May 17, 2018

Square Enix makes further improvements to its disappointing Chrono Trigger PC port

CHRONO TRIGGER®

Square Enix has released another update for its disappointing Chrono Trigger PC port, further improving the user interface, overhauling player sprites on the world map, and more - all intended to bring the game more closely in-line with the beloved SNES original.

When Chrono Trigger surprise-launched on Steam back in February, fans were elated - for a few moments, at least. It soon transpired that Chrono Trigger for PC was plagued with issues - including poor performance, an unwieldy interface, and blurry up-scaled sprite art - largely all inherited from the mobile port it was based on.

After widespread criticism, Square announced its intention to address the issues that fans of the classic J-RPG had raised - and has already released one update, adding original-style sprites, a UI overhaul, improved controller and keyboard support, and more.

May 17, 2018

Chrono Trigger s PC port improves, one step at a time

CHRONO TRIGGER® - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Dominic Tarason)

Chrono Trigger

I don’t think it’s unfair to say that when Super Nintendo classic JRPG Chrono Trigger first hit PC back in February, the quality of the port could be summed up as ‘hot garbage’, with blurry sprites, a clumsy interface and even using Windows default system text in places. The iconic opening screen of the game – a clock pendulum swinging – was even undermined by being completely out of sync with the audio.

Fortunately, Square Enix have made genuine efforts to improve things, with the previous patch cleaning up the blurry, overly-filtered sprites and yesterday’s update making significant improvements to the combat UI, with more improvements due in June.

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May 17, 2018

Chrono Trigger patch brings back old-school battle UI and character design

CHRONO TRIGGER®

Chrono Trigger's PC port was a disaster. Fiddly controls, a weird smoothing filter and a locked resolution disappointed fans, prompting modders to embark on a quest to fix it. Square Enix is doing its part too, with a patch last month that brought the graphics in line with the original, and yesterday it released a second patch that adds new options for both the battle UI and character models.

The new UI is "based on the look and feel of the original Chrono Trigger", and you'll be able to switch to it in the settings menu. It's designed to be used with either a keyboard or a controller—you can pause the game during battle by tapping the space bar or the start button on your control pad. The UI that shipped with the port, which is still available, is meant to be used with a mouse or a touchpad.

The update also adjusts the appearance of playable characters on the world map to bring them "more in-line" with the SNES original. The resolution and display area in cut scenes has been tweaked, and the game should no longer randomly slow down during certain sequences.

Another patch is due in early June that will change the UI outside of battle, Square Enix said. You can read the full patch notes here. What do you think of the new battle UI?

May 16, 2018

CHRONO TRIGGER – Patch #2 Update

CHRONO TRIGGER® - sunilg

Hey everyone,
Thank you for all of the positive messages you’ve sent us since we announced the fixes we’re making to CHRONO TRIGGER on Steam, and again since the first patch was released. Today we’re releasing the second update patch for CHRONO TRIGGER, and here’s a list of what’s being changed:

A new battle user interface (UI) has been added based on the look and feel of the original CHRONO TRIGGER.
An option has been added to select between the UI optimised for controller/keyboard mentioned above, and the current UI optimised for mouse & touch panels. This option appears in “settings” in the main menu.
The game can now be paused during battle by using the pause button on controller, or the Space bar on the keyboard.
Adjusted the look of playable characters on the world map to be more in-line with the original version of CHRONO TRIGGER.
The resolution of animated cut-scenes has been improved.
The display area of animated cut-scenes has been increased.
Fixed instances where the game slowed down during certain scenes.
The Korean font has been updated.
Other small bugs are fixed.

Here are some screenshots of the new controller/keyboard battle UI in action!

Finally, we’re aiming to release another update to CHRONO TRIGGER in early June this year which will continue to tweak the UI outside of battle, please keep your eyes on the CHRONO TRIGGER Steam page for more details.

Thanks again from everyone on the CHRONO TRIGGER team for all of your support.

Apr 10, 2018

Square Enix adds "original style" visuals to lambasted Chrono Trigger PC port

CHRONO TRIGGER®

Square Enix has released the first of several planned updates for its poorly received Chrono Trigger PC port, this one adding "original style" visuals to the game.

When Chrono Trigger launched on Steam back in February, purchasers quickly uncovered a number of disappointing issues, including an intrusive pseudo-touch interface, stuttering, and blurry uprezzed visuals - which Square referred to as "high-resolution graphics" when it pledged to improve the lambasted PC port earlier this month.

According to new patch notes posted to Steam, Square Enix's first Chrono Trigger update adds the option to switch to a new 'Original' visual mode which, it says, "is more in-line with the original style" of the beloved Super Nintendo J-RPG.

