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• Alternate Soundtrack: Fleet Foxes Meet RPGs

  In trying to give one of my friends a good description of the awesome self-titled Fleet Foxes album, I told him that listening to it was like "wandering through a magical forest with your very own bard."  It's not just my nerdy leanings that inspired the comparison; Fleet Foxes is a strange mix of James Taylor, Brian Wilson, and Yasunori Mitsuda.  In fact, on the multiple holiday car rides I've suffered thus far, I've been known to crank Fleet Foxes and imagine some marvelous new RPG that taps into the power of a band whose music seems tailor-made for the genre--and I don't have a single car accident on my record. To prove my point, I've taken one of the albums most RPGish songs, "Hear Them Stirring," and set it to some console RPG footage with my limited video editing skills. Hopefully, you'll see why I'm right. And while I in no way get paid to promote Fleet Foxes, it'd be swell if you went and picked up their album for the meager price of five bucks. Thanks in advance. Related Links: Alternate Soundtrack Redux: Super Street Fighter II vs. The Go! Team Alternate Soundtrack: Kirby's Adventure vs. girlsareshort Alternate Soundtrack - Donkey Kong '94 vs. Les Savy Fav Read More... Posted Dec 19 2008, 03:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: alternate soundtrack, ost, chrono cross, yasunori mitsuda, bob mackey, fleet foxes

• Picking Chrono Trigger Clean

  Mackey just reminded me of something. Well, Mackey reminds me of a lot of things, primarily of when I was a sexy leopardess who drove across Canada, solving cold murder cases. Let's keep this in the context of games, though. Mackey's post reminded me of a different age of gaming, when we used to pull apart games like so much shredded pork in hopes of squeezing just ten more minutes of gameplay from the battered cartridge. Oh, to find one more secret. Oh, to tie up that loose end. The Internet in 1995 was polluted with gaming "secrets" like the exact rain dance you needed to perform in order to resurrect General Leo in Final Fantasy VI. And Schala could be revived in Chrono Trigger, of course. All you had to do was the hokey pokey while waving a chicken over your head. I performed a lot of these crazy rituals. I was desperate to find Schala. I thought the key lay in the Last Village--more specifically, in Janus' chatty purple cat, Alfador. I thought Alfador could lead me to the answers. He didn't, and I was very sad. Why were we so desperate to make these connections back then? Read More... Posted Dec 05 2008, 08:00 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo ds, snes, chrono trigger, retro, chrono cross, 16-bit, nostalgia, nadia oxford, chrono trigger ds

• The Best Chrono Trigger Ending

  In case you didn't know, the new DS port of Chrono Trigger has a brand spankin' new ending; but, as is the case with most of the game's endings, it isn't too much to get excited about. This new ending does kinda tie up the whole Magus-Schala thread, but after Chrono Cross, we learned that this plot wasn't necessarily worth tying up--at least, not in the terms of Cross' convoluted story.  Once I tried reading an FAQ to figure out just what the hell happened, and the entire left side of my body shut down for a few days. It may seem like sacrilege to diss the endings of Trigger, but most of them are essentially little goofy puppet show vignettes; though my opinion could be coming from the fact that I suffered through the PSX port to view most of them.  However, there are a few I genuinely like.  And my favorite is the sickest one of all: Yes, we have inter-species love far before Sonic 2006, and also the revelation that Queene Leene is into some sick, sick shit.  I wonder, what happened on their wedding night when the unholy union between man and beast took place?  Need to consult some fan-fiction.  Be back in a jiffy. Read More... Posted Dec 04 2008, 01:30 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments Filed under: chrono trigger, chrono cross, bob mackey, chrono trigger ds, bestiality

• Adding a Thirteenth to Twelve Delicious Flavors: Chrono Trigger DS’ New Ending

  *Spoilers ahoy* I’ve spent twelve years telling people that my favoritest game in the history of games is Chrono Trigger, and it’s the truth. When I scour my brain for one game, one singular work that embodies everything a game can and should be, Chrono Trigger is the one that springs to mind. The art, the music, the layout, the story, the music, the battle system, the music. Everything works in tandem, nothing is out of place. But you’ve heard this all before, from me, everyone else here at 61FPS, and every other soul typing away on the internet. It bears repeating today, though, because Famitsu announced that, alongside Chrono Trigger DS’ two new dungeons, the re-release is getting a new ending as well. Read More... Posted Nov 10 2008, 08:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, nintendo ds, chrono trigger, chrono cross

