Square Enix to release jazz album for classic RPG ‘Chrono Trigger’

Developer and publisher Square Enix has revealed a new soundtrack album for its beloved RPG Chrono Trigger to release early in 2022.

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The new album will be the fifth in Square Enix’s Jazz Album series, seeing fan-favourite game scores performed in new jazz-inspired arrangements (thanks, SiliconEra).

The album, which is available for pre-order in Japan now for ¥3,300 (around £21.50/$28.75), will feature performances by Eijiro Nakagawa on trombone and bassist Ryu Kawamura and – per online translation – “will deliver carefully selected songs from Chrono Trigger in full-scale jazz”.

The full tracklist is as follows:

• ‘Peaceful Days’
• ‘Frog’s Theme’
• ‘Lavos’ Theme’
• ‘Robo’s Theme’
• ‘The Brink of Time’
• ‘Battle with Magus’
• ‘Schala’s Theme’
• ‘Chrono and Marle ~Far Off Promise~’
• ‘World Revolution’
• ‘Outskirts of Time’
• ‘Chrono Trigger’

Chrono Trigger was originally released on the Super Nintendo in 1995, conceived by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, Dragon Quest’s designer Yuji Horii, and Akira Toriyama, creator of the popular manga and anime series Dragon Ball. The game, which saw time travelling heroes trying to avert the destruction of their planet, became one of the most highly regarded RPGs of the 16-bit era.

Although the original SNES release and its 1999 enhanced port for the first PlayStation only saw release in Japan and North America, Chrono Trigger would eventually get a wider international release with its 2008 Nintendo DS port. It also saw ports to Android and iOS before getting a global PC release via Steam in 2018.

Its score was primarily composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, with some support from Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu. Although the newly announced Chrono Trigger album is currently restricted to the Japanese release, previous entries in the Jazz Album series have been released in the west by Square Enix – fingers crossed, this will join their ranks.

Elsewhere, free-to-play RPG Genshin Impact has revealed two new characters who will join the game’s roster in the coming months, while rats named after creators of the original Doom have been taught how to play the game.

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