Chrono Trigger - Pre-History — The Games Journals

Crono has a gate key with access to pre-history. Since the Dreamstone is extinct in our time, we can always go back and find some in the past. Again, if we take some from the past, will it disappear from the future? Will it be leeched out of a weapon it is a part of? In my discussion on Reddit someone pointed out the time follows Avengers rules and not Back to the Future rules. Which is true for the most part, except for the instance in the beginning where Marle started disappearing when Leene was not rescued. In the later events, time does seem to follow Avengers rules and splits into a new stream whenever a new decision is made in the past. Time travel stories are always confusing to write because of these rules.

I had already travelled to pre-history on accident before. When the team comes back here, they are ambushed by raptor looking creatures right away. These fiends overrun our heroes. When all seems lost, a woman with cat-like reflexes pounces on these green fiends to decimate them. Once this woman shows up, the fiends run with their tails between their legs. There are cutscenes here I have never seen before. I think they were added for the Playstation release. That version is notoriously bad with long load times, so I never took the time to play it. Every time I have played Chrono Trigger, it has been the SNES version. These scenes look flashy, but I don’t know if they add much to the game. It is quite jarring to see the anime like videos spliced between sprites. Even more so when the sprite scenes are the repeats of anime scenes.

This amazing fighter is Ayla, and she is impressed with Crono’s fighting prowess. The girls complain about her public display of affection towards Crono but blush when they are on the receiving end. Ayla introduces herself followed by a declaration of undying hared for these reptites, and their leader Azala. They seem to be smarter than the humans and a constant challenge to their survival. Ayala would like nothing more than finding Azala and putting an end to his reign of terror. Since no one knows where he hides, there is nothing to do for now. Instead, Ayala invites the party for a feast in Ioka village.

During the feast, Ayla shows her new friends a big red stone she carries. This is the Dreamstone we came here looking for! Only the leader can have it, and the only way for Crono to get it is to defeat Ayla in a contest of her choosing. She decides to compete in a drinking game. Ayla is good but Crono is better at holding his liquor. He wins the stone fair and square.

**The Dancing Minigame Buttons have the Original SNES Controller Colors!**

This feast is a mirror event to the Fair that starts the game off. There are parallel instances in both sequences. Crono participates in a drinking game at the fair and competes in one against Ayla here. He meets a new girl and dances with her here just the way he did with Marle in the present. The fair itself celebrates the victory of Guardian empire over the fiendish army. This feast is a celebration of surviving one more reptite attack. It isn’t a long leap to assume reptites are ancestors of fiends just as dwellers of Ioka village are ancestors of Crono and his friends. These two feasts symbolize that fundamentally human nature stays the same. In the end, all we want to do is sing, dance, and help each other. Approaching the end of a terrible year, this optimistic approach to human condition is refreshing.

As the night grows long, the drink takes its toll. Soon everyone is asleep. When Crono wakes up, he finds the gate key is missing. There are reptite footprints all over the campground. Our heroes are in a state of panic. Without the gate key, they will be stuck here. Crono rushes over to Ayla’s hut and wakes her up. She is a little hung over from the night of drinking, but she agrees to help right away.

Following the trail of reptites takes the party to the maze-like jungle at the center of the map. Here they meet Kino, who in a fit of jealousy, stole everything from Crono’s party while they were sleeping. He was angry Ayla praised Crono and wanted to teach him a lesson. Because he is so useless, he not only did not beat Crono, but also lost all of his things to the reptites. Ayla slaps him first (which is reasonable) and then tell him that she only loves him and not Crono (eh I don’t know about that). Since he is a complete waste of space, Ayla tells Kino to go back home and wait for the big boys and girls to clean up his mess.

In another one of the instances of glimpses into darkness that are all too common in Chrono Trigger, Ayla comments on her situation. She is the leader of her tribe and the strongest fighter they have. But if she were to get pregnant then she would be too vulnerable to lead her tribe. Kino will become the leader even though he is clearly not ready for it and put the whole tribe’s survival in jeopardy. Her sacrifice is to not have a family until Kino becomes somewhat useful. Neither Ayla nor the game dwells on this for too long and we are on our way to find the reptite lair.

Through the jungle, Crono finds the hole that leads to the lair deep underground. Fearlessly, our heroes jump in. Fighting their way through they keep going down, until they find Azala. From his speech we can tell right away he is much smarter than the humans of this time. He is also dressed in actual clothes as opposed to the rags Ayla and her crew wears. Before Crono got there, Azala has been trying to figure out what the gate key does. From his speech, it is clear he considers himself a superior being compared to the humans, and he cannot stand the fact humans have come up with technology he does not understand. He keeps calling Ayla and Crono apes. Which is not racist (I think) but really feels like it is. He demands to know how the key works. Crono can tell him or not, but I chose not to give any information to him because screw him.

**If Azala Was Here Today He Would Have Been a Q-Anon Supporter**

In his fit of rage, Azala calls in a monster to take care of the “dirty apes”. He is angry but he is not stupid enough to fight us on his own. This monster is named Nizbel and he put up a fight I barely survived. I started by casting haste on Marle so she could heal the party a little faster. Then I used Crono to keep hitting Nizbel with lightning. Not because it did any appreciable damage, but to lower his defense to physical attacks. This is when Ayala pounded him. Nizbel’s own magic did some serious damage to the party, so party heal with Aura Whirl took priority over damage.

The one thing I have learned while playing Persona is to not hoard items. I had no qualms about using ether to restore Crono’s MP. It is easier and more efficient than grinding until I am high enough a level to not use the items. After a long battle that we survive by the skin of our teeth, Nizbel is no more. Azala is shocked his pet monster is beaten, but still has enough sense to run away. He drops the key in his hurry to get out of here. Ayla is frustrated he got away but happy Crono got his key back. And Nizbel is dead. We will never ever have to fight him again. Right?

The party is headed back home, while Ayla stays back to lead her tribe against Azala, who is probably plotting something after his recent defeat. Kino vows to become stronger and not be jealous of Crono. Maybe just become a better person instead of becoming stronger Kino. It will help you more in the long run. But we can not sit here and help Kino not be garbage. We have a sword to mend.

12-02-2020

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