Chrono Trigger: The Zodiac Era

***Chrono Trigger: The Zodiac Era*** was a non-profit fan-made game for *Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age* developed by *Team Zodiac.* It has been officially discontinued November 25th 2020.

## Modification Genre

The game is classified as a scenario modification. Although it brings some challenging elements in terms of ability arrangement and new foes, it does not aim to make the game more difficult all around.

## Gameplay

   In addition to gameplay alterations, the game adds various features, such as new high quality 3D models and weapons, new locations to explore, new abilities, foes, concepts and much more. Players begin a new game at the Balfonheim Port, where from there they are able to explore the world of Ivalice and gain player experience before proceeding to the point of no return. Players are introduced to a new ending different from the original game.

## Bazaar Goods

Many of the bazaar good recipes have been altered. Here are the changes:

## License Board

### Selective Jobs

The Main Game contains the following jobs below with Impotent Jobs. Impotent is a job selection with only the basic, default essentials needed to obtain par the story line. (e.g. 3 quickenings, an Esper tile and all Gambit slot tiles).

* *Monk* *is now Bushido, suited for Crono.*
* *Bushi* *is now Kingsglaive, suited for Nyx.*
* *Machinist* *is now Magitek Elite, suited for Terra.*
* *Black Mage* *is now Summoner, suited for Rydia.*

The new boards were determined par the augment tiles; balanced for that specific character.

#### Bushido

***Crono***

* Main focus are Katanas and light armor. Maintaining Foebreaker abilities *(Expose, Wither etc.)* and no other magick use except for Lightning.

#### Kingsglaive

***Nyx***

* Main focus are daggers with heavy armor and few mystic armor for the boost in magic capabilities. Can use few black magicks and specializes in signature skills.

#### Dragoon

* Main focus are spears and a small variety of black magicks with heavy armor. Uhlan, identical to Dragoon with more options for black magicks and the Jump skill.

#### Paladin

* Main focus are on the weapons of paladins with heavy armor. Bears signature weapon, the Great Machete and Great Spear which has a chance to kill certain enemies in a single blow. Has access to the Save the Caliber Retains access to Tactical Shotgun through bridge license Kaiser Dragon.

#### Magitek Elite

***Terra***

* Main focus are swords for the common foes with heavy armor, light armor and mystic armor. Uses staves for the magical boost. Has access to crossbows for the ranged occasion. Base strength slightly raised. Can use all magick types.

#### Summoner

***Rydia***

* Main focus are staves, rods, bows, black magick with mystic armor. Has a variety of all magick types, but only masters black magicks.

## Development Team

The development team of the game consists of:

* *Team Zodiac*

## Synopsis

### Characters

#### Main Cast

* **Crono**
* **Rydia**
* **Nyx**
* **Terra**

### Story

**––—Spoiler warning: *Plot and/or ending details follow.––—***

#### The Walk of Revelation

A Dimensional Vortex spawns anterior Sky Fortress Bahamut. It completely overshadows the fortress; there would be no way for the party to venture around it. Upon entering the Dimensional Vortex, the party would follow the path of Schala's orchestration, were they would see their affairs cessation.

#### Rendezvous

Before the party heads off to the emerged Dimensional Vortex, they rendezvous at the Aerodrome in Port Balfonheim. There they are reunited with Johnny as he explains vaguely what has happened to him after the destruction of the Sun Cryst. It was true he was sent to the Darkness Beyond Time where he witnessed the Dream Devourer and Schala bonded in its grasp. Unable to fully explain the experience, he notes he felt a strong aura of longing and loneliness, before having a part of his memory truncate and finds himself afoot the Cerobi Steppe. Weary the words Johnny speaks, Crono urges the party to enter the vortex with haste.

### End of the Denouement

#### Dream's Epilogue

Within the Time's Eclipse, the party heads off in the chronological gates that eventually lead to the Dream Devourer.

