Live A Live (NSW) Review

A journey through time.

 Squaresoft were the kings of the RPG genre back in the 90's, dishing-out classics such as Chrono Trigger and the famed Final Fantasy series that were worldwide hits. Their smaller, more obscure games, however, didn't see much success outside Japan, such is the case with 1994's Live A Live for the SNES. A unique RPG where you can pick and choose eight different stories from various time periods, it was a quirky game that didn't see a western release until recently as a remake for the Nintendo Switch. Featuring the unique "HD-2D" aesthetic seen in Octopath Traveler, does Live A Live hold up after all these years or is it a relic of the past?

 The game follows the tales of seven heroes from various eras in history, each with their own trials and challenges to overcome. Pogo is a young caveman from the Prehistoric Era who must save a young girl from being sacrificed by a rival tribe; The Earthern Heart Shifu is an ageing martial artist in Imperial China who searches for pupils to pass down his teachings; Oboromaru is a ninja from Feudal Japan on a mission to rescue an important prisoner; Sundown Kid is a wanted gunslinger in the Wild West who must protect a helpless town from a gang of outlaws; Masaru, a Present Day fighter who travels the world to fight tough warriors; Akira, a teen with psychic powers in the Near Future who must unravel a dark conspiracy in his town; and Cube, a robot in the Distant Future aboard cargo space ship housing an ominous threat.

Pick any character of your choosing and fight a reoccurring evil.

 Upon beating all seven, an eighth chapter in the Middle Ages is unlocked where you play as knight Oersted, who must purge an evil plaguing his land. The stories are self-contained and don't influence or reference each other, which was a missed opportunity. As for the characters, they were great though lacking a bit in development. Cube and Shifu were my favorites and Oersted's story was my favorite with it starting out predictable, only to take a tragic turn at the end. The final chapter unites all heroes in an epic fight against "Odio", an evil that transcends time, which tied up the stories nicely and ended the game on a great note. 

 At its core, Live A Live is a strategy-RPG where you fight enemies in a grid-like arena. Your character and the enemies can act once the action meter is full, which allows you to attack, heal, and use items. Moving around the grid will cause the enemy's action meter to fill, so you'll need to tread carefully. Each character has their unique attacks like the Sundown Kid dealing with guns, Shifu/Masaharu using martial arts, and Oersted attacking with a sword, so there's plenty of variety in attacks. Some enemies are either vulnerable to elemental or physical attacks, so you'll need to carefully exploit their weaknesses-- basically the standard stuff we've come to expect in the genre. Other than that, you'll be exploring various areas ranging from cities to towns to castles in each era in search of neat items and gear.

The gameplay is solid and tries to change things up occasionally. 

 Live A Live stands-out among other RPGs by focusing on variety as chapters occasionally add a twist to the gameplay. For example, you're already at max level in Shifu's story and must instead focus on training and levelling-up a specific pupil for the final battle. The ninja chapter also gives you a choice between completing it stealthy without a kill, or go all-out. The Wild West incorporated light tower-defence elements with you gathering materials and ordering townsfolk to set traps around town. Cube's chapter took more of a visual novel & survival horror approach as you'll be piecing out the mystery of the ship while running from an extraterrestrial monster. In short, the game does a good job in being fresh and interesting.

While short, the Sundown Kid's chapter was awesome.

 That said, the game does have shortcomings. I found the gameplay unbalanced at times since battles were either too easy with you being overpowered like in Shifu's chapter or too hard like in Pogo's where enemies would easily wipe you out. Also, the map is basic and lacks detail, making Oboromaru's chapter a chore to navigate due to the maze-like layout of the area you're infiltrating. While minor, the game had a tendency of presenting fake dialogue choices as you're presented with two choices, only to find that one actually progresses the conversation. All in all, Live A Live took me a total of 25 hours to beat with replay-value being moderate with multiple endings to go for. 

 Live a Live looks great thanks to the HD-2D style where the surprisingly detailed character sprites blended well with the rich 3D backgrounds. The animations were also cool to watch as characters often pull-off flashy moves. There's a lot of variety in visuals with each chapter bringing new locales and scenery to enjoy. The voicework was great, packing a variety of great performances. The soundtrack is composed by the renowned Yoko Shimomura (Final Fantasy XV, Parasite Eve) and it was fantastic, capturing the many moods of each era. The boss theme, Sundown's battle theme, and Shifu's theme were among my favorites. 

The character sprites and colorful backgrounds were stunning.

 Live A Live was an engaging adventure thats held up well years later. I found the story, along with the varied cast, to be a memorable experience. The gameplay was solid, packing lots of variety to keep you hooked throughout the 25 hour runtime. The production values are just as great with the HD-2D style managing to give the game a fresh look while preserving its roots. That's also not forgetting the awesome voicework and soundtrack, which added to the immersion. Some shortcomings aside, it's a neat RPG that genre fans should check out.