Wes's recent activity
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Comment on Tildes Book Club - We are Legion (We are Bob) - How is it going? in ~books
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentWhat a monumental way to kick off week 1! Great write-ups, as always, and I enjoyed the screenshots sprinkled throughout. I really enjoyed my time with The Witness. The way the puzzles built on...What a monumental way to kick off week 1! Great write-ups, as always, and I enjoyed the screenshots sprinkled throughout.
I really enjoyed my time with The Witness. The way the puzzles built on each other really layered on a lot of complexity without a single word of tutorial. The Tetris Effect hit me hard on this one though, and I started seeing lines and circles everywhere for a while. Well worth it!
I felt that GTA V's story had a very strong opening hook. I completed this game during May's backlog burner after, erm, about ten years. Hopefully it doesn't take you as long.
I've not played the others yet. Animal Well looks great, but remains on my wishlist rather than my backlog.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentWow, great opening post! Your philosophy towards gaming is one that I'm trying to embrace as well, since I have some of that completionist streak in me as well. It's why I've adopted a more...Wow, great opening post!
Your philosophy towards gaming is one that I'm trying to embrace as well, since I have some of that completionist streak in me as well. It's why I've adopted a more rapid-fire approach this Backlog Burner, to choose games that I can make fast determinations on, and move on if I decide they're simply not for me.
Here is my bingo board. I temporarily forgot the goal of Bingo, and started out first picking games and then figuring out which category I could put them in.
Honestly, the event is so open that you can take any approach you like. We've seen players roll die to choose their categories, or backfit the games to categories after playing them. I've done both. Do what feels right!
With a title like Darkenstein 3D, I felt like I knew what to expect even before looking. I do enjoy those "pixel-heavy shooters" though, and even submitted Prodeus this week in my own card. So I'm glad to know of a freeware title in that same, unspoken genre.
Wizorb has been on my to-play list for just about as long as yours. Receipts say I also bought it in 2012. At the time, I was admittedly fooled by the JRPG window dressing, and didn't realize until later that it was primarily a Breakout clone. Heh, not that I was upset about it. Funny you ended up with a second "Has a lives system" game without meaning to.
I enjoyed Gunpoint! I agree though, it's probably better on a larger screen. I can see a touch screen being frustrating to work with.
Victor Vran is a game I have started twice with two different people, found semi-enjoyable, and just never went back to. I'm not sure why it doesn't have the same hook as other ARPGs. I liked it, but I'm not in like with it.
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Comment on Square Enix says it wants generative AI to be doing 70% of its QA and debugging by the end of 2027 in ~games
Wes LinkI would guess that automated testing would be effective for traditional "fuzzing"-type tasks. It doesn't really matter if the AI is very good at playing the game if you can scale it up 1000x in...I would guess that automated testing would be effective for traditional "fuzzing"-type tasks. It doesn't really matter if the AI is very good at playing the game if you can scale it up 1000x in automation. In many cases, trying something that a human would never normally do is just as important in QA, as it's more likely to lead you off the "happy path".
For example, opening and closing a door 50 times might reveal that the door is actually shifting 1 pixel extra on the closing swing, which could eventually be used to push your character out of bounds. It's not something a regular player would ever find, and even QA testers, champs as they are, have their limits.
I imagine that programmers would still need to build in thresholds to get meaningful data out of this process. Like checking if the player ever falls below
y=0, suggesting they've fallen through the map. For that reason, not every task would be well-suited to automated testing. Just as fuzzing can only catch some classes of security problems.In time, AI-enhanced QA might prove a useful tool to catch classes of problems that were too difficult, or too tedious to find manually before. I'd be curious to see their findings in a year or two.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentWell done! That's a big one to knock off first; especially with the DLC and most other content. Piranha Bytes' particular brand of RPG is also something I need to experience for myself. I own both...Well done! That's a big one to knock off first; especially with the DLC and most other content.
Piranha Bytes' particular brand of RPG is also something I need to experience for myself. I own both Risen and Gothic across various platforms, and really ought to give them a chance. It feels like they really set the stage for a lot of open-world RPGs that followed, both in terms of tone and mechanics.
