Chrono Trigger
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 4 of 33 role-playing games by recommenders
Players recommend it for its vibrant late-SNES art, polished design without random encounters or grinding, and a story that still holds up today.
Players recommend it for its vibrant late-SNES art, polished design without random encounters or grinding, and a story that still holds up today.
23 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 23
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 23 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Vibrant, stunning late-SNES graphics
“my favorite 2D video game aesthetic was the vibrant look of high-quality late-SNES games, particularly Chrono Trigger”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “The Effect of CRTs on Pixel Art (2024)” “Some of the prettiest being Chrono Trigger, Seiken Densetsu 3, Tales of Phantasia, Star Ocean.”
Comment from 25 Sep 2026 in “2DWillNeverDie” “Chrono Trigger, which the graphics are stunning for”
Comment from 25 Dec 2025 in “The biggest CRT ever made: Sony's PVM-4300” Holds up well today
“the steam version is fine”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “You can defeat the Dream Devourer from Chrono Trigger using an int overflow” “Chrono Trigger holds up very well, and much better than many PSX/N64 games.”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “You can defeat the Dream Devourer from Chrono Trigger using an int overflow” “are all very much worth playing today”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “PlayStation 2 Recompilation Project Is Absolutely Incredible” Called one of the greatest games
“Trigger is sort of the most-polished culmination of a style developed across 8-bit and 16-bit jrpgs.”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “You can defeat the Dream Devourer from Chrono Trigger using an int overflow” “I think Chrono Trigger is one of the greatest games of all time”
Comment from 27 Jul 2026 in “Canceling "Hey"” “Chrono trigger it's the closet thing to perfection in a JRPG.”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “You can defeat the Dream Devourer from Chrono Trigger using an int overflow” - Comment from 19 Sep 2026 in “You can defeat the Dream Devourer from Chrono Trigger using an int overflow”
Polished, no random encounters
“they all have well crafted stories & characters and they are not too hard to play or too grindy”
Comment from 26 May 2026 in “Phantasy Star IV – 1993 Developer Interviews” “It is one of the most polished JRPGs, and there are no random encounters or grinding.”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “You can defeat the Dream Devourer from Chrono Trigger using an int overflow”
Other role-playing games people recommend
The four most recommended other role-playing games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baldur's Gate 3 | 71 | 11 | 87% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | 58 | 10 | 85% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Ultima VII Revisited | 24 | 7 | 77% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Chrono TriggerThis page | 23 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Disco Elysium | 23 | 1 | 96% | 8 | — | Approved |
What people said
21 of the 26 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Some of the prettiest being Chrono Trigger, Seiken Densetsu 3, Tales of Phantasia, Star Ocean.”
“my favorite 2D video game aesthetic was the vibrant look of high-quality late-SNES games, particularly Chrono Trigger”
“i played thru it with my kids recently and they all loved it so i would say it holds up”
“the steam version is fine”
“Personally I played it wanting to try out the genre and found it uninteresting.”
“Chrono Trigger holds up very well, and much better than many PSX/N64 games.”
“I play it on average once a year, the full 6h playthrough.”
“It is one of the most polished JRPGs, and there are no random encounters or grinding.”
“It has a lot of tropes that future games took inspiration from”
“Trigger is sort of the most-polished culmination of a style developed across 8-bit and 16-bit jrpgs.”
“So many memorable tracks and setpieces...we had it good.”
“Chrono trigger it's the closet thing to perfection in a JRPG.”
“Chrono trigger is a game I love because of the great story.”
“I loved trigger, got to play it on release.”
“Trigger only worked because of Toriyama gathering the all-star staff”
“One of the best games ever made”
“I think Chrono Trigger is one of the greatest games of all time”
“they all have well crafted stories & characters and they are not too hard to play or too grindy”
“are all very much worth playing today”
“Chrono Trigger, which the graphics are stunning for”
“still a cult classic (innovator for multiple endings)”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.