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Thoughts on Live a Live
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Sharing my thoughts on this, and asking for others to share theirs too, given the recent steam launch in case they’re helpful to anyone considering buying it as I did a couple of days ago.
I love turn based games, really like the FFs, and most closely related to this the Octopaths, so in theory this is right up my street.
Like Octopath, it’s broken down into chapters, but they’re (so far at least) self contained individual stories at different points in the timeline. I’ve played 3/7 so far.
Combat is on a grid - when it’s your turn, you move your characters around and your moves show you which squares you can hit with each. Not anything near Final Fantasy tactics - very simple and more just an extra dimension to regular turn based combat.
Played the China chapter first. Enjoyed the brief story and initially found the combat interesting, but found it devolved into spamming the same overpowered moves before too long and seemed way too easy.
Prehistory next and if I’d have played that first I think I’d have refunded within steam’s 2 hour window. Unfunny “story” and again, combat quickly became spamming the same couple of (fart) moves and the boss went down in a few rounds.
Edo up next. Ah, a shinobi assaulting a bad guys temple - should be better! Oh - yet again the combat quickly became spamming the same fire/shuriken move which killed everything including all the sub bosses and the actual boss in a few rounds.
So far then, I’m finding it tough to understand why people love this so much.
The combat is basic, with one or two moves being so overpowered they kind of ruin things.
The sub-mechanics in each chapter are interesting but chronically underused to the point they’re almost redundant.
It’s far, far (far) too easy - I haven’t wiped once yet. There’s just no challenge at all. None. Zero.
All of which would be more palatable if the story was good (Octopath suffers from some of these) but given the short chapter approach the stories are paper thin too.
I mean, it looks gorgeous, so there’s that!
You guys in this subreddit are the undisputed kings (and queens) of the genre, so I’d love to know what the JRPG hive mind thinks.
Am I just wrong, here?
if you love it, what makes you love it? If you don’t - share the reasons why too.
Look forward to your thoughts, as always.
Top Comment: The game gets much, much more difficult and much more interesting towards the end. The individual chapters that you're playing aren't really meant to be an incredible challenge, they're meant to be cool and unique experiences that don't overstay their welcome - recall that this game is 30 years old, so the structure of the game at the time would have been enough to pique people's interest. That being said, it's not very long so if you're getting something small out of it I'd say it's worth pushing through to the end to see how things play out. You may warm to it.
Live a Live sucks
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(This is just like my opinion, man.)
I bought Live a Live for the Switch on a whim because Nintendo did a Black Friday sale. I probably dumped 4-5 hours into it between the Ancient Japan, Near Future, and Distant Future timelines before I called it quits.
I tried to like it, I really did. And I’m sure there is some stuff in the endgame that I’m missing but I’d rather just watch that on YouTube and save myself the 20 hours. It is just, by far, the most boring game I’ve ever played. The battle mechanics are the very definition of meh. There’s no strategy or skill whatsoever. There’s no incentive to find new equipment or level up either. You just kind of watch these little vignettes play out and follow the map where you’re supposed to go. And while the stories are kind of charming, they’re also mostly made up of cliche JRPG tropes that have been done over and over since then.
I’m sure in the 90s this game was pretty cool. I might’ve rented it from blockbuster if it was available in the US. But in 2023? Come on. This game is a relic that should’ve remained as such. There was no reason to remake it and charge anything north of $10 for what amounts to sitting around reading a mountain of 8 bit text for 30 hours. I know there’s plenty that I’m missing by quitting now but I’ve seen enough to know that there’s no way this game could convince me to stick around for any longer than I already did.
I’m mostly posting this in case anyone like me decides to search on Reddit and sees nothing but positive reviews like I did. I don’t get it man. It ain’t worth the hype. Go play Crono Trigger or SaGa Frontier or something else that actually feels fun to play.
