I'm currently organizing the games on my SNES EverDrive by type. I have folders called "Action RPG" and "RPG" that are giving me some trouble.

This page states that Chrono Trigger is an Action RPG. I've never played it and I assumed it was an RPG and not an Action RPG. An Action RPG is a game like Link to the Past or Brandish...or so I thought. A Link to the Past is not even on the list.

What's your verdict? Is Chrono Trigger an RPG or an Action RPG? Why is Link to the Past not included in Action RPGs? Are there any other debatable classifications on that Wikipedia page?

Duuuuuude, you've never played Chrono Trigger!? You're in for something special!
I'd love to hear your opinions on it though, since you won't be looking at it through rose-tinted glasses, so maybe the game isn't as exciting for people nowadays. I think it still holds up amazingly, but I'm biased.

Anyway, on-topic: Chrono Trigger is NOT an Action RPG. It's a regular turn-based RPG. I have no idea why that Wikipedia page lists it as an Action RPG, I've never heard anyone call it that.
I also have no idea why Goof Troop is on there.

Link to the Past, and the Zelda games in general, are not considered RPGs by a lot of people (there are also a lot of people who DO consider them RPGs. It's a long-running debate). Japanese game stores tend to line up their products by genre, and Zelda is consistently classified as an Adventure game over here, which I think is correct.

Then again, if friggin' Goof Troop is on that list, it makes no sense for LttP not to be there. Goof Troop is a puzzle game more than anything; it doesn't even have any real combat to speak of. Great game though.

Agreed over here. If its turn based it immediately is just a turn based RPG, albeit one of the best ones of all time.

Zelda has always been difficult because most of the time people think of RPG's needing stat progression and Link only gets new items. I'd still throw him in the A-RPG sector though.

In my opinion, best example of an Action RPG on the SNES is Secret of Mana.

Eh... I'm always torn over CT. I played it and agree that it's a high quality game but I didn't play it until the 32/64 machines came out and I had one and FFVII.

However, my opinion of Chrono Trigger improved greatly after I played Chrono Cross. I can see why people like CT... CC not so much.

I like to think of CC as a *conceptually strong* counterpart for CT. No, I'm not interested in 40-some random characters. No, I'm not interested in Lynx and the Japanese version of Joker's sidekick Harley Quinn. But YES, I am interested in the Dead Sea & Chronopolis, and the Prometheus Circuit (which is Robo) and YES, I am VERY interested in whatever the hell happened to Schala, and YEEESSSS, I love that the dragons *are* / remember the Reptites and want some big-ass revenge.

in other words ... wherever CC tied back into CT, I got psyched. When it was off doing its own thing, I was like "guys, just stop it."

And I'm never torn over CT. I just think it's a downright phenomenal game.

To expand, Chrono Trigger is turn based with ATB, just like FF games.

I agree with Ashley. It's a high-quality game. Does it hold up well today? Yes and no. If you want to play an SNES-type/era JRPG, then yes it's one of the best. Now my favorite SNES RPG from that era was FF IV. Why? because it was the first SNES RPG I played (so, nostalgia). Yet I wouldn't touch FF IV today. It just did not age that well. CT definitely aged better than most FF games, and I'm including PSX FF games too (except for Tactics, which is still an amazing game today). In my opinion you can find RPGs today which are far better than any SNES RPG in almost every way. That said, you should give it a go if you're into SNES games (which I assume you are).

As for why it's labeled as "action-RPG", my guess is because it does not have random battles. You see enemies on the screen and when you touch them you go into turn-based battle. So yes, it should not be labeled action-RPG by today's standards. Although this non-random battle system is so much better than what you see in FF!!

edit: I played CC and remember NOTHING about it. That says a lot about the quality of the game.

I feel the opposite on this one. When the game tries to link itself to CT I'm always like "just stop it."

This. Like avatar I'm guessing that fact that you can see the encounters has skewed that list maker's definition of "action RPG." Chrono Trigger did have a few unique features for its time but it's a RPG at the end of the day.

And yeah, even though I'll  probably never revisit the game I do have a lot of respect for it... and if you've never played it I would recommend doing so.

After I finish Demon's Crest I'll start Chrono Trigger.

Oh man, Demon's Crest! Another great game! Make sure to explore a lot, because it gets bigger the more time you put into it. If you just blaze through you can finish it in 45 minutes or so.

