Chrono Trigger - An Existentialist Masterpiece

Summary

In this transcript, Max Derrat explores Chrono Trigger, a classic JRPG, highlighting its existential themes and timeless artistry. While some players debate its narrative complexity, Derrat argues that Chrono Trigger perfectly harmonizes various elements of game design—music, art, gameplay—despite its age. The story, involving time travel and choices affecting multiple endings, may seem simple but reveals philosophical depth when players explore beyond the main plot. The game’s exploration of free will and existential triumphs, particularly through side quests, establishes its legacy as an existential masterpiece in gaming.

Highlights

• Chrono Trigger is considered perfect in its game design disciplines since 1995. 🎮
• The main story involves defeating an alien, Lavos, threatening Earth's timelines. 🪐
• The narrative complexity depends on player engagement with side quests. 🔍
• Characters undergo identity transformations, metaphorically and literally. 🔄
• The endgame side quests reveal deeper existential themes. 🌌
• The player’s choices significantly affect the game’s multiple endings. 🧭

Key Takeaways

• Chrono Trigger harmonizes all elements of game design with precision! 🎮
• The game’s narrative depth varies based on how players engage with it. 📖
• Exploration in the game is rewarded with profound side quests. 🚀
• Key themes include existentialism and the triumph of free will. 🌌
• The game excels not just in storytelling but in emotional investment. ❤️
• Existential struggles are mirrored in the character's journeys, offering deep insights. 🤔

Overview

Max Derrat takes us on a philosophical journey through the classic video game Chrono Trigger, which is revered for its remarkable blend of game mechanics, art, and storytelling. Despite being three decades old, the game continues to captivate audiences by embodying harmonious design elements that many modern games struggle with. Derrat reflects on the game’s successes, pointing out how Chrono Trigger stands the test of time in gaming history.

At its core, Chrono Trigger tells the story of a group of heroes from various timelines, banding together to combat the existential threat of an alien entity named Lavos. The gameplay intertwines the concepts of time travel and moral choices, resulting in multiple potential story endings. However, Delving deeper into the game reveals a narrative layered with existentialism, where the players' perception of the game's depth is dictated by how they interact with its world.

Derrat suggests that beyond the game’s main narrative, the optional side quests are where Chrono Trigger truly shines, revealing profound themes of free will and existentialism. The choices players make can lead to multiple outcomes, some hopeful and some melancholic. These story arcs challenge players to reflect on their own life's existential choices and highlight the power of human will—themes which Derrat posits render Chrono Trigger an existential masterpiece.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Recognizing Seminal Works in Various Mediums The chapter discusses the importance of recognizing key works of art across various mediums such as film, literature, and music. It references iconic movies like 'The Godfather' and 'Citizen Kane', classic literary works such as 'Hamlet' and 'Faust', and notable compositions by Chopin and Stravinsky, highlighting their roles as turning points in their respective fields.
• 00:31 - 01:00: Influential Video Games and Introduction of Chrono Trigger Video games have developed as a young medium, influenced by past works and subsequently influencing future developments. Recognized seminal games like 'Ocarina of Time', 'Half-Life', 'System Shock 2', 'World of Warcraft', 'Metal Gear Solid', and 'Final Fantasy 7' have left significant impacts on the gaming world. Even those who haven't played them are aware of their existence and contributions.
• 01:01 - 02:30: Conflicted Views on Chrono Trigger's Narrative The chapter titled 'Conflicted Views on Chrono Trigger's Narrative' delves into the analysis of influential video games, focusing particularly on 'Chrono Trigger.' The narrator respects games that have revolutionized or initiated their respective genres and borrows this analytical lens to understand their impact on the gaming medium. After reviewing multiple top 10, 25, and 100 lists from various online sources, 'Chrono Trigger' emerges alongside 'Ocarina of Time' as consistently being among the top-ranked games. The chapter likely explores why 'Chrono Trigger' is held in such high regard, examining its narrative and possibly the mixed views surrounding its storytelling.
• 02:31 - 03:30: Chrono Trigger's Simplistic Yet Perfect Gameplay The chapter discusses the game 'Chrono Trigger' and the author's initial perceptions of it. Despite knowing it was a JRPG and that notable figures from franchises like Final Fantasy and Xenogears contributed to its development, the author had never played it. The decision to analyze the game stemmed from mixed reactions received when consulting their audience about creating a video on it.
• 03:31 - 05:30: Storytelling and Thematic Exploration in Chrono Trigger The chapter examines the narrative depth of the game Chrono Trigger. It highlights differing opinions from the audience on whether the game's story is simple or complex, reflecting on the narrator's personal decision to invest time in the game to form their own opinion on its storytelling and thematic elements.
• 05:31 - 07:30: Character Development and Emotional Depth The chapter discusses the balance and precision that the game Chrono Trigger achieves across various disciplines like music, art direction, and gameplay mechanics, leading to a unique level of perfection. It implies that while the narrative of the game may or may not reach a state of profundity, the overall execution of these elements together allows for a harmonious and precise gameplay experience.
• 07:31 - 09:30: Existential Themes and Conclusion This chapter explores the timeless appeal of certain video games, particularly those from 1995, and their enduring relevance in 2022. Despite advancements in gaming technology, these games maintain a level of gameplay that is neither tedious nor overly complex, in contrast to many modern or older retro JRPGs. The chapter argues that these games have not aged poorly, unlike other beloved retro titles, and remain engaging if one can overlook the advancements in modern RPG graphics.
• 09:31 - 10:09: Video Closure and Future Content Tease The chapter discusses the game 'Chrono Trigger', highlighting its significance in the JRPG genre. It is praised for its simplistic yet sublime form and its pioneering contributions to the gaming industry, such as multiple endings based on moral choices and the introduction of 'new game plus'. The speaker acknowledges why 'Chrono Trigger' is often listed at the top of many top 10 lists despite not being perfect.

