movies, but I personally think that game music is its own genre, which is why I love game composers who do not copy other genres. A game's value partly lies in it allowing the player to move its characters around on the screen. I think people should create songs that sway the player's feelings.

• Speaking of players, at what age did you start playing video games?

Mitsuda: I started playing in the era of "The Black Onyx", so way back then. Around 1982, when PC-8801 was released. Back then, the game's art, and Japan Famicom's game music were so awesome!

• I see. I did sense a very old game feel from your songs, and I was right about that. Speaking of which, as I approached the last battle in Chrono Cross, it reminded me of The Black Onyx. At that time, everyone was stuck on that particular part "Iro, Ikkaizutsu"

Mitsuda: Indeed (laughs). And when you say The Black Onyx, ....(he starts talking about old PC games passionately). I really think old game music was well composed. I think current game music lacks in its own uniqueness due to the fact that its range has expanded. I think it would be great if people could compose music while infusing the video games with their own personality, and I'm in the process of thinking of a way to do that right now.

• Lastly, anything you'd like to send a message to people who enjoyed Chrono Cross's music?

Mitsuda: I think there are many people for whom the Chrono Cross soundtrack was their first time listening to my music, but if you end up really liking even one song, I will be very happy that I composed Chrono Cross's music. I'll be trying things like making my own album, playing live, and concerts. If you have a chance, please come and listen and get into the world of Mitsuda! (laughs)

• Room #5 - Masato Kato

Translated by Chris.

“Serge and Kid were where I tried the hardest, moreover making a ‘boy meets girl’ kinda thing”

In the pace of Radical Dreamers

Interviewer – Many user’s (this magazine) have been hopefully waiting for a sequel to Chrono Trigger (CT), and finally you have made an appearance. Since you (Kato) were the scenario director for the previous games, you’ve thought a lot about the series. This time around, how are the story elements going to continue or take over from the previous games?

Kato – CT wasn’t just me (Square), but Yuji Hori and Akira Toriyama were also involved in creating it. If these members met again right now, I think a serious attempt to make a CT 2 is not at all a realistic possibility. When talking with the producer Tanaka about the possibility of making a new Chrono game, I was requested to do in the storyline vein of Radical Dreamers (RD).

I – Your talking about the text adventure game that came out on the Stellaview, right?

Kato – Yeah. Honestly, there were some story elements and unfinished business that I wanted to create in a sequel to CT itself. It seemed like there was another story in a parallel dimension. If we could do in that pace, I’d like to try making in the same flow and direction as the level of the Chrono series. Also, for RD, we only had 2-3 months to develop it, and I didn’t get to a point where I felt satisfied. I think I’d like to get that a little more completed too, since it’s always been in my heart.

I – The title “Chrono” is attached, but is the influence of RD also very strong?

Kato – This time I think we were really lucky. Many people played the Super Nintendo title CT, so first of all there was a hope to have a sequel or remake. Also, no one knew about RD, since it barely slipped by production. I like the story of RD, but we left it unfinished in an emergency rush, chased by the engaging gears of production. I wanted to somehow take it up again, since I thought about it daily. What’s more, I didn’t know that CT was being ported to the PS. (laughs)

I – Oh, you didn’t know? (laughs)

Kato – I learned about halfway through the completion of Chrono Cross (CC). Actually, I knew that CT was going to be ported. (laughs) I went to anime movie meetings for the porting publisher and we talked about connecting CT to CC with some hints through the ending movie. Like how we could link the pieces together well.

I – There was only a difference of two weeks in the release dates of the ported CT and CC. (In Japan, at least…)

Kato – It was to give a feeling of wanting to continue playing. CT was already released 5 years before on the Super Nintendo. There were easily some people who forgot the story, or people who weren’t even the age to play it. That’s why we planned from the beginning to not have it take over the exact story. The people who wouldn’t have played the first game would have no reason for playing a game they couldn’t understand. Taking this into consideration, we thought about the timing, having the ported CT come before CC. If we did that, CC could be played right after CT, and the story relationships would be somewhat strengthened. That way, the previous game could be incorporated better.

I – Thinking about the various connections between CT and CC, what’s enjoyable now is not necessarily understanding the Chrono world, but actually playing it. That in mind, there are no real ways to play RD. To the Chrono fans, are there any stories from the works that could be handed down?

Kato – Actually, about RD, there was some attempt before CC was put on the market. The Stellaview data was planned to be put on a ROM cartridge and connected to a premier at Akihabara (Electronics district in Tokyo, nerd central). The porting development team heard this and wanted to put all of RD into the CT Playstation port, but was told to leave it as it was. I also rejected it. It was made four years about, and when I read the script now, I’m easily embarrassed. While the development of the RD story is in CC, I think there’s no reason you need to understand RD to enjoy CC.