Won't quote the rest of your post because, dude, SPOILER CITY.
Jodo obviously hasn't even played CT yet, so let's not start spoiling all of the CC plot lines.

I love CC a whole lot too, by the way. I should replay it some time soon.

Link gets more health and some gear upgrades. There's just no experience system.

IMO Secret of Mana is actually a pretty bad example of an action RPG. It's basically an ATB system where you can move around a bit, with the action elements being largely a sham (e.g. you can't dodge attacks). The Soulblazer series is a much better example.

If anyone spoils CT for Jodo, I swear to God I will drive down there and give them a stern talking-to.

I'm probably going to get scolded for this but... does anyone else feel the controls in that game are a deal breaker? I'd expect that stiffness from a Castlevania game but from Capcom? I'm obviously spoiled from the MMX games...

A month or two ago, when the Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross arrange album was released, I got the most wicked urge to replay Chrono Trigger.

And I did; over the course of 3 days, I finished everything, and even MAXED OUT the levels of all 7 characters (they all became level "**") That is something I've NEVER done for any other RPG EVER. Except for Final Fantasy VII. I maxed out each character's level to 99, and maxed out the game's log counter to 99:99:99 by doing so. And I got so much Gil, that the counter was preceded with an "L2" symbol. But that's the only other JRPG in which I maxed out my characters' levels.

Then I wondered why I got the most wicked urge to replay Chrono Trigger, and did so, book cover to book end.

It was the game's 20th anniversary!!

Now the arrange album's release timing made sense.

Back in the NES and SNES days, I got brand new games when they were actually released.

Not so much these days, however, but that's a story for another day.

Without getting into the contentiousness of CT vs. CC, I do love that CC is woven from the single loose thread remaining at the end of CT.

I enjoyed Chrono Cross - it's probably among my top 10 favorite PSX games ever - but I'd read plenty of reviews of it before its release enough to know what I was getting into, so that's probably why I wasn't frustrated with it as much as other people.

Suffice it to say, I was expecting a game more akin to the PSX Final Fantasies, and that's pretty much what it is.

It's not as smooth as MMX, no, but then what is!? Nothing, that's what.

It's still a helluvalot better than anything Castlevania up to that point though.

As others have said, Chrono Trigger is most certainly not an Action/RPG since it's turn based. Zelda games (with the exception of Zelda II) are also not Action/RPGs since they don't have a leveling system (consider them Adventure games). Soul Blazer, Secret of Mana, Ys, and the like are all Action/RPGs.

As for CT vs. CC, CT is a masterwork in every sense. CC, not so much, but after spending a significant amount of time wading through the Chrono Compendium, I at least have a better idea of what they were trying to do with it. However, I still consider the actual execution to be quite disappointing (save for the incredible soundtrack). Prior to going through the Compendium, I had absolutely no memory of the game other than how disappointed I was with it. The forgettable characters, obtuse plot, and careless handling of the ties to CT all left a bad taste in my mouth, and I guess I just blocked it out. Maybe someday I'll go through it again with the knowledge I now have from the Compendium and see if I like it any better, but finding time to do that is sadly unlikely.

Different strokes, etc... I love CT but for me CC is the masterpiece. Granted you need to do some tough sidequesting to see it, but the scene where 'The Girl Who Stole A Star' plays - how it connects to the rest of the game and CT before it - that has stayed with me all these years, and I don't think there's anything from any game that's touched me in the same way since.

I'll agree, the controls for Demon's Crest feel pretty stiff and rigid to me; he at least ought to be able to move faster. Not Sonic the Hedgehog fast, but at least Ghost n' Goblin's fast. He also moved rather slowly in Gargoyle's Quest for the NES. Why they didn't just call Demon Crest "Gargoyle's Quest III" is beyond me; that's probably a reason why many Gargoyle's Quest fans missed out on Demon's Crest - they didn't know it was a continuation of the series. Yes, Firebrand is a demon, then again, a gargoyle is technically a type of demon, too. The reason why they didn't originally just call the series "Demon's Quest" was probably because the term "Demon" wasn't politically correct enough for people.

I also think Firebrand's projectiles - even his initial projectiles - ought to be bigger.

He's a relatively tall demon - not as tall as his adversaries - but his projectiles just seem too small to him in comparison.