Japan is home to legendary games, some of which have never left the nation’s shores. Live A Live is a Super Nintendo-era RPG that lived and died exclusively in Japan. It earned a cult following, but publisher Square never released the title internationally—until now. Admittedly, the version of Live A Live now available on the Nintendo Switch is a radically overhauled remake, but it is the first time the title arrives in foreign territories.
Despite its SNES origins, Live A Live is a shockingly clever and polished game, with fascinating combat mechanics, impressively varied gameplay gimmicks, and some excellent voice work and dialogue. Some gimmicks are better than others, and the combat has a lot of untapped potential that is never realized. Still, if you are a fan of games like Chrono Trigger or Octopath Traveler, Live A Live ($49.99) is a shockingly polished RPG that evokes the nostalgia of games of the SNES era, while still feeling modern and intuitive.
A Relic Reborn
At a glance, Live A Live shares a similar structure to Octopath Traveler, in which characters have different starting points in the story, but eventually converge into one. This is somewhat true in Live A Live, but the scenario and gameplay are vastly distinct for each of the playable characters. The game’s story is broken up into seven chapters, each of which focuses on a different era and a different protagonist. These include prehistory, Imperial China, Feudal Japan, the Wild West, the present day, the near future, and the distant future. There is an overarching story and theme that connects these scenarios, but for the most part, each chapter is its own distinct story.
The time/era-themed chapters give Live A Live a strong Chrono Trigger vibe, perhaps because the original game’s director, Takashi Tokita, went on to work on Chrono Trigger a year later. But the character-driven story chapters are also reminiscent of the later Saga Frontier games. Add to that the excellent soundtrack from Yoko Shimomura of Street Fighter, Breath of Fire, and Kingdom Hearts fame, and you have a game that looks, feels, and sounds like a lost RPG from a bygone generation. Technically, that’s exactly what Live A Live is. Despite its new visual look, which combines expressive sprites and pixelated 3D dioramas, it’s an RPG blast from the past that evokes a familiar old-school nostalgia that SNES RPGs are renowned for.
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Shocking Scenario Variety
As mentioned, every chapter in the game focuses on a different protagonist and is set in a different era. However, the storytelling and gameplay mechanics also get gimmicks that make them distinct as well. The least gimmicky chapter is the Imperial China story of Shifu, an old martial arts master searching for a successor. The chapter is essentially a kung-fu revenge story that has you travel between towns, interact with NPCs, and fight beasts and martial artists on your quest for vengeance and redemption. On the other hand, the Distant Future focuses on Cube, a spherical worker robot caught up in an Alien-inspired whodunit scenario with almost no combat at all, focusing instead on character interactions and data log collecting.
I quite like the Feudal Japan chapter. You play as the ninja Oboromaru, tasked with rescuing a political hostage. In addition to combat, you are also introduced to stealth mechanics. Oboromaru can summon a screen to blend into the environment, which throws enemies off your trail. They enter a searching stance, giving you the opportunity to slip past them as they look around. There is a surprising amount of variety in the game, giving it a unique feel when compared to other RPGs of its time.
Live A Live doesn’t do much hand-holding, instead giving you the freedom to run around and explore as much as you want within each chapter. The chapter unfolds linearly, but there is nothing stopping you from investigating points of interest off the beaten path. A handy radar system highlights where these points are, so an orange indicator shows you where you need to go to make progress. Blue icons indicate optional areas, and gray icons represent places you have not been. This radar is a compass, functionally: It does not reveal any details about the terrain, so you can decide for yourself where you want to go next.
Some Irksome Gimmicks
While the exploration and scenario gimmicks are impressive at first, they can fall flat depending on the chapter in question. The Wild West, for example, puts you in the shoes of Sundown Kid and Mad Dog, two unlikely allies working together to ambush a brutal gang of outlaws. But the scenario has a time limit that rushes you to gather supplies and talk to villagers in order to effectively set traps for the outlaws, which I don't care for. The penalty for botching the scenario isn’t too severe, but I dislike having to rush. The Prehistory chapter is also fairly traditional RPG fare, except that characters do not speak; instead, they grunt and communicate with emojis. While charming at first, this quickly becomes grating as you play through the scenario. The sprites are expressive, but scenes drag too long because of the lack of direct communication.
