Chrono Bind registration is for Final Fantasy XIII-2 DLC [Update]

Square Enix has registered a domains for chronobind.com and chronobind.net, related to the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII-2 DLC and not the fan-favorite classic series.

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Update: Kotaku reports that Chrono Bind is actually the name of a casino game in the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII-2 DLC. It seems likely that Square Enix is merely registering a dedicated domain for its casino game. Shacknews apologizes for the error.

Original Story: Fans have been clamoring for another sequel to the beloved classic Chrono Trigger for years. It's been over a decade since Chrono Cross arrived on PS1. Isn't it time for a follow-up? Square Enix has now registered a domain what could be the next franchise entry, titled "Chrono Bind."

Not much is known about the registry besides its mere existence. Siliconera reports that the company registered chronobind.com and chronobind.net domain on Friday.

Square Enix has a history of registrations before official game announcements, as in the case of Final Fantasy XIII-2. Because Chrono Bind is not a numbered sequel, the domain can't be shrugged off as protection against domain squatters.

If Chrono Bind does come to fruition, it's hard to tell which direction Square Enix will go. Chrono Trigger was a light-hearted time-traveling romp, while Chrono Cross took a darker direction and explored alternate universes created by time travel. For what it's worth, Square recognizes the fan community built around Chrono Trigger, having released the game for DS, Virtual Console, PSN, and iOS last year.

It is remote possibility, of course, that Square is just starting a new series with no relation to Chrono Trigger or Chrono Cross whatsoever. But teasing us like this would just be cruel.

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  • reply
    February 27, 2012 7:30 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Chrono Bind domain registered by Square Enix.

    Square Enix has registered a domains for chronobind.com and chronobind.net, leading to speculation that the company is planning another sequel in the Chrono Trigger series.

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      February 27, 2012 7:34 AM

      Please Square Enix.... dont screw this up :(

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      February 27, 2012 7:45 AM

      HOLY SHIT I JUST JIZZED

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        February 27, 2012 7:45 AM

        P.S. Please make this a real sequel instead of a stupid game where I play as an evil wolfman for 20 hours :/

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      February 27, 2012 7:59 AM

      [deleted]

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      February 27, 2012 8:03 AM

      [deleted]

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      February 27, 2012 8:10 AM

      Ugh. No thanks. Square Enix isn't the same anymore

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        February 27, 2012 8:25 AM

        [deleted]

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          February 27, 2012 9:16 AM

          You mean the universally praised Chrono Cross?

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            February 27, 2012 10:23 AM

            Trigger was still better.

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            February 27, 2012 11:36 AM

            Chrono Cross, or "Goddammit another party member!?!?"

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              February 27, 2012 11:43 AM

              Yes, this drove me insane. I basically didn't care about the cast bcs there were so many of them. The ones from CT were ALL so memorable.

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            February 27, 2012 11:43 AM

            It may have been, but I think it was riding the whole "wow RPGs are getting mainstream attn" wave following FF7 on the PSOne.

            I think Chrono Cross lacked a lot of the charm Chrono Trigger had. Also, The latter is perhaps my favorite game of all time so I am biased.

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              February 27, 2012 11:47 AM

              Chrono Cross is an amazing game and got the recognition it deserved due to its own merits.

              Divorce your nostalgia from the experience and re-play it sometime, it's truly a great game that's been buried as the years have passed simply because it's not quite as good as CT.

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                February 27, 2012 11:54 AM

                The art, presentation and music yes - the story and depth no.

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                  February 27, 2012 12:07 PM

                  I think the overall story in Cross was better. Yup I said it.

                  Trigger was an excellent character driven story but the actual story itself was pretty basic. Cross on the other had was incredibly deep and multifaceted, however it of course depended on Triggers story as a base.

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                    February 27, 2012 12:10 PM

                    Really, did you feel connected to the faceless characters at all?

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                      February 27, 2012 12:13 PM

                      Characterization and story are two different things. You can have a good story with faceless characters and Chrono Cross was exactly that. Trigger dealt with people messing with time to save the world. Cross dealt with the real consequences of doing such a thing and I thought it was a very interesting take as a follow-up to Chrono Trigger.

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                        February 27, 2012 1:17 PM

                        Chrono Cross didn't make any god damned sense. I'll have to read a spoiler about how it's "supposed" to go down but I spent like 2 hours repeating the same introductory sequence over and over again and then got introduced to a bunch of characters that disappeared from the universe and had no sense of direction the entire time.

