Chrono Trigger is a 1995 role-playing video game created and released by Square for the Super Nintendo console. It is the first game in the Chrono series. The story follows a group of heroes who travel through time to stop a worldwide disaster.
The game was developed by a team of three designers that Square called the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, who made the Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, who created the Dragon Quest series for Enix; and Akira Toriyama, who designed characters for Dragon Quest and wrote the Dragon Ball manga. Takashi Tokita helped direct the game and write its story. Kazuhiko Aoki managed the project, and Masato Kato wrote most of the game’s plot.
Chrono Trigger was very successful when it was released, winning many awards from game magazines. It is considered one of the most important games for the fourth generation of consoles and one of the greatest video games ever made. Nintendo Power magazine praised the game’s unique features, such as multiple endings, side quests that help develop characters, a special battle system, and detailed artwork. The game’s music, composed by Yasunori Mitsuda with help from Nobuo Uematsu, who also worked on Final Fantasy, is often called one of the best video game soundtracks ever. Chrono Trigger was the second best-selling game in Japan in 1995, and over 5 million copies of the game have been sold worldwide.
The game has been released on many other platforms with some changes. A version for the PlayStation was released in Japan in 1999 and later combined with a version of Final Fantasy IV as Final Fantasy Chronicles for North America in 2001. A slightly improved version of Chrono Trigger, also made by Tose, was released for the Nintendo DS in Japan and North America in 2008 and for other regions in 2009. The game has also been released on i-mode, the Virtual Console, PlayStation Network, iOS, and Android. In 2018, a higher quality version of the game was released for Windows through Steam.
Gameplay
Chrono Trigger uses a standard turn-based role-playing game format. The player controls the main character and their allies in a two-dimensional world that includes forests, cities, and dungeons. Movement is guided by an overworld map, which shows the environment from a top-down view. Forests, cities, and similar areas are represented as detailed, smaller maps where players can talk to locals to obtain items, solve puzzles, or face enemies. Unlike traditional Japanese RPGs, many enemies in Chrono Trigger are visible on field maps or hide to attack the player. When enemies are encountered on the map, battles take place directly on the map instead of a separate screen.
During battles, players and enemies can attack with physical or magical moves. Players can use items to heal or protect themselves. Each character and enemy has a set number of hit points; attacks reduce these points, which can be restored using potions or spells. If a character loses all hit points, they are knocked out. If all players are knocked out in a battle, the game ends, and the player must restart from a saved chapter, except in specific story-related battles where losing is allowed or required. Between battles, players can equip characters with weapons, armor, helmets, and accessories that provide special effects, such as increased strength or magic defense. Items and equipment can be bought in shops or found on maps, often inside treasure chests. Exploring new areas and fighting enemies helps players advance through the story.
Chrono Trigger uses an "Active Time Battle" system, a feature from Square's Final Fantasy series designed by Hiroyuki Ito for Final Fantasy IV, called "Active Time Battle 2.0." Each character can act once their personal timer, based on their speed, reaches zero. Magic and special attacks are managed through a system called "Techs." Using Techs uses up a character's magic points, a value similar to hit points, and often affects multiple enemies. Some spells target groups of enemies, while others attack enemies in a line. Enemies may move during battles, creating opportunities to use Techs strategically. A unique feature is the ability to combine Techs. Each character has eight personal Techs that can be combined with others to create Double or Triple Techs for stronger effects. For example, Crono's Cyclone Tech can be paired with Lucca's Flame Toss to create Fire Whirl. When characters with compatible Techs have enough magic points, the game shows the combo as an option.
Chrono Trigger includes time travel as a key feature. Players can visit seven different time periods in the game's history, and actions taken in the past influence future events. Throughout the story, players meet new allies, complete side quests, and confront key villains. Time travel is achieved through portals, light pillars called "time gates," and a time machine named Epoch. The game has twelve unique endings, with thirteen in the DS, iOS, Android, and Steam versions. The ending received depends on when and how the player completes the final battle. The DS version adds a new ending accessible after finishing an extra dungeon and defeating an optional final boss. The game also includes a "New Game Plus" option, allowing players to start a new game with the same character levels, skills, and equipment from their previous playthrough, but without the money they earned. However, some important story items, like the sword Masamune, are no longer available and must be found again. Square has used the New Game Plus concept in later games, including Chrono Cross and Final Fantasy XV.
