Live A Live is a unique experience and one that hits many highs throughout its campaign. Unfortunately, it has just enough issues to prevent it from being a truly special game.
With an array of 7 chapters, LAL drops you in at different moments in time with stories and tones that range from prehistoric crude low humour to space-bound horror. And for the most part, it’s able to strike these chords that make each section feel authentic for its time, without giving you too much in the way of tonal whiplash jumping from one chapter to the next. This is largely from the stunning presentation of a soaring and spectacular soundtrack and the gorgeous 2.5 HD graphics that Square Enix has found a winner with.
However, some of the chapters are just not that interesting. The aforementioned prehistoric chapter is fine enough, and changing the language to that of a simple caveman is a nice touch, but it’s mechanically passe. This is possibly the biggest issue with the game in general - Live A Live is at its least interesting when it plays out like a standard JRPG, which is the case for several chapters and towards the end of the game (the ‘Shakespeare in the Park language’ didn’t help either)
The chapters that were the most memorable, such as the Wild West and Distant Future had unique elements to them that made them so much more engaging, unlike running around aimlessly in Edo Japan or dealing with the irredeemably dull Akira in Near Future that had me reaching for another game.
The other aspect of the preferred chapters is the reduced amount of combat through those arcs. While the grid-based approach is unique, it fairs little in the way of the required strategy and became tedious before long. The highest compliment I can give is each battle theme whips.
…. So yeah, I had moments where I thought stopped playing, moments where I thought it was GOTY, and then laughed out loud at one of the multiple endings available. Live A Live is a solid game and a fucking ambitious one for 1994.
With an array of 7 chapters, LAL drops you in at different moments in time with stories and tones that range from prehistoric crude low humour to space-bound horror. And for the most part, it’s able to strike these chords that make each section feel authentic for its time, without giving you too much in the way of tonal whiplash jumping from one chapter to the next. This is largely from the stunning presentation of a soaring and spectacular soundtrack and the gorgeous 2.5 HD graphics that Square Enix has found a winner with.
However, some of the chapters are just not that interesting. The aforementioned prehistoric chapter is fine enough, and changing the language to that of a simple caveman is a nice touch, but it’s mechanically passe. This is possibly the biggest issue with the game in general - Live A Live is at its least interesting when it plays out like a standard JRPG, which is the case for several chapters and towards the end of the game (the ‘Shakespeare in the Park language’ didn’t help either)
The chapters that were the most memorable, such as the Wild West and Distant Future had unique elements to them that made them so much more engaging, unlike running around aimlessly in Edo Japan or dealing with the irredeemably dull Akira in Near Future that had me reaching for another game.
The other aspect of the preferred chapters is the reduced amount of combat through those arcs. While the grid-based approach is unique, it fairs little in the way of the required strategy and became tedious before long. The highest compliment I can give is each battle theme whips.
…. So yeah, I had moments where I thought stopped playing, moments where I thought it was GOTY, and then laughed out loud at one of the multiple endings available. Live A Live is a solid game and a fucking ambitious one for 1994.