Chrono Trigger VS. Final Fantasy 6

[_Magus_]

Okay guys, here we go! I wanted to get y'all's opinion on this topic. Personally, Chrono Trigger is my favorite game ever, so you already know I'm gonna pick it as the better game, but I'm going to list some reasons why too. Please let me know your reasons, and we can have a fun discussion!

Both games have great music, but for me, CT's just fill me with nostalgia, while adding to a great, adventurous atmosphere. FF6's sound like that of a movie to me. Which is great, don't get me wrong, but I think CT's goes beyond the cinematic quality. It's in a league of its own. But some tracks of FF6 beat out CT. For example, while the battle themes of both are stellar, the obvious winner is Final Fantasy 6. I still find myself humming it all the time. Conversely, CT has a better world map theme when you visit 600 A.D. (Terra's theme is still great, but not as good)

So Chrono wins in the music department, at least for me.

Secondly is the story and the cast of characters. While it's true FF6 has an epic story and tons of great characters, I feel that CT's smaller cast and more concentrated storytelling caused me to become more attached to them. I cared about the story of each character in Chrono Trigger, whereas the only two people I really cared about in FF6 were Locke and Celes.
This is due to Chrono's story being smaller, but better told and more concentrated.

Again, Chrono wins.

Next up is the battle system. I must say, here Chrono wins by a long shot. True, both are deep, and FF6's may in fact be deeper, Chrono's is done so much better. The battles in CT don't go to a battle screen like in FF6. Instead, they take place on the same screen you explore the area in. This prevents the "disconnect" i feel between combat and world exploration in FF6. CT's is more immersive bc of this. Plus, like I said, it's deep in both. But in Chrono Trigger, it's also very simple and streamlined. This makes combat easy to learn, and less of a chore later on. Also, there are no random encounters. In Chrono Trigger, the battles are avoidable if you can figure how to do it. This is another gameplay element square added; the puzzle of skipping battles. And the random encounters in FF6 kill the immersion for me. I'll be walking along, minding my own business, trying to go explore somewhere, and then BOOM! I hit an unseen foe, there's a jarring transition to a battle screen, and then I have to fight them before continuing to explore again.

Here again, Chrono Trigger wins.

The one place I can safely say FF6 wins is in the graphics. FF6 looks miles better than CT. But, graphic schmaphics

Feel free to disagree, and let me know what y'all think!

 

[LasermasterA]

To be honest, I haven't played Final Fantasy 6 yet but I agree with the pros of Chrono Trigger. They make sense to me. Especially the combat, which I found much more interesting than the rest of the FF games.

Plus I loved the story of Chrono Trigger and the time travel and everything. Plus the DS version added the Dimensional Vortex and Eternal Sanctum! The only RPG I like more than CT is Golden Sun, which might not be better but it seriously is my favourite RPG of all time.

Guess I got to get started on Final Fantasy 6 soon so that I can give a true comparison.

 

[Minato]

For anyone that knows me, these two games are my first two JRPGs and have forever stayed as two of my favorite ones.

The pros in both games, the music. CT had excellent themes, Guardia Forest, Kingdom of Zeal, and more. FF6 had some of the best character themes, great world map songs, an awesome boss and final boss theme, etc. Great soundtracks from both of them. I'd say due to sheer number of songs, FF6 might have a slight edge for me.

Gameplay, I would say CT beats it easily. The way ATB is done along with dual and triple techs made things really fun. Also one of the games to help popularize non random encounters for JRPGs. FF6's gameplay is nice, but the unique aspect is loss towards endgame unfortunately compared to CT. Characters all had access to magic, so the main differences were weapons and techs. CT's one weakness is that the game is too easy though.

Gameplay scenario though, they're both even. CT had a nice short pace with high replay value with endings and NG+. FF6 made the game entirely open up after a certain point along with many sad touching moments.

Regarding characters, as much as I love CT, FF6 wins this one for me. Each character has a lot to their past, some of them intertwining with others. It's surprising that as many characters as this game has, each one has a lot of depth. Besides Gogo and Umaro, each backstory contributed a lot.

All in all, I really do like both games. I might have to say CT might be my favorite due to how well everything comes together. FF6 does a great job as well, but there's something different that I can't put my finger on.

 

[Lythium]

I like both a lot, but I don't see how I can objectively choose one over the other, haha. Especially because I consider them to be pretty different. Overall, CT is very scripted and plays it very "safe," while FF6 is wild and unpredictable, and it's hard to say which one is straight-up better.

Bottom line (for me): CT has a fun battle system, FF6 has better characters though.

 

[finalark]

I'm going to come out and say this, and I know that most people aren't going to agree, but Final Fantasy VI has dethroned FFVII as the most overrated game in the FF series IMO. It's not bad, it's actually pretty fantastic if my memory serves. But I hear more people singing VI's praises than any other game in the series these days.

Although in a pure quality-to-hype ratio FFIX is starting to climb up there, ironically. Never thought I'd say that ten years ago.

That being said, the lat time I did a full play through of either game was when I was eleven years old. So my opinion on those games is based entirely on nostalgia. Chrono Trigger gets my vote entirely on the grounds that it really did just stick with me more than FFVI did. Maybe VI is a better game, but I'm not sure I'll know that until I get a chance to play both games again with an adult perspective on them instead of my childhood mindset of "FINAL FANTASY IS THE COOLEST ****ING THING THE WORLD AND CHRONO TRIGGER'S CHARACTERS WERE DESIGNED BY THE DBZ GUY SO COOL."