Chrono Cross is said to take roughly 30 hours to beat. Game Info Publisher Square Developer Square Soft Genre RPG Origin Japan Number of Players 1 Dual Shock YES Release Late 2000 Peripherals Analog Memory Pack Man,I can't wait for this game to be released. The fight scenes in this game are truely awesome.

Due in Japan on November 18, Square officially announced at the Tokyo Game Show (September 17-19) its intention to bring Chrono Cross to North America sometime in the year 2000 to PlayStation. Though no exact date has been named, we are looking for a spring or summer 2000 release.

To kick off the beginning of November, Square Co. began a promotional pre-reserve campaign for Chrono Cross for Japanese gamers. The campaign intices gamers to reserve the game early and as a gift for doing so, they'll receive a Chrono Corss clock.

The big question on many gamers' minds, including our own, is how this game would correlate with Chrono Trigger. Although we can't really tell you too many details about the story itself, we can say that Chrono Cross does take place in the same Chrono Trigger world. In fact, Square has said that those who've played Chrono Trigger may recognize familiar areas that appear in the Chrono Cross universe.

There were rumors that the character's progression through the game wouldn't include the need to increase levels. The rumors are true. Chrono Cross' out-of-town environments do have wandering monsters, where if you run into to them, you'll engage. However, in Chrono Cross, Square has oriented the game so that players can actually whip through a level, without fighting a single monster, and go straight to a boss. Square has completely eliminated experience points. It sounds stange, but it's not all bad. We'll get into more detail about actual battles and bosses as we progress further into the game.

Another interesting tidbit is how the magic system is set up. From the looks of things, the game's spell system is elemental based and party members can acquire cards and customize a deck. The interface is still new, but it doesn't seem too complex.

Recently, newer details have filtered out on several aspects of Chrono Cross. First, the game contains more than 40 characters who can join your team, including Korcha, Jyakoto, Slash, Pierre, Miki, Tumalu (a talking animal). Additionally, a handful of new villains will be at hand to do battle with: Karsh, Marcella, Tukuvomi, Lutramia and Gvaoarun.

In a fashion similar to Square's 1998 RPG Xenogears, characters can select three attack settings, including strong, medium, and weak. Individual characters have their own set of magic, techniques, and summon attacks. An example of this is with Kid, who specializes in healing magic.

A new battle feature enables players to combine the effects of magic, items, and techniques. Called Erumento, this battle command and the necessary data for it to work must be set up prior to battles. Yet another battle summon, called "Summon Erumento," is sort of like Final Fantasy VIII's Guardian Force. With it players can call monsters from another dimension to attack for you. How this works -- and looks -- has us a little hot and wet in the shorts these days.

Another aspect affecting battles is fatigue. You can tire if elemental attacks aren't managed well, rendering yourself extremely vulnerable. By using element attacks in battle over and over again, you simply won't be able to attack any more, forcing you to rest for a few rounds in order to regain vitality.

The music in the game, which was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, sounds great. Although we've only heard a few tracks from the demo, man, the opening alone is so moving, and the first level dungeon, it still reminds me of when I first played the FFVII demo -- just the feeling itself. The quality is far more superb, but the feel is there. It's really similar to Xenogears.

For those who haven't heard, you can find the Chrono Cross demo in the import version of Legend of Mana, along with a demo of Dew Prism, Front Mission 3, and a demo movie of Vagrant Story. We have a lot more to uncover more in Chrono Cross, and as details unfold, we'll update you as fast as possible.

Douglass Perry