The goal of this Reverse Design is to show that the design of Chrono Trigger is so intertwined with the story it tells that to understand either, one has to understand both. Chrono Trigger is basically two different games, offering two different outlooks on the question of inevitability. The two halves of the game we call Chrono Trigger are different not just in terms of story but also in terms of gameplay: the experience of each game is markedly different. The true artistry of the game is that it�s so sly about accomplishing all this that players often don�t realize what�s just happened. They know it was a great game, they know it�s a unique and remarkable game, but it was such a smooth experience that they can�t point out why. We hope that we�ve made it clear why and how all this was created by the designers. Now, a few tips for designers from the best ideas in Chrono Trigger.
(1) Everything in your game can communicate the thematic basis of your story. Chrono Trigger uses everything from quest pacing and combat design to art assets and the way the ability menu interface looks to subvert player expectations. When players are constantly forced to re-evaluate what they thought was going to happen, it makes for a great foundation for exploring what�s inevitable, what�s not, and what it all might mean.
(2) Consider using long but fairly easy boss fights for climactic encounters, rather than hard bosses. Really hard bosses take so much energy that the player often can�t respond emotionally to whatever comes next, or they don�t even have time to continue into the next quest or section, which could disrupt the flow you�re trying to create. And sometimes, they put the game down 20% of the way through, and never pick it back up again. Be careful where you place your big challenges!
(3) Try an amplitude graph for a way to gauge the pacing of your game, or the game you want to analyze. The dimensions of the graph need to be contrasting, but they can be a huge variety of things. Action vs platforming in a mario game, stealth sections vs set pieces in a military shooter, exploration vs puzzle content. This is a great way to understand how other games achieve the balance you like, and if your game can emulate (or differ from) that effect.
(4) Mix up your sections: whether they�re quests, levels, zones or whatever else marks divisions in your game, make sure they�re not all the same. Consider how well Chrono Trigger�s second half works, even though it defies convention. Convention says that the second half of a JRPG (and many other genres too) should be long, dense sections of the most challenging content. Chrono Trigger does this... some of the time. The Sunken Desert is dense and challenging, but not long. The full Rainbow Shell quest is long, but hardly dense. The Son of Sun is just a boss and a puzzle! Variety is the spice of videogames, and it forces designers to actually think rather than just reuse the same old set-piece content.
(5) You don�t need great characters in your game, if you don�t overexpose them. Chrono Trigger�s cast of stereotypes serves perfectly well in the game. A lot of this has to do with the fact that they don�t talk too much. The game�s most emotional moment works almost universally because the player can feel the relief the characters do because of the gameplay, not because of characterization. Many novelists can�t make great characters in every story; videogames have a fallback position if they encounter that problem too.
Finally, as a parting thought, we�d like to say that although the JRPG has fallen out of fashion, and most of the canonically great games in the genre are considered juvenile, these games were made by huge teams of incredibly talented, very experienced craftsmen at the peak of their powers. It would be silly to discount a genre because it isn�t popular now. There�s plenty to learn from Chrono Trigger and others like it. All game designs build upon or borrow from other game designs, and it would be silly for anyone, designer or player, to ignore what is clearly one of the masterpieces of the videogame form.
Many thanks go out to Dan Cox (@videlais) who spent dozens of hours helping generate the script analysis. We may try at some point to put that analysis up online as a resource for others. Thanks also (and as always) to the Forum�s final-pass editor, John Lynn, who worked extra hard on this one.
Thanks also to all of our Kickstarter supporters! Without you none of this would have happened; that�s the absolute truth. Extra thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about the Reverse Design, specifically voice actor and classic game connoisseur Jesse Cox. (Thanks to the TGS podcast too!) And of course if we didn�t mention you here, shame on us, but anyone who helped make this project happen has our heartfelt thanks
All material copyright by The Game Design Forum 2012