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Comment on Windows 11 videos demonstrating account and hardware requirements bypass purged from YouTube creator's channel in ~tech
Wes Link ParentI may just be missing the guidebook you're referring to, but if you mean the Code of Conduct, they actually just moved the motto from the opening line to the closing. It's still there today. I see...I may just be missing the guidebook you're referring to, but if you mean the Code of Conduct, they actually just moved the motto from the opening line to the closing. It's still there today.
I see a lot of confusion on this topic. There was an Times piece in 2015 that misleadingly claimed they'd dropped the motto. While the article explains it more fully, you'd get the wrong impression by reading just the headline. Really all that happened was that Alphabet introduced a new motto ("Do the right thing"), while Google retained their own.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Wes LinkIn addition to playing through my backlog games this week, I just finished Egg by Terry Cavanagh. It only takes about 30 minutes or so to play, but I really enjoyed it (as I do most of Terry's...In addition to playing through my backlog games this week, I just finished Egg by Terry Cavanagh. It only takes about 30 minutes or so to play, but I really enjoyed it (as I do most of Terry's games).
Go on, be an egg.
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Comment on CGA-2025-10 🕹️⏰ 🗺️ 🐸 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Chrono Trigger in ~games
Wes Link ParentNicely done! For as many Chrono veterans as there are in this thread, it's also great to hear from those of us that were completely new to the game. I only did part of the Lost Sanctum quest, and...Nicely done! For as many Chrono veterans as there are in this thread, it's also great to hear from those of us that were completely new to the game.
I only did part of the Lost Sanctum quest, and it sounds like I was fortunate to skip the rest. Hopefully, if there ever is a Pixel remaster, they'll give that area a little love.
I definitely hear you on the OST. I didn't realize how captured I'd be by it during my playthrough. Now that I've finished, I find myself often humming or listening to the soundtrack in the background. It has some major staying power. As you said, the melodies are great, and I think the SNES' distinctive sound definitely plays some role as well.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
Wes LinkI'm going to try something a little different this time. First, I'm going to generate not one, not two, but four bingo cards. Each week I'll create a new 3x3 blackout card, requiring me to fill...I'm going to try something a little different this time. First, I'm going to generate not one, not two, but four bingo cards. Each week I'll create a new 3x3 blackout card, requiring me to fill every slot (bar the star tile). That'll be 32 entries by month's end, or roughly one game per day.
I'm also going to rotate through the category lists, starting with Flow for week 1. I'm planning on taking a bit more of a rapid fire approach this time, focusing on quantity over quality. So expect shorter write-ups, looser editing, and possibly some warmer-temperature takes.
Week 1: Flow
Mode: Custom Winning Bingo! Finished 8/8 Quantity
✅ Back 4 BloodThreshold
✅ Pistol WhipFaith
✅ ProdeusFight
✅ Rollerdrome★ Aesthetic
✅ Cyber HookCourage
✅ Paper BirdsUnlock
✅ UNLOVEDBright
✅ Proteus
Prodeus - I really enjoy retro-styled games with modern lighting engines. Something about them just scratches an itch for me. Prodeus is no exception.
I played for about 2 hours, trying both the campaign and multiplayer modes. The campaign has a gentler on-ramp, introducing you to a couple guns at a time. It's not long though before you're mowing down enemies in true Doomlike fashion. I did find that ammo was a bit scarce, which encouraged me to play more carefully. I'm not sure if that's conducive to the high-octane gameplay these games promise.
I enjoyed hunting for secrets, even though it often meant taking a leap of faith into lava or off a cliff. Surprisingly often, this was rewarded.
The multiplayer seems promising, but it only supports community maps, not the campaign. I found those to be a mixed bag. Some were fun, but others were poorly designed. The Steam Workshop support likely does ensure a constant flow of new content if you're really into the game though.
So far, I have found Ultrakill more satisfying to play, but Prodeus is definitely a worthy competitor.
