You can fight in various time periods. That's the catch. They all lead to different endings. If you want, you can finish the game by going to the end of time at the beginning. You get 11 different endings. If you can't beat it, you're not strong enough. Get stronger and come back. Level 50 and above is good. Some entrances lock the endings.

Originally posted by spy:

You can fight in various time periods. That's the catch. They all lead to different endings. If you want, you can finish the game by going to the end of time at the beginning. You get 11 different endings. If you can't beat it, you're not strong enough. Get stronger and come back. Level 50 and above is good. Some entrances lock the endings.

I see that now. However, apparently the "long run" of fighting both Zael and lavos different modus is the only way to get the "good ending". I dont know, it´s not that I cannot do it, it is that suffering through all this battles just to be killed by an unexpected attack and then having to repeat the whole thing seems... Too much.

If you prepare well for it, it's really not that tough. Best suggestion I can offer is use Crono Marle and Ayla and spam Final Kick. With enough levels and the right gear you should be doing close to max damage, and raising everyone's speed plus haste means you can usually get a few in per turn. Even the final phase of Lavos can't stand up very long to that onslaught.

I normally even go to the extreme of working through the Black Omen 3 times, in 1000 AD, 600 AD, and 12000 BC, just cuz I love that Black Omen bgm, and the exp gain is great and you can steal tabs from a number of enemies to make things even easier if you want.

Also, the first phase of Lavos is one time only regardless of how, or how many times, you approach the battle. So, you could deal with it via the bucket, leave using the gate, and then go through the Black Omen and take out Zeal, and you won't have to do phase one of Lavos again. Even doing the Black Omen multiple times, you only face phase one once.

I finally managed to do it. I killed the first Lavo´s stage and then I did the whole Black Omen dungeon plus Queen Zeal plus the last two forms of Lavos.

I missed the chance to defeat Zael 3 times since the very firts time I defeated her was on -12.000, I should have followed a future-to-past order instead of the opposite.

After all I felt very good when I killed Lavos, it was a very close battle even with my characters at lvl 53 and some important items equipped. I tried so many times that I felt I was playing a Fromsoftware game. Crono, Frog and Ayla were my champions. Triple Strike my technique of choice and lots and lots of Elixirs.

Now I understand the importance of this title in videogame´s history, So many mechanics and ways of doing things have been repeated until now that it feels almost as if the genre has not eveloped. Truly a masterpiece.

Originally posted by El enterrado:

Do not read this if you have not finished the game.

WTF is that for a fight? I have to defeat Queen Zeal 1 Human, 2 Receptacle, 3 Face and hands. After that, I have toi fight Lavos chaging its attack modus resembling some previous boss fights, all of that in a row wihtout the chance to save the game. Also if you die you have to fight Queen Zael all over again plus Lavos. I was really enjoying the game but I think this is far too frustrating for me.

I just finished the game going through the Dark Omen. I was lvl 50-54 with my Characters, Chrono, Magus and Frog. Chrono focused on all magic resistant things and with his Rainbow sword and rage band, he counter attacks and crits all the frikkin time. Magus had the gold stud so his magic cost almost nothing just spamming the best spells for the fights. Frog focused on healing and stabbing when the party was full. Was a walk in the park that way.

Originally posted by spy:

You can fight in various time periods. That's the catch. They all lead to different endings. If you want, you can finish the game by going to the end of time at the beginning. You get 11 different endings. If you can't beat it, you're not strong enough. Get stronger and come back. Level 50 and above is good. Some entrances lock the endings.

Fighting in different time periods has nothing to do with the ending. It has to do with how far you are in the story and most endings can't/won't be achieved on a first playthrough, but with New Game Plus.

It’s a lot easier than you think. But yeah older games are always a grind.