Live a Live, despite its glaring faults, is a game that will surely impress you with its overwhelming charm and impressive presentation. Each chapter has a unique quality to it that sets it apart from the others in a very charming way. The humor of Prehistory, the instantly lovable characters of Wild West, the intricate scale of the castle in Feudal Japan, the compelling narrative and commentary of the Distant Future, and so on. Each chapter has a quality to remember it for, and due to the short chapter based nature of the game, there is also a desire to replay each one for said quality. The direction of the art is always great, and often down right beautiful. The voice acting is nice and often times very fun. The one issue that glares more violently than any other is the combat. The combat of Live A Live is simple and serviceable at best, and downright frustratingly repetitive, easy, and boring at worst. Praises of the other parts of the game can be sung as loud and possible but that doesn’t detract from the fact that the game part of this videogame is frequently quite a let down. This issue is a much bigger issue in some chapters than others, and is not an issue at all in some, but is still big enough to be brought to light. Overall, Live a Live is a game I would recommend to anyone interested in JRPGs due to its beautiful style, interesting and unique concepts, self contained episodic nature, and brevity (20-25 hour game). This guy gives Live a Live two thumbs up! Actually.. maybe one and a half thumbs up. The combat is not very good and thats worth a good half a thumb.

A game that does everything right. Interesting levels, immense build and class variety, lots of great weapons and armor to deck out the Ashen One, epic boss fights crafted perfectly to tests your skills, glorious sights and stunning views, and an incredibly fascinating yet obtusely portrayed backstory found through subtle hints laid throughout the world, item descriptions, and character designs. The combat of this game is some of the greatest I have ever experienced in a videogame. It is fast paced and exciting, yet still just the right tempo to play methodically and with immense strategy. Overcoming a boss you've been attempting for hours is the greatest feeling of excitement and accomplishment you can receive from a videogame. The indirect nature of this games story telling in no way takes away from the enjoyment of the game due to the mysterious and cryptic way it presents itself. Going out of your way to learn about the world, its history, its characters, and its motivations only leads to an even greater appreciation for the pure work of art presented to you.