Proteus - Because it's amusing to play a game of the same name that couldn't be any more different.
Honestly, there isn't too much to this one. It's meditative, and it's probably best knowing that going in. Your only actions are to walk, or to hold Shift, which makes you walk even slower. It's definitely an art game, and I'd say the Steam screenshots largely show you all there is to see. Occasionally you'll find a bunny or squirrel.
I suspect the music was procedurally-generated, as it had the arrhythmic feel of randomized music. That's actually pretty interesting. While I wouldn't necessarily describe it as sounding good, I do appreciate how novel that can be.
The music also seemed to respond in some ways to the current scene, such as when night set. One of my favourite game designer tricks is to blend overlapping soundtracks together, like how Diddy Kong Racing introduces bells when driving through snowy areas. With procedural music though, you can simply adjust the generator live to have a similar effect. Very cool.
The game is pretty in its minimalist way, and I'd be curious to see its bright, pixelated graphics applied elsewhere. As far as gameplay though, I mostly just found myself holding 'W' for 35 minutes until I reached the end.
Paper Birds - This one was billed as a short (30 minute) narrative VR experience. Interactive might be a little misleading here, as you can only walk around a projected scene and watch as it unfolds. Paper Birds tells a story of magic and avarice, a courageous boy, and a desperate play to recover a lost muse.
The voice acting and art direction were excellent, and the lighting was especially good. I bet it would look even nicer on an OLED headset.
As a VR experience, I found it a little uncomfortable. The scenes often played too close to my eyes, and the camera would occasionally pan without my input (which can trigger nausea). I also wouldn't have minded a pause button.
I think I'm going to try to fit in a couple more VR titles this month. Of other narrative VR experiences, I liked this one better than Spheres, but not as much as Madame Pirate: Becoming a Legend. I played this on my Pico 4 headset.
Back 4 Blood - A very solid Left 4 Dead clone. The gameplay loop is similar -- progress through linear stages while fighting off zombie hordes (a.k.a. a large quantity of baddies). Special zombies are routinely added to shake things up, while a director guides the pace of gameplay.
The game offers a lot of mechanics, but the most notable is the card system. Its effects are twofold. First, it introduces random modifiers into play which act as mutators - both positive and negative. Second, it allows you to create personalized character builds by customizing your "deck". I didn't play long enough to get into the theorycrafting of cards, but they seem potentially quite significant.
The game feels modern in all the usual ways: DLSS, HDR mode, and a gigantic install size.
Rollerdrome - If this one seems familiar, it's because @kfwyre first played it during the May 2024 burner event. I was so drawn in by his description that I immediately downloaded it, fully intending to jump right in.
Ahem.
Listen, Backlogs Anonymous is not for judging, okay? I admit I have a problem. But I made progress this week! I've put about two hours into Rollerdrome now, and the game is freaking great.
I really can't beat Kefir's own description. It is very much Tony Hawk's skating + Jet Set's aesthetic, and while I've not played My Friend Pedro, it certainly looks right from a quick look.
The game is actually so close in feeling to Tony Hawk's that I kept accidentally trying to perform a boneless as I left ramps, just out of habit.
I was worried that shooting would be a problem on a gamepad, but the generous auto-aim means fighting enemies is not a problem. The slow time mechanic also allows you to recover when things are getting a little too hectic.
The game's tutorial is great, and explains the mechanics without throwing too much at you. It then lets you play a level or two before introducing the "advanced tutorial" for newer tricks. I like this approach because it lets you get into the game without exhaustively going over everything.
The intensity ramps up pretty quickly, and I started dying by the fourth stage. However, I can already see that the game has a very high skill ceiling, and that you'll never be put in a situation without a solution. I bet skilled play is on a completely different level in this game.
With this one, I'm glad to be tackling a game that's not just been sitting in my Backlog category on Steam, but right on my very hard drive.
UNLOVED - A Doom 2 mod ported to Unreal 4. I played this one in two-player co-op as a final send-off to Halloween.