Story
Chrono Trigger takes place in a world similar to Earth, with different time periods. These include the prehistoric age, where early humans and dinosaurs lived together; the Middle Ages, filled with knights, monsters, and magic; and a post-apocalyptic future, where poor humans and robots struggle to survive. The characters often travel through time to find allies, collect tools, and gather information to help them on their journey. They also visit a place called the End of Time (marked as year ∞), which acts as a central point to return to other time periods. Later, the group gains a time-traveling vehicle called the Wings of Time, also known as the Epoch. Players can rename the vehicle when they first obtain it. This vehicle allows travel between any time period directly, without needing to visit the End of Time first.
The game has six main characters (plus one optional character), each from different time periods. The story begins in 1000 AD with Crono, Marle, and Lucca. Crono is the silent hero, a brave young man who fights with a sword. Marle, who is actually Princess Nadia, lives in Guardia Castle. Though she is sheltered, she wants to be independent. Lucca is a friend of Crono and a genius inventor; her home is full of machines and tools. From 2300 AD comes Robo, a robot named Prometheus (R-66Y), created to help humans. Robo was inactive in the future until Lucca repaired him, and he joined the group out of gratitude. Ayla, who lives in 65,000,000 BC, is a strong leader of Ioka Village. She fights against a group of reptile-like creatures called Reptites.
The last two playable characters are Frog and Magus. Frog was once a knight named Glenn in 600 AD. He was turned into a frog by Magus, who also killed his friend Cyrus. Frog now protects Leene, the queen of Guardia, and seeks revenge for Cyrus. In 600 AD, Guardia is at war with the Mystics (called Fiends in some versions), a group of demons and intelligent animals led by Magus. Magus was once a prince named Janus from the Kingdom of Zeal, which was destroyed by Lavos in 12,000 BC. Lavos, the game’s main villain, is a space creature that feeds on Earth’s energy. Lavos awakens in 1999 AD and causes widespread destruction.
In 1000 AD, Crono and Marle watch Lucca demonstrate a teleporter at the Millennial Fair in Guardia. When Marle tries the device, her pendant causes a time portal to open, pulling her into the past. Crono and Lucca recreate the portal and find themselves in 600 AD, where they locate Marle but see her disappear. Lucca realizes that the people in this time period believe Marle is Queen Leene, an ancestor of Marle’s, creating a problem called a grandfather paradox. With Frog’s help, they rescue Leene and restore history. After returning to the present, Crono is falsely accused of kidnapping Marle and sentenced to death. Lucca and Marle help him escape using another time portal, which lands them in 2300 AD. There, they learn that Lavos destroyed an advanced civilization and find humans surviving in underground domes powered by machines. The group vows to stop Lavos. They meet Robo and find Gaspar, an old man in the End of Time, who gives them the ability to travel through time using light pillars.
The group learns that Magus summoned Lavos in 600 AD. To stop Magus, Frog needs a legendary sword called Masamune to reach Magus’s castle. They travel to prehistoric times and meet Ayla, who helps them fight the Reptites. During the battle, they witness Lavos’s true origin: a space creature that crashes into Earth and burrows into its core. The group travels to 12,000 BC, where the utopian Kingdom of Zeal uses energy from Lavos to float islands above the ice. They are imprisoned by the Queen of Zeal on the orders of a mysterious Prophet, later revealed to be Magus. The group is banished, and the time gate to 12,000 BC is sealed. They find the Wings of Time in 2300 AD and return to 12,000 BC, where Zeal accidentally awakens Lavos. Magus tries to kill Lavos but fails. Lavos defeats Magus and kills Crono before Schala, Zeal’s princess, saves the group. Lavos destroys Zeal, causing massive floods.
Magus reveals he was once Prince Janus of Zeal, Schala’s brother. Lavos scattered him and the Gurus of Zeal across time. Stranded in 600 AD, Janus became Magus and plotted to kill Lavos for his sister’s death. Magus is either killed by the group, defeated by Frog, or joins them. The Ocean Palace rises as the Black Omen, Queen Zeal’s floating fortress. Gaspar gives the group a "Chrono Trigger," a device that allows them to replace Crono with a duplicate before his death (this is optional and changes the ending). The group helps people across time, defeats the Mystics, stops Robo’s creator, gives Frog closure for Cyrus’s death, finds the Sun Stone, retrieves the Rainbow Shell, exposes Guardia’s Chancellor as a saboteur, restores a forest, and prevents an accident that harmed Lucca’s mother. They enter the Black Omen and defeat Queen Zeal.
