Chrono Trigger DS E3 Previews

Two E3 previews and a “six reasons why it’ll be worth the money” article have surfaced for Square Enix’s recently announced DS port of Chrono Trigger. E3 preview #1 is at IGN:

Chrono Trigger made an appearance at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and it looks as good as the Super NES game did back more than a decade ago. Aside from a flashy full-motion video animated introduction and some snazzy touch-screen elements, the game’s not trying to be much but a revival of the original 16-bit game, right down to the pixel art and 2D tiled worlds.

The Nintendo DS game was fully in English — not surprisingly since the game’s already been localized a couple of times prior, once on the Super NES, and a second time on the original PlayStation. The E3 demo started with the lead character Chrono (or whatever you decide to name him from the start) getting out of bed and heading off to the square to meet his crew who’s set up their newest invention: a transporter. Along the way, Chrono meets up with a mysterious girl who ends up getting zapped through a portal after a transporter malfunction. Chrono hops off after her and the adventure begins.

E3 preview #2 is at Shacknews:

While rooting through an unsuspecting neighbor’s house or exploring a dungeon, a detailed map offering a full overview of the surrounding geometry will guide you on the bottom screen, surrounded by the various menu and navigation options. When engaged in battle, your characters’ various attacks, spells, and tech abilities are mapped to buttons, as are the enemies you’re targeting.

It might not seem like much, but with virtually every menu and informational tidbit on the touch screen, the top screen is free to display the field of battle with limited interference from a complicated HUD. Aside from the environment, characters and enemies, the only information displayed on the top screen are small indicators over the sprites designating turn order and available hit points, leaving a wealth of visual real estate over the game’s original SNES counterpart.

And the article referenced above is at 1UP:

Reason No. 5
It still has the best New Game + feature ever.

If there’s any single reason fans play Trigger over and over again, it’s the game’s fantastic New Game + feature; perhaps the first time a console RPG allowed character stats and gear to carry over into a second playthrough. Obviously, this makes subsequent replays a breeze…but since the game features more than a dozen different endings to discover, the compulsion is undeniable. Few gaming experiences make you feel more awesome than crushing Lavos with only Crono and Marle.