The game starts you in a small room with a basic pistol and some spawning enemies. Over time, the play area expands as you unlock doors to find weapon upgrades and ammo. The intensity of the enemies ramps up as you progress, and you need to balance looting with actually getting your objectives done.
We only played one round, which took about an hour. I'd say the game has a roguelike feel, and seems to include some meta-progression.
I liked that the weapons each had an alternate firing mode, and the zombies had a fair bit of variety. In the end, we were both taken out by zombie clowns.
It's certainly not my usual kind of game, but it was enjoyable enough for a quick romp.
Pistol Whip - Another VR title, but this one was much more active. I'd describe it as a mix of Beat Saber and Superhot (which is amazing in VR, by the way). You're moving and grooving along to a song, while shooting bad dudes that want to shoot you first.
On my first few rounds, I genuinely didn't realize I was supposed to be shooting to the beat. I kind of ignored the music altogether and played it like a standard shooter. Eventually I realized that sticking to the beat greatly boosts your points, which lets you reach higher score thresholds.
I was pretty mixed on the campaign. It started off okay, but they very quickly introduced a level where you have no ammo and need to dodge excessively to avoid bullets from all directions. I found it uncomfortable, like playing Twister with a brick glued to my head. Instead, I hopped on over to custom games where I could tailor my guns and modifiers, and had a lot more fun. I really enjoyed a modifier that prevents you from reloading, but tops up your ammo whenever you melee an enemy. That added some interesting strategy, and just felt like it flowed much better.
This game didn't wow me and I'm not sure I'll return to it, but I have found other VR rhythm titles I do enjoy like Synth Riders and Audio Trip.
Cyber Hook - A 3D platformer with a grappling hook, which is a mechanic I like in almost every game. It features a retrowave aesthetic which I'm a huge fan of, and offers relatively short levels to perfect your grappling skills.
I played for about an hour, and found that the core mechanic still hadn't completely clicked for me. The hook was always just a little bit shorter than I was expecting, and having to tap spacebar to release the hook felt unintuitive to me. The sense of speed was satisfying though, and preserving momentum through the level is the name of the game.
The game's story is basically straight out of the ReBoot cartoon, where you're trapped in a game and need to play along to survive. It's mostly unobtrusive, and disappears once you leave the tutorial stages.
Cyber Hook is definitely designed for speedrunning, and they go as far as putting a speedrun page in the Options menu. The game has little downtime and knows its audience well. I think I likely could have gotten very into this at one point in my life.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentWhoa, that sounds super unique. I love the idea of combining words in active combat, like a hyper-focused version of Scribblenauts. Add in the Pokemon-esque aspect of "capturing" new words through...Whoa, that sounds super unique. I love the idea of combining words in active combat, like a hyper-focused version of Scribblenauts. Add in the Pokemon-esque aspect of "capturing" new words through battle, and that sounds like a lot of fun.
Also, it really does look just like Dragon Ball! The artist did super great work on this. Looks great - thanks for putting it on my radar!
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Comment on Announcing the Backlog Burner event for November 2025: Shrink your unplayed games list this coming month! in ~games
Wes Link ParentThat's very cool. I was actually thinking about how Form could work with Golf. There's a lot of hybrid-genre games out there, and it would be interesting to try and find the games that hit as many...That's very cool. I was actually thinking about how Form could work with Golf. There's a lot of hybrid-genre games out there, and it would be interesting to try and find the games that hit as many genres as possible. I'll be looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
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Comment on Affinity V3 is here with a new freemium model in ~design
Wes LinkI'm pretty pessimistic about this. I bought a Universal V2 license because I want to own my software, and I was happy to support one of the few companies that hadn't moved to software...I'm pretty pessimistic about this. I bought a Universal V2 license because I want to own my software, and I was happy to support one of the few companies that hadn't moved to software subscriptions. Sure it's only for AI features now, but how long until they start locking more major features behind the sub? How long until the nag screens become more aggressive, or "sponsored content" starts making its way in?
I've made a backup of the final V2 installers, and I may just end up using them indefinitely. I've seen how this goes far too many times before to believe it'll be any different here.