Chrono Trigger - An Existentialist Masterpiece Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] as connoisseurs of the arts we collectively recognize certain works of art to be pivotal to their respective mediums movies like the godfather or citizen kane works of literature like hamlet and faust compositions by chopin and stravinsky these works represent the evolutionary pinpoints for their
• 00:30 - 01:00 respective mediums they are the culmination of all that came before and all that follows after owes their existence to them in respect to the young medium of video games we have already seen several seminal works of art ocarina of time half-life system shock 2 world of warcraft metal gear solid final fantasy 7 and many others even if we have not played these games ourselves we are all aware of them and
• 01:00 - 01:30 we respect them for revolutionizing and sometimes beginning their respective genres as of late i've turned my focus towards these influential works to try and understand why they had such a profound impact on the medium i cross-referenced numerous top 10 25 100 lists across the internet to see which ones were held in the highest esteem aside from ocarina of time the one game that i found consistently around the top
• 01:30 - 02:00 of these lists was chrono trigger i knew nothing about this game aside from the fact that it was a jrpg and that some of the greatest minds behind other great jrpgs like final fantasy and xenogears worked on this project i've always wanted to play it just to see what the big deal was but when i asked my audience whether they thought i should do a video on it i received mixed signals see most of the time when i seek out a game to analyze i make my choices
• 02:00 - 02:30 based on whether or not the game reportedly has a profound narrative when i asked my audience on a number of occasions whether chrono trigger met this requirement i was told that it was a simple story as often as i was told that it was complex so i chose to roll the dice and decide for myself whether or not i should spend my already limited time on this 30 year old jrpg risking the possibility that i might not have anything worthwhile to say on it when i was done i will address whether or not
• 02:30 - 03:00 the narrative did reach that state of profundity in a moment for now i will give my overall verdict and it is one that i don't recall ever giving to any other game while it may or may not be profound chrono trigger is perfect when you consider all the different disciplines that go into making a game music art direction gameplay mechanics chrono trigger harmonizes these disciplines with mathematical precision
• 03:00 - 03:30 they were state of the art back in 1995 and in many ways continue to be in 2022 at no point does the gameplay become tiresome grindy or overly complicated like they do in other jrpgs at no point do certain elements feel like they have aged poorly like they have in other beloved retro titles if you are capable of ignoring the existence of modern rpgs set in graphically detailed three-dimensional worlds you will
• 03:30 - 04:00 witness within chrono trigger at jrpg in its simplest but also its most sublime form when you add in the fact that chrono trigger is responsible for giving the medium of gaming so many things that we take for granted today be it multiple endings based on your moral choices or the ability to go into new game plus it becomes very clear to me why this game rests at the top of so many top 10 lists though it might not be complexly perfect
• 04:00 - 04:30 it is simply perfect but as for the story does it reach the level of profundity that we find in aforementioned games like metal gear solid and system shock 2. my answer might seem like a cop-out at first but just bear with me it depends on who plays it by the way that's not an appeal to the subjectivity of art the quality of chrono trigger's story varies on how one approaches the game i think most people will play through chrono trigger and only witness
• 04:30 - 05:00 a familiar by the numbers time travel story by that i mean the stereotypical back to the future plot where you go into the past and do something there to affect the future sure there are one or two moments one will experience that have some emotional depth to them like with the characters of frog and magus but those moments are far surpassed by similar characters in other games and media this remains true for about 70 to 80 percent of the game but as for the other 20 to 30 percent well that can be
• 05:00 - 05:30 missed entirely depending on like i said who you are and how you play if you choose to go off the linear path and explore the various locations from the various time periods you will be rewarded with side quests and endings that contain some of the most original and impactful storytelling that i have ever witnessed in a game what makes the stories in those quests and endings so impactful are the themes of free will
