Live A Live Reviews
If you’re a fan of quirky JRPGs, consider Live A Live a must-have. Each and every one of the stories offered up here is distinctive and interesting, keeping your attention held like a vice. Along with a fantastic combat system, and numerous improvements to the presentation of the overall package, we’re overjoyed that this title is finally available in the west. Only the occasional frustration brings it down a little, but they’re very much worth pushing through.
The intriguing and unique premise of Live A Live is a genuine hook for players from all walks of life. This game not only has a fantasy story worthy of a SNES era Square game but it also treads an extremely upto date line with it's cool turn based combat and choice/morality systems. Players will be blown away by the content on show in this awesome RPG and it cannot be recommended enough. A great game turned masterpiece with this fantastic remake!
Live A Live is worth a try for everyone who owns a Switch and loves RPG games with a multi-role system and contains an innovative and wonderful story with a fun and simple fighting system, but needs to think about every step you take, do not expect it to be a revolutionary game, but it is worth every minute of your time, especially for the scarcity of this
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Live A Live is the ideal way to experience a cult classic game. It maintains or improves on everything that made the original game distinct while polishing it enough that some of the more dated design elements don't detract from the whole. It's a weird, quirky, and distinct JRPG that to this day is unlike anything else on the market. It won't be for everyone, but if you're a fan of JRPGs, then you owe it to yourself to give it a shot. What other game can you have a cowboy team up with a caveman and the pilot of a giant robot?
Live-a-Live is well polished old title with new production values. But after all these years, it is refreshing experience with different time eras, chapter and heroes leading to solid finale. If you are ready for RPG all-in-one, it will show you how good games last.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
I realise this is a pretty short review by my standards for the JRPG genre, but there really isn’t much else to say about Live A Live; this is a quirky and fundamentally experimental JRPG that in many ways remains out there on its own. The chapter-based approach to simple (but enjoyable) narratives that take place across time and space allows for an experience that is both varied and flexible. Throw in the most excellent application of HD-2D art for the remake, and the fact that this is the first time this game has had a formal release in the west, and Live A Live is an essential experimental title for the curious and those that enjoy playing things that are genuinely different.
It's enjoyable, quirky, awkward, and frustrating: sometimes the price of being unique is alienation. If it was Live A Live that allowed Takashi Tokita and his work on Chrono Trigger to soar, then of course it was worth it. In this present day chapter, for my money, I'm looking ahead to the next Square remake.
LIVE A LIVE kept me excited for what the next chapter would entail with each one boasting unique characters, settings, and gameplay so it's a perfect game for anyone who relishes variety. I just wish each chapter was fleshed out with more depth and unique elements.
Live A Live is a unique experience unlike any other currently seen in the gaming landscape, and looking past its few dated flaws it offers a player a special experience.
If I didn't express my enthusiasm for Live A Live correctly with the account above, let me just sum it up. Perhaps it's a good thing that Live A Live never came out in Europe in 1994, because this remake has made me want to enjoy the genre again. It's a great game and a must for anyone with even the slightest interest in the genre. There are some lesser aspects, such as the combat, and some scenarios are a bit less than the others. Although that again depends on each person. The conclusion, however, is well worth the journey.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
It took almost 30 years to be able to experience Live A Live, but the wait was definitely worth it. Featuring a great, varied cast of characters and settings, the game is seemingly designed around keeping the player engaged by letting the chapters play out in the preference of the player. The remake with the HD2D technology has brought an already unique experience into the modern age, simultaneously paying homage to the era the game came from while also standing up to the most recent of JRPG titles. It an rpg well worth your time.
LIVE A LIVE is downright fun for RPG fans. Each chapter is uniquely different, the characters are interesting, and the soundtrack is energetic. The map system may be too experimental, though. Still, it’s a satisfying adventure to enjoy over and over again.
This remake of Live A Live is a project that deserves to succeed, so this is one that JRPG fans at the very least should give a try whether they have already or not.
Live A Live is a captivating anthology of short JRPG stories with diverse settings and unique gameplay mechanics. Remade in HD-2D, it offers an engaging grid-based combat system and a fantastic soundtrack. Despite some complexity and convoluted storylines, the game's multiple endings and quality-of-life improvements provide a satisfying experience for classic JRPG fans.
It’s great to see Square Enix reach into their past and allow a new generation to experience some of its best titles. While there are some negatives to Live A Live, such as weak combat and bite-size adventures, these quirks work in portable versions favors. This version loads slightly faster, so many performance quirks are part of the software. Since this isn’t quite a complete remake, the differences are marginal at best.
If you’ve been salivating for a new old-school RPG on modern consoles, Live A Live is a proper treat. The selection of stories you play are lovely and varied, the beautifully upscaled look of the game brings details to vibrant new life, and there is a lot of retro arcadey goodness in here to bask in. Furthermore, the shortness of each individual story makes each of them easy to play without feeling overloaded or that you’re missing something. Live A Live can get tricky, its grid-based battle system is a little passe, and it isn’t the most awe-inspiring remake you ever saw, but it’s a lovingly crafted revitalization that will please anybody with a fondness for old-school JRPGs.
Live A Live is a testament to creativity, perseverance and preservation. To see a giant company like Square-Enix spare the time for a game released nearly 30 years ago on one platform in one region? We need to shout from the rooftops about it. Seeing a team revisit such a hidden gem all these years later and knock it out of the park in nearly every way? We need to be celebrating. Live A Live is such a unique experience that even its era-specific missteps are worth forgiving. RPG fans of all levels, walks of life, and interests: Live A Live will transport you through time, in more ways than you'd expect.
Live A Live makes an impressive case as to why classic RPGs are not to be forgotten in time. The vignette style of storytelling brings an epic scale to an otherwise modest and sometimes unevenly paced narrative. The HD-2D visuals and recomposed soundtrack are standouts in what is already a stellar package that all RPG fans need to play.
Live A Live is an incredibly fun turn-based RPG that holds up well after nearly three decades. The Octopath Traveler type HD-2D graphics look superb, but it's the eight heroes with different mechanics that really hooked me. Whether on PlayStation, Nintendo Switch or PC, anyone with even a cursory interest in RPGs needs to check out this game.
Live A Live uses creativity and courage to build an RPG like no other. Instead of a single plot, the game is made up of numerous mini-stories, each with its own ideas and concepts. The variety of themes is one of the highlights, making it difficult not to appreciate at least some of the tales. Furthermore, the battle system is inventive and unique. The retro atmosphere oozes charm with the HD-2D visuals and the excellent soundtrack. The remake of the title released for the SNES in 1994 is technically impeccable, but perhaps too stuck in the past. The stories lack depth, the chapter structure is too basic and the RPG systems could be better worked on. Other than that, combat is unbalanced, sometimes being trivial, sometimes being too difficult. At least the pace is agile, with a modest length compared to other RPGs. Furthermore, Live A Live is worth checking out, mainly for its bold attempt to experiment and try to be different.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review