Top Comment: As someone who read so many reviews of classic titles over the years, this one strikes me as another review of when someone gets hooked into buying a game because of the glowing comments and high praise, without knowing what those commenters liked about the game in the first place. So they end up building false expectations that get dashed the moment they start the game. The thing here though, is that at the end you recommend SaGa Frontier 1 (a game I love) without elaborating on what makes it good, and thus setting up the next person who reads your post and goes and buys SaGa Frontier 1 with false expectations. These aren't assumptions btw, I have seen a lot of reviews talking about how terrible SF1 is, and how they can't believe anyone would give it a positive review. If you're not convinced, there are also the negative reviews for Chrono Trigger. Read some of them and see how many of them mention how their main issue is how much high praise the game gets.
reddit live
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Live A Live is a transcendental masterpiece
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Its very rare when you realize while playing a game that you are experiencing a masterpiece. Even rarer is when the experience retroactively uplifts all similar experiences before it and shines them in a new light. Live A Live doesnt have the best gameplay, doesnt have the best story, and doesnt have the best music, except for 1 song. However, all of its parts are quite good. More importantly, the total package is exponentially greater than its parts.
Its more than a love letter to RPGs. Its a love letter to storytelling and beloved tropes across multiple genres and media types, told through the focus lense of a jrpg. Its the kind of game that reminds me why I started playing games in the first place. The kind of game that might inspire one to craft their own stories to tell, be it game, movie, or book. The kind of game that makes people obsessed and enthralled by jrpgs all over again, as if its 1994.
Play Live A Live before you die.
Top Comment: Looking at these comments, I will never understand this sub's hateboner for Live A Live. Yeah OP was overly dramatic sure, but I see people wax poetical about games they like here all the time.
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Top Comment: Live A Live has always been a weird game, and its cool how even to this day there’s still debates about what the “best parts” are. I’m glad the remake added some nice QoL so more people can enjoy it. I personally love the original and am happy the overall reception is positive. I can’t give an unbiased recommendation but I can say that no JRPG since has ever scratched the same “itch” this game did.
Want to play Live A Live? Start here
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What is Live A Live?
Live A Live is a Super Famicom game released on September 2nd, 1994. It is a unique JRPG that does not have a single flowing story, instead allowing the player to choose one of seven scenarios to play through upon starting the game. After completing a chapter, you can then choose which one to play next. Every character plays a different scenario in different time periods with unique mechanics.
The game was directed by Takashi Tokita, who wanted to tell various stories in a single game. Each scenario draws inspiration from different sources with the main one being movies.
The characters and scenarios were designed by different manga artists. The artists were Yoshinori Kobayashi ("The First"), Yoshihide Fujiwara ("The Successor"), Gosho Aoyama ("The Infiltrator"), Osamu Ishiwata ("The Wanderer"), Ryōji Minagawa ("The Strongest"), Kazuhiko Shimamoto ("The Outsider") and Yumi Tamura ("The Mechanical Heart").
The music was composed by Yoko Shimomura, being the major composer for this game and being her first major work after joining square in 1993.
A remake for the Nintendo Switch was released in July 22nd, 2022 in the HD-2D style with voice acting.
Should I play the original (1994) or the remake (2022)?
If this is your first time playing Live A Live, I'd recommend playing the newer version, as it has many quality of life changes that make a more enjoyable experience.
What scenario do I play first?
There is no specific or real order in which you could play the game. It is recommended that you play the one that catches your attention the most or the one from your favorite genre.
If you really want some advice over which chapter you should start first, try the Wandering or Mechanical Heart scenarios, as they are mostly story based with just enough battles for you to understand how the battle system works.
If I want to play the original Live A Live which hasn't been released outside of Japan, how can I play it?
Due to the original game having no localization, a translation group known as Aeon Genesis decided to make their own localization of the game.
Released in 2008, we have this fan translation which is the best translation to play the game. Aside from translating the game, the Aeon Genesis team added special fonts for each chapter. There are also two fan translations for the French and Spanish language based on the 2.00 Deluxe Patch from Aeon Genesis.
In order to apply the patches, you will need the Lunar IPS program and a Japanese ROM of the game. However, the ROM will have to be provided by you. To play the patched ROM, you will need an emulator which of course will also have to be provided by you.
And that's it. If anyone wants to request something to be added, tell me.
Top Comment: I personally like to play the scenarios in chronological order, that is: Caveman > Kungfu > Ninja > Western > Wrestling > Mecha > Sci-Fi
Live A Live is one of the best JRPG I’ve played in years.
