Obsidian Would Like To Work On Chrono Trigger

[Hoshino_Kid]

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/07/06/obsidian-would-like-to-work-on-chrono-trigger/

“We were talking to Square for quite awhile,” Feargus Urquhart, CEO of Obsidian said while introducing Dungeon Siege 3. “You make RPGs, we make RPGs, it would be great to see what we could do together. And they really wanted to start getting into Western RPGs. And, so it kind of all ended up fitting together.”

Square Enix gave Obsidian the task of reviving the Dungeon Siege series after they purchased the rights to it from Gas Powered Games.

Since Obsidian and Square Enix have been conversing for some time, I asked Urquhart if there was any franchise other than Dungeon Siege 3 they would like to work on.

Urquhart snickered and sarcastically said, “Chocobo Racing.” He followed up with a more serious response, “If I could come across everything that I played I would have to go with Chrono Trigger. I think Chrono Trigger was one I really enjoyed.”

And how would you make Chrono Trigger more of a Western RPG?

“It’s tough because a lot of the Japanese RPGs have very specific functions for everything. There is very specific item progression, very specific class progression, very specific everything. I think… I don’t know I’d have to think about it,” Urquhart pondered.

While I put Urquhart on the spot, Nathan Chapman, Lead Designer, jumped in with an answer. “I think we’re going with Chrono Trigger because it has elements of a Western RPG. It’s more open, it’s still mostly linear, but there are parts you can explore more,” said Chapman. “There are lots of differences, like you can beat Lavos at different parts of the game and you get different endings based on that. There are obvious answers like dialogue trees and all of that good stuff. The seeds are there for that kind of development.”

“I think it would be fun to take the setting of a Japanese RPG, which is a weird mix of fantasy and sci-fi mashed together and make a Western RPG out of that,” Urquhart chimed in. “I think that would be cool. I mean it’s kind of Star Wars, that’s kind of what Star Wars is a fantasy in space. I think that would be interesting.”

Chapman continued, “In terms of the Japanese RPGs that I find really cool is the style. That’s something that, especially the Japanese Square games, the style permeates everything. The super high production values. The characters…”

“Gigantic swords,” Urquhart cracked.

“Gigantic swords, something we’ve taken from them. All of that stuff is really cool,” Chapman concluded.

What do you think guys?

[Starmongoose]

I'm not all that interested, I like my Chrono Trigger the way it is - but I feel like these guys would do it justice for the more Western market. I think they have proven a couple of times now that they are more than competent.

[Taelus]

i am not interested. Obsidian can't release anything but broken, unfinished games. They have some great talent, but in my opinion they are all a shadow of what they used to be. I'd rather the Chrono series stay dormant (and that is very hard for me to say) than to become an unfinished, broken WRPG.

[Fei]

i am not interested. Obsidian can't release anything but broken, unfinished games. They have some great talent, but in my opinion they are all a shadow of what they used to be. I'd rather the Chrono series stay dormant (and that is very hard for me to say) than to become an unfinished, broken WRPG.

Yep, and every review on the net would have a headline like "Travel back in time... to before you purchased this game"

...and Robo would make some stupid reference to the HK character from KOTOR.

[Dincrest]

I understand that there is a massive trend to redo classics (i.e. look at all the remakes of 1980s films lately) but sometimes it's better to just leave a classic alone.  Chrono Trigger is one of those classics that I think is best left alone.  Granted, the anime cutscenes in the Playstation update were nice (though the load times were intrusive.)  Thus, the DS version is the definitive version (though I can't play it on the TV.) 

In other words, no thanks Obsidian. 

[Kevadu]

Obsidian might like to work on Chrono Trigger but I'm sure as heck glad that they're not...

[kyuusei]

I just... no. I gave up hopes for any sort of remake years ago, but even when I did want one, Obsidian wasn't exactly what I had in mind. At this point, just leave CT alone...

[Gen Eric Gui]

Screw Trigger, I want more Cross.

[Eusis]

I'd be very interested in seeing the end result, but it's not something I really want. Taking after its style though...

[Darilon]

I do not think I would like that to happen. From what I see it has a higher chance of doing more harm than good. Although this may just be my pessimism sneaking through.

[MeshGearFox]

I'm not really sure what you could still do with CT. It's an old game that essentially played like a Final Fantasy game from the era with enough cruft removed to be completable in under 20 hours on a first playthrough. It has an inordinate amount of fanwank for its innovation and execution, even though it wasn't really innovative at all and the only really solid thing about its execution was the production values. It's not a BAD game. It just really fails to stand out from the pack if you're being even remotely objective.

Then again, the gameplay was pretty slim (even if people latch onto it for some inexplicable reason) so transplanting the basic setting and story to another sort of gameplay entirely wouldn't really be hard.

[Esper_Crusader]

Wow, Obsidian tampering with the Crono series sounds like a mistake coupled with a bad idea.  Their games have tons of potential and are fine for the most part but I agree with the sentiment that they feel unfinished.  I'm hoping New Vegas breaks this trend.

[Cyril]

Anyone but Obsidian, please.

[Sagacious-T]

WRPGs are the borg.

Assimilate or die, dirty Japanese game loving peasants.

[Starmongoose]

I must have been mistaken in thinking these Obsidian characters are good. I had heard good things and kind of went with it. If only I cared about WRPGs.