I bought Chrono Trigger for the SNES from a game store merchant who called it “The game that never ends.” If only. There eventually came a time when I had in fact seen everything the game had to offer, and all that was left was to gnaw on its bones in a future search for Schala.
Still, the beauty thing about Chrono Trigger is its lack of a cemented beginning, middle and end. Sure, it's a fairly linear adventure the first time you play through...but after you've taken in your fill of the Moonlight Parade, you're encouraged to slip away and explore Crono's world from as many angles as possible. Even making the tiniest changes in the time stream before taking down Lavos could result in a whole new game ending. Go up against Lavos before you're scheduled to fight Magus, and Frog will fight him one-on-one. Visit the spiky bastard after unlocking the door to the Mammon Machine, and listen to Marle and Lucca make lewd comments about Men Through The Ages.
Then there's my personal favourite: finish the game before it even starts, and visit the development staff.
Discovering this ending for the first time helped me realise that my favourite games were not in fact programmed by super robots from Mars: they were written, planned and programmed by human beings with families and tight schedules. I've likewise since come to realise that the good-natured jokes about losing weight and getting grey hairs probably weren't hyperbole.
The Dream Project ending in Chrono Trigger DS differs slightly. Did Manabu Daishima always wag his finger at rented and borrowed games?
Yuji Horii says, "Wow, the years sure do fly by! This game was first released in 1995!" Square-Enix left out, "Got your money again, suckas!"
The “adjusted” credits screen still makes me laugh.
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