Over the vacation season, we are republishing one of the absolute best articles from Nintendo Existence writers and participants from 2025. This text was once at the beginning revealed in March. Experience!
Be aware: If you have not performed Chrono Cause to final touch…what are you enjoying at? If you are delicate to spoilers, come again when you are accomplished as we talk about end-game main points beneath…
“However… the long run refused to modify.”
For essentially the most section, Chrono Cause is a chirpy, cheery recreation. It’s lightning in a bottle, a mystical enjoy stuffed with pleasure and pleasure. But, there are few endings as gut-wrenching as Chrono Cause’s ‘Dangerous’ finishing.
You’ve spent hours travelling between time classes, rescuing blameless folks, collecting allies, and seeing firsthand the evolution of Lavos, the reason for the apocalypse in 1999 AD and the starting place of evil right through historical past – right through tens of millions of years of historical past.
Travelling to 1999 AD and taking up Lavos proper earlier than it reasons the apocalypse, most effective to fail, is devastating. “The long run refuses to modify,” and Lavos takes all lifestyles, together with yours. Existence and the sector cave in and gray out earlier than your very eyes. This pretty international you’ve change into accustomed to — that you just’ve observed in six other instances and witnessed the spirit of humanity alternate, adapt, develop, and evolve — is long past.
However the long term refuses to modify; it’s no longer that it may’t. The phrases at the display screen, in entrance of that greyed-out symbol of Earth and Lavos’ blood-curdling scream blaring out of the audio system, may really feel like a intestine punch, however it additionally serves because the gasoline, the inducement, to get again within the struggle to avoid wasting the sector.
However you understand that, proper? Within the 30 years since its liberate, the entirety that may be stated about Chrono Cause has been stated. You don’t have to simply accept the sector as it’s. Pursue your desires. Struggle for alternate. You’ll be able to’t alternate the entirety, however you’ll be able to alternate some issues.
The place many time shuttle tales are cautionary stories that pontificate the hazards of fixing the process historical past, Chrono Cause throws warning to the wind and says, “Screw that: If you wish to alternate the long run for the sake of you, for the sake of the sector, alternate it.”
Chrono Cause’s message is poignant and, importantly, undying. Issues are crap at this time, and I will be able to’t in reality get via an afternoon with out feeling like the sector goes to cave in by hook or by crook. If I had my very own Epoch, I’d hop in it at this time, shuttle via time, and do one thing to modify the long run. That’s what Crono, Marle, Lucca, and buddies did. All as a result of they love the sector, and so they love the folk in it. And I do, too.
Chrono Cause throws warning to the wind and says, “Screw that: If you wish to alternate the long run for the sake of you, for the sake of the sector, alternate it.”
Chrono Cause’s depiction of Earth is particular, and it does one thing that only a few RPGs set up to reach – it makes its environment a personality via its use of time shuttle. Over the process tens of millions of years, you get to: enjoy a international’s makeup bodily converting; spot similarities between continental shapes and the town places; see the place positive islands have fused in combination, damaged up, and even been totally wiped off of the map. The additional you get in the course of the recreation, the extra similarities you’ll spot.
Positive, it’s glaring while you examine 600 AD and 1000 AD. The Heart Ages and Provide Day most effective have an opening of 400 years to deal with, and plenty of places are in the very same puts. Truce, Guardia Wooded area, Porre, the Hero’s Grave, and a couple of different puts have slightly modified, or even the place islands have merged, their places fit. The Solar Shrine is found in each and every unmarried time frame. Even the Tyranno Lair’s reappearance within the Heart Ages (because the Large’s Claw), after tens of millions of years, hammers house the significance of the sector.
There are smaller main points in the entire maps, too. The mountain vary in the back of the Dactyl’s Nest in 65,000,000 BC stays all right through historical past, even though it adjustments. After all it might; rain, climate, or even human affect would erode the herbal constructions. The Ice Age by myself turns out to have created a extra jagged vary of mountains, in comparison to the luxurious inexperienced plateau of the nest tens of millions of years in the past.
