When talking about some of the best RPGs of all-time, Chrono Trigger is bound to be mentioned. Released on the Super Famicom/SNES in 1995, the game was an instant hit on release and has since been re-released on the Nintendo DS, where it was received with equal enthusiasm.
Yes, the game is great, but beyond that greatness lies a bit of history that often gets overlooked. At the time of the game's release, the RPG scene was dominated by Square and Enix, and the two actually worked together to create Chrono Trigger. Therefore, Chrono Trigger isn't merely a game; it also marked the moment in history when some of Japan's greatest pooled their efforts to produce, arguably, one of the greatest games in history.
Speaking in an interview, Chrono Trigger director Takashi Tokita said he would "love to see" a "high-quality, high-end" version of the game, like a movie production or "something of the sort," but noted it won't be likely since the game is seemingly untouchable by Square Enix due to its illustrious history.
"It's probably considered sacred since the companies merged," he said. "It was essentially a dream mix between Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest; creating or exceeding what it was in its original form is a very difficult feat."
He went on to describe the development process behind the game, recalling that, by the end of its development, a couple hundred people were working on the game at the same time. Many of the people involved in its development are some of the most well-respected in the video game industry today.
For example, Yoshinori Kitase was the director and scenario writer and has gone on to be part of be part of every Final Fantasy since FFVII; Hironbu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy franchise, was in charge of the game's design; Yuji Horii, the creator of Dragon Quest, was the game's scenario writer and supervisor; Nobuo Uematsu, legendary Final Fantasy soundtrack composer, was in charge of composition and arrangement; and Akira Toriyama, designer and creator of the legendary Dragon Ball series, was in charge of art.
"It was kind of like a grand festival — it was really fun. Nomura was actually creating the environment background pieces in Chrono Trigger — like the courthouse scene, that was created by him."
It's interesting to see Tokita so interested in seeing another addition to the series, especially since it's something that fans have been on about for years. In fact, fans love the series so much that there was an assortment of unofficial sequels to Chrono Trigger in the early- to mid-2000s that never saw the light of day.
With all that said, can fans ever expect to see a new entry in the Chrono series? At one point, there were rumblings that suggested Square Enix would be interested in creating a new game, and it even went as far as to file a now-expired trademark for a game called Chrono Break. Not to mention, with a re-make of Final Fantasy VII in the wings, Square Enix has shown it is willing to do new things with old IPs, so it's too early to rule anything out.
