Part 57: Ending: The Dream Project
Full Ending Video Last time, on JERK:
Screw that. I'm changing the future.
There are two ways to get this ending. The first is to beat the game as soon as possible, using the right Telepod at the Millenial Fair during a New Game Plus. This means using only Crono and Marle, which is more than doable.
The second is to beat Lavos in the 12,000BC Undersea Palace incident.
You're supposed to lose here. Lavos is significantly more aggressive and powerful and has three times the HP in this specific battle.
That said, if you've got the tactics down, you can beat this, albeit you'll probably need the gear from New Game + to pull it off. Hell, Quovak did it in a low level run.
And if all else fails, levels don't hurt. Did you know that at L99, Ayla's attacks do an automatic 9999 damage when they crit?
drunk has proven herself.
So what if JERK had the power to back up that hubris? What if Crono entered the wrong Telepod in the game and accidentally slew the world-ending parasite without actually triggering the events that happened within this game?
The Brink of Time 
We're back at the End of Time, but...
Welcome to the Developer's Room. Square did this with Final Fantasy IV, albeit in a hidden room in the Dwarf Castle rather than as being the hardest-to-achieve ending.
We'll be chatting up everyone who worked on the game. If you've seen a developer's room before, you know how this is gonna go.
Well...
I'm not as much a baseball guy, but I gotta imagine two World Series appearances in a row is pretty good.
The sports references were added by Woolsey, of course.
There's actually 12 total, though the game doesn't officially count The Apocalypse (i.e. losing to Lavos) for whatever reason. And of course that doesn't include the extra ending added in the DS version, which is probably for the best.
But yeah, I got them all now.
I'm done now, let it burn.
These portals lead to different areas with more developers. But first...
Apparently this person designed that tech.
You wear it well.
This must be the person who wrote Magus.
We're going to start on the bottom pillar and work counter-clockwise.
Corridors of Time 
There's a critter running right to left, and a shining item.
There's always Hoshino Break.
Uh, thanks!
As for the spark...
Nomura's game design process.
Confusing Melody 
Next up is this gloomy room.
OK?
You're right, I bet I can't, because I doubt I could spend more than two minutes playing that garbage.
This game really pushed the SNES to its limits, and it shows in the details in these sprites.
Yes:
No:
Next time I go on a diet I guess I'll try game development.
Zeal Palace 
Next room.
But I've already got the next Let's Play lined up and everything...!
...OK, fine.
Battle Programmer. It's good work you did! Could've used a tad more difficulty, but otherwise the battles were well done!
In the Japanese, he speaks of a future era where he discusses part 128 of the Chrono Trigger series. Buddy, by 2300AD I doubt we'll even be at part 128 of the Final Fantasy series.
Works for me!
Trust me, I have. And I still am!
It sure is!
That's me but every day.
Primitive Mountain 
Fourth room.
Tell me about it, I've been doing this thing for nearly six months!
Thanks, I felt I did a good job with this whole thing.
I'll forgive it this time...
It's amazing how far memory will get ya. Those 32MB definitely paid off here, though.
Talking about the second skull room where none of the switches actually activate the skull, a bit of cleverness to keep the player on their toes.
uh, next room time!
Delightful Spekkio 
An inn-ish room.
No, you're staying within this game forever. Sorry.
I don't blame you. Mitsuda was the guy who did most of the music, developing stress to the point where he got sick and Uematsu had to jump in and finish the soundtrack. Mitsuda did an utterly fantastic job, though.
Give yourself some credit, your dialogue probably takes up several bytes!
Uh, pass.
It sure was!
Didn't I say that already
Trust me, I'm done looking for anything.
Rhythm of Wind, Sky, and Earth 
Next room is an Ioka Hut.
Can and did.
I can't read this without thinking of Party Down.
Trust me, I'm done with my fighting days. At least until the next game.
Gotta admit, JERK does quite the convincing Crono cosplay. Though of course everyone's showing up as Ayla this year.
Sealed Door 
Next up, a future room.
Joke's on you, now that the 24 hours have passed you have to delete it.
Never love parachutes. They only let you down.
In the Japanese version, they claimed to make the ROM from recycled paper. Which...I guess you could write all the hex that way?
Sadly Patreon did not yet exist in 1995.
Ah, the stress of game development.
Uh,
Our answer doesn't matter. Just like in real life.
Prison Tower 
The final room is a dungeon.
Eh, FF4 is not that tough. Just always cast Slow.
Likewise, FF2 is all about learning that Evasion is the god stat.
Uh, I'll leave you be then.
I've got a bone to pick with you.
For some reason, these guys will fight you, probably because they're deviants.
They should be no issue, though.
At any rate, we're almost done with this ending, and thus this entire Let's Play.
Fanfare 1 
So as we pay our respects for the bigwigs responsible for making this masterpiece, I'm going to likewise pay my respects to everyone who read and followed along with this Let's Play.
Thanks as always to everyone who contributed toward this Let's Play, whether it's fan art, obscure information, various remixes, or whatever else! If you're reading this from the LP Archive, consider reading the thread as well!
This will be the thirteenth Let's Play I've finished in nearly 7.5 years of doing these, and I've already put a lot of hard prep work into the next one. You'd figure I'd slow down with these by now, but I just love doing them too much!
I want to give a massive shout-out to Kwhazit's site, which I was originally going to use just for the translation differences, but the tech damage formulas ended up being invaluable as well! This was my main source constantly throughout the Let's Play, and I encourage giving it a read to catch things I didn't mention. Hell, there's a few things just from this update I left out!
As for Chrono Trigger, well, what else needs to be said? This game still stands out as among the greatest jRPGs ever made for damn good reason. It pretty much excelled in everything it set out to do, and everything from the presentation to the story to the characters strike a fantastic balance to appeal to a huge amount of people. It's a classic, and will likely always stand among the best games of its genre.
My biggest surprise was how often I posted an update, and several people would go, "Wow, I never knew that!" Over twenty years after its release, Chrono Trigger is still full of surprises, from its various endings to the different character interactions to the most minor of details. There's so much effort and love packed into this marvelous game, and I'm glad I could share it all with the rest of you!
And with that, thanks for reading!
Corridors of Time 