What's more, the characters themselves are not all that interesting. Very few protagonists stand out in any way; they feel more like vehicles to move the plot along. This is acceptable, as I found the scenarios to be much more interesting than most of the cast. In Live A Live’s defense, the game has some excellent voice acting and writing. Scenarios are adult enough to incorporate a bit of foul language without being too crass, and there is plenty of humor in the story to keep things light-hearted. Pogo’s over-the-top simping for his cave-girl love interest got a few chuckles out of me.
Turn-Based Action
Live A Live has surprisingly action-oriented battles, despite being entirely turn-based. It’s a fascinating combat system, though I admit it took me some time to wrap my head around how it works. As a turn-based game, you and your opponents trade blows until one party or the other is defeated. However, Live A Live uses a grid system for movement, which you use to move units around the battlefield like chess pieces. As in chess, attacks come in a variety of patterns, which have very distinct areas of effect that you must familiarize yourself with to get the most use out of them. Some attacks hit spaces in front of you, others can hit all around your character, and still others deal damage in a straight line or only diagonally. Spacing is crucial when performing attacks.
What’s more, there is a specific turn-meter in play that limits when you and your enemies can attack. Every character and enemy has its own meter that only fills when an action is taken, such as moving, or when an attack is initiated by an enemy or character. If an enemy with a full meter has no target to hit, they suffer a penalty and lose their turn. In practice, this means you play a much more active role in avoiding attacks and dealing damage, since you have a clear indicator of when an enemy can assail you, and can make them miss attacks by literally moving out of their range. This combat is reminiscent of Parasite Eve in some respects, though, as mentioned, Live A Live is strictly turn-based, so no meter is gained if no action is taken.
Unfortunately, the combat never really evolves beyond picking your most effective ability and getting out of dodge whenever possible. Characters like Shifu in Imperial China have unique gap-closer and withdraw attacks that move them around the field more effectively, but scenarios never become so challenging or complex that they warrant being used. Battles generally boil down to abusing your strongest skills, moving out of range whenever possible, and healing when HP is low. There is no MP to manage, so you’re free to abuse the strongest skills at your disposal, which makes the combat feel unbalanced and a bit mindless.
Sweet on Switch
I played Live A Live on a Nintendo Switch Lite, and the experience was pleasantly smooth and good-looking. The chapter format and convenient menu saving makes playing the game on the go a cinch. The sprites are not quite as big as those on the original SNES, but they are quite a bit more animated this time around. That's particularly true of enemies, which had no real animations at all in the original. Loading is minimal, taking only a few seconds to load areas or battles. Sound effects and music are excellent overall.
Decades in the Making
Live A Live is a thoroughly unique RPG that almost feels like the progenitor of many franchises we’ve come to love since. It’s a shame that the SNES version never got an international release, but this remake more than makes up for it. The Live A Live remake retains all the charm and quirks of the original game, with fresh visuals and smooth controls that make it easy to pick up and play. Some of the story and gameplay tweaks per chapter may not be to everyone’s taste, but the overall experience is a good one. Nonetheless, Live A Live is a solid RPG that's well worth checking out for its unique gimmicks; its enjoyable, albeit simplistic combat; and its stellar voice work.
For more recommended Nintendo Switch titles, check out The Best Nintendo Switch Games and The Best Nintendo Switch Lite Games. And for in-depth video game talk, visit PCMag's Pop-Off YouTube channel.
Live A Live delivers a gem of a JRPG from a lost generation. It's a nostalgic blast from the past with enough modern innovations to keep the experience fresh and engaging.
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