A new Square Enix Chrono Cross interview with Director Masato Kato and Composer Yasunori Mitsuda touched on multiple elements from the remaster. In particular, the Satellaview visual novel Radical Dreamers came up. Kato noted Square Enix wanted to bring it back for a while, but that initial rereleases didn’t happen due to his being “a bit ashamed of it” and it not being “a fully finished game.” However, once Kato saw the prices it was demanding, he agreed. The Radical Dreamers Edition Producer Koichiro Sakamoto also spoke about talking to Kato to ensure it would be included.
Here’s Kato’s full explanation about the reason why Radical Dreamers showed up as part of the Chrono Cross remaster.
They had approached me multiple times about Radical Dreamers. They wanted to bundle it with other games, such as the Nintendo DS port of Chrono Trigger.
But I told them it was an old title. It breaks off midway. It’s not a fully finished game. So, I was a bit ashamed of it, and I kept saying I didn’t want to re-release it. I didn’t want to see it revived in some new form. So, I kept turning them down.
But then the game started selling at an incredible premium, which was a strange and unpleasant situation. So I thought, “Why not?” It may be embarrassing to me. But if people want to play the game normally and we’re letting them play it, then that’s fine. I resigned myself to the idea. I realized it was inevitable. So I said, “Okay, as long as we do it properly.” And the matter was settled.
Kato also noted that this visual novel “is not strongly connected” to Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. That it falls between the two games.
As for Sakamoto, he explained the process of getting it in the remaster.
We told Mr. Kato, “We want to include it.” Some people were skeptical of whether it was really necessary. But we felt it was definitely what the fans wanted, so we worked hard to get it included.
Mitsuda also weighed in on the decision, which sparked everyone involved in the interview to laugh.
When I heard from Mr. Sato that Radical Dreamers would be included, I guessed that Mr. Kato had finally given up. So I assumed he must have yielded. Which was welcome news to me.
After Mitsuda’s comment, Kato joked,
Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten older. At this age, you don’t really care anymore.
Here's the full interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNcJyNaUT3o&ab_channel=%E3%82%B9%E3%82%AF%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A7%E3%82%A2%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A8%E3%83%8B%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
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