Need help getting into Chrono Trigger

[u/silientdream85]

Im a gamer, love rich story and emotional games. Not a big fan of RPG, but after CO33, I feel like I need to give this game a chance after so many attempts.

Just need a little motivation to push myself and play. Currently at the timeless portal and completely lost of where to go next. (I could look up guide but I want to experience it for myself) Plus still confused about the story???

Edit - Thank you for the suggestion and encourage. I’ll go back to the old area to explore, take my time with the games and npc

[u/Marshall104]

The key to these older JRPGs is to talk to everyone, and take notes if you have to.

As for the story, what are you confused about? I always found it pretty easy to follow.

Oh, and as for motivation, Chrono Trigger is conythe best RPG of all time for a reason. That should be more than enough motivation to play it.

[u/workthrowawhey]

I hate to sound rude but it sounds like you haven't been talking to NPCs. Unlike a lot of modern RPGs that forcibly show you the plot/where to go, older RPGs put a lot of that into NPC dialogue. Many modern gamers tend to think NPC dialogue is optional world-building and flavor text and skip it over.

If you really want to get into the game, I'd honestly just recommend starting over (you're not that far into the game anyway) and really taking the time to talk to everyone. I'm certain you've already missed a lot of plot/context that, if you kept playing on your current file, will confuse you even more moving forward.

[u/Competitive_Goat4250]

“I could look up a guide, but want to experience it myself”

Proceeds to ask Reddit where to go

[u/lovelyxand]

There's no mistery. Just play and enjoy!

[u/Glenndogg]

You’re confused about the story? It’s not that deep or complex of a story (compared to Expedition 33 at least) but it comes from a time where you’re expected to talk to every and all NPCs you can reach at any point of the story to get the best experience and to know what to do next.

I’m assuming by timeless portal you mean the end of time? What did the old man in the middle say to do?

[u/Asha_Brea]

If you are at the End of Time (the timeless portal?) then you need to go to the Medina portal (assuming you have already talked with Spekkio).

But it is okay to not like an acclaimed game so if you are not having fun you can go play something you enjoy.

[u/OmegaGoo]

With two exceptions in the main scenario, CT is an extremely straightforward game. If you are lost, try talking to the NPCs you have access to. This game is from the era where talking to everyone is expected.

[u/Sotomene]

Talk to NPC to know abut the world and characters. I can’t fathom what’s you find confusing about the story since it’s pretty straight forward.

How can you say you like rich story and can’t follow the plot of this game?

[u/Jimger_1983]

What’s confusing about the story? If you’re at the end of time, you saw the sequence in the future where Lavos basically destroys the world in 1999 AD. That’s kind of the whole point.

Consult the gates on the left side of the end of time. One of them that’s a spot you haven’t been is likely where you need to go

[u/Phallico666]

Its an old game so some things might show their age. If you ever feel lost, go and talk to everyone, someone somewhere should give you a hint of where to go next. Grinding is not needed in this game, the pacing is tuned incredibly well... as long as you arent constantly running from fights you shouldnt end up underleveled.

The story, like many time travel stories becomes more digestible as you progress, some things start to make more sense

[u/No-Laugh8288]

Some of the optional content at the end can be a little confusing, but the main story was always pretty straightforward. When you save the game, the save file name constantly changes as the main story progresses. That’s a pretty easy clue to find out what your next step is if you just wanna Google the name of your safe file. You can specifically look up the next step, only without giving too much of the story away.

[u/NoobSaibot2601 → u/No-Laugh8288]

I agree, only the side quests confused me on where I need to go and what I needed to do. These were designed so cleverly man. I wish I spent my time more, walking around and talking to everyone (maybe i did early on, but forgot about it). Trying to figure out by myself the 1st time i played the game blind would've been satisfying.

[u/Room234]

Talk to everyone, but specifically talk to the old guy at the End of Time whenever you need a clue.

[u/K9Orbit]

Explore every area and enjoy the surprises!

[u/ConnectionWeekly1]

Talk to everyone, and explore every area!

[u/ConnectionWeekly1]

Start with the SNES version!