I believe The Beatles: Rock Band came the closest to being perfect. Eveything about that game was just beautifully done and the only things missing was Pro Drums, an option for Keys, and a few more Beatle songs (Hey Jude, Strawberry Fields Forever, Yesterday etc. etc.)
Chrono Trigger. It’s basically the evolutionary peak of the NES-era console RPG. Every aspect, including the story, art, game mechanics, and music, are best-in-class, with no obvious room for improvement given the technical constraints of the time.
I have great expectation in Sea of Stars exactly because I loved Chrono Trigger suo much.
Had the same expectations for I am Setsuna, but from what I saw in gameplay and reviews, it was disappointing. Hopefully Sea of Stars will be a good one.
Octopath is the closest one to bringing back a RPG experience of that era, but it fell short in some key areas. The story’s cohesiveness suffered due to the freedom you get for choosing what character’s arc to progress. Also, compared with games of that time, there is too much backstory. I enjoy world building but most games nowadays have a little too much of it. The side quests are also chores and the story of the quest is hard to follow since you might not complete it hours later. I think the last, most crucial problem is the cut scenes. Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 6, Mario RPG, etc had such dynamic cutscenes. Octopath is very static in comparison — most “cut scenes” are just people talking.
Setsuna had a lot of cool throwbacks to Chrono Trigger, but ultimately, it was just okay.
I found myself more excited for what would be the next reference in the game, more than being excited about the game itself.
Holy shit Chrono Trigger rocked my world so fucking hard. I played it on an emulator in like 2000. I’ve forgotten a lot of stuff yet I still remember the impression this game left on me. It was like holding my breath at the end there goddamn.