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There are thousands of video games out there; some classics, some obscure, and others new to me and maybe new to you too. I’m going to take a little time to highlight what’s great about games that I love and want to share; games that are worth your time, along with some tips to get you started.
Chrono Trigger: Super NES, PlayStation, Nintendo DS, i-mode, iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows. The version on Steam is solid.
Credit: Square Enix
Chrono Trigger is a classic Role-Playing Game, and with good reason. Solid pixel art, a tight and well-structured story, basic controls, and at maybe 12-15 hours, it’s not a huge time sinkhole like other RPG games often are.
You play as Chrono, silent protagonist, on the eve of the Millennial fair. Oh, how fun, but remember what your mom said, “I want you to behave yourself today.”
Credit: Square Enix
What’s great is that you can wander off quite a bit from the start of the game, even buy some weapons you’re not supposed to have for a few hours. This gives the world a great “lived in” sort of feeling while not locking you into having to go to only one location.
Soon enough you end up back at the fair before bumping into a nice young lady and shopping for candy with her. This part of the game also teaches you a little about combat, pushing buttons, and earning rewards for non-combat tasks.
One thing leads to another as your scientist friend accidentally sends your new candy compadre into some sort of portal that, spoiler alert: leads to another time. What follows is a great example of rising tension, first to save your new buddy, but then to save the future, and the past, and the whole galaxy. The stakes couldn’t be much higher!
What’s great about Chrono Trigger is that it introduces a lot of “firsts” and gives a wide range of options to play; choosing between engaging in battles or waiting and has well-made tactical combat. Your moves and attacks can hit more enemies, such as a line of them, and depending on where you are and where they are you are rewarded for your planning and tactics. You can even team up with your allies for double and triple attacks.
Credit: Square Enix
“New Game+” is a mode where you can play the game over from the start with whatever levels and items you beat the game with. Normally New Game plus is a sort of “meh” feature, but since this is a game about time travel, you can beat the game at various points and discover 13 unique and different endings, even one where the developers put themselves into the game!
Credit: Square Enix
This might be one of the best games to have someone who isn’t great at video games try. It doesn’t involve a lot of quick time events, there isn’t any grinding to gain levels though you could if you wanted to, and the gameplay is simple and easy to understand without holding your hand too much.
Tips:
1: If you see anything that sparkles, go over to it and push use. It will be something special, possibly a “tab”, special items that boost a stat. If you use magic tabs on your characters, they recover all their magic points!
2: Forgiveness is helpful, so be forgiving.
3: Your time travel antics won’t hurt anyone in the past or erase the future, so feel free to alter the past at will. When making this game the developers put an emphasis on fun, not the realism of time travel.
Go check out last weeks "Game Worth Playing: Beholder" article, by Captain Chris.