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I went into this game with pretty neutral expectations. It reminded me a lot of Octopath Traveler which is a game I liked but didn’t love so I was expecting a pretty charming if unspectacular game.
I was so wrong, this is one of the most inventive, creative and unique games I’ve played in my LIFE.
In my 20 or so hours in this game I played a fighting game, a horror game, a puzzle game a stealth action game and more besides all through the lens of a JRPG. Where Octopath Traveller also had you playing through 8 different perspectives the game always remained the same to the point where I’m pretty hazy on the details of who did what. All 9 chapters in Live a Live feel COMPLETELY distinct.
I really feel like each time period was idea for a game by a different game designer but they couldn’t agree on which to go with so they just went FUCK IT and made a bunch of short self contained stories with unique mechanics and somehow managed to tie them all together for a Final Fantasy VI style finale where you go around uniting everyone, side questing and leveling up all these unique characters to take on the final boss.
And it’s so SHORT for a JRPG that not a single moment feels wasted. Each of the original 8 time periods took me no more than 2 hours to get through but they were such memorable and fun hours that I never got a chance to feel bored. I was always just excited enough to be looking forward to the next character selection while never actually getting a chance to tire of the one I was playing. Even the actual foundations of the gameplay is unique. There’s no MP and you completely heal following EVERY battle but because of that there’s much more thought and complexity to even the most minor of encounters. Any fight can beat you or be beaten depending YOUR skilll and attention. My party was only level 20 when I finished but I intimately understood how to best incorporate every single move and weapon my party had at there disposal.
I was originally going to just rank the time periods from best to worst but I just really feel like I should spread the word that this really does rest among the Golden Age of SNES rpgs like Chrono Trigger and FF6.
I know xenoblade is kind of stealing the show rn but trust me. This game is worth your time.
Top Comment: Where Octopath Traveller also had you playing through 8 different perspectives the game always remained the same to the point where I’m pretty hazy on the details of who did what. All 9 chapters in Live a Live feel COMPLETELY distinct. This is the real draw of the game for me. It's a short story collection that comes together, where the short stories dare to have a different structure, pace, mechanics, and even genre. Such anthologies can still be horrible. (Ever hear of the 1984 film Dungeonmaster?) But Live a Live sticks the landing.
[NO SPOILERS] Live A Live is one of the most refreshing JRPGs I've ever played. Mini review.
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Absolutely love this game.
However, I was unsure for the first 10-or-so hours. I enjoy the feeling of growth and strategy involved in developing a JRPG party. With the short chapters, Live A Live wasn't giving me time to experience either of those things. However, this lets the game experiment with so many fun ideas that wouldn't be viable in a 30+ hour game. Releasing at a time when JRPGs were really hitting their stride, along with myriad other massive developments in the gaming scene, Live A Live pulls on a lot of familiar tropes and dances around what could be if the genre pushed itself outside of the confines of a typical JRPG.
There are some shockingly good ideas in this game, and the short chapters let the designers go all-out with their unique approach JRPG mechanics. These chapters can be a little inconsistent in terms of "fun", but they each present something worth experiencing. In fact, I think that summarises how I mostly felt throughout the last 20 hours with this game. While not always the most fun I've had playing a JRPG, it was an enriching, interesting, and worthwhile experience. Even if a particular chapter bored me a little, it was over within 2-3 hours, and I could start fresh on a new one. This kept me coming back day after day. There's something to be said about a game with a lot of micro goals like this!
Very minor structure spoilers: I will not spoil any story, dialogue etc. I'm simply talking about how the chapters in the late game are structured after you beat 7 of them. I'm just being particularly careful because my spoiler threshold may differ from others here.
After finishing the 7 initial chapters, 2 final chapters are revealed. The first of which is structured much closer to a typical JRPG. It is about 3-4 hours in length and has a more standard fantasy/medieval setting. In many ways, I felt it was mimicking Dragon Quest, and I started to really enjoy myself! The battle system started to really come together and the difficulty ramped up nicely. I had to spend some time leveling up and managing equipment, which wasn't really needed in prior chapters. The game really "clicked" for me here.!