Development
In October 1992, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Yuji Horii, and Akira Toriyama began creating Chrono Trigger. Sakaguchi was the producer of the Final Fantasy series, Horii was the creator of the Dragon Quest series, and Toriyama was a character designer for Dragon Quest and the creator of the Dragon Ball manga. The three, called the "Dream Team" by Square, traveled to the United States to study computer graphics and decided to make a game that "no one had done before." Toriyama’s editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, later said the idea came from combining Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, and he arranged for Enix to lend Horii to Squaresoft for development. After more than a year of planning, the team received a call from Kazuhiko Aoki, who agreed to produce the game. The four met and spent four days brainstorming ideas. Square gathered 50–60 developers, including scenario writer Masato Kato, who was named the story planner. Development started in early 1993. An uncredited Square employee suggested making a time-travel-themed game, which Kato initially opposed, fearing it would be boring. Kato and Horii met daily for the first year to write the story; Horii wanted a silent main character from the start. Square planned to license the game under the Mana franchise and gave it the working title Maru Island. Hiromichi Tanaka, who later produced Chrono Cross, monitored Toriyama’s early designs. The team originally aimed to release the game on Nintendo’s Super Famicom Disk Drive, but when Nintendo canceled the project, Square changed the plan to release it on a Super Famicom cartridge and renamed it Chrono Trigger. Tanaka said the cartridge platform allowed smooth transitions between battles and the game world. Although the game was planned for a 24-megabit cartridge, Square chose a 32-megabit version to include more graphics and music. Torishima later said an early version of the game was scrapped.
Aoki produced Chrono Trigger, while director credits went to Akihiko Matsui, Yoshinori Kitase, and Takashi Tokita. Toriyama designed the game’s visual style, including characters, monsters, vehicles, and the look of each time period. Masato Kato also contributed character ideas. Kato planned to include Gaspar as a playable character, but he was removed early in development. The team studied Toriyama’s sketches to match his style. Sakaguchi and Horii oversaw the project; Sakaguchi designed the game’s systems and contributed monster ideas. Other key designers included Tetsuya Takahashi, the graphic director, and Yasuyuki Honne, Tetsuya Nomura, and Yusuke Naora, who worked on field graphics. Yasuhiko Kamata programmed the graphics and was inspired by Ridley Scott’s work in the movie Alien. Kamata made the game’s lighting and colors fall between those of Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy. Features from Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy IV, which were being developed at the same time, were used in Chrono Trigger. Tanaka said Secret of Mana was originally called Chrono Trigger during development before being renamed Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana), and the name Chrono Trigger was later used for the new project. After its release, the Final Fantasy VI development team joined the Chrono Trigger team.
Yuji Horii, who liked time-travel stories like the TV show The Time Tunnel, helped shape the game’s time-travel theme with input from Toriyama. Horii liked the idea of the grandfather paradox involving Marle. Horii said he wrote general story ideas without details, leaving the staff to brainstorm specifics. He also created Lavos, the final boss, as an ancient evil. Sakaguchi added small elements, like the character Gato, and enjoyed Marle’s story about reconciling with her father. Kato wrote most of the game’s story, including the events of the 12,000 BC era, and avoided repetitive tasks like "do this" or "defeat these monsters." Kato and other developers held meetings with about 30 people to ensure the story stayed consistent. Kato and Horii first planned for Crono to die, but Square changed the plan because they thought it was too sad. Kato also created the system of multiple endings because he couldn’t make the story branch into different paths. Kitase and Tokita wrote subplots and designed the "Active Time Event Logic" system, which let players move around during scenes and choose different conversation paths. Kato became friends with composer Yasunori Mitsuda during development, and they worked together on future projects. Katsuhisa Higuchi programmed the battle system, which let players fight on the map without switching to a separate battlefield, a change from previous Square games. Higuchi said it was hard to make battles load quickly without delays. The game used animated monster images, which used more memory than static graphics in earlier Final Fantasy games.
Hironobu Sakaguchi compared making Chrono Trigger to "playing around with Toriyama’s universe," saying the game included funny moments that wouldn’t work in Final Fantasy. When Square suggested a non-human main character, the team created Frog based on one of Toriyama’s sketches. The team added the End of Time to help players if they got stuck. Testers said the game was too hard, and Horii explained that developers thought it was just right, but players struggled with puzzles they thought were simple. Sakaguchi said players wanting to replay the game showed the New Game Plus feature was successful, as small changes led to different outcomes. The game’s time-traveling made fixing bugs difficult because changes in one era could cause problems in another.
