The first festival of the stars.
We travelled back to 1000 A.D. to begin our first assault on the Black Omen. A foreboding structure looming overhead fuelled by Lavos’ limitless power and as threatening as that notion would suggest, as we would need to face countless fiends and defeat several bosses to reach Queen Zeal. I wasn’t aware that you could clear the Black Omen multiple times, either. If you first assault it in 1000 A.D., then 600 A.D., and finally 12,000 B.C. you’re able to amass considerable rewards. Especially if Ayla uses Charm on Queen Zeal as she can acquire a Prismatic Helm and a Prismatic Dress.
Allowing you to effectively skip four New Game+ attempts.
With these I was able to equip every character (besides Magus who has unique equipment) with a Prismatic Helm, and each appropriate character with a Prismatic Dress. Meaning that I have no use for the Rainbow Shell in New Game+ besides acquiring additional pairs of Prism Spectacles.
That this is even a possibility is why I feel that Chrono Trigger is the greatest JRPG of all time. There are few video games with meaningful time travel mechanics, but Chrono Trigger finds multiple ways to make them meaningful. From accessing sealed chests in 600 A.D. to acquire better rewards in 1000 A.D., to being able to grow an entirely new forest in 1000 A.D., to being able to clear the Black Omen multiple times. There are so many ways in which the developers didn’t just consider time travel mechanics, but made them viable and interesting with unique results each time. I’m also inclined to believe that the developers intended for you to be able to obtain multiple Prismatic Helms and Prismatic Dresses, as Queen Zeal is the only boss that you can fight multiple times in the Black Omen. The rest stay defeated.
Clearing the Black Omen (in 1000 A.D.) was easier than it should have been having brought Chrono, Frog, and Ayla along. It’s a good party. They’ve got excellent physical damage potential, reasonably good healing potential, and they’re not terrible with magical damage. It relies mostly on Chrono casting Luminaire to deal the majority of their magical damage, but Frog can also cast Water or Water II. For the aforementioned reasons I felt that they’d be suited to the final confrontation with Lavos. I’m also wondering whether Chrono and Marle could defeat Lavos at the Millennial Fair.
Chrono may even be able to solo Lavos.
I’d probably swap his Prism Spectacles for the Silver Stud, though. Being able to cast Luminaire (and Raise if we bring Marle along) more often would be useful, but his damage potential via the critical hits afforded by Rainbow is substantial and we would be sacrificing that. So I’m not entirely sure.
Chrono, Frog, and Ayla met with few difficulties in the final confrontation with Lavos. I was mostly using Chrono for physical damage with the occasional Luminaire, while Frog and Ayla alternated between physical damage or healing. I wasn’t really using that many Techs, as I was holding back in case I needed them for later phases. It turns out that (like many others) it was a shorter encounter than I remember it to be. But I’ll have the opportunity to fight Lavos many more times, and with many different party compositions as I work towards unlocking all of the endings. In any case, this post concludes the time I’ve spent with Chrono Trigger on Moggie’s Proclamations. Chrono Trigger is still one of the greatest JRPGs I’ve ever played (even after twenty years) and I highly recommend it to JRPG enthusiasts!
Have a nice weekend, all!
Moggie
Moggie's Proclamations 