Suikoden IV = Chrono Cross?

[liquidstar]

Yeah, I looked around and wasn't sure where to put this. So I'm sorry if this is the wrong place!

Anyway, I'm more of a Square-Enix fan, but I just beat Suikoden IV, my first Suikoden game and well... eerie similarities to Chrono Cross.

1. The Setting.
Both Suikoden IV and Chrono Cross are set in bigger worlds, but they focus on one small area full of island countries. You have to use a ship to get around both games, and many of the characters wear costumes that coincide with the beach areas they're from.

2. The Hero.
Although in Chrono Cross the hero has a name (Serge), neither talk. I know this is common in many RPGS, as it's supposed to get you to connect with the main character (although I'd much rather have a hero with a personality.) But both Hero and Serge have those huge, creepy blue eyes and they just STARE at the screen in the most dramatic of moments, and it just makes me want to giggle because they're so cute!

3. Runes/Elements.
Suikoden IV has runes, and Chrono Cross has elements. The magic system is very similar, actually. You get a certain amount of spells for each level.

4. The Ghost Ship.
Both games had one! Suikoden IV had a much scarier one, though. The ghost ship on Chrono Cross was pretty lame. Plus, Suikoden IV's ship had Ted.

5. The Crapload of Characters.
I'm aware that this is the case in all Suikoden games, but Chrono Cross had it too, which is a first for a Square-Enix game as far as I can remember. And like Suikoden, once you get all the characters, you get a special ending. Oh yeah, and they both have Newgame +.

6. Dario.
I think we can all agree that the Dario in Chrono Cross was just a tiny bit more badass. And a lot more tragic.

7. Connections to Other Games.
Suikoden IV has a few characters that show up in the earlier games, because it's set only 150 years before the first game. Chrono Cross is set a number of years after Chrono Trigger, and it also has a few of the same characters. Both games tie to their predecessors, and are sequels only for the diehard fan. A lot of Chrono Trigger fans were disappointed with Chrono Cross because it didn't have much to do with CT, but if you really look you can catch a few place names, etc. Suikoden IV mentions a few places too.

Okay, I'm sure there's more but I can't think right now. I'm tired. Just felt like sharing. ^_^

[Oppenheimer]

Ug, I hate Chrono Cross with a blinding passion. Mostly because I love Chrono Trigger so much (it's my all time favourite game) and this sequel didn't even remotely live up to it.

There are some similarities between the two, but I'm not convinced they aren't just because both are RPGs. But your right both did have a whole truck load of unnecessary underdeveloped characters.

[Yuber_luv]

Chrono Cross was one of the first RPG's I was exposed to, and at the time, it was one of the coolest games in the world to me. But now that I'm a more seasoned RPG player, I realized how much it could improve. Liquidstar, you have a good eye for details.

[Raftrider]

Sure! I agree with you! Why? Both of the games sucked.

[Anamanaguchi]

Why are you comparing these two? This is one of the worst comparison's I've seen.

Ug, I hate Chrono Cross with a blinding passion. Mostly because I love Chrono Trigger so much (it's my all time favourite game) and this sequel didn't even remotely live up to it.

Every Chrono Trigger fan that played it back in it's day seems to loathe Chrono Cross, I liked it. I admit it wasn't a great sequel at all, but it was a good game overall. BEAUTIFUL soundtrack. It's still the greatest soundtrack of all time today, to me.

[Oppenheimer]

I don't remember Chrono Cross's soundtrack, but I have a vague feeling I may have liked it.

I always liked Suikoden I & IIs soundtrack, although I thought 3&4 were less impressive.

But a recent game that had a really good soundtrack (although was atrocious in all other ways) was Unlimited SaGa.

[Rune]

Another similarity is that a majority of both games casts were almost completely undeveloped .

I like CC much more, but those are some interesting similarities. Kinda funny games to compare.

[Hash]

Chrono Cross has the most complex/messy story ever. I'm confident that even the writer wouldn't be able to answer the truckload of questions and plotholes left in CC.

More on topic, I really have a similar feeling from both games... SIV and CC. It's funny too how in CC my favorite characters were Serge and Steena, who look like my favorite pair in SIV: Hero and Jeane.
But, CC battle system beats the crap outta the whole Suikoden series. Even better than any FF. It was a thrill to no be able to overlevel, and many strategies were available. One of my favorite battle systems.

[Ramses]

Suikoden IV is a good game though, without ear killing music (Besides the Intro Scene Score) ! Skies of Arcadia is a much better Suiko want to be than CC.

[Mymiridion]

well we can all admit both games share that if you compare them with the ones before, they didnt come close to what they were. Chrono Cross to me was a great game, but i feel as tho they rushed so much coming to the end were as if they kept it out longer and worked with it then put it in stores it could have been amazing. Sorry to say im a huge Suiko fan, I even liked Suikoden 3 when alot of others didnt. But Suikoden 4, just really had me stuggling to get through, every once in a while when you would get new characters it would be exciting, but id have to say the whole similarity post is pointless.

[Ranarldo]

Dealing with Crono Cross, the main reason really nothing made sense is because Crono Cross was the third installment of the series and we never saw the 2nd. There are alot of conections to Crono Cross and the second installment and the game makes more sense.

[TrueBlood]

How dare any of you even think of comparing Skies of Arcadia to Suikoden 4!!!!!!!!!!

Not that Suikoden 4 was bad or anything…

[Kirkis]

Suikoden IV should just be sold with Tactics, because Tactics' plot line makes Suikoden IV like 100 times better.

As for this whole Chrono Cross thing... I dunno... that's like saying Suikoden IV is like Wind Waker... it's just too out there, and the details aren't overly amazing, y'know? A lot of RPGs have a ton of stuff in common, it's very hard to find a unique idea... I mean, name one RPG where there isn't a ghost ship of some kind, where you aren't put in jail and have to break out, or a bad guy turns out to be a good guy later on.

Anyhow... as for Chrono Cross being horrid, etc. I blame it on copyright problems, there was some sort of property license issues with Akira Toriyama which prevented them from using any of the old character designs, which is why Ozzie, Flea, & Slash all look different from their originals, and why the only returning characters were never in their original form... and why they had to beat around the bush with Glenn & umm... whoever the wannabe Janus/Magus guy was... I forgot his name but technically speaking he WAS Magus. There may have been issues with Nintendo related stuff aswell, but I'm not entirely sure.

Anyhow, long story short... the game was really just a shadow of what it could have been if Square didn't break off from Nintendo or caused problems with Toriyama (I'm not positive on this but I remember reading about this a lot on the Chrono forums).

[DeathChaser]

Suikoden Intro track was awsome and i loved the violin part where Chris was in the wheat field ......and the animated part was awsome i wish they can make a anime about suikoden 3 ! not stupid ass manga !! wtf ! anime of any suikodens except 4 tho that one sucked bad .but yeah suikoden anime why wouldnt they make it !!!! the same industry that published the game for play stations should make and publish dvd versions of anime series !!!

[Kirkis]

Man, I'm totally confused by your rant or how it pertains to this topic really... but... an anime version of Suikoden, well it may be cool, probably wouldn't happen since Konami hasn't even treaded into Anime territory as far as I know, but they definitely sponsor it and stuff, and I think they made the Prince of Tennis games...

Anyhow... long story short, it may happen in the distant future, but they're not money grubbers like Square Enix is, making movies and other such things.