You can even pick one up, put it down, start another, and return to the first later if it suits you Live A Live will conveniently keep track of your progress in each story even if you save over a file, a feature I made a lot of use of as the discovery of numerous, fun hidden secrets prompted me to revisit chapters I’d thought I’d combed thoroughly. On the surface, all of Live A Live’s seven vignettes are disconnected, and it largely doesn’t matter which one you start or end with. That could be in memorable moments like a shinobi running over rooftops against a violet twilight, or sparkling sunlight dripping into a castle throne room. Live A Live is lovely, full of eye-catching color schemes and memorable snapshots where Square has used the depth of its 3D backgrounds to full effect. While the original was not the prettiest of Square’s RPGs even for its era, the HD-2D look pioneered by Octopath Traveler continues not to miss when it comes to wonderfully marrying sprite-based nostalgia with modern 3D capabilities. That said, this remake would have been worth the effort even if we were already familiar with the story and gameplay. Most of the best things about Live A Live’s remake were present in its original form, which makes it all the more a shame it never made it to the West back in the ‘90s. But what truly makes Live A Live a triumph is the way it pulls its disparate threads together to subvert expectations of JRPGs not only as they existed in 1994 when it was first made, but somehow still almost three decades later in 2022. And its initial disparate story threads are upheld and pulled together by its ensemble cast of lovable characters. Its unusual story structure of seven different vignettes ranging from prehistory to the far, spacefaring future, is immediately striking after decades of grandiose, linear RPGs.

The curious RPG Live A Live is a fascinating time capsule of an era when RPGs were still experimenting heavily with structures and ideas, and its long-awaited remake proves that the best, weirdest efforts of that experimentation can still shine today.

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