Traditions have even survived Earth’s turbulent historical past, simply as in actual lifestyles. Ioka Village is house to a small competition the place the folk dance. Crono, upon visiting the village, is challenged to a soup-chugging contest by way of Ayla, the executive. That is in 65,000,000 BC. At first of the sport, in 1000 AD, Crono can participate in a prehistoric dancing recreation on the Millennial Honest. He too can imbibe in a ingesting contest – no longer as protected as soup-chugging, children, don’t check out that one at house.
Chrono Cause loves its international. And it loves its historical past. Nevertheless it recognizes historical past’s errors, too. The occasions of 12,000 BC and the cave in of Zeal greater than magnify that message. On account of Queen Zeal and the (aptly named) Mammon Device — as a result of she attempted to use Lavos — humanity’s innate talent to make use of magic was once misplaced to time.
There are people who need to right kind that mistake, like Melchior, one of the vital 3 Gurus and the architect in the back of the Mammon Device. He warned Queen Zeal of the hazards of the use of Lavos’ energy, however was once thrust ahead to 1000 AD. He needs to modify ‘historical past’ – Antiquity’s long term, the Provide Day’s previous, and the apocalyptic long term of 2300 AD.
Even Chrono Cause units limits to what you’ll be able to and will’t have an effect on, even though. You’ll be able to damage Lavos on the Ocean Palace in 12,000 BC – most likely no longer till a 2d playthrough, thoughts you. However doing that doesn’t alternate the long run, it simply thrusts you again to the Finish of Time the place Gaspar, any other of the 3 Gurus, is living, and lets you communicate to the workforce who labored at the recreation.
Chrono Cause loves its international. And it loves its historical past. Nevertheless it recognizes historical past’s errors, too.
Defeating Lavos earlier than killing the Black Tyranno doesn’t in reality alternate a lot but even so two issues: Lavos is useless, clearly; and, oh, everyone seems to be a reptite now and without end – they by no means died out on this timeline. Differently, the entirety’s in large part the similar. In any other finishing, in the event you defeat Lavos whilst Crono is useless, then sooner or later Gaspar will interfere within the celebrations and demand that there’s nonetheless a strategy to revive Crono. There are lots of excellent and dangerous constants in all of those timelines, issues that the celebration doesn’t have the facility to modify.
Nevertheless it’s additionally no longer honest to name catastrophic occasions just like the summoning of Lavos in 12,000 BC, or Magus’ try to summon the creature once more in 600 AD, a blip within the timeline, as a result of the struggling the ones occasions inflict. Historical past will also be painful, and issues that occur up to now ripple. We really feel the after-effects of occasions from over 100 years in the past; they wound folks, bodily and mentally, and will modify paths. All we will do is endure the sins of the previous and do one thing with that data, to modify the long run.
Regardless of the entirety, in spite of how bleak issues are, there are issues value combating for
It’s that undercurrent of historical past’s weight and the facility of alternate that makes storylines like Fiona’s resonate so strongly. Regardless of most effective being a sidequest, how vital it’s to modify the ‘little’ issues has caught with me, too. Restoring a wooded area may look like not anything within the grand scheme, however to Fiona, it’s the entirety. And to you, who has observed firsthand what occurs, you wish to have to present that one particular person a spark of hope. You must return, persuade any individual to plant a seed, defeat the monsters within the Sunken Wasteland, then have Robo keep and water and maintain the wooded area.
Within the provide day, you’ll be able to see the end result of your labour at Fiona’s Wooded area, a good looking, lush forest which is house to the sport’s undying campfire scene, and is an instance of Crono, Robo, and the others giving again. It’s a small, certain alternate, and a beacon of hope. If we will do that one little factor, most likely we will make a distinction. As a result of we adore this international, and we will make the ones ripples extra stunning, extra certain. We can alternate the long run.
Chrono Cause’s international is what units it except for virtually each and every different RPG. It’s small, however we change into in detail accustomed to it. Regardless of the entirety, in spite of how bleak issues are, there are issues value combating for: a greater long term.
But even within the face of the apocalypse, Chrono Cause can find time for a funny story or two. It stands as a beacon of sunshine towards tyranny and evil, and its message resonates now greater than ever earlier than. As a substitute of “The long run refused to modify”, imagine the phrases of a random nun within the Heart Ages:
“In our international, each and every hurricane has an finish. Each and every night time has a brand new morning. What is vital is to consider the ones you’re keen on, and not surrender. We will have to all stay hope alive…”