• Kirite: The Secret Best Yasunori Mitsuda Soundtrack

  I spent a long time bitching and whining about composer Yasunori Mitsuda's (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Xenogears) lack of presence in current-gen RPGs, only to find out that he's still putting out music, albeit on quite a few games that have yet to make it to the states.  But there's something about his work on the DS--a system he seems pretty comfortable with these days--that feels a bit watered down to me; I eagerly await the day when he pens his next soundtrack for a system that can support the stellar work he did on titles like Chrono Cross and Xenosaga. But until then, we'll always have Kirite, Mitsuda's absolutely beautiful orchestrated concept album from 2005.  Square Haven gives a nice description of this amazing album: Kirite is a combined effort between Yasunori Mitsuda and Chrono series producer/writer Masato Kato. It adds a musical illustration to the accompanying novel Kato wrote, "Five Seasons of Kirite", which tells the story of a boy named Kirite, and the girl Kotonoha. The music plays out like Mitsuda's other standalone non-game albums such as Sailing to the World, with a gentle introduction comprised mainly of explorations of the album's main theme, followed by an element of mystery and unveiling, then capped by dynamic battle-style pieces and closed off with what amounts to an ending theme. Indeed, the album progresses much like your average videogame soundtrack. But really, you don't need to understand Japanese to get the most from Kirite; the music speaks for itself. Here's "The Market In Volfinor," which is one of my favorite songs from the album. Listening to it makes an RPG happen in your brain. All in all, Kirite feels like a true successor to Mistuda's Chrono Cross soundtrack, and it's definitely a nice snapshot of what the composer can do.  I shouldn't be spiteful about all the work he's putting out on the DS, but damn it, just listen to Kirite!  This is something we need more of. Read More... Posted Nov 07 2008, 11:00 AM by Bob Mackey with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: ost, chrono trigger, chrono cross, xenogears, yasunori mitsuda, bob mackey, kirite

• The Weakest Link: Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross

  Chrono Cross is the official sequel to Chrono Trigger, and I often wonder if it should have been. I really enjoyed Chono Cross: the graphics are beautiful, the music is stunning and the cast (even though it numbers in the trillions) is generally fun to hang with. As its own game, Chrono Cross is a Playstation must-have. As a sequel to Chrono Trigger, however, it's kind of off-colour. Following up Chrono Trigger with Chrono Cross is like eating a zuccini right after an ice cream cone. Both taste good, but for entirely different reasons that don't mix well. There stands an excellent chance that Chrono Trigger DS will hammer some hasty bridges between it and Chrono Cross, and I really wish it wouldn't. The Playstation re-release of Chrono Trigger (avoid avoid avoid) already established links between the two, so I fear it's too late. You may have noticed that I mouth off a lot about how the quality of game stories can stand to be closer to what you'd find in a book. I don't know if there has ever been an author who took over a beloved universe and promptly killed off its cast in the most half-assed manner possible in order to move in his roster, but if there is, I doubt he made any friends. Read More... Posted Oct 27 2008, 06:42 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo ds, chrono trigger, Playstation, square-enix, chrono cross, nadia oxford, game story

• You Can't UNhear It: Time's Scar

  It's true; the Chrono Cross soundtrack is one of the most ass-kickingest collections of music to ever exist in our unworthy world. And the pinnacle of said soundtrack--at least, in my opinion--is the opening song, "Time's Scar;" Yasunori Mitsuda's stirring mix of wistfulness with a sense of urgency may be the highest point of his career. That's being said, I've probably heard the song hundreds of times in my life; and because I'm such a big fan of Time's Scar--and anything Mitsuda--something very minor about the recording of the song makes me cringe every time I hear it. Crank up your speakers to 11 and wait for the sound at 00:16. Did you hear that tiny little thump? It has haunted my dreams for the past decade. Read More... Posted Oct 13 2008, 11:00 AM by Bob Mackey with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: ost, music, square-enix, chrono cross, yasunori mitsuda, bob mackey

• The Chrono Trigger Port: Are You Excited or Disappointed?

  Though the 16-bit console wars were savage in the early '90s, the end was in sight by 1995 and the Super Nintendo was crowned the obvious winner. (Except by pouty Genesis fanboys who feebly compared Phantasy Star IV to Final Fantasy VI. I mean, it's a good try, but...nah.) The Genesis was panting and dry-heaving at the finish line, but the Super Nintendo barely broke a sweat. In fact, it looked healthier than ever thanks to an injection of A+ games at the end of its life. One such title was Chrono Trigger, a now-legendary RPG by Square(-Enix). We should all hope for the dignified hero's death that the Super Nintendo recieved thanks to Chrono Trigger's legacy. Read More... Posted Jul 02 2008, 07:30 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: remake, nintendo ds, rpg, chrono trigger, Playstation, square-enix, genesis, chrono cross, luca, port, marle, robo, super nintendo, phantasy star, crono, 16-bit, final fantasy iv, console wars

• OST: Chrono Cross

  Many weeks back, when 61 Frames Per Second was still being molded into what you’re reading now, the OST feature was conceived (at least by me) as nothing more than a venue for talking about Yasunori Mitsuda. Music was the source of my first real emotional engagement with videogames; the frenetic excitement of early Mega Man soundtracks and the somber coda of Mega Man 2’s ending, the desperate minor key of stage 5 in Bionic Commando. These melodies sparked my imagination, created a foothold for my experience with these works beyond the visceral rush of successfully playing them. But it was Mitsuda’s work in Chrono Trigger that made me, for the first time, physically put down the controller just to listen. It was "Guardia Castle", a booming march whose synthesized horns implied fading grandeur more than patriotism. I sat on the floor of my bedroom, eyes closed, and let the song loop for close to twenty minutes. Mitsuda gravitates towards the same styles in his game soundtracks, specifically jazz fusion (Chrono Trigger), punctuated baroque symphony orchestration (Chrono Trigger, Xenosaga), and celtic (Xenogears, Tsugunai). But my personal favorite Mitsuda work, the soundtrack to Trigger’s divisive sequel Chrono Cross, is his most adventurous and strange. Read More... Posted Jul 02 2008, 11:00 AM by John Constantine with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, ost, chrono trigger, xenosaga, chrono cross, xenogears, yasunori mitsuda