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Comment on Topic marked for review by admin in ~test
Wes Link@Deimos, sending you a ping to review this post, as labels are not available on submissions.@Deimos, sending you a ping to review this post, as labels are not available on submissions.
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Comment on Announcing the Backlog Burner event for November 2025: Shrink your unplayed games list this coming month! in ~games
Wes Link ParentIt runs twice annually, in both May and Nov, so don't feel obligated to participate every time! Kefir and I both see it as an event that you can dip in and out of as you see fit. If you're jazzed...It runs twice annually, in both May and Nov, so don't feel obligated to participate every time! Kefir and I both see it as an event that you can dip in and out of as you see fit.
If you're jazzed up to play Pokémon, go play! If you feel the need for a Poké-break, you can pop in and do one or two write-ups. The bingo card is completely optional too, so you can skip that aspect if you don't want to commit to anything larger.
We'll see ya if we see ya! If not, enjoy the pokermans and we'll catch you next time.
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Comment on CGA-2025-10 🕹️⏰ 🗺️ 🐸 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Chrono Trigger in ~games
Wes Link ParentThat was absolutely beautiful. Thank you for sharing this.That was absolutely beautiful. Thank you for sharing this.
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Comment on Removing obfuscation in Minecraft Java Edition in ~games
Wes LinkNeat. NeoForge had already moved to Mojang's mappings, so their names won't be any different, but it's nice that they'll no longer need to deobfuscate at all. And for MCP and Yarn mappings, this...Neat. NeoForge had already moved to Mojang's mappings, so their names won't be any different, but it's nice that they'll no longer need to deobfuscate at all. And for MCP and Yarn mappings, this will save them a fair amount of effort on each new game update.
The experience for modders themselves shouldn't be very different, except for the occasional situation where you'd hit an an untranslated string of text. It'll mostly affect the modloader/toolchain devs. It's nice that Mojang are releasing dual builds for now to help them migrate.
One lesser-known part of the obfuscation step is that it also applied some tree shaking to remove unused code. For example, if localization methods aren't ever called on the server-side, they won't be bundled into that jar. This was usually a good thing for performance and jar size, but occasionally you'd run into a situation where a helpful function was optimized out of the game. So I wonder if that will be affected by this change, too.
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Comment on CGA-2025-10 🕹️⏰ 🗺️ 🐸 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Chrono Trigger in ~games
Wes Link ParentI almost made the exact same comment, word-for-word. It was in my first draft! If I'd never heard of Chrono Trigger before, I 100% would have believed that a recent AA team made it as a love...The game honestly feels like it could be a retro indie darling that released a few years ago.
I almost made the exact same comment, word-for-word. It was in my first draft! If I'd never heard of Chrono Trigger before, I 100% would have believed that a recent AA team made it as a love letter to JRPGs of yore. It really feels that modern.
I can agree though about being ready to put the game down by the final act. I absolutely enjoyed my time with it, but sometimes you're ready to move on. October coming to an end probably added some time pressure as well.
It's interesting how mixed people seem to be on Lavos. It seems like by that point in the game, your build options have really opened up enough so that you can get very powerful if you combine the right items and characters. I'm guessing this made the difference more than levels or anything else. But I'm glad Lavos gave you a proper fight, and a nice send-off for this month's CGA.
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The present and potential future of progressive image rendering
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Comment on CGA-2025-10 🕹️⏰ 🗺️ 🐸 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Chrono Trigger in ~games
Wes Link ParentGreat write up. I'm glad you finally got to cross it off your list after all these years! I definitely got a laugh out of some of the character-specific interactions. I remember a tavern denizen...Great write up. I'm glad you finally got to cross it off your list after all these years!
I definitely got a laugh out of some of the character-specific interactions. I remember a tavern denizen talking about an "ugly frog coming through here", but suddenly changing his tune when Frog is in your party.
I actually didn't realize that Reptite Village quests weren't a part of the original game. That was the only time that I felt the backtracking got too heavy. I guess that just shows that the original team knew well how to avoid padding.
