Jer gave me a copy of Chrono Trigger DS for Chirstmas last week. I've never played the original, which some might think funny considering the band I'm in. I thought this was ten kinds of awesome and so I've had my nose buried in my DS for the last week.
I always kind of shied away from RPGS because they seemed so random. I never knew where to go or how to get that one elusive power item and I always got slammed by random encounters. I always loved the stories, but I could never put in that much time at the controls. So why am I liking Chrono Trigger so much?
1) The Map. I know this is a feature for the DS version, but it does tend to show you certain points of interest to which you should attend. Suits me fine. It doesn't show you EVERYTHING, but you're not left to your own devices entirely, either.
2) The Battles. I love it. Don't feel like fighting that pack of birds? Walk around them. Marvellous.
3) The Characters. The heart of any story. Right now I'd say my personal favorite character is Ayla. Ya gotta love a girl with a club.
What's really funny is that because I've read so much about other RPGs, it's given me a lot of clues about how to handle certain situations in this one. There is a boss called Giga Gaia, who looks and plays exactly like Dark Force, the big villain from the old Phantasy Star series. I've read enough about PS to know how to handle Giga Gaia, and I nailed it on the first attempt.
I haven't made it all the way through the game yet. I figure I'll post another entry as I close things out. But for right now, I can say that this has definitely given me the impetus to try a few more RPGs. Thank for listening folks.
-Jon
