Airships, dinosaurs, and robots meet in “spiritual successor to Chrono Trigger” RPG Threads Of Time

Image credit: Riyo Games

Bravely he stood, alone on his hill, unwavering in the face of backlash: Chrono Trigger should have just let Frog be a talking frog instead of being a knight turned into a frog. So, trash game. Fortunately, I can finally experience what it’s like to actually enjoy Chrono Trigger – Canadian Studio Riyo Games are making what they describe as a “spiritual successor”. It’s called Threads Of Time, it’s “aided by legendary developers and composers from Japan who have helped define Xenoblade Chronicles, the Mana series and more,” and it looks beautiful. Hop on over to the trailer below.

Threads of Time | Official Announce Trailer | TGS 2024

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News of the RPG has actually been floating around for a while now, with Riyo sharing a little snippet on Reddit a year or so ago. Even in such a small clip, you can see how lovely it looks. Here’s some words from the press release:

Threads of Time features gorgeous 2.5D pixel art powered by Unreal Engine 5 that instantly transports you across breathtaking locales through the ages. Explore different eras, assemble your party and restore the ancient order of the Time Knights. From the majestic age of dinosaurs to the distant future teeming with mechanical marvels, every era is packed with adventure and secrets waiting to be unearthed. As you navigate this vast tapestry of history, uncover a sinister plot threatening to unravel the very fabric of time as told through striking anime cutscenes.

A Steam page is supposed to be up today, but it isn’t showing up right now (update: it’s live). Maybe it was only a frog pretending to be a Steam page. Who knows! Here are some features:

Time-Traveling Adventure: From an age where dinosaurs roam to the far-flung future and alternate realms in between – travel across fantastic and distinctive time periods, and discover the threads that bind the ages. Uncover an epic tale of interwoven fates, and secrets that shaped civilizations…and follow the threads of a sinister plot that traverses the tapestry of time.

Timeless Turn-Based Combat: Weave together powerful attacks in visually dynamic, strategic turn-based battles. Bend time to your will, unravel enemies’ defenses, and unleash your party’s full potential through devastating team combos.

Heroes From Across Ages: Assemble a party of charismatic and unique characters recruited from different eras. Restore the ancient Order of the Time Knights and unite heroes from across epochs to defend the timeline from impending chaos and corruption.

Retro Charm Meets Modern Visuals: Step into vibrant worlds powered by Unreal Engine 5, meet lovingly hand-crafted 2D characters and experience the timeless charm of pixel art as you explore through the ages. Threads of Time captures the essence of your favorite retro RPGs, wrapped in a new and immersive adventure.

“I’m distracted by them using “AD” and “BC” though. Christ exists in this fiction? So did God invent magic, then? Was Jesus a wizard? Tell me more plz,” mused Graham in Slack. It’s been a while since I’ve played Chrono Trigger (which I enjoyed, before you go feral on me in the comments), but some searching tells me the ‘B.C’ in that stood for ‘Before Cedric’. Will Threads Of Time also feature a Cedric? What if it’s Jesus transformed into a Cedric? I await these answers longingly.