• 05:30 - 06:00 and existentialism that pervade them the characters struggles with existential dread and their respective triumphs over existential dread are so poetic and so positive that they are arguably unmatched i will go into greater detail but now i feel compelled to provide a synopsis to those who up until recently were like me and that they heard of chrono trigger but know nothing about it chrono trigger centers not on one
• 06:00 - 06:30 protagonist but on seven different characters from many different time periods there are the characters chrono luca and nadia also known as marl from 1000 ad glenn aka frog from 600 a.d robo from 2300 a.d magus from 12 000 bc and ayla from 65 million bc these seven characters encounter each other across various time periods this is made
• 06:30 - 07:00 possible by the opening of time gates via multiple different methods be it through lucca's inventions the manipulation of reality by magicians or by unknown forces the common purpose that unites these individuals is the desire to defeat an extraterrestrial being named lavos lavos is an alien that crash-landed on earth around 65 million bc the alien is much like that of a
• 07:00 - 07:30 stereotypical lovecraftian great one in that its true purpose and function transcend human comprehension all we know for certain about lavos is that its crash landing provoked the ice age and a slumber that would last until 1999 a.d when lavos woke up in that year the world virtually ended prior to that as lavo slept there were those who would attempt to understand the alien's power and wield it such as queen zeal and the
• 07:30 - 08:00 denizens of her kingdom also named zeal but they like other fictional characters who encounter lovecraftian gods become corrupted in the face of unimaginable power it is up to our seven heroes to defeat queen zeal lavos and the forces in service to both across five time spans if they fail then queen zeal's lust for power will awaken lavos and the world will end that is the focus of the main story
• 08:00 - 08:30 aside from the creative idea of telling a story across multiple time periods there is not much else to the primary plot that makes it transcendently good at least in my mind i figure that the vast majority of people who have played this game will have only experienced the main plot and understandably so unless you can pay close attention to what certain npcs say and can recall all the different locations across all time spans figuring out how to start these
• 08:30 - 09:00 side quests becomes difficult this was a bold game design choice on the part of the developers especially because that content includes some of the best storytelling and gameplay in the game and even if you find the start points for these quests you need to think deeply about how your actions in the past might affect things in the future and by proxy might affect your ability to get these endings at all but by demanding an increased effort and attention from the gamer it compels a
• 09:00 - 09:30 deeper emotional investment and provides subsequently greater reward for both the gamer and the characters one of the best examples of this comes with the character known as glenn also known as frog this character was the only one that really demonstrated any emotional depth in the main plot at least for me but still the main plot doesn't provide the emotional closure that this character needed this pattern is consistent with other characters in the
• 09:30 - 10:00 game but we'll get to those in a moment in respect to glenn he reluctantly became a knight for the royal army i say reluctantly because he had demonstrated an intense pacifism and lack of self-assertion for his entire life glenn's best friend who was also in the royal army cyrus would chastise him for this calling him as soft as a marshmallow glenn suffered the ultimate repercussion for these faults when he watched cyrus be murdered by the aforementioned magus glenn could have
• 10:00 - 10:30 made the choice to fight in this circumstance to avenge the death of his friend but he was unable to on account of his pacifism as glenn knelt before cyrus's body in a shocked and grief-stricken state magus noted that glenn appeared like a frog being glared at by a snake this inspired magus to transform glenn into a reflection of his personal weakness into an actual frog for 10 years glenn lived in self-imposed
• 10:30 - 11:00 exile wallowing in guilt over this event it wasn't until time travel brought the other protagonists to him that he began to move beyond his decade of inaction it appears that glenn made this choice not out of his own personal desire but because the fate of the world was at stake while this is commendable and heroic it doesn't really address glenn's grief you only see glenn find closure to this grief in an easily missable side
• 11:00 - 11:30 quest at the end of the game in that side quest glenn and the other protagonists traveled to 1000 a.d to repair a castle named the northern ruins there they discovered the restless spirit of cyrus after the side quest is completed by repairing the ruins along with cyrus's grave cyrus relieves glenn of his guilt what's notable about this exchange is that cyrus does not congratulate glenn for fixing his past
