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Is it time for a Chrono Trigger sequel?[06.25.99] » An increasing number of signs point towards the long-awaited sequel finally seeing the light of day. Japanese websites have been rumbling for a few weeks with rumors of one of the titles to be found on Legend of Mana's demo disc: a sequel to Chrono Trigger. Word on the street had it that Square had registered the name "Chrono Cross." Now, the evidence has started to point towards these rumblings being correct. In a recent post to a public message forum, one of Xenogears' character designers let drop a bombshell: "Some of former Xenogears staffs are now working for Square's two RPGs.'Dewprism' (action RPG) and a big RPG. (Sorry, title is confidential. *A hint: 'Ch' begins the title*) and they do really good job. RPG fans ill have a lot of fun in this winter holidays!" Astute Square fans will remember that several "former Xenogears staffs" were once "former Chrono Trigger staffs." And it seems unlikely that such high-profile staff members would be placed onto a "Chocobo" title - could this hint be referring to a title starting with "Chrono"? Additionally, an animation company in Japan has been working on a project codenamed "Anime of Toriyama Akira" (Akira Toriyama was the character designer for the first Chrono Trigger). Sources indicate that this project is "Chrono Trigger 2" - an assumption backed up by the large number of Chrono Trigger posters now adorning the company's walls. The CT sequel would appear to have traditional cel animated sequence similar to Xenogears'. And the time is right for a Chrono Trigger sequel. At a recently announced international press conference next month on July 14th, Square is set to announce a huge, "new Square title not yet announced in Japan." With Legend of Mana's release set for July 15th - a mere 24 hours after the conference - this conference likely concerns the identity of one of the as-of-yet unrevealed games on the demo disc. It seems unlikely that Square would invite press from all over the world for anything less than a marquee title, and it seems even more unlikely that Square would start the Final Fantasy IX hype ball rolling before Final Fantasy VIII's U.S. release. Could a Chrono Trigger sequel be the planned announcement? An old promo reel of Square's from mid-1996 contained footage of a "Chrono Trigger 2"; while much of that beta's technology appears to have gone into Xenogears, it's clear that Square has kept the franchise in mind. One final, interesting detail concerns Square's Japanese webpage. This past March 1999, Chrono Trigger was added to their archive of older Super Famicom titles. An interesting - and late - appendix to the Square history. But the "new" Chrono Trigger webpage also featured "new," never before seen artwork by an artist other than Toriyama. What's more, while found in the Super Famicom section, it was classified under the internal web structure as a PlayStation game. A few weeks ago, Square changed the page's original artwork to the older, Toriyama-drawn artwork for the SNES game. While this 11th hour Chrono Trigger coverage and artwork swap may be just coincidence, it shows that Square is intent on making sure gamers don't forget about the original game. All in all, the evidence strongly points towards a followup to the original Chrono Trigger. Millions of eager fans would love to see this "impossible" sequel finally come true - hopefully, Square will make an official announcement soon. Thanks to Ike Sato and videogames.com for help with this story.
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