Chrono Trigger (1995) is considered by most to be the greatest JRPG of all time, having been developed by the ‘Dream Team’. This includes Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, Dragon Quest series creator Yuji Horii, and famous manga magazine editor Kazuhiko Torishima, among others. For the first time in 30 years, these creators came together to discuss many topics, including the idea of a sequel.
Although Chrono Trigger did receive a successor in the form of Chrono Cross (1998), the plot’s structure made the title feel more like a spin-off rather than a true sequel. While the devs have claimed there was a vested interest in making an actual Chrono Trigger 2 happen, it still seems unlikely even to this day.
Torishima made a joke believing that Chrono Trigger 2 would be simple to make now that Square and Enix have merged. However, Sakaguchi was not quite sure about this, and Torishima said he would need to call up the original game’s character artist (Akira Toriyama) to bring him along.
Today, given the state of the industry, all three of the devs said they would prefer to work on small games with small teams. What’s more, Sakaguchi confirmed that if he were to work on Chrono Trigger 2, he’d want to make it on a smaller scale, but then find himself pushed later to make it big. In response to this, each of the devs said that if they did collaborate again as the ‘Dream Team’, they would want to do something completely new.
Sea of Stars is a 2023 turn-based RPG by Sabotage Studio that has received major praise in the indie community for deriving much of its design from the principles laid out by Chrono Trigger. Horii said the team did a great job, Torishima found the game nostalgic, and Sakaguchi praised how similar it was to their work.