I spent the Thanksgiving holiday not shopping, not overeating, not doing much of anything outside of that most traditional holiday pursuit: catching up with family. Not the extended fam, just the nuclear, and even then we weren’t all around. Sometimes work and obligation gets in the way and not everyone can make it home, just the way it goes. It was just me and the parents. And Chrono Trigger, obviously. A true homecoming, really; early winter playthroughs of Chrono Trigger have been, for me, as much a tradition as seeing loved ones during the season but I’d fallen out of rhythm over the past three years. Excited as I was to play the game again, I was going in with some trepidation. Not over the two new dungeons, the new ending, or the re-written dialogue. (The script, by the way, saw far more significant changes than was previously reported. The re-write isn’t bad by any means, but some of the charm of Ted Woolsey’s original is lost.) No, I was worried about the incorporation of the PS1 version’s animated cutscenes. I skipped the earlier re-release because the thought of slowdown in Chrono Trigger is nauseating, but getting to avoid the cutscenes was an added bonus. Nothing against the anime stuff, it’s fine that it exists, but the game’s story simply doesn’t need those scenes. Not to mention how they break the game’s seamless presentation.
So it was a nice surprise when I saw this screen:
Much like the original SNES version, Chrono Trigger DS offers you a choice before the game even starts. In addition to letting you choose if you want battles to play in the Horii-standard turn-based fighting or the mid-‘90s-Sakaguchified active mode, CTDS asks if you want to use the new touch screen interface and if you want to turn off the anime cinemas. Not only that, but you can change the settings you choose whenever you want throughout the game, in a menu that is literally overflowing with customization options. Four pages of them in fact, letting you toggle everything from the anachronistic run button, menu cursor memory, even tutorial messages. You name it. And all of your current settings are listed on a single page on the DS’ top screen while you change them on the bottom. It is one of the most considerate features I have ever seen included in a game.
There is a lot to be said for a game being unchangeable by the time it reaches a player’s hands. This is what the creators wanted you to play and experience, so why should you be able to alter that? But I can’t tell you how much more I would enjoy Super Mario Galaxy if I could turn off Mario’s constant grunting and yelping, Resistance 2 if I could turn off the NPC-ally chatter, if I could just re-map the damn buttons in Mega Man Anniversary Collection on Gamecube. Think how much more enjoyable all of the 3D Zeldas would be if you could turn off tutorials? These might not seem like deal breakers, but sometimes it’s the niggling annoyances in a game that stick with you more than the story or actual gameplay. In letting you tune your experience, a game’s designer can not only ensure you get the most out of your time with their creation, but also let you glean an even greater appreciation for the work that went into making it. A perfect example is the ability to switch out the HD sprites for the originals in the recently released Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. Trust me, you don’t appreciate just how gorgeous the new characters are until you’ve seen the overgrown, pixilated classics hopping about in widescreen.
I enjoyed Persona 3 more because it let me turn off the voiceovers. I enjoyed Resistance: Fall of Man more because it let me completely remap the controls. And I enjoyed Chrono Trigger DS even more because of its truly generous options. What do you think, readers? How far should game designers let you tweak their games to ensure you play the best game you can?
Related links:
The Death Of Awesome Pack-In Material
Populous: Text Based Tutorials Need to Die In A Fire
This Week in Shrieking Annoyances
RPGs: Turn Based VS. Real Time - FIGHT!
TVTropes' "Woolseyisms"