Interesting article over at Gamesutra:

Game Narrative Review: Chrono Trigger

It's three pages so I won't post it here but it's not a bad read.  The only part I really don't like is the author says Crono's revival weakens the story because it cheapens his death.  I think he's right in saying that reviving a character can weaken the story, but I really don't think it did in Chrono Triggers case.

It was a fantastic and deeply involved quest getting him back and actually saving him was just highly rewarding and made me feel that much closer to the silent protaganist.

I haven't read the link yet. I'll be doing that in a second. But Crono's revival? It was the best part of the story! Well, not really. There were a ton of climactic parts to Chrono Trigger. I don't think the writer knows what he's talking about.

*goes to read thread*

I read it. I enjoyed it a lot, actually. Still don't think that saving Crono hurt the story at all. The game was loosely set up into episodes (the game save titles were what made me feel this way). Crono was away for a significantly large amount of time, when I played it back in 1995. I had enough time to mourn over his death. When it was revealed that there was a way to save him, I was overjoyed.

In other media, I would have to agree. If Optimus Prime dies, he needs to stay dead....at least until the next movie. In Chrono Trigger, Marle, Lucca, Robo, Frog, Crono and Ayla (fuck you, Magus!) were my friends. We saved our friend. In the end, that was more important. Story impact be damned!

Yeah, there are plenty of places where characters suddenly getting revived feels a cheap and cheapens the story.  For isntance, Final Fantasy IV did this several time.

Not counting thinking the others might be dead after falling off the boat, they did it with Palom and Poram and Yang.  Both of the moments where you thought those characters died were incredibly emotional moments and Palom and Poram's sacrifice especially is one of the most gut wrenching scenes in game history but the moment they came back it just felt cheap.

But then looking at Rydia, even though we were never sure if she was dead, the way she came back felt incredible.

So why is that?

When Palom, Poram, and Yang all come back, it's just Hey guys!  We're back, we never really died, it was just more of a temporary condition.  Lawl while with Rydia it was a deep well written moment.

Looking at Chrono Trigger, it was another one of those great moments you worked very hard towards and it was incredibly gratifying.  It didn't in any way at all cheapen the story, make me feel duped, or made me feel ripped off for the previous feelings I had, it made me overwhelmed with joy and get that much closer to the character.

I think making the blanket statement the author made was just a little naive and that one little bit just brought down that entire article.  I'm not sure if he felt like he was forced to say something bad about the game and that was the only thing he could find (though I find that hard to believe) or what, but it just makes you feel like maybe he didn't actually get into the game when played.  It almost makes me feel like he just read a synopsis of the game rather than actually experiencing it and that's why he that moment was lackluster.

I agree.  I mean... mostly because it's a story about TIME TRAVEL.

Pretty much everything should be up to possibility... even character death.

I disagree with one of the reviews the guy cited. I wouldn't call Chrono Trigger's world "Steampunk." It was more Fantasy/Sci-Fi then anything else.