Chrono Trigger was mainly composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, with help from Nobuo Uematsu, a Final Fantasy composer, and one track by Noriko Matsueda. Mitsuda, who was unhappy with his pay, threatened to leave Square unless he could compose music. Sakaguchi suggested Mitsuda score Chrono Trigger, saying it might increase his salary. Mitsuda created new music and used pieces from his personal collection.
Release
The team planned to release Chrono Trigger in late 1994, but the release was delayed until the next year. Early test versions of Chrono Trigger were shown at the 1994 and 1995 V Jump festivals in Japan. A few months before the game’s release, Square sent a test version to magazine reviewers and stores for feedback. An unfinished version of the game from November 17, 1994, included unused music, locations, and features later changed or removed, such as a dungeon called "Singing Mountain" and its associated song. Some character names also differed; for example, the character known as Soysaw in Japan (Slash in the US version) was named Wiener, while Mayonnay (Flea in the US version) was named Ketchappa. A digital copy of this early version was later shared online, allowing fans to study and record differences, including two unused character designs and possible additional designs for non-player characters. Around the time of the game’s release, Yuji Horii said Chrono Trigger "went beyond [the development team’s] expectations," and Hironobu Sakaguchi praised the game’s graphic artists and world designers. Sakaguchi hoped to improve the "sense of dancing you get from exploring Toriyama's worlds" if a sequel was made.
Chrono Trigger used a 32-megabit ROM cartridge with battery-backed RAM for saving progress, but it did not include special chips on the cartridge. The Japanese version of the game included artwork for the ending and item counts in the player’s status menu. Developers created the North American version before adding these features, accidentally leaving traces of early development, such as the "Singing Mountain" piece. Hironobu Sakaguchi asked translator Ted Woolsey to adapt Chrono Trigger for English audiences, giving him about 30 days to complete the task. Without a modern translation team, Woolsey memorized scenarios and studied drafts of player guides to understand dialogue. Woolsey later said he would have preferred 2.5 months and blamed his rushed schedule on Japan’s belief that games were for children, not serious works. Some of his work was cut due to space limits, but he still considered Chrono Trigger "one of the most satisfying games [he] ever worked on or played." Nintendo of America removed certain dialogue, such as references to breastfeeding, alcohol, and religion.
The original SNES version of Chrono Trigger was released on the Wii’s Virtual Console in Japan on April 26, 2011, in the US on May 16, 2011, and in Europe on May 20, 2011. Earlier, in April 2008, a Nintendo Power poll listed Chrono Trigger as the third-most wanted game for the Virtual Console. The game was also released on i-mode, PlayStation Network, iOS, Android, and Windows.
Square released an improved version of Chrono Trigger for the Sony PlayStation in 1999, developed by Tose. This release was timed before the 1999 sequel Chrono Cross to help new players understand the story. The PlayStation version included anime cutscenes made by Akira Toriyama’s Bird Studio and animated by Toei Animation, along with bonus features unlocked after achieving certain endings. Scenarist Masato Kato helped plan how the ending cutscenes would connect to Chrono Cross. The PlayStation version was released in North America in 2001 as Final Fantasy Chronicles, along with a new translation of Final Fantasy IV. Reviewers criticized Chronicles for long load times and a lack of new in-game features. This version was later released as a downloadable game on the PlayStation Network in 2011 for the PlayStation 3, Vita, and Portable.
On July 2, 2008, Square Enix announced plans to release Chrono Trigger on the Nintendo DS. Composer Yasunori Mitsuda was excited about the project, saying, "finally!" after learning the news. He believed the game remained "very deep" and "high-quality" even today. Square retained Masato Kato to oversee the port and Tose to program it. Kato wanted the DS version to be based on the original SNES release, not the PlayStation version, and said the team should review and improve features from the PlayStation version to create a complete edition. Square Enix promoted the game by displaying Akira Toriyama’s original art at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show.
