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Every good time-travel yarn teaches us something valuable. 

Back to the Future teaches us about the dangers of dating your own mom. The Terminator series teaches us about how robots can learn catchphrases just like humans.

And Chrono Trigger, one of the defining RPGs of a generation, is no less rife with important messages. 

On our journey with Crono and his companions we subconsciously absorbed lessons about many facets of life. Here are a few: 

Following a showdown so awesome it blows a hole in time and several flashbacks emotional enough for some weird amphibian Lifetime movie, Glenn the frogman is faced with the being that killed his idol and turned him into a monster.  Magus. Glenn has a decision: loose his legendary sword from its scabbard and drive the blade into the throat of the warlock who has caused him endless pain, or...

Let Magus go. Forgive.

Whoa, Gandhi, what is this shit? Kill him! And yes, there are benefits to revenge: release, closure, perhaps even a happier ending.

But let him live, and your team will add to its ranks a dark magic-wielding, scythe-spinning sociopathic wizard-warrior who is cooler than ten gazillion ginger protagonists.

Choose wisely.

When put on trial for kidnapping the king's cute daughter, Crono is faced with some serious cross-examination. Apparently Crono does not have enough GP at this point in the game to hire the 1,000 AD equivalent of Johnnie Cochran, so he's stuck with a court-appointed named "Pierre" who is clearly in over his head. Therefore, Crono is on his own when responding to questions like:

"Her fortune DID tempt you, did it not?"

And, "You remember HER, don't you?  The poor little girl who lost her cat?"

And, of course, "WHY did you bring a shovel, a flashlight and a handle of whiskey along to Leene Square that fateful day?"

Uh, okay, so maybe the last one isn't in there. Point is, Crono is forced to implicate himself by talking about how he ate a dude's lunch one time or how he didn't find a little girl's kitten.  Either he lies and he's caught by the prosecution, or he tells the truth and he's even more screwed. None of this would be a problem had he used three magical words:

"I don't recall."

The Kingdom of Zeal drew its power from a well deep under the sea which mined a very special commodity. The citizens became more and more dependent on it, until one day disaster struck. The facility was destroyed, and the repercussions were catastrophic, changing the fate of the entire world. Not that this has any real resonance with today's problems.

Okay, so maybe this theme isn't unique to Chrono Trigger. But CT was rather novel in its approach to giving players different endings based on their choices in-game. What was developed upon much later in games like Bioshock and Deus Ex was largely pioneered here - that feeling that the actions of your heroes weren't just meaningless multiple choice answers in a set plot, they were moral decisions with consequences. After we bested Lavos, we ventured into the world beyond the screen with a strange, nearly paradoxical duality in our heads - we are all important in some way, slated for some destiny that only the future can reveal... but we can change our destiny - change our future - if we care enough.

I DON'T KNOW BUT I'VE BEEN TOLD

GATO'S JOINTS ARE MIGHTY OLD

I DON'T KNOW BUT IT'S BEEN SAID

FIFTEEN SILVER POINTS IF YOU SHOOT HIM DEAD