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                February 27, 2012 12:12 PM

                I'm actually planning on doing just that. It is one of the few PSOne games I still have.

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                February 27, 2012 12:28 PM

                I've tried to play it 3 times based on things people like you have said, and I've failed to get more than half way through. I found it boring, I didn't care about the characters, and I found the gamesystems/battle system un-fun.

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                  February 27, 2012 12:46 PM

                  Dude the battle system is one of the best on the PS1.

                  When's the last time you played FF7/8/9? I think Cross' system is way better than what they use.

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                    February 27, 2012 1:18 PM

                    The battle system is one of the few things that kept me going in CC, though I can see it's not for everyone.

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                      February 27, 2012 1:27 PM

                      The battle system is pretty solid, and the way character advancement is handled is probably one of the most appropriate solutions to the abundance of meaningless RPG encounters ever.

                      I wish more RPGs had embraced the idea of small battles being just a little bonus or maybe for some loot, but major story battles/boss fights being the ones that advance your character.

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                        February 27, 2012 1:47 PM

                        Yeah, character strength being tied to story that was was pretty cool.

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            February 27, 2012 1:42 PM

            [deleted]

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      February 27, 2012 8:32 AM

      We've updated the story, as it seems likely now that the registration is regarding a piece of upcoming Final Fantasy XIII-2 DLC. Shacknews apologizes for the error.

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      February 27, 2012 8:38 AM

      Holy shit.

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      February 27, 2012 9:18 AM

      FUCKING. COCKTEASE.

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      February 27, 2012 10:27 AM

      Hmm... They did this quite a few years ago with Chrono Break, but nothing ever happened with that.

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      February 27, 2012 11:39 AM

      I would have been excited for this years ago, but everything after FFX has been pretty mediocre.

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        February 27, 2012 11:52 AM

        13-2 is good man - I'm telling you, it's a good game.

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        February 27, 2012 12:25 PM

        XII is worth a re-visit. It's honestly one of the best JRPGs ever.

        • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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          February 27, 2012 1:19 PM

          Not a fan of the push to AI-controlled party members. FFXII was the beginning of the end.

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            February 27, 2012 1:33 PM

            It's the only way. The battle systems are too fast paced now to deal with full party command input.

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              February 27, 2012 1:34 PM

              why fix what ain't broke? ATB was so glorious.

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                February 27, 2012 1:36 PM

                It's incredibly boring. ATB is the worst part of older Final Fantasy games. The current jRPG battle systems are all far superior to anything that came from ATB Final Fantasy.

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                  February 27, 2012 1:38 PM

                  I have to agree. For me, it's either the current system and all it's fast paced excitement, or back to FFX's system of true turn based battles.

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                  February 27, 2012 1:45 PM

                  To be honest, all JRPGs suffer from the same affliction of getting terribly tedious.

                  It's tough to design a good SP battle system for a 60+ hour game without becoming boring halfway through.

                  FWIW, I think XIII did a decent job, but it took waaaay too long to get rolling with enough action points to make things interesting.

                  XII was far too autonomous for me to enjoy. I might give it another stab, but goddamn.

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                    February 27, 2012 1:49 PM

                    I can tell you that as you start doing hunts you will start wishing for more autonomy in FFXII. There is plenty to do and you are never just staring at your characters hitting things. Like I said, these game are moving to AI party members because the battle system are getting complex enough where you are too busy just dealing with controlling a single character. And there is nothing wrong with that, plus Enix and Namco have been doing this since the SNES days.

                • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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                  February 27, 2012 2:23 PM

                  Completely and utterly disagree with you. We are at an impasse.

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                February 28, 2012 1:27 AM

                ATB is a dead end.

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            February 27, 2012 1:33 PM

            You've still got basically full control of them in XII in that you design their AI routines and can intervene at any moment.

            I'm more specifically referring to the world structure (MMO esque), and more down-to-earth story and characters.

            It's understandably divisive, though.

            • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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              February 27, 2012 2:25 PM

              I did like the world, the art, the story, etc.

              Unfortunately, the battle system is such an important part of the game, and was at the far end of the spectrum from "fun" for me, that it completely killed my enjoyment of the game.

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      February 27, 2012 11:41 AM

      lol quality reporting

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      February 27, 2012 11:45 AM

      Nope! Will be an iOS game not related to the Chrono series in any way.

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