I was also a fan of how active the combat felt. It kept me engaged, and really made character progression feel much more impactful. Giving a speed capsule to a character actually made them feel faster. It's not like in Pokemon where they occasionally get to go first instead. +1 speed contributes during the entire fight.
When you get a gear upgrade, it's always noticeable. A helmet giving you 50% more magic damage or resisting all ailments could make a huge difference in combat. There's no 1-2% damage boosts here. Everything uses big numbers, and it tickles my brain.
My characters were around level 52 when I finished. I probably missed some optional content, but I did the three major side quests at the end of the game. It makes me wonder how low of a level you can actually beat the game at, by utilizing all tools available to you. I bet speedrunners had a blast solving this game.
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Comment on CGA-2025-10 🕹️⏰ 🗺️ 🐸 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Chrono Trigger in ~games
Wes LinkI was excited to see that Chrono Trigger was picked for this month's game. I actually started it on Steam almost two years ago, playing up to dreary 2300 AD (about six hours in). However, I got...- Exemplary
I was excited to see that Chrono Trigger was picked for this month's game. I actually started it on Steam almost two years ago, playing up to dreary 2300 AD (about six hours in). However, I got sidetracked and have been meaning to get back to it ever since. So thank you, CGA, for providing the motivation I needed.
I spent the month of October playing through the rest, and I'm so glad I did. I finally understand the hype. I'm honestly shocked by how modern it feels, and how well it plays by today's standards.
Combat
The semi-real-time combat system feels surprisingly novel for a 30 year old game. It adds a little tension to the moment-to-moment gameplay, but still allows you time to think by pausing during your turn. I did try playing in full real-time briefly, but found it made the game way more difficult than I was prepared for. I'm curious if anybody else stuck with this successfully.
The game introduces more depth as it goes, with greater emphasis on enemy positioning, damage resistances, and the occasional gimmick (eg. burning away a fiend's wooden hammer). It was interesting to try discovering these gimmicks through experimentation, or to simply learn them from villager dialogue ("Did you know dinosaurs hate lightning? Just thought I'd mention it.").
Some of my favourite fights leaned into these gimmicks the most. The golem boss, for example, was kicking my butt until I clued in that it was copying my element. I remembered that I'd bought fire-protection gear earlier in the game, so I swapped my team out for fire casters and equipped that armour. This made a huge difference in the fight, and it felt good to be rewarded for implementing strategy.
Another example was the large bug creature within the desert pit. The fight always started off well, but once the boss's core broke, my team was quickly ground into paste. I realized that I needed to stop attacking the core, but this wasn't enough -- it would drain its own core's health to restore itself. I finally discovered I could heal the boss to keep its core alive longer, allowing me to do enough damage to its other parts. My most frustrating fight turned into my most memorable.
I did find that towards the late-game, many encounters started turning into "gimmick roulette". I'd find myself asking, "Are you weak to <physical/lightning/fire>?", as I ran through the gamut of damage types. While it arguably added more strategy to these later encounters, I felt it added some tedium as well. It was possible to use a screen-wide attack to test all enemies at once, but this ran the risk of them having a counterattack that could wipe my party in seconds.
I made pretty extensive use of the auto-battle feature, though mostly between turns to speed up animations. Sometimes I'd accidentally leave it on too long and it'd queue up regular attacks. I mostly relied on techs in the later-game, so using regular attacks could be a liability.
The game is pretty good about avoiding backtracking, but when it does happen, it can be annoying. Monsters respawn quickly, and doubling back to check alternate paths often meant having to fight through the same baddies I'd just mowed down.
I suspect I was overleveled for the final encounter with Lavos, because the battle itself was a bit anticlimactic. I enjoyed fighting through the shell (and trying to remember each of the prior boss's gimmicks), but the final form itself seemed a bit... lacking? It didn't require any strategy, and it seemed like the goal was just to dump damage into the right-most flying enemy. I didn't really get it.
Afterwards, I unlocked the post-game dungeon Dimensional Vortex. The Shadow-Crono boss there was much more dangerous. He could wipe two of my characters from full health in a single attack, and had me scrambling for consumables. Beating him felt like a more satisfying way to finish the game out.
