Friday, October 4, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 36 of 70


In this entry, we look for Crono...and we get some help from an unlikely ally.



If you told the woman with the sapling in Zeal Palace to save the sapling instead of burn it and head back to the Commons now, you'll see her with the plant again. This time, the sapling will be a plant. Also, Alfador, the purple cat who followed Janus around, will follow one of the kids around.

By talking to the people in the Commons, you'll find out that someone was looking for you and was last seen at the North Cape. Since you're stuck here in 12,000 B.C. until you advance the plot, you have no choice but to go there.

When you head to North Cape, there will be a sparkle at the north end. If you walk up to it and press A, Magus will show up. Magus will mention Zeal Kingdom sinking to the bottom of the sea in the events at the Ocean Palace, then reveal what was probably known all along: that he was originally from 12,000 B.C. and that his name was originally Janus.

You then see a cutscene explaining how he, Melchior, Balthasar and Gaspar were all sent to other eras. At the Ocean Palace, Lavos opened gates that flung the four of them into different time period, with Queen Zeal not even giving a care about what was happening to any of them, especially Janus. Janus was thrown into the medieval era and was more or less adopted by Ozzie for their war against the humans, Melchior was thrown to the present day where he ended up in Medina Village, Belthasar was thrown into the far future where Lavos had already decimated the world, and Gaspar was thrown into The End of Time, revealing him to be the old man we have been talking to the whole time.

Magus then explains that it was his modus operandi to destroy Lavos as revenge for throwing him into the medieval era all along, even as the Mystics wanted him to help them destroy the humans, and reveals that when we stopped him as he was summoning Lavos, he was thrown back to his own era to a time before all the events that made him into Magus happened, and he pretended to be a prophet in order to get close enough to Lavos and destroy it. Meanwhile, we were thrown into the prehistoric era, and our time there taking on Azala and Black Tyrano to help the humans beat the Reptites gave him enough time to start making moves.

He brings up Crono's death, calling him a fool for even daring to take on Lavos before mocking the rest of the party for even trying. This causes things to get really heated between the two parties, and you get the choice to either fight him or not. For the purposes of this Let's Play, we're going to not fight him. By picking this option, your party leader comes to the conclusion that defeating Magus will not bring Crono back. After that, you can head back towards the world map, and when you do, Magus stops you and tells you that there is a way to revive Crono, and in order to do that, you'll need to talk to Gaspar, the old man at the End of Time.

From here, Magus will also join your party. Magus is a very, very optional character who attacks with a scythe just like he did when you battled him in 600 A.D. He starts off with an Amulet for an accessory, which negates all status ailments from being inflicted on him. While he starts with Lightning 2, Fire 2 and Ice 2, he can learn some more magical Techs, up to and including Dark Triangle, which he also used in the 600 A.D. battle and does massive Shadow-based magic damage.

Back at the store, talk to the Nu, then wait. If you wait long enough, the Nu walks away, and you can get the Magic Tab that was behind it.

If you go into the Commons with Magus, Alfador will start following Magus around and start meowing endlessly. If you talk to the kid who was playing with Alfador, he will ask if the cat belongs to Magus. (Sadly, Alfador can't come with you. Would have been nice, though.)

There's nothing more to do here, so hop into the Epoch. When you do, a strange floating vessel shows up in the sky. This is the Black Omen, which is the Ocean Palace in an airborne form. Don't even think about going there yet; just head to The End of Time. You're just going to get destroyed over in the Black Omen, anyway. 


At The End of Time, talk to Gaspar. He will ask where Crono is, then says that he wishes he could help with Crono's death. From here, walk away from Gaspar, and he will get your attention. Talk to him again, and he will tell give you the Chrono Trigger: a time egg with magical properties. He will tell you that it is pure potential, and that the chances of its magic working are directly related to how much effort you put into getting Crono back, and even then, there is no guarantee. He then tells you that there is a way to replace lost and misplaced time streams, and to do that, you'll have to talk to Belthasar in the Keeper's Dome in 2300 A.D.

Up until this point, this part of the game was akin to the World of Balance in Final Fantasy 6, in that something apocalyptic had not happened yet and you were forced to advance the plot in a singular storyline. When you get the Chrono Trigger, the game opens up big time, much like in Final Fantasy 6's World of Ruin. You can fight Lavos if you want, but good luck beating him at this point in the game. You can get Crono back, but even then, it is completely optional, and you can even beat the game without him in your party. If you know where the post-Ocean Palace side quests are, you can also do them now, and all of those are completely optional. You can even go to the Black Omen at this time, if you wish, although you may want to level up a bunch before taking on Lavos or the Black Omen. At this point, the choice is yours.

No comments:

Post a Comment