Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition Reviews
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition does an excellent job of presenting to a new audience a period in Square Enix history that many may have forgotten. It achieves this by including two fantastic games in one package. However, there is little doubt that it might have been better as a remaster.
Chrono Cross has always been an exceptional and historically important game, and this is even more true with the remaster.
As it is now, Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition isn’t the ideal way of playing Chrono Cross, but it’s the best one we have. And with the aforementioned patch(es), it’ll be easy to recommend, even more so due it being the only official way to play Radical Dreamers, for as much of a letdown as it might end up being to fans who had yet to play it.
When it comes to legacy JRPGs, few games in Square Enix’s catalog are as controversial as Chrono Cross. The closest comparison would likely be Final Fantasy VIII, a game with just as many detractors as ardent defenders. With that in mind, a re-release of the Chrono Trigger sequel, even one as robust and loving as Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, was bound to be divisive.
Although sometimes underrated, particularly for its confusing and convoluted narrative design, there is no doubt that Chrono Cross was, in many ways, exceptional for its time. Even in the present day, Cross is still deep, resourceful, and a benchmark of gameplay and narrative synergy for non-linear design within its genre. Radical Dreamers is also an expensive piece for Western fans who have waited decades for a localization and brings an interesting alternate version of the early events in Chrono Cross, also adding to reflect on the gameplay and music of the JRPG. Even considering it's a low-cost collection, Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition could be better, especially in battle performance. However, there is no denying that the team's other efforts to bring these titles to the new generation of consoles are commendable, especially Chrono Cross, which remains a great recommendation for JRPG fans.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
More than two decades since its original release, Chrono Cross is still one of the most innovative JRPGs with a brilliant plot and setting. Some of the quality of life improvements are very welcomed and the visual touch ups coupled with the option to just use the original graphics is also a big plus in the world of remasters.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is a chance to rediscover, or play for the umpteenth time, one of the best JRPGs from the golden age of PlayStation. Majestic in its art direction and music, and with one of the most elaborate and intriguing stories ever seen, there are very few criticisms that can be made of the original game, and in general the biggest "flaw" that can be attributed to it is that it wasn't the disruptive masterpiece that its predecessor was. In fact, the inclusion of Chrono Trigger (even at a higher price) would have made the compilation a must-have, too bad. The refinements that Square Enix has made for this remaster may not be optimal for an ideal visual performance, but they are accompanied by a series of substantial additions that, against a budget price of € 19.99, make the package definitely worth buying and recommended for any lover of the genre.
Review in Italian | Read full review
It is a pity that the game has not been given a newer jacket, because the appearance due to the graphics is now not completely up to date. But if you play long enough, the jacket secretly fits like a glove and you have a smile on your face non-stop when you play Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition and that's ultimately what counts!
Review in Dutch | Read full review
CHRONO CROSS: THE RADICAL DREAMERS EDITION could have been much more than ensuring a competent performance at its launch. Today, this being quite annoying, it remains somewhat bittersweet for what is one of the great games of the JRPG genre and of the first PlayStation.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition may remind us of remasters that Square-Enix has offered us in the past, such as Final Fantasy VIII or Final Fantasy IX, with almost the same extra options (speed up combat or have certain advantages) and an improvement renders/graphics, and being for the first time arrived to Europe, making it a must have whether you are a fan of the saga or not (especially if you like JRPGs). Apart from enjoying it with such a good facelift and with the extras it brings, you will be able to enjoy "Radical Dreamers" for the first time and get to know that prequel that never left Japan, in addition to the fact that both have been fully translated into Spanish.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition represents two examples of game preservation with varying results. The sharper, more accessible, but poorer-performing Chrono Cross is both a blessing and a curse. But the debut of an official English translation of Radical Dreamers is a moment to celebrate as a Chrono and video game history fan.
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition includes quality of life upgrades making this the definitive version, bringing a game that was firmly stuck in the past to a new generation.