Round Up: The Reviews Are In For Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers

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Chrono Cross
Image: Square Enix

Apart from LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, one other big release this week is Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition.

In case you didn’t already know, it’s a remaster of the 1999 PlayStation JRPG. More and more reviews of the game are now starting to surface online, and so we’ve rounded up a bunch of them.

Of course, be sure to check out our own review, we said it was a “fair port” awarding it six out of ten stars.

Siliconera praised the game, awarding it 10/10:

“CHRONO CROSS is an RPG that transcends time and space, unfolding across two interlinked parallel worlds. With over 40 party members to meet, people and dimensions will intertwine in this epic drama about the planet itself. Chrono Cross has always been an essential JRPG, and this The Radical Dreamers Edition remaster makes it feel even more important.”

Destructoid said it was “Alright” awarding it six out of 10:

“And really, that’s all you need to know: it’s a PlayStation-era Square RPG. Can you still stand to play Final Fantasy IX and Parasite Eve? Then Chrono Cross is worth your time, and here’s an okay way to play it. Is that era too antiquated for you? Then this remaster has no chance of changing your mind. Regardless of what you think of the game or genre, it’s not a very loving or respectful port, and Chrono Cross deserves better.”

RPG Site gave it 7/10:

“Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is a wonderful remaster marred by an unoptimized Switch port. While you could argue that they could have gone further in places, like maybe offering players the ability to further customize which parts of the experience they wanted to be presented with old or new graphics, it feels nice that one of my favorite PS1 era JRPGs got so much love. I adore both of the games in this collection from the bottom of my heart, and I’m glad they’re more accessible than ever. I hope the Switch version can be an easier recommendation in the future, especially since the only way to own it physically seems to be on that platform.”

Our friends over at Push Square awarded the PlayStation version 4 out of 10:

“Parts of Chrono Cross really haven’t aged well, but it’s still a charming, characterful JRPG that evokes feelings of the genre’s golden age on PS1. It’s a game that deserves better than The Radical Dreamers Edition, which, at least at launch, is a dreadfully poor remaster. Crippled by frame rate issues, it beggars belief that a title from 1999 could run this badly on modern hardware. Unless you’re desperate for the nostalgia, we strongly recommend waiting to see whether Square Enix releases a patch to improve the package on PS4 and PS5 before buying.”

Wccftech gave it 4.5/10:

“The crippled frame rates, which remain a constantly fluctuating 15-20 FPS in battles, are only exacerbated by providing players with the ability to slow down and fast forward gameplay without having to finish the game first. In another time, another place, perhaps Chrono Cross The Radical Dreamers Edition would be more critically revered this second time around but I can find little reason to recommend this particular bundle over the PlayStation 1 release based on the core game alone.”

Will you be trying out this game on the Nintendo Switch when it arrives later this week? Tell us down in the comments.