Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition

I went into this review with a little bit of trepidation. I adored Chrono Cross the previous times I’ve played it, but it’s been a good decade or so since I last did so. I was just as riveted playing the game on Switch now as I was years ago, enjoying building a different party and exploring the world in a different way. The speed-up and toggles for enemy encounters and battle boosts were welcome in this playthrough, mostly because I could toy with elements and characters more than I did in the past. While Radical Dreamers isn’t much more than an alternate history curiosity, the fact it is actually localized and legitimately available outside of Nintendo’s long inactive downloadable Satellaview network is incredible. Chrono Cross is a wonderful game - hands down my favorite PlayStation RPG - and the Radical Dreamers Edition is the best and friendliest way to play it.

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition brings possibly the best PS1 JRPG to Europe for the first time, and it simply must be played.

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is a great game with fantastic elements that can entertain players for many hours.

Chrono Cross is a timeless classic and this renewed form definitely deserves to be given a chance. You won't regret.

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is the perfect way to enjoy a classic game beloved by the JRPG community. Getting through its story and its fun mechanics is as engaging and entertaining as it was back in the day. Also, it looks really well thanks to this remaster.

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is almost the best possible rebirth for a Japanese RPG classic in Europe. Although it has its flaws, such as frame drops at times, its complex plot and original mechanics make it an incredible game for lovers of the genre.

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is worth getting if you want to play this PS1 classic on Switch and are willing to play it with the classic graphical style. The soundtrack is legendary, and the new battle enhancement features make for a much nicer experience. The new graphical style is sadly a mixed bag with some nice model and font upgrades, but awful performance and ugly backgrounds.

As a preservation project, Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is all but necessary. What players choose to do with that information is up to them.

As a bundle that includes two fantastic titles, Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition does its job of bringing to a new audience a chapter in Square Enix history that many perhaps forgot. However, as a remaster, it clearly could have been better.

One of the best JRPG ever made lands in Europe for the first time, with localised text and the addition of Radical Dreamers. It’s great to be able to finally play it, even if it falls short as a remaster.

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is a decent way to play an often overlooked PS1 RPG along with its accompanying SNES text adventure, but it doesn’t do a whole lot to justify a purchase if you already own the original. In fact, it actually performs worse in some cases. Still, the new options like fast forward and disabling encounters are convenient, and finally having a way to play Radical Dreamers is awesome.

It is a pity that the game has not been given a newer jacket, because the appearance due to the graphics is now not completely up to date. But if you play long enough, the jacket secretly fits like a glove and you have a smile on your face non-stop when you play Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition and that's ultimately what counts!.

If Chrono Cross The Radical Dreamers Edition allows a new audience to discover a cult PS1 game in good conditions, the latter could have been better. On the one hand, this remaster benefits from updated graphics, an improved soundtrack but also new accessibility options and exclusive content that makes it interesting both for neophytes and for those who know already the title. But on the other hand, between the lack of a tutorial, perfectible menu ergonomics, but above all a still unstable framerate, this update could have offered a better rendering. It remains to be seen whether patches will correct some of its problems in the future to make the experience even more pleasant.

Ultimately, I'm equally delighted and disappointed. Maybe there's a better version of this game available in another world? [Issue #59 – May/June 2022, p. 22]

Chrono Cross was and remains a great JRPG that has its place in the pantheon of great classics. It's well worth playing especially for fans of the Chrono series who maybe had only ever experienced Chrono Trigger before. This is perhaps not quite as cohesive an experience as its predecessor was, because it plays in a way that's more experimental and not quite as refined, and its plot is a bit harder to follow. However, because of its plot ties to the great original and how it connects to it, it is essential to play for fans of the latter, and despite minor shortcomings that hold it back from being as big a classic, it's still well worth experiencing today. With that in mind, Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition, as a new release of this classic, is not all that it could or should have been on any platforms, including Nintendo Switch, due to a poor level of performance that's just inexcusable, given that other PS1 games just as demanding as this one made the transition so much better, at least performance-wise.

This remaster is a bit lazy but it will help JRPG's fan to discover or rediscover this popular game from the PS1 era.

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition has a few technical issues that may infuriate those of you that are used to modern RPGs. However, the story, unique characters, and gorgeous art make it worth pushing through if you’ve never played this amazing JRPG in the past.

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is a wonderful remaster marred by an unoptimized Switch port. While you could argue that they could have gone further in places, like maybe offering players the ability to further customize which parts of the experience they wanted to be presented with old or new graphics, it feels nice that one of my favorite PS1 era JRPGs got so much love. I adore both of the games in this collection from the bottom of my heart, and I’m glad they’re more accessible than ever. I hope the Switch version can be an easier recommendation in the future, especially since the only way to own it physically seems to be on that platform.

That’s all you need to know: it’s a PlayStation-era Square RPG. Can you still stand to play Final Fantasy IX and Parasite Eve? Then Chrono Cross is worth your time, and here’s an okay way to play it. Is that era too antiquated for you? Then this remaster has no chance of changing your mind. Regardless of what you think of the game or genre, it’s not a very loving or respectful port, and Chrono Cross deserves better.

It’s a shame that, with the release of Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, we likely won’t see a comprehensive remaster or even a full remake of this underrated gem for a long while, leaving us with a somewhat underwhelming version on Switch that isn’t much beyond a port. Regardless, the portability of the Nintendo's console and the inclusion of Radical Dreamers still makes this the best and most convenient way for fans and newcomers alike to play the 22-year-old classic and its pseudo-prequel. It's a good game and having easy access to it is a boon — just don't go in with more than modest expectations when it comes to the remaster effort.