28 long years we finally got this gem in the west. And the wait was totally worth it. Because Live A Live, although having some flaws, is in its overall experience a fantastic game. I love how much diversity is packed into this JRPG. The greatest thing about it is in my opinion the different settings. We get different scenarios like western, Japanese ninja, the far future in space, pre-historic times, a fighting game, the near future and a Chinese martial arts story. Some stories are more fledged out and more prolonged than others but the change in pacing and tone is fantastic. Let's go through them, shall we?
Pogo - Prehistoric Chapter - About 2:30 hours
A cool story without text, because well cavemen and women can't talk. The shenanigans between Pogo and
Gori is funny. The enemies are great and I love the attacks with some great area effects. The final boss looks fantastic. Overall pretty standard RPG gameplay.
Earthen Heart Shifu - Kung Fu chapter - About 2 hours
This was the second chapter I've played and after the pretty orange and brown Pogo chapter, this one hit me hard with how visually stunning this remake looks in 2D-HD. The story takes a lot more time but ramps the speed in the end. All of your characters have great designs, their own different personalities and attacks. The boss is pretty generic but the gimmick here with choosing your favourite disciples is a cool change in the standard formula.
Masaru - Present Day chapter - About 35 minutes
In my opinion the weakest of the stories. It is the shortest and it is actually just a boss rush without a lot of stories or walking around. You just choose your next enemies. The gimmick here is that you can learn attacks if they are used on you. Masaru is rather boring and I never felt somewhat connected. The last boss is, like in the Kung Fu chapter quite underwhelming.
Cube - Science Fiction Chapter - About 3 hours
This one is hard to rate because the story is interesting but the gameplay is not. You hardly do anything besides walking from room to room and trigger cutscenes. I would say that this is 80% if not 90% story based. There are a few fights but those often include trial and error and got me pretty frustrated. This is the first time it feels like the game wants you to fight in a pretty certain way and punishes you if you experiment too much. There is also a boss which looks great but too way too easy considering that the other battles in this chapter can wipe the floor with you.
Oboromaru - Feudal Japan Chapter - About 2+ hours
As you can see with the estimated playtime this is when Live a Live changes up the gameplay even more. As when Cube's chapter felt like you were on rails, this one gives you a lot more control on how to tackle this chapter. This time you get to infiltrate a castle, which you can do stealthy or even go on a brutal blood spree. Castle Ode is pretty open level with a lot of routes and secrets. That is why you can sink in hours of playtime finding your way through the level. There is also a security system with an alternating password which is changed every bell chime, making me remember the current password for traversing the property more easily. Oboromaru is cool (I mean he is a ninja and those are always cool). Sometimes the battles turn out to be pretty hard without any warning making me flee. And sometimes I slice through the enemies in two to three rounds. The boss of this chapter is probably one of the greatest of Live A Live. Overall this is a great one but a map would have been much appreciated.
Akira - Near Future Chapter - About 2:30 hours
This chapter seems most like a well-thought-out game. We get a pretty fledged-out story with character backgrounds, an overworld map and even an intro theme song! This is when I first recognised that the enemies stand in the same spot almost every time which means that every battle runs the same. This is a missed chance in forcing the player to use and try different ways of approaching. There is some back and forth between some areas but the look and feel are great with a neat supporting cast. Akira is a pretty chill and laid-back guy. The last boss battle feels epic is pretty easy though.
Sundown - Old West Chapter- About 1:15 hours
This one hurt because Sundown Kid is one of the best characters in my opinion. He is quiet and mysterious. Also, he is a cowboy (and what is cooler than a ninja? Right, a cowboy!). Although I needed 1:15 hours to complete this it felt more like 30 minutes. You are restricted to a pretty small area where you can explore and gather items. Those are supposed to use and make a final battle much easier. And it is fantastic because it is your typical western showdown. Unfortunately, the way to this point is pretty dull and uneventful. The boss is in the midfield of all bosses. Looks great but nothing special.
So you see you get a lot of variety. In tone, gameplay and difficulty. Like in an anthology movie every story has some ups and downs and some are better, some are worse. But because it is mixed up greatly you gonna have fun with most of them. The conclusion of all those stories is pretty okay though. Nothing special but pretty standard. Also, the last part includes a lot of backtracking, randomly triggered fights and some grinding (the three evil apocalypse riders of JRPG) which took some of the fun out of it but didn't diminish the overall experience that much. Live A Live could have been at least a 4/5 for me if the quality of all stories would have been consistent. Nonetheless, you get a wonderfully designed, great-looking 2D-HD JRPG with a fantastic soundtrack, great characters and bite-sized chapters you can play through in about 7-8 sessions. Definitely one of the top 10 best JRPGs ever made and if you hadn't the chance to somehow get your hands on it in the 90s then this is a 2022 must-play for roleplaying fans.
