I don’t think it’s fair to say not to bother with Chrono Cross but I do agree it’s important to stress how unrelated to Chrono Trigger it is. As a sequel it fails. But as its own stand alone JRPG, I think it’s great.

Personally I love Chrono Cross and how different it was. And the music is ridiculously good (Yasunori Mitsuda main Chrono Trigger composer.)

I think it’s worth a go. It starts you somewhere in the middle of the story so you get action straight away. So anyone who tries it will know quickly if it will be up their alley without having to invest too much time.