Yes, they are linked together. Chrono Trigger took place 20 years before the events of Chrono Cross. It's not really the same though. They have different characters, battle-system, etc. Chrono Trigger is based on a time hopping theme, instead of the dimension warping of Chrono Cross. Chrono Trigger is AMAZING! If you haven't played it you need to get it. It answers a lot of questions from Chrono Cross as well. Like the school house burning, and stuff like that. If I were you, I would get the PSX version (Final Fantasy Chronicles) instead of the SNES version. It has a bunch of awesome stuff like hand-drawn cut scenes, new attacks, it's cheaper (!!!) etc. It's very good. GET IT!!!