Chrono Trigger is now on Steam, and it does not look good

YouTube

The good news: Chrono Trigger, the much-loved Square RPG released for the SNES in 1995, is now available on Steam. The "definitive version" of the game features updated controls, graphics and audio, and the Dimensional Vortex and Lost Sanctum dungeons that were added in 2008 for the Nintendo DS release. Steam-specific features including achievements, trading cards, and Steam Cloud saving are also supported.

The bad news: It does not look good.

There are a few issues with the Steam release that have inspired complaints. It's a port (and apparently not a very good one) of the mobile game, which saddles it with wonky, tile-based controls—remnants of the touchscreen interface—and a font that doesn't quite inspire nostalgic fervor. Perhaps most offensive of all, there appears to be a pixel smoothing filter piled on top of it, making everything look disconcertingly slushy—and there's no option to turn it off.

And despite Square Enix offering a "free upgrade" to the Limited Edition of the game (with six wallpapers, a medley of five songs from the soundtrack, and "digital liner notes" from composer Yasunori Mitsuda) for everyone who purchases prior to April 2, Steam users are not happy with it. Currently, 23 out of 30 user reviews are (very firmly) negative.

There are other small issues plaguing the game—controls can't be remapped, for instance, and while Square Enix said that it supports 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x960, 1280x720, 1360x768, 1600x900, or 1920x1080, it's actually locked to the resolution of your display. Even if this is your first foray into Chrono Trigger and you're not coming into it with any "Good Old Days" expectations, that kind of thing is just cheap.

And in case you were wondering, no, you didn't miss anything: Chrono Trigger arrived on Steam without any prior announcement. I wonder why.

We snagged a couple screens of our own so you can see for yourself what the complaints are all about. More information about the game can be had in this FAQ.

TOPICS

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.