The quirky RPG Live A Live is a fascinating time capsule from an era when RPGs still experimented heavily with structure and ideas, and its long-awaited remake proves that the best and weirdest attempts at those experiments can still shine today.
The story structure of Live A Live
The unusual story structure, with seven different vignettes ranging from prehistory to the distant, space-faring future, is immediately noticeable after decades of grandiose, linear RPGs. And the initially disparate storylines are held together and held together by an ensemble cast of lovable characters. But what really makes Live A Live a triumph is the way it pulls together its various storylines to subvert expectations of JRPGs, not only as they existed in 1994 when it was first made, but somehow still almost three decades later in 2022.
The original from Live A Live
Most of the best aspects of the Live A Live remake were in the original, which makes it all the more unfortunate that it never made it to the West in the '90s. Still, the remake would have been worth it even if you already knew the story and gameplay. While the original wasn't Square's prettiest RPG even for the time, the HD 2D look Octopath Traveler introduced is still indispensable when it comes to blending sprite-based nostalgia with modern 3D possibilities associate.
Gorgeous graphics
Live A Live is beautiful, full of eye-catching color schemes and memorable snaps where Square has taken full advantage of the depth of its 3D backgrounds. Be it in memorable moments like a shinobi running across the rooftops in the purple twilight, or sparkling sunlight dripping into a castle's throne room.
The chapters in Live A Live
On the surface, all seven of Live A Live's vignettes are unconnected, and it largely doesn't matter which one you start or end with. You can even take a chapter, put it away, start another, and come back to the first later when it suits you. Live A Live follows your progress in each story, even if you save a file, a feature that can be used very often, as discovering numerous fun hidden secrets can make you revisit chapters you thought you were you have combed them thoroughly.
epochs and characters
Not only do the different chapters take place in different eras, but each of them features unique characters and mechanics that suit it. In the prehistory, for example, the language hasn't been invented yet, so the whole narrative is done in a brilliant way with animations and visuals.
Your sense of smell in the Stone Age
Here and only here, as the protagonist or the caveman Pogo, you can use his keen sense of smell to track down the location of NPCs or enemies he's looking for. The Edo period shinobi Oboromaru can cloak himself in shadow to hide from enemies and complete an entire chapter without killing a single human, or he can brutally murder his way through the mansion he is invading .
The gunslinger
The Sundown Kid, a gunslinger from the Wild West, doesn't fight nearly as much as the others. Instead, he works with the townsfolk to set traps for the evil squad to set out to wreak havoc. Akira from Near Future can read minds and teleport out of combat, although his teleport ability is intentionally a bit unreliable. Despite being very different, all of the cast of Live A Live manage to make each other likeable in their respective stories.
Characterization and Voice Output
The characterization of the 2022 Live-A-Live Remake is further enhanced with the introduction of voice acting, which can be heard in all key scenes in the story. Both Japanese and English audio tracks are available, and while the English voice acting in chapters like Edo Japan felt a bit awkward at times, for an RPG that focuses so much on building an ensemble cast of interesting characters, having voice acting at all was quite a plus to have.
Every era and its struggle
The unique flavor of each protagonist, era, and theme also comes through in combat. While all seven characters use the same grid system to move around the field and execute attacks on the enemies in turn-based combat, Live A Live manages to themed each protagonist's movements in a way that effectively reflects their personality. Oboromaru, a ninja, uses many area-of-effect abilities to set traps on the field and force enemies to either move or take damage. Sundown has a gun, so everything he does is at long range.
The fighting techniques
The Shifu Master Earthen Heart from Imperial China can teach his students martial arts techniques while training them, while contemporary Masaru Takahara learns the martial arts techniques from his enemies. In the far future, the support robot Cube doesn't fight at all, except in an optional arcade game on his spaceship. Learning how each of the seven different characters can use the same combat system throughout Live A Live is one of the greatest pleasures, and it never fails to impress how the connection between combat and character either drives the story forward or something interesting about a character tell who you like.
The enemy
Each chapter's enemies are tailored to each character's unique abilities, and the deceptively simple grid system has a ton of tricks up its sleeves. The deeper you delve into each chapter, the more you'll be forced to calculate with the grid, not only to plan your attacks, but also to anticipate enemy movements and dodge them so your team isn't decimated.
chapters and nuances
In some chapters there are additional nuances, e.g. B. enemy weaknesses and resistances to certain types of attacks or enemy captains that take the rest of the team with them when they are destroyed. Don't underestimate Live A Live's combat system, especially if you want to take on the well-hidden handful of ultra-tough secret bosses spread across multiple chapters.
