Live-A-Live

Squaresoft

SNES - 1994

Live-A-Live is an innovative mix of 7 miniature rpg’s eventually tied together by 2 secret chapters. It was never officially translated into english, but only because of its ill-timed release. In the days before Final Fantasy VI (A.k.a. FFIII), No one really believed that RPGs would really sell on this side of the pacific. By the time that was disproved, Live-A-Live was already outdated. It remains, however, an excellent game.

In ancient china, a elderly monk hopes to pass on his disappearing style of kung fu - “Shinsanken” . . . In prehistoric times, a young boy comes of age in a time when man could not yet speak . . . in the old west, a stranger rides into a troubled town . . . In the elder days of Japan’s samurai class, a sole shinobi is given an assignment . . . In the distant future, a simple robot witnesses troubling events . . . In the not so distant future, a boy’s psychic powers have awakened . . . In the present, a man strives every hour of every day to become “world’s strongest” . . . and in every age, in every era, there will always be someone to take the name, the mantle, of “Odeo.”

So it’s basically like a collection of short stories. Although some sections play with the definition of RPG (like the modern chapter), all are essentially short versions of any RPG you might name. Nothing really has the time to get old. Everything changes so often – the moves, the graphics, the characters . . . You have no time to get bored. The stories are interesting, the characters are sometimes fun, sometimes deep. Even a couple of square cliches get thrown in (Genji Armor, etc.) for good measure.

This game is great for the person who loves RPGs, but can’t stand the countless hours that must be poured into them to see all the moves, get all the plot and find all the secrets. It’s all the fun, but muuuch less work.

One interesting thing is the almost complete lack of secrets. There aren’t any secret characters, no extra plot . . . there are extra weapons, but they’re not exactly hidden. LAL manages to preclude the possibility that so many games present: obsession. Once it’s over, it’s over.

What liked: A fresh look at Square RPGs. extremely fun and refreshing. “Quick” RPGs. Eliminates a lot of the tedious leveling up, still keeps all the cool stuff.

What disliked: Battle system wasn’t very deep or complicated.

What to expect: A cool rollercoaster-ish ride, some cool ass characters, some really short people and a good Square RPG.

What not to expect: Live A Live is similar to Way of the Samurai in that once you figure out the story, the game’s over. There’s no real reason to play anymore. Also, the graphics aren’t the best in the world. Don’t expect FF6 level graphics.

What's so different from this and other games of it's genre: Uses the concept of the “Short” RPG. Imagine that.

Ratings on:

Control: 10 (No prob. Everything runs the way it should.)

Graphics: 5 (Kind of Mediocre for the time)

Sound: 8 (Never gets old, tons of variety)

Style: 9 (Really original ideas)

Difficulty: 4 (Not hard, but challenging enough. Most of the chapters are really easy.)

1st hour: 8 (Wait . . . I can choose any of these I want?! Awesome! I choose the NINJA)

3rd hour: 9 (That Chapter was AWESOME now I’ll do the Kung Fu one . . .)

1st week: 9 (I’m moving in to the Secret Chapters)

5th week: 8 (Ok, the last chapter was kind of dissapointing, but this game still kicks ass.)

#1 reason why I hate this game: Was tying all the chapters together really necessary?

by Freeohio

Note: Because the game was never officially translated, it is only available in hacked ROM form. You can find the hacked version at ArchNacho and TortillaGodzilla’s Quality ROMs, an excellent yet somewhat loopy ROM site. Remember to Delete after 24 hours of use, ‘Cause we don’t espouse illegal stuff. Oooooh no.