// KOTAKU — GAMING
Radical Dreamers Is A Short But Fun Reunion With Chrono Characters
Chrono CrossChrono TriggerRadical DreamersSquare Enix
Chrono Cross is an incredible JRPG, but I remember being really curious when I learned it had its roots in a visual novel called Radical Dreamers. It took a few years, but I finally played it and I wanted to write my thoughts about the game as my parting article tonight.
Radical Dreamers was published in 1996 for the Satellaview, the Super Famicom’s satellite peripheral. But it never received an official port until recently. Its director, Masato Kato, said in an interview that he’d been reluctant to release Radical Dreamers because he considered it incomplete and even felt embarrassed about it. Square Enix asked him several more times and he only agreed when he saw copies were selling at a premium price.
I’m glad he relented. It was officially published as part of Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition in 2022. I could understand why Kato might have been hesitant, but the visual novel is really well-written and it’s also an interesting adventure for fans of the Chrono series.
A few years after the events of Chrono Trigger, a group of three infiltrate Viper’s Manor in the hopes of pilfering the Frozen Flame. Kid, a character we’d see again in Chrono Cross, is still the thief with attitude, whereas Serge, as narrator, has a bit more personality this time compared to Cross’ version of the main protagonist. He does his best to keep up while smitten with Kid. Magil, who is essentially Magus from Chrono Trigger in all but two letters, is their third companion. He’s a powerful magician that saves the party multiple times. He also seems to know more about what’s going on.
Players navigate Viper’s Manor to find the Frozen Flame, but it’s clear Kid has an overriding agenda. She wants revenge on its owner, Lynx, for hurting someone dear to her. The writing helps build the atmosphere because the visuals are very limited. Even the battles are described through text as Serge and the party confront eerie ghosts and groups of goblins. Players can choose Serge’s actions, whether it be attacking, using magic, or defending himself. There’s no listed HP and the only way you can tell how healthy Serge is based on how the text describes his condition.
Your actions impact your relationship with Kid, though not Magil. Do something she likes, such as winning a battle without getting hurt, and she’ll be impressed. Do something dumb, like pick the wrong book while looking for a key in the library area, and the inverse happens.
Healing is done in specific encounters, like an old lady in the Clocktower Storage who’ll patch your wounds. You can also save almost anywhere, which helped in instances where I’d made the wrong choice and gotten Serge killed.
Tying everything together is the music by Yasunori Mitsuda which is excellent. Many of the tracks would be adapted for Chrono Cross, including the battle theme, and they’re a perfect fit for Viper Manor.
As we moved from room to corridor to stairway, it unexpectedly reminded me more of the very first Resident Evil as well as the adventure game Shadowgate (just without the pointing and clicking) than it did the other Chrono games. Radical Dreamers mixes horror and fantasy in interesting ways. In the atrium, there’s killer fish called piranadons that attack from the fountain. A ceiling in the Chamber of Death is full of spikes and can crush them into a Serge sandwich. Each time, players have to react by selecting the right move before they get hurt. As they progress, Serge jokes, “Don’t worry, this isn’t about to turn into some dumb ghost story.” At the same time, regrets and past horrors haunt the residents of the manor.