A piece of history
Originally released in Japan in 1994, the non-linear ensemble adventure Live A Live hasn't officially made it to the West to date, but has served as inspiration for numerous beloved RPGs that have come out since. Octopath Traveler finally made its mark on the field in 2018, and it's even easier to see in Live A Live the broad outlines of what director Takashi Tokita would later bring back into a more traditional story structure in Chrono Trigger.
Live a Live and the RPG
Live A Live's influence has also clearly spilled over into its less direct successors, from modern square RPGs like the Bravely games to indie titles like Undertale. Undertale creator Toby Fox has spoken openly about how Live A Live's boss theme, Megalomania, inspired his own now-famous boss tune, the aptly named Megalovania. From a historical perspective alone, Live A Live is a must for RPG lovers who want to learn about the curious precursor to some of the most famous games in the genre.
Combat and playfield mechanics
All of Live A Live's combat and field mechanics play beautifully within the context of each chapter, many of which borrow gently but not overtly from popular film, television, and even gaming tropes. In the first few hours you can get the plot of Far Future from some popular SFmovies, Present Day is a clear homage to arcade fighting games, Near Future opens with all the bombast of a mech anime, and Imperial China plays like a stereotypical kung fu movie... until suddenly it doesn't. While some of the vignettes are certainly stronger than others, they all manage, in different ways, to subvert the tropes they embrace.
Upside down
The best thing about Live A Live is the way it makes you suspicious of what it's all about and then confirms your suspicions before it turns them on their head. As you play through these vignettes and reach their various endings, you realize there's more to it than that.
The Red Thread
As you play through these vignettes and reach their various endings, you quickly notice a very obvious common thread between them, and you expected that thread to reward you when you complete them all with something fairly obvious and RPG-esque, like an extra one Boss fight maybe or a cutscene or two. What you get is a full 10 hours of video game in addition to the 15 or so hours it took you up to that point, crammed with multiple key twists, deeply emotional and triumphant moments, multiple mysteries and side quests, and multiple endings depending on the choices you make have. Thank you Square Enix for 20 separate save slots.
The combat system and grinding
Unfortunately, your biggest problem with Live A Live lies in this second half. While most of the seven vignettes are fairly tight, concise stories, with the possible exception of Near Future, with its needless errands in an orphanage, the final act is full of obnoxiously grindy random battles that slow the momentum to a crawl. It's incomprehensible why this mechanic would be used in the final hours when any other combat system, including avoidable enemies roaming the overworld, or even just a toggle to turn off encounters, would have worked just fine.
Little coincidence
Hardly any of the other vignettes feature random combat, and while you'll need to complete a certain amount of combat to complete the final challenge, there's a definite point where the grinding becomes trivial and you're in front of one about every five to ten seconds fight. In Live A Live's defense, the excessive random battles pick up on a genre trope that it otherwise very effectively subverts, but at a certain point that trope falls away and is just plain exhausting.
Excessive chance encounters
It's a shame because this section was the part of Live A Live where you're constantly rooting for yourself and wanting to know what's going to happen next. I don't think the excessive random encounters hurt enthusiasm dramatically, but considering how unexciting the first 15 hours are, it's certainly a frustration to be prepared for, especially when you visit all the optional dungeons and want to explore all the mysteries available in the later game. Those who just want to make it to the final battle will have an easier time.
The soundtrack
The soundtrack by Yoko Shimomura, known from Kingdom Hearts, supports the atmosphere. Their original soundtrack for Live A Live was excellent in its own right, and with the modern audio capabilities and their own 2022 overhauls, it's only gotten better. The boss theme, Megalomania, is rightfully among their best work, and you can now listen to the remake version on repeat for days.
Conclusion
Live A Live is a fascinating piece of JRPG history that is more than worth the effort Square Enix has put into reissuing it decades later for a global audience with a beautiful new art style. The unusual vignette structure and endearing cast make them a pleasure to spend time with, largely thanks to the added voice acting, and the outcome of the story is still surprising and outstanding among JRPGs decades after the original release. The seven different characters use the deceptively simple combat system in imaginative and surprising ways, adding even more spice to the challenging optional boss fights.
A fascinating remake
The remake could have put a little more effort into toning down some of the original's boring grind towards the end. By the time this grind kicks in, Live A Live has already done so many snags you can't put it down. Live A Live is an intriguing JRPG time machine that finally comes into its own thanks to a remake that makes the most of its seven stories, strong combat and unusual structure.
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