Characters
One thing I really appreciate is that every character feels substantial. They each have meaningful progression, a fleshed-out backstory, and contribute unique dialogue as the adventure unfolds. It was tough deciding who to bring because I wanted to see all of their reactions.
In the end, I ran primarily with Crono, Frog, and Robo (who I renamed to Han-D, from Risk of Rain). Han-D carried me for most of the game, acting as both my healer and screen-clearer. I found the Golden Stud which reduced his MP usage to 1/4th, and allowed me to be far more aggressive with his high-MP techs.
Frog admittedly wasn't much of a contributor to my team as a secondary healer, but I loved him regardless. It cracks me up that the funny frog man is the true hero and wielder of the legendary sword. I felt like he had to be on my team for that reason alone.
I did swap in the other characters on occasion. This was made easier due to them leveling in the background, and a lot of gear being character-locked. The only problem was their lack of higher-level techs being unlocked. Ayla turned out to be my most common substitute, and she proved invaluable during the Blackbird stealth section.
I later learned that Magus joins your party if you choose not to fight him on the cliff edge. Whoops.
Story and World
Time travel stories are hard to tell well, but Chrono Trigger nails it. It introduces plotlines across different ages, but manages to keep them digestible. Most stories are self-contained within their respective epochs, but they begin to overlap as the main plot progresses.
I was impressed by how consistently the game enforces its time-travel rules. Opening a chest in the past also opens it in the future, but not vice versa. You can also bring items between eras to solve problems or effect change in other ways.
Two good examples are the quests for rescuing the Reptite village and replanting Fiona's forest. These use long time jumps to create impactful changes on the world itself. Similarly, defeating Ozzie erases his legacy in Medina Village. I suspect there are a ton of little secrets buried in this game.
The pacing feels very natural. The first third of the game introduces you to each epoch, showcasing that era's cast of characters. The middle third opens things up, letting you revisit any discovered portals (though I could never remember where each one went). Finally, the last third gives you the fabulous time machine. This is a major quality-of-life improvement, which gets even better once it gains flight. For all the Doctor Who fans, I named mine The Wimey (since "Tardis" wouldn't fit).
Despite my original long break, I found the game kept me hooked for most of my playtime. Some moments were heartfelt, and others hilarious. Actually, the game had a ton of humour. The characters played well off each other ("Big frog present? For Ayla eat?"), and even the combat encounters were full of little jokes.
I enjoyed Dalton's malfunctioning golem, which counted down ominously before getting confused at zero. The sewers were also full of gags, like a fake save point that chimed to lure monsters. Another good one was a sleeping fiend being pelted with a rock to drag them into battle.
I really liked the cartoon animations they included during key moments. They looked beautiful, and I can't imagine how they included them all on a SNES cartridge.
I played the game in original graphics, not high resolution. I thought the original pixel art looked great, and found that the smoothing on high-res didn't really add much. If anything, it made the game's gridlines more pronounced.
The music was also fantastic. I'm sure I've heard many of these tracks before in remixes or YouTube videos, but it's great to experience them in their original context.
Fin
Chrono Trigger absolutely stands the test of time. It's well-written, funny, sounds great, and still plays well today. It definitely deserves its accolades.
After finishing, I glanced at the wiki and learned there were thirteen different endings. That's crazy for a video game from 1995. Even the first ending has five variations depending on your choices. I got 1b: Follow that Cat.
I won't have time to start on New Game+ mode any time soon (November's Backlog Burner event starts soon!), but would like to replay it someday with a completely different party composition -- and maybe let Magus live this time.
I've somehow already finished this one. It moves quickly, and doesn't overstay its welcome. I enjoyed the book overall. I saved some notes so I can stay fresh for the final discussion.
I was tempted to start on the second book immediately, but was afraid I might accidentally drop a spoiler in the discussion thread. So for now I've returned to the series I was previously reading, Delta-V by Daniel Suarez.
Looking forward to the final discussion.