Editorial Index < Why Square-Enix Should Work on Chrono Cross’s Sequel

Towards the end of the Playstation’s viable lifecycle, in the year 2000 Squaresoft released one of its greatest titles: Chrono Cross. Chrono Cross is the wonderful sequel to 1995’s RPG masterpiece Chrono Trigger, and therefore brought with it some lofty expectations. Commercially speaking, it fared fairly well whilst also topping many critics’ lists as one of the best games of that year. Therefore, one would anticipate some kind of sequel announcement from the gurus at SE regarding this beloved gaming franchise, yet none has appeared. After 5 years of waiting for Chrono Trigger’s sequel, we gamers received Chrono Cross, yet after 5 years of waiting for Chrono Cross’s sequel, we’ve yet to receive any semblance of the Chrono franchise continuing. The only sign of a possible sequel to Chrono Cross is Squaresoft’s announcement of a patent for a title, “Chrono Break”. Since then, however, SE has not yet revealed anything obviously relevant to the Chrono series, let alone hints to a possible sequel.

Aside from standard fanatical desire for a continuation of their favourites, the call for Chrono Cross’s sequel is far more pertinent than most. Though Chrono Cross is a masterpiece of a game in almost all regards, the story itself left far too many holes for the player. Though the ending is somewhat conclusive, many events leading up to the ending are left up to one’s speculation, rather than concretely answered within the story of the game. What many who played the game anticipated is that a sequel would more than likely fill in those holes that were so blatantly left open in Cross. Comparatively speaking, though some complain that Final Fantasy 7’s ending is inconclusive, Cross’s stories leave far more things open to speculation, yet the latter has not received 1 subsequent tie-in to its franchise, let alone many of them. Final Fantasy 7 will receive at least 5 projects tied into its storyline in one form or another within the next year, whereas Chrono Cross has none, despite the latter “needing” closure far more than FF7.

To be fair, the reason that SE continues with its FF7 product tie-ins is more commercially-based than it is aesthetically. SE will produce what fans want, and fans ostensibly desire more FF7, which makes perfect fiscal sense. FF7 sold 2,450,000 units, more than quadrupling Chrono Cross’s 580,000 (Source) in the USA alone. Although the former is a great success, the latter also fared quite well financially speaking. It sold better than Xenogears, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Brave Fencer Musashi, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, Ninja Gaiden, Saga Frontier, Paper Mario, Shenmue, and Suikoden III, all titles that spawned or will spawn sequels. Therefore, considering the success of such a solid franchise, it makes fiscal sense for SE to produce a Chrono sequel if one looks at how well it’s fared to other games whose franchise continued after them.

Though a game may be a commercial success, that does not necessarily make it a good game. However, Chrono Cross is one of those gems that is both a good seller and a critical hit. Most critics loved Chrono Cross enough to give it a positive rating: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/g/playstation/chrono_cross/. This author recalls www.videogames.com giving Cross a 10 out of 10, one of the few games to receive a perfect score. In other words, Cross excels in many regards: story, music, gameplay, and graphics. Perhaps it is out of fear to live up to such high standards that SE will not produce a sequel to Cross?

Though SE continues to push sequels for other franchises (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, even Grandia!), there is not a peep regarding anything related to the Chrono series. This is a grand disappointment to us fans who anticipated 5 years for Chrono Trigger’s sequel’s release. At least then we had a notion that there would indeed be a sequel to one of our most beloved games (and welcome it greatly), now, it seems as if SE has left us in a Chrono-less quagmire. The desire for closure, the (more than likely) profits, and the critical appeal to such a sequel should be more than enough reason for SE to further the Chrono series.