The DS version included all bonus material from the PlayStation port, plus improvements. New features included a more accurate translation by Tom Slattery, a dual-screen mode that clears the top screen of menus, a self-completing map screen, and a default "run" option. Players could choose between two control schemes: one matching the original SNES controls and another using the DS’s touch screen. Masato Kato oversaw the addition of a monster-battling Arena, two new areas—Lost Sanctum and Dimensional Vortex—and a new ending that hints at events in Chrono Cross. One area in the Vortex used the "Singing Mountain" song from the original soundtrack. A dungeon missing from the original game was recreated in the Vortex. These additions received mixed reviews; some found them frustrating or repetitive, while others praised how the extra quests connected to the story. The DS version was nominated for "Best RPG for the Nintendo DS" in IGN’s 2008 awards and was the 22nd best-selling game of 2008 in Japan.
A cellphone version was released in Japan on the i-mode service on August 25, 2011. An iOS version followed on December 8, 2011, based on the DS version with optimized graphics. The game was later released for Android on October 29, 2012. An update in February 2018 added features from the Windows version, including restored animated cutscenes.
Square Enix released Chrono Trigger for Windows via Steam on February 27, 2018, without prior announcement. This version included most content from the DS port, except the arena mode, along with higher
Reception
Chrono Trigger received high praise from critics when it was first released on the SNES. Game reviewers liked the gameplay, with magazines such as Nintendo Power and Next Generation calling it creative. These magazines, along with Super Play, mentioned that players could see enemies clearly on the overworld map and enjoy using special attack combinations. Edge and GamePro said the game was easier than Final Fantasy VI, though GamePro still enjoyed it. The graphics and music were praised by Nintendo Power, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Nintendo Magazine System. GamePro said the visuals and music were better than in earlier role-playing games like Final Fantasy VI, while Game Informer noted that improved graphics made quests shorter. Edge, however, thought the visuals were not as impressive as those in Final Fantasy VI. Reviews of the story and characters were more varied. Electronic Gaming Monthly and Game Informer found the storyline and character development strong, but Next Generation and Super Play compared the characters unfavorably to those in Final Fantasy VI. Super Play said only Frog’s story was meaningful.
In contrast, the 2018 Windows version of Chrono Trigger received poor reviews. Critics pointed out problems such as texture tiling errors, unattractive sprite filters, an outdated menu design from the 2011 mobile version, limited customization options, and the inability to change control settings. Forbes described the port as "not doing this classic game justice" due to its poor graphics and menu system. USGamer called the release "a project farmed out to the lowest bidder," suggesting it was poorly made. Indie developer Fred Wood compared the Windows version to "someone’s first attempt at an RPG Maker game" in a Twitter post, a comment shared in many articles. Square Enix released six major updates to fix these issues, which improved the game’s reception. Alex Donaldson of VG247 noted that these updates helped turn the port into "the best version of Chrono Trigger."
Chrono Trigger sold two million copies in Japan within two months and was the second best-selling game in Japan in 1995, behind Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation. It was also very successful in North America, and its PlayStation re-release as part of the Final Fantasy Chronicles package topped sales charts for over six weeks. By March 2003, the SNES and PlayStation versions had sold 2.65 million copies worldwide, including 2.36 million in Japan and 290,000 abroad. The PlayStation version was re-released in 2003 as part of Sony’s Greatest Hits line. The original SNES version sold 2.5 million copies by 2006. The DS version sold 790,000 copies worldwide by March 2009, including 490,000 in Japan, 240,000 in North America, and 60,000 in Europe. By March 2009, the SNES, PlayStation, and DS versions combined sold 3.44 million copies worldwide. Excluding the PC version, the game had sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide by February 2018. As of March 2025, all versions together had sold more than 5 million copies worldwide.
Chrono Trigger is often listed among the greatest video games of all time. In 1997, Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked it the 29th best console game ever, praising its time-travel mechanics and combat system, though it was ranked below Final Fantasy VI (which was 9th). The game appeared on all six of IGN’s "top 100 games of all time" lists, with rankings such as 4th in 2002 and 2nd in 2006. Game Informer named it its 15th favorite game in 2001, calling it the best non-Final Fantasy game from Square at the time. GameSpot included it in "The Greatest Games of All Time" in 2006, and it ranked 28th on a Famitsu list that year. In 2004, it finished second to Final Fantasy VII in a GameFAQs poll. In 2008, readers of Dengeki Online voted it the eighth best game ever. Nintendo Power’s twentieth anniversary issue ranked it the fifth best Super NES game. In 2009, Official Nintendo Magazine placed the DS version 31st on a list of greatest Nintendo games. In 2012, GamesRadar ranked it 32nd on its "100 best games of all time" list and first on its "Best JRPGs" list. GamesRadar also named it the second best Super NES game, behind Super Metroid. In 2023, Time Extension included it on their "Best JRPGs of All Time" list.
