Comedy of the Sages - 5 Quests

Quest B: Ozzie's Short Fort

Stat of the Quest:Although enemies can drop a variety of consumable items at the end of a battle, there are no enemies that drop equipment. On the other hand, it is possible to steal equipment from monsters, but almost all of them are items the player can get elsewhere, and the player can usually buy those items before they can be stolen. Only 14% of all stealable items are unique, almost all of which come from this quest.[15]

Ozzie’s Fort is straightforward and quick: it consists entirely of three boss fights. There’s not an enormous amount to say about this dungeon, however, because it’s so short; there’s basically only the climactic fight. The three-boss fight against Ozzie, Flea, and Slash isn’t complicated from a mechanical standpoint. The three bosses do use a triple tech as a counterattack, but there’s no real strategy to avoiding it except to focus all attacks on one enemy at a time. The real idea behind the fight is to allow the player a chance to steal from each enemy. The problem is that of all the available items, only the Flea Vest is any good. The Slasher 2 is powerful, but the Swallow is better. The Ozzie Pants, which confer a debuff on the wearer, are a joke.

Quest B: The Sun Stone

Stat of the Quest: Elemental defenses are less common in Chrono Trigger than they are in most 90s JRPGs. The elemental defenses that do exist are distributed unevenly. 25% of enemy elemental defenses are for fire, 19% are for lightning, 32% are for shadow, and 11% are for either water or all elements together, respectively.[16] Why is shadow resistance so high? Very few attacks are shadow-elemental, and the characters who use them (Robo and Magus) have access to other powerful attacks. That only 11% are for water makes more sense: there are two water characters. Party composition would be severely limited if water resistance were especially common.

Veterans of Chrono Trigger probably remember the Sun Stone quest as being short and easy. To first-time players, especially those brave enough not to use a walkthrough, it can be very complicated. This is a common problem when looking back at classic games. Because millions of people have memorized how to do this quest, they overlook all the little details that make this quest possible for first-time players.

(1) Defeat Son of Sun

The Son of Sun encounter is almost completely dependent on pre-battle preparation rather than in-battle execution. After Son of Sun’s Flare spells wipe the party out a few times, the player will begin to wonder how it’s possible to survive. After all, the party has been close to max HP for a while now, but that Flare hits like a truck. Magic or elemental defenses are key to surviving the fight, but neither of those things has been readily available up to this point in the game. This forces the player to begin exploring the world and different time periods to acquire gear. Without having to venture into any large dungeons, there are several pieces of gear that are enormously useful for this quest. The Red Vest and Red Mail can both be obtained simply by venturing into Guardia Castle in two different Eras. Although they may not remember it, they player has seen this chest before when visiting Guardia Castle for the first time. This armor absorbs fire and effectively makes a character invulnerable to Son of Son. There is also the Ruby Armor, which is only slightly less effective. Talking to Ayla at the End of Time will point the player in the direction of the armor.

One nice design touch is that doing the other optional quests will inevitably yield a bunch of gear that will make this quest possible. Whereas many other JRPGs might make the player grind singularly for the purpose of defeating one specific challenge, Chrono Trigger does not. The Cyrus/Frog quest will yield Moon armor (+10 magic defense), the Rainbow Shell will yield the Prism Helms (+9) and the Ozzie quest yields the Flea Vest (+12). The multiplicity of methods to beating Son of Sun ensures that players will be able to get the Sun Stone without having to grind in the Black Omen. On the other hand, clever and resourceful players will be able to beat him really early, which is an incredibly satisfying feeling.

There are also several other ways to acquire a large amount of extra magic defense. The Cyrus/Frog quest will yield Moon armor (+10 magic defense), the Rainbow Shell will yield the Prism Helms (+9) and the Ozzie quest yields the Flea Vest (+12). Additionally, the Magic Cave contains a sealed chest with the Wall Ring (+10) in it, which the player has seen on their earlier trip. This is beginning to sound like a walkthrough, but that’s not the point. The point is that no matter what the player does—no matter what quest they choose instead of this one—there’s a good chance that they’ll find an item that helps them complete this one. That’s the mark of a good non-linear game.

(2) Batteries Not Included

The next step is to charge the Sunstone and deal with a bunch of time-hopping puzzles. Even if the player doesn’t remember the NPC in Zeal talking about how “it would take aeons” for the rock to get its glow back, someone in the party will mention charging it up again.

Want to read more? The rest of this section can be found in the print and eBook versions. In fact, the print version of this book has been significantly expanded and revised.

Next - The End of the Comedy, plus CT's Strengths and Weakenesses