#3 Chrono Trigger
EDIT: Mods stop shrinking my images. They are no larger than the ones used by everyone else.
One of the most important things, gave developers need to learn is that AGLs in games are bad. What are AGLs? Artificial Game Lengtheners (full credit to Dunkey for the acronym), are the parts of a game that are tedious and time consuming simply for the sake of lengthening a game. Oftentimes a game will be fun, but will only take ten to twenty hours to beat. For some reason development studios see that as unacceptable, so they use AGLs to spread the fun content out like too little butter over so much toast. I believe that the JRPG genre is one of the greatest things ever invented in this medium, but I also admit that most overstay their welcome by about fifty hours. The genius in Chrono Trigger is that it removes most of the standard AGLs from the genre leaving pure fun in it's wake. Random battles are gone. Turn based combat uses the speedy ATB system from FFVI. Enemies are placed and spaced out so that you fight them only enough times to hold your interest and no more. Chrono Trigger only takes about twenty to twentyfive hours to beat, but it's a breakneck rollercoaster ride of fun from start to finish. This game has excellent character designs from Dragonball's Akira Toriyama, and a perfect soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda. There's a really fun and interesting combo system built into the game, that feels natural. You can combine different attacks like a flame attack, and a sword attack to get a flaming sword attack (See the cover?). Multiple endings and a New Game + mode mean anybody that loves JRPGs should be in for a good 50 hours of completionist playtime. The original SNES cart still commands $80 or more despite DS and PS1 remakes existing. This is the JRPG that transcends hatred of JRPGs. Even if you absolutely hate the genre, you owe it to yourself to play this one. Yeah, it is that good.
Last edited by Cerebralbore101 - on 30 December 2017
