Fighting the war AFTER the victory!

Chrono Trigger has a very happy beginning... You visit the millennial fair, celebrating a 400 year-old victory in a war between mankind and the forces of evil yada yada yada.

 

The big difference between this story and others comes later on, when you get to join the very same war, 400 years in the past. In fact, you have a significant role in changing the future and affecting it's outcome (and much much more).

However, the part where I really got into this game was when I first found myself in the future. The far future, about 1000 years into the future.

 

A dystopian future is one of the most common settings in sci-fi movies and games. However, after moving through a happy present time period and another medieval time period, I was shocked to see this future.

Robots? Mutants? Ruins?! It is amazing how powerful these clichés can be when used correctly, and is usually not a very believable future. Chrono Trigger nailed it though, and it was more or less what you would expect it to be. For me it was a real shock to find myself in a dystopian wasteland all of a sudden with no idea of how it came to be, coming from a time of knights and swords. This future is so distant from the “present” that I had no way of seeing it coming, and it fits into the story well. Which goes to show that clichés, when used correctly, are not clichés at all.

I will try to post more about this game, but I cannot promise anything, since I have other things to write about that are more… recent. Here are some more screenshots from later in the game where you get to travel to prehistoric times… things are never dull :)