Facing against the Dream Devourer, neither Crono or his allies can defeat it again. Blinded by idealism, Schala sees not the ghastly figure Magus in his place, similarly at the same time as before, where she regains control of herself for a limited time and sends the remaining victims away. She then tells the ghastly figure, he cannot hope to save her as long as people continue to lean on the crutch of power.

***––—Spoilers end here––—***

## Extra Modes

### Veracity Kingsglaive Unveils

The first extra mode of the game is speculated to have taken place after the party attempted defeat of the Dream Devourer.

### Radical Dreamers

**––—Beta Content warning: *Early and/or inaccurate details follow.––—***

The second extra mode of the game. It setting takes place after event "Entering the Vortex" as the party is sent to same era as Carrière, where they encounter the final conflict with the dark god. Radical Dreamers is also an alternate ending to the main game.

***––—Beta Content ends here––—***

## Creation and development

Team Zodiac chose *Final Fantasy XII* as the main game for the project for a variety of varying reasons. However, it was mainly chosen due to the similarities of the battle system between *Final Fantasy XII* and *Chrono Trigger's Active Time Battle vr. 2.0* and subtle similarities such as three maximum party allies, the use of AoE and enemies whom appear on the map rather than random battle transitions.

Chrono Trigger: The Zodiac Era was created on the basis of furthering the immense tale of history, time and fate, metaphorically from the roots of Chrono Trigger. It was not intended to be a full Chrono Trigger Remake, but a retelling of Chrono Trigger's lore from a different perspective. The game pays homage to Chrono Trigger in many ways such as the appearance of Crono, Lucca, Marle, the Mammon Machine, Schala and Magus; while remaking many of the original environments such as:

* *Manolia Cathedral*
* *Dactyl Nest*
* *Fiendlord's Keep*
* *Guardia Forest*
* *Lab 16*
* *Mountain of Woe*
* *Guardia Castle*

* *Geno Dome*

* *Ocean Palace*
* *Sewer Access*
* *Tyranno Lair*
* *Lenne Square*

* *Arris Dome*
* *Denadoro Mountains*
* *Heckran Cave*

The soundtrack is also heavily influenced by Chrono Trigger, featuring many original, remastered and reorchestrated scores.

### Era-Engine

The game was developed using a workshop called Era-Engine. It was designed to work with and expand the limits of the game engine.

## Version Differences

Chrono Trigger: The Zodiac Era was initially developed using Era Engine. Originally referred to as *Era Tools* in the early stages, limited what could be done and achieved; negating the creative direction of the developer severely and preventing many elements from coming to fruition. Later, with the rise of the Zodiac Engine, a more improved and diverse version, *Chrono Trigger: The Zodiac Era* would see two releases in its time of continued development.

### RTL

    This version was the standard release of Chrono Trigger: The Zodiac Era. This standard release did not include any extra features; instead was intended to be a simpler, feasible alternative to the original, offering more player-tailored quality of life changes and the more like. RTL releases would not have access to Selective Jobs mode.

#### Art direction

RTL releases featured creative art differences, such as Terra's and Nyx's outfits, the use of Crono's beta 3D model, and Rydia's garments appearing less revealing. Terra would be featured in her outfit designed by Yoshitaka Amano featuring her with blonde hair. Nyx would be featured in his Out of Uniform garments, instead his signature Kingsglaive outfit and used Gladiolus's face as a placeholder, and Crono featuring his beta 3D model, where he appears more Western.

#### Scenario

The story would begin with the original story of *Final Fantasy XII.* There were many event changes within *Final Fantasy XII's* original story to better fit the new characters introduced in *Chrono Trigger: The Zodiac Era* and characters Freya and Steiner were created to keep consistency in the original Ivalice lore. However, series creator and scenario writer, *Mr. Branford* did not like this direction in *Chrono Trigger: The Zodiac Era*. He felt the direction steered itself too far from the actual scenario of The Zodiac Era and needed to be changed.

