Almost 30 years after its first release, Live a Live has finally made its way to the West. This 1994 Super Famicom RPG is from creator Takashi Tokita, one of the key developers behind Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy IV. While it will be interesting to play through Tokita’s original vision of Live a Live, we are getting an enhanced remake that uses the same HD-2D graphics style from the Octopath Traveler games.
I recently spent about five hours on this ambitiously designed title and can confidently say that I enjoyed almost every second in its unique approach to storytelling and how it came to be. should come alive through beautiful vintage images. Square Enix is releasing Live a Live on Switch on July 22. Here are a few reasons why you should put it on your radar:
Seven different stories
Think of Live a Live like a JRPG version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When starting the game for the first time, you are asked to choose a playable character from a pool of seven characters. Each character occupies a different time, such as The Sundown Kid from the Wild West and Akira from the near future. All their stories are intertwined in some way and point towards a larger truth. Each timeframe offers a different presentation, soundtrack to match it, and approach to gameplay and storytelling. Part of the fun is learning how different each timeframe is when entering them. You play through a chapter in one timeframe and then return to the character selection screen to play another story. I still don’t know how the second chapters for the characters are handled. Looks like you have to complete the first chapter for all seven of them to unlock the way forward.
A variety of interesting characters
I spent time with three of the main characters and enjoyed each of them for different reasons. The Sundown Kid is the rude man you would expect from Westerners. He lets his gun do the talking and doesn’t mind draining his milkshake. He’s surrounded by a fun cast of characters who work at a pub/inn. In the story of Imperial China, The Earthern Heart Shifu is an old spirit training the next generation of warriors. His words of wisdom and his history of war were not lost in the odd group of disciples he chose. These characters are interesting and conflicting in their own interests and help the Master grow as a compelling lead. In the Far Future scenario, life on a small spaceship takes a strange turn when a small robot named Cube enters the picture. Cube wears an upside down cap, has small wings instead of arms, and uses rollers as a means of transportation. He also seems to need glasses. All three of these scenarios are completely different, and I don’t know how they will eventually connect to each other.
Adult Language and Humor?
Live a Live looked like a Super Nintendo game, but its themes and dialogue would never have received Nintendo’s approval of the day. In one scenario, I collected an item labeled simply “horse —” and another character that freely spoke out in conversation. The script themes and related stories are equally mature, exploring sequences fraught with death or dire consequences. Live a Live has spectacular colors but surprisingly dark tones.
Excellent writing
Each character is brought to life with unique jokes and situations they see for themselves that offer plenty of variety in both setting and gameplay. In the Wild West, I asked the townspeople to help me set up traps to prevent a bandit attack. I have to choose which citizen to handle which, hopefully my selection will be processed correctly before the eighth bell of the day rings. This choice-driven quest is supposed to determine the difficulty of the upcoming boss battle.
The War Has Depth… But Are We Enough?
The first chapters of Live a Live focus intently on the story and give just a little taste of the nicely designed combat system. This is a bit different from the game, as I didn’t feel like I had much input in the first few moments other than exploring and chatting with NPCs. Several battles in each scenario reveal a combat system that offers plenty of depth and strategy. Still true to most SNES’ RPGs, the combat is turn-based, and the creatures you take on in battle look a lot different (and scarier) than when you talk to them. During battle, you can freely move your character across the grid to arrange attacks. Some can be fired diagonally within a range, others burn through a block, and some require close accuracy. In the two boss battles I participated in, the battles were superbly balanced, forcing me to heal multiple times and be strategic in deploying my special abilities. I hope combat becomes a more important part of each story as new chapters are unlocked. It was not used enough in chapter 1.
It’s so beautiful
Stunning 2D-HD look and feel like in Octopath Traveler. The backdrops in each story are a feast for the eyes. Sprite characters don’t offer much animation but move well to convey emotion or to accentuate a dramatic sequence. The image screams 16 years old but also has modern touches everywhere, such as the realistic lighting of pub doors swinging when strangers come in to get drinks.