I – Where did you get the conception to use parallel worlds as a platform?

Kato – From the get-go, I was against using time travel exactly like in CT, but wanted to keep on the same level in the series. Eventually, we decided not to do the “If something happened in the past, could it change the future?” pattern. If we did that, we would only be rehashing and cranking up the volume of the last game. That wasn’t at all what we wanted to do.

I – It’s only natural that you wouldn’t want to do something like that.

Kato – Yeah. If we ended up doing that, the gameplay wouldn’t dramatically change at all, would it? So we thought a bit about it, and I really liked CT’s style, but since we did time travel then, this time would be parallel worlds. Doing it this way made perfect sense to me. (literal translation: straight into my head it popped and fit) So, we started thinking about what would be most interesting when using parallel worlds as a platform.

I – Like meeting Kid in the world that you died in.

Kato – From a cursory look, it looks like the normal world, but some things are different. Then, the main character realizes the biggest shock of all…he’s supposedly dead. So he’s living in one world and not in another, and the puzzle begins; “Why did I die?” From there, Lynx gets involved, there are hints that fate is controlling the world, there are the six dragons symbolizing nature, and so on. Then, from CT, there’s more about Lavos, when Lavos came, how it lifted primitive people up to create a magic kingdom, and other connections. Maybe even Lavos was the trigger than caused humans to evolve from monkeys. Elements like that incorporate into each other, one after another. We thought about how it would flow together smoothly to surprise the players in the best way.

I – What was the main theme you tried to write into this work?

Kato – I usually don’t care too much for themes. The most important thing is whether the game is enjoyable. For this time…well, I already talked about the time element, but in CT I couldn’t write much about what happened to Schala. What truly could have happened what left an unfinished story, and that’s why I chose to properly complete it. Since both games could be played, I chose to make a conclusion between the worlds of CT and CC.

I – So you wanted to connect the works with the relationships between Serge and Kid, and also Schala.

Kato – To pin it down, Serge and Kid were where I tried the hardest, moreover making a ‘boy meets girl’ kinda thing. A kid named Serge meets a girl named Kid and together they get wrapped up in an adventure. From the world he doesn’t know about secrets are slowly revealed, about Serge himself, Schala from the past, and how fate is tied in. This could just be an ending where boy meets girl and they do their story, but perhaps there’s another dimension, another story, a different meeting, and a completely different life story that you could have. I persistently tried my hardest to get the player to question things like this.

I – So for a good ending movie, you tried to use the crossing point of a young girl and her other side to imagine “a story in another dimension.”

Kato – Yeah, like that. I thought that was the perfect material to use to give meaning to a parallel world. In each independent parallel world there would be respective developing stories. If we did it that way, people at home could use the experience of Serge in the game’s worlds to think about the reality of their own world. Maybe somewhere in our world there’s a Kid, and surely someday we will find and meet. For a long time I’ve wanted realizations developed from games to not just stop with the game, and now I feel I’ve done it right. There’s a message that comes after the ending movie finished, and I hope that all players will understand these words that have come from my heart. That’s what I’d love to have happen.

Miscellaneous

July 15 and 16, 2003 - Interviews with Takashi Tokita

Takashi Tokita was a director for Chrono Trigger. In one of these interviews, he mentions a "Chrono Trigger 2", and thanks to Lorenz, we now know the context.

Interviewer: Speaking of a change of environment, in April of this year Square welcomed a big change when we merged with Enix. What was really going on at the developer?

Tokita: The various operations departments at Square had been used to working independently, but then Enix entered into the picture. This meant a lot more chefs in the kitchen and, in a good way, served to shake things up a bit. I feel like the company is moving in a positive direction. That's why I feel like there could be a discussion about making a game like Chrono Trigger 2. But there is a big difference between someone upstairs bellowing "Make this game!" and the people in the trenches deciding themselves that they want to work on this project. It's a matter of motivation. Of course, this is true for the operations departments and the whole merger itself, but the real theme here is having motivated people make the plans and set the budgets. If you don't want to do something, naturally you won't try your hardest to make it a success, and I don't really think that you can make an interesting product that way, either.

Interview: And with that, I'm sure all of our dear readers who know of Mr. Tokita are thinking, "Hey, you're forgeting all about that game!" "That game" being one that is exceptionally important to Mr. Tokita's career—that's right, Hanshuku Hero. As a matter of fact, that's the next topic we're going to cover, so let's wrap this up.

From: Games