‘Chrono Trigger’ Writer Opposed Time-Travel Plot Due To Lack Of “Interesting” Potential: “I Always Want Players To Experience Something That Can Only Be Done In Video Games”
Though the Chrono Trigger has ultimately gone down in history as one of the best such tales in perhaps any medium, lead writer Masato Kato says that not only was he initially opposed to the game’s time travel plot, but that his opposition was rooted in his then-belief that such stories had nothing to offer in the way of “unique” video game experiences.
Kato, a veteran industry writer whose past credits include such classics as Final Fantasy VII, Xenogears, and Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, provided this personal insight into Chrono Trigger‘s development during a recent interview given to Japanese video game news outlet DenFamiNicoGamer.
(And before anyone raises an eyebrow: While Kato previously spoke to his ‘anti-time travel’ feelings in 2009’s Chrono Trigger Ultimania, the book was never translated into English, thus marking this this interview as the first time his reflections have been available via an easily-translatable source.)
Met with the observation that, thanks to his work penning Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, and his most recent Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space, players “have a strong impression of you as someone who specializes in time travel stories,” Kato noted, “It’s a blessing, but to be honest, I wasn’t initially enthusiastic about creating games centered around time travel.”
“In fact, I used to think, ‘Time travel games can’t possibly be interesting,'” he added, per a machine translation of his interview provided by DeepL. “So even during the development of Chrono Trigger, I opposed the idea of incorporating time travel.”
From there asked about the source of his past feelings, Kato explained, “I’ve loved science fiction novels ever since I was a kid—especially stories that deal with time travel. Maybe that’s exactly why I couldn’t picture how to make an interesting time travel story in the medium of video games.”
“When the development of Chrono Trigger was first discussed, there were already many games with time travel themes. But, for example, games where you go back in time to set a flag that changes the future—in other words, games where you just check the flag—didn’t feel interesting to me.
“Looking back now, I think they must have had faith in my experience and skills during the development of Chrono Trigger. However, as a new employee at the time, I didn’t reach that conclusion and reluctantly began working on the scenario.”
With the Chrono Trigger portion of their discussion to a close, Kato was finally pressed as to “the main thing you wanted to depict in the [game’s] scenario,” the longtime Square Enix writer told his host, “What I wanted to do in Chrono Trigger was to capture the excitement of an adventure that transcends time and space, and a certain ‘twist’ in the middle of the story.”
“I always want players to experience something that can only be done in video games,” he detailed. “I want to achieve a new sense of wonder that can only be realized through video games, something that can’t be done in anime or dramas. I always focus on such aspects when creating games.”