• 11:30 - 12:00 mistakes but rather for developing the will to do so ultimately it was glenn's initial lack of will that fostered his grief and self-hatred in the first place even if he was able to right the wrongs of his past by saving the world with the other protagonists that wouldn't have fixed the root problem it was only by developing the strength of will and having someone point this achievement out to him that he was able to overcome his past identity to overcome his
• 12:00 - 12:30 existential dread and forge a new path for himself the theme of taking on new identities through strength of will is of the utmost importance in chrono trigger it is a pattern that we see with several of the other characters just like with glenn the other characters make transitions from old identities to new ones via a change in name robo for instance was originally named prometheus he was programmed with the sole purpose
• 12:30 - 13:00 of studying the human race for the benefit of the robot race in his side quest one of his past robot companions and their leader wished to reprogram robo in order to force this identity back onto him but he refuses rather he chooses to be defined by the memories that he created and not by a preordained function he is not and never was prometheus he is robo with magus he used to be a prince in
• 13:00 - 13:30 queens zeal's kingdom back then he went by the name janus he revolts against his past villainy by trying to destroy lavos and reconcile with glenn nadia had the role of princess forced upon her from birth she attempts to escape this role by joining chrono and the others on their adventures it is here that she takes on the name marl for the most part we never see these characters make the full transition from one identity to the other in the main
• 13:30 - 14:00 plot we only see that full transition in the easily missable side quest or ending both of which are often difficult to achieve but this is true of any real life existential struggle whether it's with reality or chrono trigger if you make the choice to contend with the suffering inherent to life there will be some form of reward it might not take the form you expect but it will come in respect to chrono trigger the reward for the gamer
• 14:00 - 14:30 is the storytelling in these side quests and endings it filled me with a sense of emotional satisfaction that i've only ever experienced a few other times in games namely in final fantasy 9 metal gear solid 2 and nir automata all of which happen to deal with the same themes i will note though that there is one potential ending that magus can receive that is quite disheartening i will detail it for you because it is relevant to the themes of free will and
• 14:30 - 15:00 existentialism in that ending we find out that magus's sister scala princess of zeal had somehow unified with lavos magus and the other party members fight a long battle in order to try and separate the two only to find out that their efforts were in vain after the battle scala briefly wakes up only to tell magus that she like lavos wishes for everything that exists to be erased much like faust's mephistopheles she
• 15:00 - 15:30 felt that the life she led and life in general was so full of cruelty and despair that it would be better to never have existed she then sends magus through a time portal leaving her all alone floating in an infinite void of nothingness one that reflects her interior state the scene then cuts to magus in his own dark void he figures that if he cannot save his sister no matter how hard he
• 15:30 - 16:00 tries then there is no point in existing before he makes the choice to fade away he wishes that if any part of him somehow remains that it will be the birth of a more meaningful sensical world his wish is ultimately fulfilled though he fades into the void he comes back to life albeit without any memory of what happened this ending though pessimistic does have a positive philosophical undercurrent to it even
• 16:00 - 16:30 when it seems like fate is steering us in a singular direction there's something special about human beings that enables them to refuse this reminds me of the famous russian author theodore dostoevsky's criticism of determinism to paraphrase he said that if there is no such thing as free will and we are all fated towards the same meaningless outcome that won't stop human beings from trying to rebel against fate from trying to will free will into existence
• 16:30 - 17:00 chrono trigger gives great significance to this human peculiarity to our desire to assert our will no matter the circumstances that the boundaries of objective material reality will break down in order to accommodate it on multiple occasions in the game the human will is responsible for miraculous events of which magus is willing of a new reality is just one example the most prominent example of this metaphysical
• 17:00 - 17:30 power comes in the form of dreamstone according to a journal written by one of the game's secondary characters belthazar dreamstone was first discovered by the most ancient of humanity's ancestors balthazar describes the dreamstone as having a power beyond human comprehension that power was the ability to will our dreams into existence in this way dreamstone functions much like that of a human and that it sits on