### DCL

This is the original release of The Zodiac Era. This is the release developed on and what other releases were build upon. Whether those lesser releases or demos removed/changed assets—they were all conceived from this version. Unlike the rtl and demo releases, this version includes all extra features, removes player tailored augments and is essentially the complete version of *Chrono Trigger: The Zodiac Era.*

#### Creative direction

DCL releases retain the original art direction that was conceived during development, such as the Benevolent Maiden *(Terra's default outfit in Final Fantasy VI),* Nyx's default Kingsglaive outfit along with his original Kingsglaive facial features, his subtle tattoos, Clyde's default garments as an alternative outfit via Selective Jobs mode and much more.

Environmental art design and assets retained its original conception which features a 3D remake of the Floating Continent removing 3D remakes of Narshe and Dreamscape Doma Castle, in favor of Manolia Cathedral and Tyranno Lair. It also includes Selective Jobs along with alternative outfits for the main cast such as Terra's Trance, abilities upgrades and includes Veracity Kingsglaive Unveils. Crono's 3D model was completely remade to appear more akin to the art style of Japanese manga, more so that of Akira Toriyama's design as Mr. Branford remarked the current concept appeared too Western and needed a more accurate representation of how he would appear aged from his original youth of seventeen. Rydia is also featured in a design akin to her CG render default attire from *Final Fantasy IV (DS Opening FMV)* in *Chrono Trigger: The Zodiac Era.*

The story is conveyed via pre-rendered content and the game begins just before heading into the Dimensional Vortex, insuring the player does not deviate away from the main scenario. The prologue of The Zodiac Era was re-written to fit a better narrative, yet still retained allusions to the original project in varying ways.

In the original version, Steiner and Freya were not developed into the story as it originally focused primarily on Terra, Nyx and Rydia, with Crono leading the narrative. He would later take the lead role in *Chrono Trigger: Age of Omen*.

Other minor differences were:

* *Kefka* *god instead the Winged Angel featuring a special cutscene in the Illusionary Mansion.*
* *EXP is granted to party members on the reserve, just as in Chrono Trigger.*
* *Acquisition of TP*
* *Features one ultimate weapon versus the latter four in rtl releases and can be obtained before encountering superbosses.*

## Releases

A playable demo of *Chrono Trigger: The Zodiac Era* was released on *November 3rd, 2020.*

### Cancellation

Chrono Trigger: The Zodiac Era was cancelled on November 25th, 2020 following struggles with the original scenario writer and development issues of the Zodiac Engine.

*Chrono Vendian*, the rebooted project as been abandoned on April 12th. 2021.

## Trivia/Allusions

* The *Mansion of Illusion* is an adumbrated reference to *Owzer's Mansion* in *Final Fantasy VI**.* In early versions of the game, Mansion of Illusion was named "Ebony Mansion", which gives hint to the Dark God. The mansion, named after him and his indomitable power, foreshadowing his competency over the party.
* The Dreamseeker weapon is Crono's ultimate weapon. It has the second highest attack and combo hit rate standing at 240 Attack Power, and is katana-classified. The weapon takes on the exact appearance as the Dreamseeker via *Chrono Trigger**.*
* According to the developer, the *Ozmone Plain* is located where the pulse of gates runs its most focused in Ivalice.
* The Facsimile Zecht is aided by its dog partner named *'Intercept',* an allusion to Interceptor.
* When the player receives a Game Over, the message displayed reads: *"In the end, the future refused to change."* The same wording when the player receives the bad ending in Chrono Trigger.
* Steiner's strongest facsimile in the *Necrohol of Nabudis* was named *'Pyramid Crimson'* in the demo version, an allusion to Red Pyramid from *Silent Hill 2.*
* The Flare ability is commonly a single target spell in the *Final Fantasy* series. In *Chrono Trigger: The Zodiac Era,* it is multi-targeting based Area of Effect, an allusion to the Flare ability from *Chrono Trigger.*
* The Flare ability uses the same sound effect as Lucca's Flare from *Chrono Trigger.*
* Terra's Ultima ability uses the same sound effect as in *Final Fantasy VI.*
* Holyra uses the same sound effect as Holy from *Final Fantasy IX.*
* Gato and the Cybot alludes to Gato and Cybot from *Chrono Trigger.*