![]() ![]() In The Wild West, a wanderer with a bounty on his head fights for his life. ![]() Seven different stories featuring different protagonists, time periods, and gameplay styles await. Originally released for Super Nintendo Entertainment System, LIVE A LIVE is reborn in HD-2D-a fusion of pixel graphics and 3D CG-and comes to Switch! It’s a crying shame that it, and contemporaries like Chrono Trigger and Suikoden, didn’t have a bigger influence on the genre and that it takes a remake like this to remind everyone that tradition used to be an optional extra, not the backbone of the whole genre.LIVE A LIVE is a turn-based role-playing video game developed by Square Enix and Historia, and published by Square Enix in Japan and Nintendo worldwide. The worst thing about Live A Live is not the issues with the combat and random elements but how it demonstrates that Japanese role-players in the mid-90s were far more experimental than most today. The game’s also fully voice-acted and while some of the accent choices are odd in the English version the Japanese voice track is also available as an option. The soundtrack, by Street Fighter 2 composer Yoko Shimomura, is equally good and has been re-recorded with real instruments and even lyrics in a few cases. The visuals are fantastic, to the point where you immediately wish Square Enix would apply the same effort to all its classic role-players. In terms of presentation though, the remake is faultless. ![]() PC graphics cards to get more expensive again thanks to AI boom The most surprising aspect though is that there are no magic points and instead it’s charge times and range which limits how you use special abilities, rather than MP. And finally, the near feature story features a teleporting psychic kid called Akira, so you can guess what that’s influenced by.Īlthough each character has their own spin on it, the combat system is fundamentally the same in each case and while it is turn-based it takes place on a small grid, instead of the usual line dancing formations. The story set in the modern day is almost nothing but fighting, aping the style of a scrolling beat ‘em-up – although it wisely doesn’t overstay its welcome. The most unexpected setting is a Wild West story inspired by The Magnificent Seven, and by association Seven Samurai, as you prepare for the return of a gang of ruffians who have been terrorising a downtrodden town. There’s also a ninja themed story where you can rely on stealth and a magic cloaking ability to not kill anyone (or everyone, it’s up to you). Using the same 2D-HD graphics created for Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy, and produced by original director Takashi Tokita (who also co-directed Chrono Trigger), this is the very opposite of a cash grab, with real love and care put into recreating a game most in the West have never heard of. Over the years, it has gained a cult following amongst genre fans but this is still a very strange game to get… not a re-release or a remaster but a full remake. First released for the SNES in 1994 (just three months before the launch of the PlayStation) the original version of Live A Live was never made available anywhere outside of Japan, and until this day has never had an official English translation. If you knew what Live A Live was before Square Enix announced this remake then congratulations, you’re a hardcore gamer – at least when it comes to Japanese role-playing games. Live A Live – you don’t usually get cowboys in a JRPG (pic: Square Enix)Ī classic Square Enix JRPG, that’s never been released before in the West, is remade with stunning 2D-HD graphics and a killer soundtrack. ![]()
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