Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition Reviews
This forgotten piece of Chrono history is a valuable addition to the series and a great bonus for purchasers of Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition.
Shedding light on one of the legends of Japanese RPG games is a successful step and a good opportunity for RPG fans to give the game a chance, whether for the first time or re-visit its beautiful world, even though it did not do enough to attract the attention of a larger segment of the audience due to minor improvements and technical problems. This is the first step in the revival of the Chrono series.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is a re-release with more love and respect than I ever hoped would be given to a game that many saw as the ugly brother of one of the best JRPGs in history. This is a remaster that did go that extra mile to pamper those of us who for years have been asking for a way to play Chrono Cross on a modern platform.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
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
I had a lot of fun playing Chrono Cross again; the unique spin on turn-based combat, colourful locales, and dimension-hopping narrative was a joy to re-experience all these years later. However, through a critical eye, Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition leaves a lot to be desired. Glaring issues with performance, improvements, and graphical inconsistencies take away from the truly great source material. This lack of care and attention to detail flies in the face of some of Square Enix’s other remaster works, and is a disappointing black-eye on what could have been a truly great remaster package of a still phenomenal classic JRPG.
Chrono Cross is an incredible game that has been deserving a remaster for far too long. It's a shame that, after all these years, it had to arrive in such a sorry state. The Radical Dreamers Edition does some minor work in improving and upgrading the experience, but with such poor optimisation, it's a headache to enjoy the experience. Longtime fans might be able to forgive the issues and savour the incredible visual novel side-story Radical Dreamers, but a game as iconic as this deserves better.
Even if this Radical Dreamers Edition is just good and not great, Chrono Cross is such an essential JRPG that everyone with even a vague interest in the genre should go and download it as soon as possible. let's hope Chrono Trigger and Tactics Ogre are the next in line for remasters or remakes.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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.
If you've never played Chrono Cross, you should, and there's little reason not to take advantage of the upgrades available in The Radical Dreamers Edition. If you already have access to the original edition, whether it's worth the double-dip comes down to how determined you are to play Radical Dreamers; I'd wager it isn't worth the price of admission. But regardless, however you do it, you should play Chrono Cross. It's just a shame this remaster isn't all it could have been.
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers brings a daring and unusual JRPG back into the spotlight, but doesn’t smooth over many of its rough patches.
It remains for me to write about Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition something that I have already written many times in relation to similar projects - the average remaster of a great game.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Here we enter a particularly difficult case to judge: is it worth playing Chrono Cross these days? Absolutely. Is this faulty port worth buying at its launch price? It depends. It's a shame the remaster turned out this way, but Chrono Cross is still a gem even after all these years.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
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.
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: The Radical Dreamers Edition is quite the curious case. On one hand, the game is an absolute classic that everyone needs to experience, and this release just does that. By releasing on more modern platforms, especially on the Switch (which is probably the best way to play this game), a brand new audience can come to realize the greatness of the RPGs of old wrapped in a shiny new package. On the other hand, the remaster isn't something you'd expect for a game of this stature. Maybe it would have been wrong to expect more, but I certainly expected more from it and was disappointed, mainly because of the performance issues, something that is inexcusable given the technology we have currently. Some may overlook this, but it doesn't change the fact that it exists.
Radical Dreamers is as good as it possibly could be, but the remastering of Chrono Cross leaves a lot to be desired. The latter especially is a 10/10 RPG, but in our Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition review, it disappoints due to the lack of care. The technical limitations were excusable on the first PlayStation, but on PlayStation 5, it is embarrassing that it runs worse.
The acclaimed Playstation classic is finally on PC and it also comes with classic neglect by Square Enix as a bonus. With the current subpar performance, I can only recommend it to the hardcore fans.
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition was a pending debt and has more than met expectations. Every fan of the classic JRPG must have it.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
While upgraded graphics and gameplay enhancements may not be enough for everyone, it's still a great game thanks to a vibrant world and cast and its take on the tired and true turn-based battle system. Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers is a worthwhile port for fans of the game and those looking to play for the first time.
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, while far from a flawless remaster, delivers one of the most adored games to current platforms, but it is at best a monkey paw type of wish fulfillment. Even the game's poor performance cannot disguise this brilliance.