the game development equivalent of the 93 chicago bulls developing the video game equivalent of pulp fiction. a game so wildly ahead of its time that it still feels a good twenty years past where jrpgs are at now.
this game thrives on keeping the content lean, briskly paced and engaging throughout. the varipus chapters runtimes give you just enough time to learn a character's toolkit and quirks before letting you step right into the next one. the combat system in the remake is very self-explanatory, and lets you discover most of the nuance to it with time. in keeping with staying lean, it never gets super deep or intricate but it also never really felt like i was on autopilot either. anyone who's played enough jrpgs knows this is a razer thin line to balance on, but some how live a live makes it all feel effortless.
to touch briefly on the visuals, i was never a particularly big fan of HD2D when it first rolled out. octopath's oversaturated instagram lighting had me worried this was part and parcel for the style, but live a live proved me wrong. the environments are gorgeous, the devlopers deftly utilize space to make the world feel large and real without the tacky dollhouse feel that other titles had. props to the team for making bold choices with the visuals, they somehow manage to feel true to the original but contemporary. i havent played the original to know how much was changed, but i can respect and appreciate what was done here.
i think something that hasnt been discussed much is how much agency is afforded to the player and how that connects thematically to the core narrative. i was surprised to see a pacifist and genocide routes, time-based decision making based on player intuition and context clues, and the ability to sequence break and poke around where you shouldn't pop up rather frequently as well. live a live takes a great deal of time to express its care for the player and their freedom to choose. games since have questioned what role the player has in a game's story, either catalyst or observer, but live a live takes a great deal of care in considering the player's own perspective.
in much the same way playing moon earlier this year did, i find myself enriched coming out of live a live and with a better understanding of game devlopment and how things id have had no exposure to growing up were quietly laying the groundwork for some of my favorite works. i hope the small trend of cult classic jp only releases getting worldwide rereleases with this level of care and respect continues and more titles like these can be brought to new audiences. flower sun and rain next please?
this game thrives on keeping the content lean, briskly paced and engaging throughout. the varipus chapters runtimes give you just enough time to learn a character's toolkit and quirks before letting you step right into the next one. the combat system in the remake is very self-explanatory, and lets you discover most of the nuance to it with time. in keeping with staying lean, it never gets super deep or intricate but it also never really felt like i was on autopilot either. anyone who's played enough jrpgs knows this is a razer thin line to balance on, but some how live a live makes it all feel effortless.
to touch briefly on the visuals, i was never a particularly big fan of HD2D when it first rolled out. octopath's oversaturated instagram lighting had me worried this was part and parcel for the style, but live a live proved me wrong. the environments are gorgeous, the devlopers deftly utilize space to make the world feel large and real without the tacky dollhouse feel that other titles had. props to the team for making bold choices with the visuals, they somehow manage to feel true to the original but contemporary. i havent played the original to know how much was changed, but i can respect and appreciate what was done here.
i think something that hasnt been discussed much is how much agency is afforded to the player and how that connects thematically to the core narrative. i was surprised to see a pacifist and genocide routes, time-based decision making based on player intuition and context clues, and the ability to sequence break and poke around where you shouldn't pop up rather frequently as well. live a live takes a great deal of time to express its care for the player and their freedom to choose. games since have questioned what role the player has in a game's story, either catalyst or observer, but live a live takes a great deal of care in considering the player's own perspective.
in much the same way playing moon earlier this year did, i find myself enriched coming out of live a live and with a better understanding of game devlopment and how things id have had no exposure to growing up were quietly laying the groundwork for some of my favorite works. i hope the small trend of cult classic jp only releases getting worldwide rereleases with this level of care and respect continues and more titles like these can be brought to new audiences. flower sun and rain next please?