Live A Live (Switch) Review

HD-2D Continues to Revive Classics

Back in the nineties, the Super Nintendo was a powerhouse of RPGs. From Earthbound and Final Fantasy 3 (FFVI) to Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Clearly, Square Enix ( SquareSoft at the time) had a stranglehold on the RPG genre but they had this game called Live A Live that never saw a release outside of Japan. It's a shame because even for a game initially released in 1994, it was way ahead of its time, and it's more apparent now just how special of a game Live A Live was and still is thanks to a new HD-2D release on Switch. 

The remake of Live A Live is done in the same HD-2D engine used for Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy, making Live A Live look absolutely stunning. The engine has always done a fantastic job at making environments pop, and with the overarching time-skipping story of Live A Live, we get a smattering of different locales. From a land before time to a western all the way to the far-flung future and everything in between.

Apart from the different settings, each chapter has its own unique mechanics. For example, the western has players setting up traps in a town for a certain amount of time. The more traps set, the easier the final boss of that chapter will be. Then in the dynasty chapter, the main character can't level up, instead passing off teachings to his students while they level up. These mechanical changes do a great job of shaking things up and keeping gaemplay fresh. Live A Live is also one of the only RPGs I know that is perfect for both short and long sessions. This is because the length of each chapter varies but is between an hour or three at most. 

Surprisingly, this is an RPG from the nineties with a chapter that doesn't have any combat, while another has legitimately well-thought-out stealth mechanics that thankfully don't auto fail if caught. 

The story in Live A Live is compelling and again shows that SquareSoft was on another level when developing this game. Yes, we've seen the time jumping stuff at this point a bit, with the best example being another Square game Chrono Trigger, but it’s clear in this remake just how creative the initial game was for the time. Live A Live actually shares some story DNA with Chrono Trigger. Each character has an overall bad guy in their chapter, but the person behind everything pulling the strings makes them all intertwine. I'm trying not to get too specific because Live A Live’s story is impressive and one of my favorite ones in recent history.

Anyone who loves the SNES era of RPGs should drop everything and play Live A Live.

The way Square Enix has brought this game forward almost thirty years later, with it still hitting as good as it does, is a testament to how good this game was back in the nineties. Bridging it through the Octopath Traveler engine and style helps bring new life to these scenes, and the updated soundtrack hits so well, with each chapter having great music. I've listened to the older versions, and they are really good, so updating it only made it more bombastic than its 16-bit counterpart. As well as updating the soundtrack, Square Enix also added a lot of voice acting, which is fantastic. Interestingly enough, in the land before chapter, since it is before the invention of the English language, no one speaks. There is not a single word spoken, so it is incredibly interesting to see the sprites have to express enough for us to understand what's going on, which hey guess what? It works.

While every chapter has its own unique mechanics, all the combat takes place on a grid, much like Triangle Strategy or Final Fantasy Tactics. The combat is tactical mixed with an ATB gauge. Each action, even moving, means the other ATBs will fill, and once they do, the enemy acts. It's an interesting system that makes most of the fights difficult and strategic, reminiscent of older tactics games. Speaking of difficulty, there is a significant difficulty spike towards the end of each chapter, but like any RPG, if you save often you'll be fine, and even the spike can be efficiently dealt with like twenty minutes of grinding.

Overall, Live A Live is fantastic for any fans of old-school RPGs, the Octopath Traveler-style games, and frankly, anyone who enjoys games should go pick up Live A Live. It is one of the best retro RPGs I've played to date, it hits the nostalgia just right, and the story itself lands incredibly well, especially the ending, which again I won't spoil here. There are optional bosses who are hard as hell, and with everything being said, I was able to beat Live A Live in around 18 hours.

SCORES

GAMEPLAY -9 /10

VISUALS - 10/10

SOUND - 10/10

CONTROLS - 10/10

REPLAY VALUE -9/10

OVERALL - 9.6/10

A digital Switch copy was provided for review purposes. The featured image and a few images were used courtesy of official press materials. Most screenshots were captured using the Nintendo Switch capture features.

More information about Live A Live can be found on the official Nintendo listing. A demo is available.