The Folly of Ender and a Categorization of Replayability

by Stewart Bishop 

Warning: Assorted Chrono Cross Spoilers and Copyright Infringements. Watch Your Step. You Have Been Warned.

While Chrono Cross may seem to possess a more tedious or less magical sort of replay value, it cannot be denied that invariably, the replayability is high, depending on the goals of the player. The idea of collecting 99 of every weapon, armor, accessory and element is not very appealing, but what about different endings? Couple this with the joy of finding out a character is incredible in battle, the sheer customizability of the game, and the ever-original Time Shifter; it is clear where Chrono Cross derives its replay value from. Ender seems to be criticizing Chrono Cross only because it offers the former, more tedious form of replay, which is the insane collecting of characters and items. The plain truth is that every RPG offers these menial tasks. Players can level up their characters to the max level, collect 99 of each item, gain all spells, find all secrets, upgrade all weapons, etc.; nearly every RPG in existence offers this to some degree. Chrono Cross only makes it a lot simpler to accomplish these goals, by way of New Game+ and Time Shifter. It does not mean that this is where its true replay value lies.

Not to be a hot knife through butter, but Ender's attack on Chrono Cross is, in my opinion, is a very unjustified, misinformed and unorganized compilation of ideas. The bashing of Chrono Cross then changes to a contradictory explanation. Ender states "Replay value, to me, comes from a lot of things. But can easily be stated... 'It feels like, or has a similar effect, everytime you play it.'" This is then followed up with "Yeah, I know this doesn't work particularly well with most RPGs," which basically says that this definition of replayability will only apply to certain RPGs. Apparently, Chrono Cross was one of these 'most' (meaning majority) RPGs, making Ender's interpretation completely bogus when applied to all or at least the greater whole of RPGs. Of course, Ender continues with "I STILL have to hold back tears when I see that sword get run through Aeris. I still jump for joy when I see Luca Blight fall. Chrono Cross just didn't do that for me. I jumped for joy when I killed FATE/Lynx/Chrono's dad... the first time. The second time, it just seemed like I had beaten another bad guy." To correct Ender, Lynx is not Crono's father, he is Serge's father (if I recall correctly, it was Wazuki?). Moving on, other than the obvious difference of Aeris' death being an FMV and the battle with FATE being just that, a battle, I believe Ender picked a poor example to use in Chrono Cross. Personally, I didn't 'jump for joy' the first time I killed FATE, so it is highly unlikely that I would do it 'again,' right? What does inspire me is Schala's release from the Time Devourer, as she floats down while the Song of Life plays. Not only does it entice a sense of nostalgia for seasoned Chrono Trigger veterans, but it answers many questions and all in all makes people happy because her mysterious disappearance finally came to closure. Now, granted, this event may not be the best for other players as well, and perhaps Aeris' death didn't affect other players at all (myself included, I was mad because she took with her one of my best armors at the time). All in all, the I believe that Ender's argument, while correct in some circumstances, is not concrete enough to be considered accurate. Not only does it exclude a majority of RPGs in favor of ones with highly dramatic scenes but also it is wholly dependent on whether or not you found the events in the game to be magical in the first place. Straying from the eradication of Ender's offense and moving into the meat of the explanation, however, it can be said that replayability is split into two categories: short-term and long-term.

Chrono Cross is abundant in replay value because even right after the game's completion, there is still much to do, much to experience, much to experiment with, much to collect and many more endings to see. The replay is right there, in plain black and white; even if you don't like Chrono Cross, it has plenty to offer for those willing to continue, unlike Ender's interpretation, which is dependent on the original enjoyment and awe that was held for the game in the first place. Taking Final Fantasy VIII, there is Triple Triad, which also focuses on the short-term effect; after finishing the game you can collect all of the cards and extend new rules to your heart's content. Final Fantasy VII has Chocobos, the WEAPONs, the Golden Saucer and much more; Chrono Trigger has a superb number of endings and side quests; Chrono Cross has its endings, many collectibles and the very convenient Time Shifter; Final Fantasy Tactics has a load of job classes to experiment with, areas to explore and extra characters to find.

But what of other incredible titles such as Grandia and Final Fantasy VI that do not have these striking qualities? They have charm. They fulfill Ender's requirements of "It feels like, or has a similar effect, everytime you play it," more so than many other games. Why is this? It is because they focus on long-term effects. Right after completing either of them, what else is there to do? Grandia offers practically nothing and in Final Fantasy VI, all that is left is to get all of the spells for each character. They are unlike Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger; even though the Chronos also have the 'tedious' force of 'collect all elements, weapons and characters' within, they also have multiple endings. Final Fantasy Tactics may also seem to fall to this 'defective ideal', but testing out a new job class is much more rewarding than testing out a new spell in Final Fantasy VI. Thankfully, Final Fantasy VI and Grandia have that certain charm that will have you wanting to play it again, just at a later time. It makes little sense to play Grandia and Final Fantasy VI right after finishing them; it seems pointless, a bit of the magic feeling has fizzled and the endings are always the same.

Replayability will always be dependent on whether you favor long-term value (charm; Final Fantasy VI and Grandia), or short-term value (extras; Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy Tactics). In an easy comparison, take the entire Star Wars trilogy. Would you watch the trilogy once, straight through? Now, would you watch it again, even though you just finished five minutes ago? Comparatively, take The Matrix and add to it an extended portion of The Making of the Matrix, Actor Interviews and The Matrix Outtakes. Will you settle for extras or charm? The choice is yours.

Ideas? Suggestions? Comments? Corrections? Don't hesitate to e-mail me at ciddypoo@rpgamer.com

Original Editorial : Replayability in Chrono Cross