Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition Reviews
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.
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.
Despite being a masterpiece of split universes and the often futile attempts to fight fate, we're living in the timeline where the original source code for Chrono Cross was lost to the scars of time and the remaster that exists in this age wasn't given the focus that one of the greatest JRPGs of all time deserves.
Parts of Chrono Cross really haven't aged well, but it's still a charming, characterful JRPG that evokes feelings of the genre's golden age on PS1. It's a game that deserves better than The Radical Dreamers Edition, which, at least at launch, is a dreadfully poor remaster. Crippled by frame rate issues, it beggars belief that a title from 1999 could run this badly on modern hardware. Unless you're desperate for the nostalgia, we strongly recommend waiting to see whether Square Enix releases a patch to improve the package on PS4 and PS5 before buying.
A serviceable restoration of one of the best and strangest games in Squaresoft's back catalogue.
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.
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.
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 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.
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
The Radical Dreamers Edition isn't as bad as it's made out to be, but to say it's a far cry from what it should have been is an understatement.