I’ve been on a strange Akira Toriyama kick lately. I’ve been watching a lot of Dragon Ball Super, which is pretty good, and replaying Chrono Trigger, which is incredible. Toriyama created all the designs for the characters and monsters in the game, and I found myself wanting to play it again while I watched DBS. I bought the DS version of the game around 2014-15, soon after I bought my 3DS and was just getting back into video games. I thought the game was amazing, but I haven’t played it since that first playthrough over a decade ago. So I picked up Chrono Trigger once again to see why it’s still so lauded as one of the best games ever made. And, honestly, there are a lot of reasons–the charming characters and surprising well written and realized story for a SNES game, the incredible soundtrack and chunky, satisfying sound effects, and the unique, engaging battle system that forces players to think on their feet. To me, it was this battle system that drew my attention most in my recent playthrough, especially the tech mechanic. The closer I looked at these techs in the game, the more I realized how much of the rest of the game was designed around them.

The techs in Chrono Trigger are the character’s special abilities. These range from strong attacks, buffs and party heals, and magic attacks that can exploit elemental weaknesses. These add a huge amount of variety to a playthrough of Chrono Trigger. Each of the seven characters can learn eight individual techs (for a total of 56), each character combination have three double techs they can perform (for a total of 45), and there a total of fifteen triple techs, ten with Chrono and five that can be performed without Chrono but instead requiring special gems that have to be equipped. This means there are a total of 116 techs in all that can be unlocked and used in the game. It’s always exciting and fun to unlock new techs and try them out. However, more interesting than the vast variety the techs bring to the games, is how these mechanics affect the design of the gameplay, both in and out of battle.

Each tech has a certain attack pattern. Whether it’s a magic spell that can hit one or all enemies, a spinning sword swing that can hit a group of bad guys in a certain proximity to each other, or Frog flying through the air and dropping bombs along a line of monsters, learning what shapes attacks take and utilizing them effectively is the key to winning in battle. Chrono Trigger places emphasis on patience during fights. Since the game uses an active battle system, enemies will wander around when not using an attack. Knowing when best to use techs that hit in a certain pattern of enemies is important to gain the upper hand. This adds a risk/reward element to fights when you consider whether it is better to attack immediately or wait for the enemies to get into a better position where you might be able to hit multiple at once.

Another addition to the risk/reward dynamic of battles in Chrono Trigger is the fact that techs can be combined. When two or three party members fight alongside each other, they can perform a combo tech, where they each perform a certain attack or spell together. This encourages experimentation with your party composition since different characters combine their techs in different ways. Lucca can set Chrono’s sword on fire for a devastating attack, Marle can create an iceberg for Ayla to throw at an enemy for massive damage, or Frog and Robo can use their healing techs together to provide a huge amount of health back to the whole party. Since each character has a different speed stat that dictates how fast their battle meter fills up, you get a similar situation with waiting for enemies to get into a good position. Is it better to wait for two party members to be ready to use a combo tech, or is it better to do damage or heal now? These considerations help the battles in Chrono Trigger feel very strategic, but still fast paced since the enemies won’t stop attacking you while you think of your next move. 

At the end of a battle, the party will receive some experience to gain levels and some Tech Points (TP) to gain new techs. While party members that do not take place in the battle will still gain exp, they will not gain any of the TPs. This is the game’s way of encouraging the player to switch up their party members to gain all the different techs and their combinations. The game is designed around having the player switch up their party in a few interesting ways. First is how the story is told. Each of the party members have unique personalities and ways of speaking, so they will comment on events in the story in different ways. This can add a little variety to a game and keeps it from going stale during repeat playthroughs.

Next is that the game never requires the player to grind, allowing players to switch around their team without having to stop and get the new member up to level. During my last playthrough, I switched party members every time they learned a new tech for someone who was closest to learning their next one. Due to this constant switching, I unlocked every tech and combination in the game with ease. I would face off with bosses using whatever team I was running at the time, and while some were definitely tougher than others, none felt insurmountable. That’s one of the most admirable things I find about Chrono Trigger, bosses require the player to think up better strategies than grind up some more levels when against a tough fight. 

Switching around characters at a consistent pace will also ensure you almost always have a new tech or combo to try out. And you will want to try them out too because they all look and sound so cool. Trying out all the combos will also help you understand what all the characters true potentials are and lead to a deeper appreciation for them. During my first playthrough of Chrono Trigger, I hardly ever used Ayla because I didn’t like that she couldn’t learn magic. During this recent playthrough, however, she was in my party more than anyone since her combo techs can deal some of the highest damage in the game. Likewise, I used Robo more during this playthrough once I learned his Heal Beam tech can be combined with most of the other characters’ healing spells for full party effect. In the end, I excluded Chrono from my party all together and fought Lavos with Frog, Marle, and Ayla as my party.

Chrono Trigger has the best problem an RPG can ever have and that is not knowing who should be in your party because you want to use all the characters. It’s another strength of the game that I didn’t appreciate until I played through ago with the intention of unlocking all the techs. It’s an amazing game that tells a compelling story and has an engaging battle system with the use of the Tech mechanic. I could honestly write many more posts about different aspects of the game and how well done they are, but I wanted to focus on techs because they are so foundation to the game’s design, both in and out of combat. I implore you to pick up Chrono Trigger if you haven’t. And if you have already, I implore you to pick it up again.