Chrono Cross

Lore & Background

Chrono Cross was developed and published by Square for the PlayStation, released in Japan in 1999 and North America in 2000. The game was designed primarily by scenarist and director Masato Kato, with help from other designers who worked on Chrono Trigger, including art director Yasuyuki Honne and composer Yasunori Mitsuda. Nobuteru Yūki designed the characters. The story follows a teenage boy named Serge, who discovers an alternate reality in which he died as a child, and he seeks to uncover the truth of the two worlds' divergence. He is assisted by the thief Kid and many other characters as he travels the tropical archipelago El Nido, challenged by the antagonist Lynx.

Reader's Guide

Chrono Cross received widespread acclaim upon release, earning a perfect 10.0 score from GameSpot. It shipped 1.5 million copies worldwide by 2003, leading to a Greatest Hits re-release and continued availability in Japan as part of the Ultimate Hits series. The game was later re-released for the PlayStation Network in Japan in July 2011 and in North America four months later. A remaster titled Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition was released on April 7, 2022, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. The game features standard role-playing gameplay with innovations such as no random encounters, a stamina bar for battle actions, and an Element system for magic and items. It includes parallel dimensions, a New Game+ option, and multiple endings. The game's legacy lies in its connection to Chrono Trigger, its acclaimed design, and its continued availability through re-releases.

Did You Know?

• Chrono Cross features 45 party members, but it is impossible to obtain all of them in a single playthrough.
• The game has no experience points; instead, statistics increase after defeating bosses, adding stars to a running count.
• Chrono Cross includes a New Game+ option that allows players to access twelve different endings.
• The game's Element system divides magic into six paired oppositional types: Red/Blue, Green/Yellow, and White/Black.