LIVE A LIVE

Review

LIVE A LIVE is a unique RPG originally released in 1994 for the SNES in Japan only. After so many years, the game finally gets a worldwide release on PC and console with a brand new remake featuring a visual style similar to the HD-2D from the Octopath Traveler series. The game allows you to take the role of seven protagonists during different time periods and locations through a collection of anthological chapters, covering the Prehistoric era, the Wild West, Imperial China, Feudal Japan, the Present Day, Near Future and the Distant Future. You can play these stories in any order and you can even take a pause from one and move to the other if you feel like, just remember to save your data before going back to the chapter selection. Saving is not restricted to save points, so you can save anytime you want using up to twenty slots. The story structure is certainly unusual for a RPG (even more at the time it was released), as you dive through all these unconventional scenarios trying to figure out if they are somehow connected, only to realize that the journey is more important than the destination and LIVE A LIVE gives plenty of reasons to feel attached to each protagonist’s story. Chapters have the perfect length, between 1-3 hours, so imagine them like episodes from a TV-show. The variety of environments helps to reduce the sense of repetition that usually affects these kind of games after playing for many hours.

Gameplay features classic turn-based tactical battles taking place on a grid where you can move your characters. Each one of them has a set of attacks and skills that can only be used at distance or close to the enemy, so knowing how to place your units on the grid is very important. Characters learn new abilities after leveling up but there isn’t a mana pool, so you can use them as much as you want. Other combat actions include using items from the inventory, fleeing from battle (when possible) or skipping your turn. Overall, combat only offers a basic experience for the genre and the same can be said for the equipment options which are pretty generic. Difficulty tends to be mostly easy, except for some secret bosses that are clearly meant to make you suffer. Yet combat is not everything in this game and while all chapters share the same turn-based grid, some of them include different gameplay mechanics to spice things up. For example, the Twilight of Edo Japan chapter will give you the choice of being more violent and defeat every enemy that crosses your path, or being a pacifist and using stealth to avoid fights. The Present Day chapter instead will give you a Street Fighter experience, with 1vs1 turn-based combat against a selection of enemies that resemble the ones from the iconic Capcom series.

I never played the original LIVE A LIVE, but after watching a video I can definitely say that graphically the difference is huge. The HD-2D visual style is fantastic, with backgrounds showing more detail and depth as well new special effects. Character’s sprites have also been improved and now look cleaner and colorful, though in my opinion they don’t reach the quality of the Octopath Traveler sprites. Soundtrack was composed and remixed by the legendary Yoko Shimomura (Kingdom Hearts, Parasite Eve, Xenoblade Chronicles, Final Fantasy XV etc.), with each music theme perfectly fitting all the different periods of time. Characters are fully voiced in English/Japanese language and after trying both I can say they are good enough, though the English ones are less convincing.

LIVE A LIVE feels like a much needed HD-2D remake for people who never got a chance to play the original. It would have certainly been a blast playing this game back in the ‘90s, with such experimental story structure and turn-based combat on a battle grid. Nowadays it feels less innovative, but I think lot of RPGs fans will still love it because it offers something different compared to more standard role playing games; just don’t go in expecting Octopath Traveler because of the visuals or because there are many different protagonists (it’s more similar to Chrono Trigger actually). Keep in mind that this is not the usual RPG that lasts 30+ hours with side quests and other activities. It’s a linear game that takes around 20 hours to complete, with only minor replayability given by multiple endings and secret boss fights.

Review written by Sonic Punk for Zeepond.com

LIVE A LIVE Steam Store Page