Days before release, the first Chrono Cross remaster gameplay has finally been published

The first lengthy gameplay footage of Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition has been released, days before the remaster’s release.

Posted to YouTube by Japanese publication Famitsu, the footage is from the PlayStation version of the game, although whether it’s being played on a PS4 or PS5 is unclear. Gameplay footage of the Nintendo Switch version has yet to be shown.

At the time of writing, the game isn’t currently available for preorder on PlayStation platforms. However, it can be preordered for Nintendo Switch for $19.99 / £15.99.

Since its reveal, no extended footage of the game has been shown. In the gameplay from Famitsu, while the game certainly looks better than the PlayStation original, the framerate appears to be inconsistent, which has prompted negative reactions from some fans online.

Commenting on the gameplay, ResetEra users ‘Jett’ wrote: “Framerate in battles fluctuates between 60 and 15fps~ lol. The filter on the backgrounds is really awful. Maybe the PC version will be salvageable.”

While the overworld gameplay footage appears to be more stable, in battles severe framerate drops can be observed. This may be partly due to the remaster’s option to speed up random battles. However, in practice, it makes for a very inconsistent looking experience based on the footage.

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition also includes Radical Dreamers – Le Trésor Interdit, an “audio novel” that was originally released for the SNES Satellaview add-on in Japan only.

Chrono Cross, which was released for the original PlayStation in 1999, was one of many unannounced titles listed in an Nvidia database leak in September – a list the company subsequently admitted was real, even if it said the games didn’t necessarily exist.

Radical Dreamers Edition makes several changes to the original, such as the ability to avoid random battles. Character models have also been updated and the game’s soundtrack has been remastered.