Square Enix’s Koichiro Sakamoto recently explained that the Chrono Cross remaster was not only released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the game but also to also keep it playable for years to come.
Sakamoto recently expressed fear that the Playstation 4 was released without the Game Archive that was available on the PlayStation 3. Without the Game Achieve, and with the growing popularity of the PlayStation 4, Chrono Cross would soon be unplayable on the popular modern-day consoles. With that in mind, Square Enix began the project to remaster Chrono Cross to allow players to continue to play the game on newer consoles.
The Game Archive allowed players to play older PlayStation 1 games on the PlayStation 3. Chrono Cross was initially released in 2000 on the original PlayStation, only a few months before the PlayStation 2’s release. The PlayStation 2 had backward compatibility with the original, keeping Chrono Cross relevant for longer. The PlayStation 3 was then given the Game Archive, allowing players to digitally play previous PlayStation titles of earlier consoles. Released last April, the Chrono Cross remaster now allows the game to be played on the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5, fulfilling Square Enix’s wish to keep it playable even without the Game Archive.
On release, the remaster received mixed reviews from fans due to framerate performance and other performance issues. Since its release, it only received its first major update recently, addressing many of the issues that have bothered fans. While this update helped make the game more enjoyable, it also involved a small note mentioning new secrets added to the remaster for players to find.
While Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers is the remastered version of the original Chrono Cross, Chrono Cross itself is a remastered version of a text-based game from 1996 released only in Japan. This game, known as Radical Dreamers, was initially the successor to Chrono Trigger and was later reworked into Chrono Cross, the true sequel. Thanks to the remaster, Chrono Cross is now available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