Following this chapter, the true final chapter is revealed where you get to recruit/play with the entire roster. It is so amazingly satisfying to see them all come together, and to have control over who you bring into the final fight. Discovering each character, delving into their unique dungeons and putting all of their different abilities together is such an incredible experience. I've settled on a fun team that has a mix of positional abilities, AOEs, and solid range that use every aspect of the tactical battle system. It's just an amazing finale to an already great game.
...Which leads me to question why I haven't seen this battle system implemented in more JRPGs. I can't quite think of any right now that have the mix of active battle system (i.e Final Fantasy ATB) and light grid-based tactical movement. It's a pleasant mix that allows for a good level of strategy without being overwhelming when it comes to random/frequent battles.
Highly suggest you pick up this game if you're at all interested in JRPGs. While the chapter-to-chapter gameplay may feel uneven, it's all so worth experiencing if you are interested in cool game design and JRPG history. Honestly, I kept forgetting this is a 20+ year old game, it feels that fresh!
Top Comment: This game is amazing, easily in my top 5 of this year, I simply kept coming back to it and replayed each chapter twice, enjoyed each of them for the little things they do so well. Music was fantastic overall. About a similar battle system that mixes short turn-based encounters and tactical grid combat, the closest one I can think of is in the Trails in the Sky series.
How Live a Live (2022) went from a disappointing game to a masterpiece in my mind
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I'm not really an JRPG player and I never played the OG game but when the remaster was announced I was really hyped up. So I bought it, I played 2/3 chapters and I was like yeah ok that's nice but that's it. And that was until the Prehistory chapter who bored me so bad I didn't really played again for 2 months.
A couple days ago, I needed some money to buy something and I had an idea : I'm gonna rush the last chapters of Live a Live and then sell the game.
Remaining chapters were getting better and better and I enjoyed it but...It was nothing compared to the Distant Future one.
I literally felt in love with this chapter for so many reasons and it totally changed my plan on selling the game. The story and narration, characters, soundtrack, atmospheres, game design were 10/10 when other chapters were merely nice.
And then the middle age, who was more than epic & surprising and made me love spam-fighting when I ran away from every fight a few chapters before.
And THEN the finale chapter which was mind-blowing : its intensity and tension, its narration, its soundtrack and the few last epic fights were so beautiful that I ended up crying for a game I was about to sell a few days ago.
Conclusion, when a game has so many differents stories to tell, wait until the very end to make your opinion even if it ends up with only one of them being amazing.
Top Comment: Conclusion, when a game has so many differents stories to tell, wait until the very end to make your opinion even if it ends up with only one of them being amazing. Let me add that, even if the game doesn't have multiple stories, it's better to give JRPG a chance till the end. Now like always, I will say that if you're not enjoying a game, you shouldn't feel guilty about dropping it, or feel that you are forced to finish it. Play what you enjoy and entertains you. That said, unlike most other genres, JRPGs take time to build up their story and gameplay mechanics. I understand this could be very frustrating sometimes. So let me tell you a personal anecdote. In my very early days as a JRPG fan, to buy one game, I usually had to save money for 2 to 3 months. So every game I bought really counted. So finally after saving enough money, I bought my third JRPG ever, which the shop employee assured me was a real gem. I couldn't wait to try it. My father drove me home, I fired up the PS1, and started playing. I kid you not, for like a whole hour and half, there was nothing but talking, and only 1 very simple battle. Even when I got control of the character it was just to walk 10 seconds here or there, to other places where more cut-scenes needed to be watched. Needless to say, I was very disappointed. I turned off the game, didn't even bother to save, mainly because I was still watching cut-scenes. I already decided to return the stupid game tomorrow. Sure enough I woke up and was getting ready to go out to return the game, but I had to wait for my father to wake up drive me to the shop. So with nothing to do, I fired up the game again, just to pass the time. You probably already saw this coming, but it blew me away. After I was done getting through the very long opening. The game was so good, I skipped lunch and dinner that day, hell I don't think I even took a bathroom break. And from there I learned that some JRPGs needed time to buildup a good foundation for them to shine on. Now of course that's not every JRPG, and of course just because a game "gets good after 20 hours", doesn't mean it's worth it or that it's good. But there are rare exceptions, where some JRPGs that have really freaking long intros or are just not that great for a long time, are more than worth the wait. Edit: I forgot to mention, the game I was talking about on the PS1 was Valkyrie Profile.