In the middle of growing rumors/reports claiming that Square Enix has been working hard on a Chrono Cross Remaster (some say Remake), it was announced last week that Wright Flyer Studios’ popular ‘Free to Play’ RPG, Another Eden, will feature a Chrono Cross related event.
Coincidence or a Perfect Marketing Strategy?
Serge, Kid and Harle’s arrival to the Another Eden’s universe feels more like a carefully planned strategy to familiarize gamers with Chrono Cross’s universe before its remaster arrives than just a happy coincidence.
This Cross event (which starts today) was developed with important Chrono Series’s luminaries such as, Masato Kato and Yasunori Mitsuda overseeing the project.
Truth be told, both of these men (Kato in particular) are behind the development and subsequent support of Another Eden. Thus, Chrono Cross (a game that they worked on two decades ago) feels like natural game and universe to blend into AE’s own time traveling premise.
However, both men were also deeply involved in Chrono Trigger’s development (Kato directed Cross, but was a scenario writer for Trigger), and instead of Trigger, they seem to have decided to settle on Chrono Cross for the crossover event.
Will The Rumored Chrono Cross Remaster be More Than Just a Remaster?
The fact that Square Enix, along with Kato and Mitsuda, went for Chrono Cross’s cast rather than Trigger’s (a game that might be more popular than its sequel) leads me to speculate about the importance of the (rumored) upcoming Chrono Cross Remaster.
Square Enix had no qualms about lending its characters to the game. Now, this isn’t a new thing for the company. Square Enix allowed Nintendo to feature Cloud and Sephiroth (Square Enix’s most iconic Hero and Villain duo) in Nintendo’s Smash Bros. franchise.
I have to assume that given Masato Kato’s contributions to Square Enix (Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy VII, Chrono Cross), when asked if his team could use Chrono Cross’s cast for his ever evolving free to play RPG, the giant publisher could only nod in agreement.
Masato Kato served as a writer in all of the Square Enix titles mentioned above, but Chrono Cross was his special project, as it was the first title he directed as opposed to just writing the scripts and concepts. Which is why his Another Eden project has always been seen as a spiritual successor to the Chrono series.
The fact that Kato maintained a working relationship with Square Enix (even after leaving the company in 2003), could only have helped to make this cross event a reality.
But then, there is the matter of the rumored Chrono Cross Remaster/Remake. Given that Square Enix has kept Kato as a supervisor and writer for any Chrono related work (The DS port of Chrono Trigger being an example), I wouldn’t be shocked if Kato is overseeing the rumored remake, and took advantage of the opportunity to convince Square Enix to green light the Chrono Cross crossover event within Another Eden.
After all, everyone wins in this scenario. Chrono Cross is introduced (and re-introduced) to a new (and old) generation of players a few months before the (rumored) remake hits stores and digital market fronts. Square Enix couldn’t asked for a better way to ‘market’ and create hype about Chrono Cross than this.
In turn, Another Eden gets a boost in popularity by utilizing characters from a well known and beloved property by JRPG fans from the 1990s that continue to play and support these games. As I said, everyone wins.
Keep in mind, that Another Eden is getting a Chrono Cross event, that is a fact. Everything else written here in regards to how and why this union between two IPs from different publishers came to be is pure speculation.
But let’s keep speculating! According to Another Eden director, Daisuke Takeshima, Square Enix blessed (green lighted) the crossover event without any qualms or concerns about ‘lending’ its CC characters for it,
We’ve received requests for a Chrono series crossover from Another Eden fans for a long time. Within the development team, we had also been discussing since release how great it would be if we could work on something with the Chrono series. We were able to have Square Enix’s blessing for this crossover which made our dream into reality. – Daisuke Takeshima
There was a fan made remake of Chrono Trigger that was at least Nintendo Wii quality and was fully fleshed out, with tens of thousands of fans donating to the project. However, the night before it’s release Square Enix sent them a cease and desist letter that killed the project. Square even refused to take the finished game, free of charge, and officially release it on console.
Call me a bitter fan but I’d rather not give them my money. Not even crumbs.
Lots of misinformation here. 1.) It was a demo. 2.) It was NOT a full remake and was NEVER intended to be. 3.) They were going to release a demo and not a “fully fleshed out” game before receiving the cease and desist. The demo would have been roughly ten scenes with a slightly altered story to account for the transitions. 4.) The cease and desist did NOT arrive “the night before,” but rather in September of 2004 (the demo was planned to release in December of 2004). It was called Chrono Resurrection. Fact check yourself.
Can you folks stop talking about that fan made game as if it were part of the Chrono series when it has absolutely nothing to do with it. Games like that should be relegated to fan creations on the level of fan-fiction. This article is about rumored official release. Please know the difference between official and fan created works based on official sources such as Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross.
“Chrono Cross’ remaster is bound to be a more substantial upgrade than Square’s usual treatment of its old Ps1 games.” It has to because the game has remained incomplete by time restraints back when it first released on the PSX. Character’s like Guile ended with this character never finding out his real identity due to his amnesia. And I am hoping that this gets rectified and adds more to his character development afterwards.
Likewise with the other characters that should have it since we’re dealing with over 40 characters who else to do it than Masato Kato himself. And most important I hope they add more lore, close up any plot holes and expand the story a little alongside more areas to explore maybe even get to go on the land where Chrono Trigger events were happening besides that small bit of visiting Luca’s orphanige. I also hope that this leads to a new Chrono title, maybe the long forgotten Chrono Break.