• 17:30 - 18:00 the border between realities on the one hand it is a part of the determinist material universe but on the other hand it can bend that material universe to its will by dreaming it is by dreaming that both stone and humans can will their own outcomes outside of what the deterministic universe has set out for them the most important use of the dreamstone and chrono trigger was the willing of the mammon machine into
• 18:00 - 18:30 existence by queen zeal a machine that was used to siphon energy from lavos at first doing this did not seem to have any negative consequences it led to the land of zeal becoming the most advanced civilization ever unfortunately though lavos's power was so great and held such promise that it drove queen zeal to well zealotry that zealotry was predicated on what is arguably the ultimate unrealized
• 18:30 - 19:00 dream of the human race eternal life queen zeal saw that potential within lavos and sought to attain it for herself at any cost yet the queen's dream of eternal life for herself for too great a price it intruded upon the fabric of reality in the form of the black omen ship this ship cut through into all of the game's timelines threatening to change reality in accordance with zeal's will this was such a disruption to the natural order
• 19:00 - 19:30 of things that it might have caused the planet itself to retaliate there is a long held fan theory that the planet in chrono trigger is a living entity with its own consciousness and its own destiny because zeal and lavos are intruding upon that destiny and the destinies of the humans who live on the planet the planet resists this through the opening of time gates the evidence for this once again can be missed if you
• 19:30 - 20:00 don't do one of the end game side quests in one scene the party members discuss how and why some of the time gates appear to be opening at first robot theorized that it was lavos randomly opening these gates but then he proposed an alternate theory he suggests that maybe the opening of these gates was purposeful that some ethereal entity wanted the party members to go through these gates this makes sense because if the planet has a destiny and its destiny
• 20:00 - 20:30 is intertwined with the humans that live on the planet then maybe the planet would bend the fabric of reality in order to preserve the natural order alternatively robo suggests that the entity slash planet was not opening these gates for the party but for itself for some unknown reason the character known as ayla suggests that maybe the entity was dying equating the opening of the gates to one's life flashing before their eyes during death if we go with
• 20:30 - 21:00 the theory that this entity is the planet and the planet is dying on account of queen zeal then it would make sense to equate the time gates with the planet's life flashing before its eyes whatever the case may be it is evident that there is something willing these miraculous events to happen and that miraculous will is something possessed by both gods and mortals in chrono trigger now you the viewer might not believe in the existence of free will or
• 21:00 - 21:30 the metaphysical power of will that's fine but that's irrelevant to this discussion chrono trigger is not presenting the concept of will in this way because the developers are making some sort of confession of faith it is paying tribute to the human spirit to the exclusively human ability to dream and to make those dreams come true whether it is with the optional quests in chrono trigger or the optional quests in your own life you can choose to
• 21:30 - 22:00 ignore them and tumble unconsciously towards your own fate or you can embrace those optional quests for what they often are the more difficult yet more meaningful pathways towards fulfilling your dreams when things get too difficult the choice to persevere becomes all the more meaningful when you feel out of control and destined for the worst outcome you can still choose your attitude in the face of fate it is in moments like these where we maintain our
• 22:00 - 22:30 integrity and our courage in the face of impossible odds that legends are born that power is not exclusive to superheroes in the realm of fantasy that power is something we all possess that is the core message of chrono trigger it is an uncommonly positive message one which renders chrono trigger in my mind an existential masterpiece one that has yet to be surpassed 30
• 22:30 - 23:00 years later i know what some of you long time chrono fans are wondering have i played chrono cross no will i be playing it soon and doing a video on it yes stay tuned for that thank you very much for watching if you enjoyed this video at all make sure to give it a like it's free easy just do it yeah you know don't you click that x button hit the like button it's okay it's not gonna hurt you i'm just playing but really hitting the
• 23:00 - 23:30 like button actually helps me out a lot special thanks to gaming university and cage lost for discussing this game with me and double checking my work until next time stay yellow [Music]