I’m born in 1992 so this game is a bit before my time. I started playing it and got completely hooked. It’s an absolutely fantastic game that would still hold up as a quality indie game today.
Music is amazing. Characters and character development is amazing. Story is very good. Combat is genuinely fun instead of feeling like a chore that cuts you off from the game. Art style is amazing.
I was surprised how much quality they could fit onto the SNES back it the day, it’s a really good game and everyone with a potato can ploy it.
Pro tip: Remasters have some UI unpleasantness so it’s best to stick to SNES emu version. I tried the Android and they used some native android font that ruined the immersion a bit. There’s also a tight running section that’s particularly unsuited for the mobile version. SNES is best, as originally intended.
Chrono Trigger has all the elements done right- 10/10 music, 10/10 art style, RPG and battle systems that were innovative for the time and are still fun to play today.
But I think what sets the game apart as a timeless classic, a masterpiece, is its deep themes of existentialism. Marle has has a fake persona and a mistaken identity, yet we can still see her real self. Crono, as an avatar for the player, is sentenced to death and spared in the last moments. Robo, after being freed from his original programming, asks “Is this what it is like… to die?”
And that’s all just in the first act.
The ideas of Sartre, of Nietzsche, and perhaps most of all “Being and Time” by Heidegger were presented in a way that my 10-year-old self could comprehend and enjoy. But it’s not dumbed down for children, my 30-year-old self can still find deep meaning in the narrative and themes.
Plus, time travel is cool.
I agree with everything you’ve said and reading this comment filled me with joy, but I’m still hungry…