There's a lot to love about Chrono Cross, whether you play it as a sequel to the wonderful Chrono Trigger or entirely for its standalone merits. The adventures of Serge, Kid, and their large list of friends were recently remastered courtesy of The Radical Dreamers Edition, courting new fans and inviting plenty of diehards to get lost in Another World anew.
It's through this higher-resolution magnifying glass that the JRPG's best aspects shine through — as well as several unanswered questions concerning both the characters and the overarching Chrono series narrative. Let's explore these lingering mysteries, one by one, as we live in blind optimism that surely one day we'll have our answers.
5 What Happened to Guardia?
It's easy to pin this first one as a query that's fit for Chrono Trigger rather than Chrono Cross, though in truth, the question directly affects the events of Cross as well. The Kingdom of Guardia, a powerful and benevolent power back on the mainland continents, not only ruled justly during Chrono Trigger's present-day 1000 AD time but also becomes the united home of Queen Marle and hero Crono.
With Guardia's fall, the nation of Porre is able to usurp regional power, gaining enough momentum to directly threaten even the distant El Nido Archipelago in Chrono Cross. There are enough hints scattered throughout the Chrono brand to reasonably assume it was disposed secondary villain Dalton from Trigger who traveled through time to (ahem) trigger Guardia's downfall, but how did he manage to catch Crono and friends so utterly off-guard that tragedy could strike so hard? What exactly went down?
4 Why is Kid Married to Serge?
During the extended ending sequence, Chrono Cross pulls a(nother) strange one on us by featuring, at one point, a photograph of Kid and Serge, clearly getting married. Kid's wedding dress, Serge's own formal attire, the rather Daguerrotype vibe, it all feels so meaningfully romantic.
But is Kid an extension of Schala? Clearly, she must exist separately on some level; events throughout Chrono Cross bolster that. But can she truly separate herself so thoroughly that she gets to settle down with Serge, whom Schala herself (?) vowed to one day reunite with? There are so many questions within questions packed into this lovely little portrait. Perhaps it's best to take it at face value and just assume something nice eventually happened.
3 Who Remembers the Story?
During Chrono Cross' closing moments, Schala also tells Serge that his memories will be erased. On the surface, this seems rather cruel; after all, hasn't Serge grown as a person from playing a central role in such colossal events? Then again, the way he appears to be muttering certain plot-pivotal details upon his final conversation with Leena, fans have fairly hypothesized that it's not so much that Schala pulls a proverbial "Control-Alt-Delete" on Serge's memories so much as she locks the finer aspects away and lets him maintain the more generalized growth he's experienced.
Okay, so that's already its own little cabal's worth of enigma, but what about everybody else? It surely feels like the idea is that all of Serge's travel companions (with exceptions to Kid and Harle, for obvious reasons) return to their former lives blissfully unaware, and having benefited (one would assume) from various deviations that alter their fates.
But the party members you bring with you into the Darkness Beyond Time eagerly gab about what they intend to do with their futures, and why would this be written except to say that they possess some measure of self-actualization? Does Schala dutifully consider each character's desires? Or is the whole thing a bit exaggerated, and aspects (or more) of the cast's journey are retained in their minds going forward?
2 Does Magus Ever Save Schala?
Up until recently, this question would have little place in any Chrono Cross analysis piece. Things have changed, and in rather exciting ways, as of 2022. That's because while it's commonly known that the character of Guile in Chrono Cross was originally going to be Chrono Trigger's Magus during his ongoing bid to find his sister, Schala, the creators ostensibly nixed the idea before Cross' launch as it was simply too much to tack on.
But courtesy of The Radical Dreamers Edition, fans can now experience an additional and altogether fascinating sequence once they've completed both Chrono Cross and the series' visual novel, The Radical Dreamers. It's all text-based, but that hardly removes the excitement factor. As it turns out, it's been decided that Guile is Magus after all, solidifying what Chrono Trigger's 2008 DS port laid the groundwork for and putting to rest an on-again, off-again debate once and for all.
Which begs the question, then — with his memories returned, will Magus reunite with Schala for good and all? Truth be told, armed with this knowledge, we couldn't help but bring Guile along for the final battle against the Time Devourer. Is that akin to rubbing salt in a wound?
1 Will We Ever Get Chrono Break?
Our last query is all-inclusive. It's the big lack of punctuation mark at the end of the Chrono duology. A third game, Chrono Break, was in pre-development shortly after the launch of Chrono Cross but it was canceled early on and never saw the light of day.
This kind of thing happens all the time in the entertainment industry, and at least we can be thankful that Cross did not conclude on a full-blown narrative cliffhanger. But there is so much more that could be told, from Guardia's fate to Magus' and Schala's, and so much room for entirely new story threads. Masato Kato's brilliant character-writing in Chrono Cross only furthers the sorrow that fans have felt for decades; we know the team would have done a great job making us care about the lives of potentially dozens of new denizens whilst delivering further adventures for returning faces.
As ever, the odds for Chrono Break remain slim. But perhaps Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition will have lit a spark we'll only hear about years down the line, and that fabled third tale can at last be told.