Legacy
Chrono Trigger inspired the creation of several related games. The first were three titles released for the Satellaview on July 31, 1995. These included Chrono Trigger: Jet Bike Special, a racing game based on a mini-game from the original; Chrono Trigger: Character Library, which provided information about characters and monsters from the game; and Chrono Trigger: Music Library, a collection of music from the game’s soundtrack. Later, the content from Character Library and Music Library was added as extras in the PlayStation version of Chrono Trigger. Production I.G created a 16-minute OVA titled Dimensional Adventure Numa Monjar, which was shown at a Japanese V Jump festival on July 31, 1996.
Two fan projects attempted to remake parts of Chrono Trigger for PC using 3D graphics. Chrono Resurrection aimed to recreate ten short interactive scenes from the game, while Chrono Trigger Remake Project sought to remake the entire game. Both were stopped by Square Enix using a legal notice called a cease and desist order. Another fan group created a sequel called Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes through a ROM hack of the original game. Developed from 2004 to 2009, the game was nearly complete but was also stopped by a cease and desist letter before its planned release in May 2009. The letter also banned sharing existing Chrono Trigger ROM hacks and related materials. An incomplete version of the game was leaked in May 2009, but it was not fully playable. A more complete version was leaked in January 2011, allowing players to experience the game from start to finish.
Square Enix released a related game called Radical Dreamers for the Satellaview in 1996. The game was written by Masato Kato, who believed Chrono Trigger had unresolved story elements. Radical Dreamers acted as a side story to Chrono Trigger, resolving a subplot from the original game. It was a short, text-based game with simple graphics and music. The game was never officially released outside Japan, though fans translated it into English in 2003. Square Enix planned to include Radical Dreamers as an Easter egg in the PlayStation version of Chrono Trigger, but Kato was unhappy with the game and stopped its inclusion.
Square Enix released Chrono Cross for the Sony PlayStation in 1999. The game is a sequel to Chrono Trigger and features a new setting and characters. The story follows Serge, a teenager who finds himself in an alternate reality where he died years earlier. With the help of a thief named Kid, Serge tries to uncover the truth behind his death and recover the Frozen Flame, a mythical artifact. Masato Kato, the game’s writer and director, said Chrono Cross was an attempt to properly redo Radical Dreamers. The game used themes, characters, and settings from Radical Dreamers, and Yasunori Mitsuda adapted some songs from Radical Dreamers for Chrono Cross. Radical Dreamers was later removed from the main story of the series and considered part of an alternate dimension. Chrono Cross sold 1.5 million copies and received praise from critics.
As of 2025, there are no plans for a new Chrono game. In 2001, Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Chrono Trigger, said the developers of Chrono Cross wanted to make a new game in the series. That same year, Square Enix applied for trademarks for the names Chrono Break in the United States and Chrono Brake in Japan. The U.S. trademark was later canceled in 2003. In 2003, director Takashi Tokita mentioned a project called Chrono Trigger 2 in an interview, though it was not translated into English. In 2005, Yuji Horii said he had no interest in returning to the Chrono franchise, while Hironobu Sakaguchi described his game Blue Dragon as an extension of Chrono Trigger. In 2007, Square Enix’s Senior Vice President Hiromichi Tanaka said that while no sequel was planned, one might happen if the Chrono Cross developers could reunite. Yasunori Mitsuda expressed interest in scoring a new Chrono game but warned that "there are a lot of politics involved" with the series. He emphasized that Masato Kato should be part of any future development. In 2008, Game Informer ranked the Chrono series as the eighth most desired sequel, calling the games "steadfast legacies" in Square Enix’s catalog. In 2008, Electronic Gaming Monthly said fans would be excited to see a Chrono sequel. In 2009, a reader poll by Famitsu placed Chrono Trigger 14th among the most-wanted sequels. At E3 2009, Square Enix’s Senior Vice President Shinji Hashimoto said, "If people want a sequel, they should buy more!"
In 2010, Feargus Urquhart, a designer at Obsidian Entertainment, said he would like to work on a Chrono Trigger game if possible. At the time, Obsidian was working on Dungeon Siege III for Square Enix. Urquhart said, "You make RPGs, we make RPGs, it would be great to see what we could do together." Yoshinori Kitase, a developer, mentioned that the time travel mechanics in Chrono Trigger influenced those in Final Fantasy XIII-2.