Apr 10, 2018

Chrono Trigger s first patch is a step in the right direction

CHRONO TRIGGER® - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Dominic Tarason)

Chrono Trigger, today

Even after peeling away the shell of nostalgia, Chrono Trigger is a truly classic JRPG, so it’s understandable that people were a bit miffed when the recent PC release of the game was a messy port of the Android edition of the game with no shortage of technical issues. Today, it received its first major patch, which goes a long way to getting the game back on track. (more…)

Apr 10, 2018

Chrono Trigger's first patch brings back 'Original' graphics

CHRONO TRIGGER®

Mid-90s RPG classic Chrono Trigger debuted on Steam in February, but the decision to apply a pixel smoothing filter, and the visual mushiness that resulted, left a lot of fans unhappy. Square Enix moved to address that dissatisfaction today with a patch that enables visual improvements including an "Original" graphics options, and also dropped a couple of before-and-after screens demonstrating the difference.

The updated visuals may not be an exact replica of the old-school Chrono Trigger graphics, as the patch notes state only that it brings them "more in-line with the original style," but it definitely looks more like it should. The patch also sets the "Original" graphics mode as the default, updates the font for "a more classic look," corrects various problems with in-game text, and fixes the way the word "Trigger" appears on the title screen—apparently it was somehow a problem. The animated startup sequence has also been adjusted to be more like that of the original game.

A couple of before-and-after screens illustrate the difference:

More changes to make the interface more PC-friendly are planned for future updates, and Square Enix is also extending the availability of the Chrono Trigger Limited Edition on Steam, which includes wallpapers, game music, and "digital liner notes" by computer Yasunori Mitsuda. It was supposed to disappear on April 2 but will remain up for purchase until April 30.

Apr 10, 2018

CHRONO TRIGGER – Patch #1 Update

CHRONO TRIGGER® - sunilg

Hi everyone,

First of all we’d like to share with you what this patch adjusts in CHRONO TRIGGER on Steam:

Character sprites and background graphics adjusted to be more in-line with the original style of CHRONO TRIGGER. This can be selected from the menu as “Original” graphics, and is the new default selection.
The font has been updated to give the game a more classic look.
Text which did not match the game experience on PC has been revised, and a large number of other text issues have been corrected.
Fixed the way the word “TRIGGER” is displayed as it floats in on the title screen.
Adjusted the order of the demo video and animated opening sequence from the title screen to be more in-line with previous versions of the game.
The background gradient of each text window has been adjusted to make it darker towards the bottom.

Here are some sample screenshots to give you an idea of how the game will look after you’ve installed the patch and selected the relevant options.

Secondly, we’re working on adjusting the UI in CHRONO TRIGGER on Steam and are aiming to introduce these changes in future updates. Here are some of the changes which will be introduced in future patches.

The UI will be adjusted to optimize PC play (using either a controller or keyboard)
An option will be added to select between a UI optimised for controller/keyboard and one optimised for mouse/tablets.

We’re working as quickly as we can as many of the features you’ve been requesting to CHRONO TRIGGER on Steam and we will post another update here as soon as possible.

Thanks again from everyone on the CHRONO TRIGGER team for all of your support.

Apr 10, 2018

CHRONO TRIGGER – Patch #1 Update

CHRONO TRIGGER® - sunilg

Hi everyone,
First of all we’d like to share with you what this patch will adjust in CHRONO TRIGGER on Steam:

Character sprites and background graphics adjusted to be more in-line with the original style of CHRONO TRIGGER. This can be selected from the menu as “Original” graphics, and is the new default selection.
The font has been updated to give the game a more classic look.
Text which did not match the game experience on PC has been revised, and a large number of other text issues have been corrected.
Fixed the way the word “TRIGGER” is displayed as it floats in on the title screen.
Adjusted the order of the demo video and animated opening sequence from the title screen to be more in-line with previous versions of the game.
The background gradient of each text window has been adjusted to make it darker towards the bottom.

Here are some sample screenshots to give you an idea of how the game will look after you’ve installed the patch and selected the relevant options.

The UI will be adjusted to optimize PC play (using either a controller or keyboard)
An option will be added to select between a UI optimised for controller/keyboard and one optimised for mouse/tablets.

Apr 3, 2018

Square Enix will start fixing its disappointing Chrono Trigger PC port soon

CHRONO TRIGGER®

Square Enix has announced that it will release the first of several updates for its widely lambasted Chrono Trigger PC port later this month, in a bid to address fan concerns.

There was much delight when Square surprise-launched a port of the beloved SNES J-RPG onto Steam in February. Delight turned to dismay, however, once people actually got to experience the PC version for themselves.

Chrono Trigger's PC outing transpired to be a rather wonky port of the recent mobile edition for iOS and Android, which, in turn, was a port of the DS port of the SNES original. Steam users soon discovered numerous issues with the PC version, including an intrusive pseudo-touch interface, stuttering, and no option to remove the ugly sprite-softening filters.