[Chrono Trigger] The Brilliance of Trial Scene

in #retrogaming6 years ago (edited)

I got "Not guily" for Crono in my recent playtrhough (on PC version.)

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WARNING: Minor Spoilers
Up to 2 hours of the game.


One of the scenes that I think contributing to making Chrono Trigger the favorite game for many RPG players is when Crono gets arrested for "kidnapping the princess" and sent to jail. The trial is

His character gets questioned in the trail and everything you did at the festival at the first 10 minutes of the games comes back at you. With the prosecutor getting testimonies against you, and the lawyer tries to help you.

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Nice lunch!

If you're playing the game first time you might play it like any other RPG: "Everything that can be taken should be taken." And you see this unique item that's an old man lunch and take it.

In the trial, the prosecutor will bring that old man and he'll testify against you if you took his launch.

I believe that's a memorable scene for many of us. we play this as a game and the real world rules don't apply. But after this, you know that Chrono Trigger designers thought of (almost) everything and you'll more likely to play as the good guy from that on.


So this time I tried to play as the best as I can. Didn't take the mentioned lunch. Brought the missing cat of the girl to her owner. Talked to Marle before picking up the pendant. and so on...

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In the end, I got "No guilty." Yaay~

Too bad that Crono was sent to the jail either way because he helped the princess in her escape.

He should've been prisoned for only 3 days because he's not so guilty, but the chancellor (who was the prosecutor in the case) ordered the executioners to execute him anyway.

One thing that made me happy to get the non-guilty happens after Crono gets sent to jail... Remember the old man's lunch? Turns out if you didn't take it, the old man will feel pity for you and gives it to you.

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"This was from one of the trial witnesses."

Final Thoughts

Scenes like this are what makes me say, Chrono Trigger is a very well designed game. There are more things like that but they're later in the game. The trial is one of the things that make me love Chrono Trigger.

What do you think?

Did you play the game?
Did you find this scene interesting or have a scene that made a bigger impact on you?

Do you know other games that did something similar?

Looking forward to read your comments.

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It's nice to see this post detailing that, even with all our choices, we get small rewards for doing something.

I never played the game, so I can't answer the second q truthfully. So I'll say the scene as you detailed it is interesting and certainly plays a bigger psychological role in promoting "good"/"heroic" tendencies early on with a positive reward.

Heh, I like to point to Deltarune (aka Undertale 2.0) and how, in spite of Toby Fox's peckery when it comes to messages (remember "kill or be killed" in Undertale?), our choices to enact "genocide"/pacifist decision lead to either [expunged because spoilers]. That lil' hint of two separate outcomes are the first cracks in the sys that propagates our choices do matter in spite of the game saying "we have no choice." I really want to see how Deltarune solves the Undertale timeline, if it can be, and how the message of "no choices matter" (or the message of passive nihilism) is dealt with.

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I remember putting many hours into playing Chrono Trigger as a kid. Great game.

Yeah, one of the greatest... I too played it as a child but I think I first completed it when I was 19 I believe.

I loved this game. I've played through it three times, although it's been about 15 years since the last time. The 90s era Squaresoft RPGs were top-notch.

What I appreciate about the trial scene is how some seemingly arbitrary actions come back to bite you hard. Now that I'm older, I recognize the Kafka-esque elements to this whole sequence. (And let's not forget that in FFVI, they had a character named Kefka--an obvious play on Kafka).

You've inspired me to work a bit harder on my forthcoming FFVI post... So many things to write! So little time!

Thanks for reading and this awesome comment, can you tell me more about Kafka-esque elements? I just recently knew who is kafka.

As for 90s era square I tend to agree, they had passion that's very obvious, not like these days where their passion isn't as obvious as before (maybe because they take too long for each game.)

Kafka wrote a novel entitled The Trial. In that novel, the protagonist K. is arrested suddenly in his home for a crime he knows nothing about, and his trial proceedings are about as opaque as the accusations against him. Heck, even finding his way to the courtroom was like navigating a labyrinth. The point of all the absurdity was how convoluted the justice system is and how the people sucked into it are mere cogs in a self-perpetuating machine that operates by its own arcane rules. There are plenty of other themes to draw out, too, but that one stuck with me.

Just a couple days ago, I found a wonderful post on Steemit by an author who actually met Kafka in person. Check it out!

You made me really want to read it. thanks for the recommendation!

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the best RPG ever! meh final fantasy!