Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes

Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes was a fan-made game created by Kajar Laboratories, an international team, as a ROM hack of Square’s Super Nintendo RPG Chrono Trigger. It was designed as an unofficial entry in the Chrono series, taking place between the original game and its sequel, Chrono Cross. Development ran from 2004 to 2009, and the project was about 98% complete when Square Enix issued a cease-and-desist letter for knowingly infringing on the company’s intellectual property, leading to its cancellation. The gaming press widely covered this, with most outlets sympathetic to the project. Despite the cancellation, various versions—from an alpha to a release candidate—have since leaked online and are fully playable. Since Crimson Echoes uses the Chrono Trigger engine, its gameplay closely mirrors the original. Players and enemies can use physical or magical attacks in battle, and items can heal or protect characters. Each character and enemy has hit points that decrease with successful attacks and can be restored with potions or spells; losing all hit points causes a character to faint. The game employs the Active Time Battle 2.0 system from the first game. It also includes new maps, graphics, and sprites, plus minigames that reward items and equipment—such as a “Coliseum” battle mode inspired by Final Fantasy VII and a casino with luck-based games. All playable characters from Chrono Trigger return, set five years after that game’s events. Crono and Marle serve as junior regents of Guardia, while Lucca continues her scientific work. They struggle to manage tensions with Porre, which has modernized its military and aims to end Guardia’s economic dominance. Frog lives in 605 A.D., restored to human form (though this wasn’t implemented before the cease-and-desist). Magus searches for Schala in the frozen 11,995 B.C. and feuds with Dalton, who seeks artifacts from the lost Kingdom of Zeal. Ayla, in 64,999,995 B.C., has given birth to her tribe’s successor. Robo assists Belthasar, the Guru of Reason, who has secretly built a temporal research facility called Chronopolis in 2305 A.D. Belthasar claims it will guard time against threats like Lavos, but he also harbors darker ambitions to leave a grand legacy and is recklessly pragmatic.