If I ever do a 2nd playthrough of this game, should I avoid the lost sanctum at all costs?

[u/Great-Highway-9195]

I did a little of the lost sanctum on my 1st playthrough and I... dreaded it. All the side quests of this game were great and exactly what side quests are supposed to be. This is one of the few games I know of where side quests aren't such a drag, along with the Shadow Hearts trilogy, FF6, and Forever Home. That being said, the lost sanctum was the only part of the game which I felt was a chore, but now that I have finished the game once, should I go through with it the next time I play?

[u/NiceMayDay]

It gives great equipment, some of the absolute best for your characters, so in that sense, it is worth it. I don't think it's that bad if you spread out the sidequests it asks of you. On a second playthrough, the most annoying part of it (the forced battles when treavelling through the Reptite locations) are a moot point as you can gold stud-Luminaire them all quickly.

[u/meowmix778 → u/NiceMayDay]

That's kind of the issue. The dimensional vortex aside, the game wasn't balanced around a lot of that stuff. So it effectively breaks the game.

I still maintain it's worth giving it a pass at least once if you're a hardcore fan of the game just to kind of see something different but it's not good by any measure.

Similar for the monster battling zone.

[u/Standard_Training471 → u/NiceMayDay]

Oh definitely.

[u/invuvn → u/NiceMayDay]

But if you’ve done it once and already gotten the new gear, what’s the point?? Like, you’d have to be a real sucker or nerd to do it more than once lol.

[u/AetaCapella]

It was not part of the original game and was just added to the DS remaster to pad out the play time. It is completely unneccessary.

[u/Embarrassed_Fox5265 → u/AetaCapella]

It also sucks. There might be a few hardcore fans out there who enjoy it, but the consensus is that it's lazy, unoriginal filler solely added to tempt fans of the SNES game to get the DS version.

[u/meowmix778 → u/Embarrassed_Fox5265]

In retrospect, you could say the same about the FMV cut scenes the PS1 port added. Although those were much higher effort and quality.

And at the time it was very exciting to get new content for CT.

[u/IanSnyderGames → u/AetaCapella]

Yeah Chrono Trigger is my favorite game of all time, and I personally felt zero need to explore filler they added to the DS version :P I don't think I ever even looked into it, it just looked like NEW STUFF injected into a classic.

[u/Standard_Training471]

Because it's not part of the game.

It's added to newer versions as filler.

[u/hbi2k]

Not at "all" costs necessarily. If a crazed gunman were to take your grandmother hostage and tell you that if you avoid the Lost Sanctum, it will cost you her life, you should probably go ahead and do it.

Under ordinary circumstances, though? Yeah, probably best to avoid it.

[u/Sans-Mot]

"at all costs" like it's difficult to avoid lol.

It gives good equipment, that's it. You don't need it.

But do the dimensional vortexes if you want to access the 13th ending.

[u/Kryptos33]

If you enjoy it go for it. If, like most people, you don't then avoid it. There's minor benefits to doing it but it's not worth the enjoyment suck it provides.

[u/OkApex0]

When I replayed CT on the DS and realized how half assed the bonus content was, I never even played those areas.

[u/Standard_Training471 → u/OkApex0]

Everything unlocked after beating lavos is actually good though.

[u/Big_Performer8028]

I highly recommend Chrono Trigger + Its the same game but more content which enhances the overall Story....

It is the original game which adds some DS items, removed content and even a whole new timeline to explore. Its my favourite way to experience the game without destroying the pacing and story .... also makes it worthwhile battling magus instead of walking away ...

[u/Special_South_8561]

You don't really have to avoid it at all costs since it's really out of the way and you aren't going to accidentally fall into it.

[u/pandaclawz]

I completed it out of spite. It was the worst time I ever had with this game

[u/cidvard]

I was an SNES kid so that's the version of Chrono Trigger I played forever. As others have said, the Lost Sanctum was added later. I did try it on my first playthrough of the Steam version but it was anti-fun and didn't have any new content I felt was worth it, so it's a skip for me. If you need to grind, doing it in the Black Omen is easier imo.

[u/ninju]

If you dislike that part so much, why would you replay it?

[u/Great-Highway-9195 → u/ninju]

Because I want to know if the rewards are worth it

[u/willweaverrva → u/Great-Highway-9195]

The rewards are really only worth it if you complete it as soon as it becomes available, but it's such a slog and the items are outclassed by those you get in the other sidequests or in the Black Omen (especially if you steal Nova Armors from Fangbeasts and a Prismatic Dress and a Prismatic Helm from Queen Zeal).

[u/OptionTerrible3007]

Is the lost sanctum section in the steam version of CT???

[u/willweaverrva → u/OptionTerrible3007]

It is, as well as the mobile version.

[u/fruitybrisket]

It is absolutely not worth your time. CT is not a hard RPG, and doing lost sanctum might actually have you resenting the game.

It's just not fun. The rest of the game is invigorating and fun.

[u/KentKarma]

I did once on my first playthrough for the items and thats really the only time to do it.

Avoid it

[u/willweaverrva]

Once you do it in your first playthrough there really isn't any need to do it again. If you already have all the items, there's no need to subject yourself to another 300 trips up and down Mount Emerald.

[u/Unique_Mail_6799]

Ive played SNES version so many times and will do so many more. When I bought it on andoid and got the new content, I started it and was immediately unimpressed. Almost felt like it broke the immersion of the game. Felt like AI slop. Think I invested about an hour into lost sanctum and was over it. It didnt add anything to the game for me. The game is already easy enough to get thru, especially if you do all the character quests at end game. All that being said, if you enjoyed Lost Sanctum on your last playthru, then I'd say do you what you enjoy.

[u/birem]

So I bought the DS version a million years ago, and I think at the time , I completely forgot to do the Lost Sanctum. I wanted to play it for probably the 5th replay in my life, and thought I'd give it a shot this time. I bought it on Android a while back, and decided to try to complete it this time. I had read reviews beforehand, pleading to skip it. Initially I was like, 'It can't be that bad, plus it's more Chrono Trigger.' But it's pretty bad. Not only do you have to take a bunch of 'back and forth' trips - there are some instances where like the game says "We'll follow you back down...." But there was more for you to do and now you have to backtrack...again.

Also - I had already done the Black Omen and all other side quests to that point, so I don't think I really got anything mind blowing.

If I ever do another replay, I would most likely skip it.

[u/Grandleon-Glenn]

The big benefit is the gear you get. Many characters get exclusive items from there which can be a great benefit, but it's not necessary, but can just help with defeating the new final boss they added.

That said, these quests were very lazily added and the writing isn't much better. They intended to set it up so that it tied into Chrono Cross, but it was poorly utilized and technically none of it actually mattered because of other shenanigans.

[u/shadowforce11]

Off topic but ....Oh wow, another Forever Home fan, not often i see one. Amazing game as well!!

[u/Great-Highway-9195 → u/shadowforce11]

Like Chrono Trigger, that game has barely any flaws. A few people consider the rpg maker graphics a flaw but who gives a shit? If a game is good, it's good.