Pogo - Prehistoric Chapter - About 2:30 hours
A cool story without text, because well cavemen and women can't talk. The shenanigans between Pogo and
Gori is funny. The enemies are great and I love the attacks with some great area effects. The final boss looks fantastic. Overall pretty standard RPG gameplay.
Earthen Heart Shifu - Kung Fu chapter - About 2 hours
This was the second chapter I've played and after the pretty orange and brown Pogo chapter, this one hit me hard with how visually stunning this remake looks in 2D-HD. The story takes a lot more time but ramps the speed in the end. All of your characters have great designs, their own different personalities and attacks. The boss is pretty generic but the gimmick here with choosing your favourite disciples is a cool change in the standard formula.
Masaru - Present Day chapter - About 35 minutes
In my opinion the weakest of the stories. It is the shortest and it is actually just a boss rush without a lot of stories or walking around. You just choose your next enemies. The gimmick here is that you can learn attacks if they are used on you. Masaru is rather boring and I never felt somewhat connected. The last boss is, like in the Kung Fu chapter quite underwhelming.
Cube - Science Fiction Chapter - About 3 hours
This one is hard to rate because the story is interesting but the gameplay is not. You hardly do anything besides walking from room to room and trigger cutscenes. I would say that this is 80% if not 90% story based. There are a few fights but those often include trial and error and got me pretty frustrated. This is the first time it feels like the game wants you to fight in a pretty certain way and punishes you if you experiment too much. There is also a boss which looks great but too way too easy considering that the other battles in this chapter can wipe the floor with you.
Oboromaru - Feudal Japan Chapter - About 2+ hours
As you can see with the estimated playtime this is when Live a Live changes up the gameplay even more. As when Cube's chapter felt like you were on rails, this one gives you a lot more control on how to tackle this chapter. This time you get to infiltrate a castle, which you can do stealthy or even go on a brutal blood spree. Castle Ode is pretty open level with a lot of routes and secrets. That is why you can sink in hours of playtime finding your way through the level. There is also a security system with an alternating password which is changed every bell chime, making me remember the current password for traversing the property more easily. Oboromaru is cool (I mean he is a ninja and those are always cool). Sometimes the battles turn out to be pretty hard without any warning making me flee. And sometimes I slice through the enemies in two to three rounds. The boss of this chapter is probably one of the greatest of Live A Live. Overall this is a great one but a map would have been much appreciated.
Akira - Near Future Chapter - About 2:30 hours
This chapter seems most like a well-thought-out game. We get a pretty fledged-out story with character backgrounds, an overworld map and even an intro theme song! This is when I first recognised that the enemies stand in the same spot almost every time which means that every battle runs the same. This is a missed chance in forcing the player to use and try different ways of approaching. There is some back and forth between some areas but the look and feel are great with a neat supporting cast. Akira is a pretty chill and laid-back guy. The last boss battle feels epic is pretty easy though.
Sundown - Old West Chapter- About 1:15 hours
This one hurt because Sundown Kid is one of the best characters in my opinion. He is quiet and mysterious. Also, he is a cowboy (and what is cooler than a ninja? Right, a cowboy!). Although I needed 1:15 hours to complete this it felt more like 30 minutes. You are restricted to a pretty small area where you can explore and gather items. Those are supposed to use and make a final battle much easier. And it is fantastic because it is your typical western showdown. Unfortunately, the way to this point is pretty dull and uneventful. The boss is in the midfield of all bosses. Looks great but nothing special.
So you see you get a lot of variety. In tone, gameplay and difficulty. Like in an anthology movie every story has some ups and downs and some are better, some are worse. But because it is mixed up greatly you gonna have fun with most of them. The conclusion of all those stories is pretty okay though. Nothing special but pretty standard. Also, the last part includes a lot of backtracking, randomly triggered fights and some grinding (the three evil apocalypse riders of JRPG) which took some of the fun out of it but didn't diminish the overall experience that much. Live A Live could have been at least a 4/5 for me if the quality of all stories would have been consistent. Nonetheless, you get a wonderfully designed, great-looking 2D-HD JRPG with a fantastic soundtrack, great characters and bite-sized chapters you can play through in about 7-8 sessions. Definitely one of the top 10 best JRPGs ever made and if you hadn't the chance to somehow get your hands on it in the 90s then this is a 2022 must-play for roleplaying fans.