Each move across the grid fills up the action bar as well as filling automatically for everyone per turn. Both you and your enemies have a HP and Action Bar. Whilst Live A Live spans across millenniums, the basics of the game are the same. It was a true watershed moment as there are many examples throughout each chapters where your choices don’t necessarily have game changing differences, but noticeable in a gratifying way – making my playthrough feel like my own. My efforts of persevering through a pacifist run awarded me a strong weapon I wouldn’t have earned otherwise. This is when I understood there were consequences and instead of slaughtering my way through, I reloaded my save and did my best Tenchu impression turning an endless battler into a stealth puzzler. It felt harmless at first, but when I killed my first human enemy a kill count came up on my screen. You’ll hold square to vanish but you won’t be able to move in this state, creating a back and forth dodging enemies throughout. The Shinobi’s power is become one with the shadows, and disappear. In the Edo Japan chapter, you’re tasked to infiltrate a castle being ruled by a tyrant and stop them from their evil doings. I stuck with the default name but you can choose your own. It was almost a false start to what I was getting myself into as I had no idea what was to come when I reached Edo Japan.ĭuring this chapter, my main character is a Shinobi. It was a fun time, the characters in this chapter don’t speak so all of the storytelling is filled with slapstick comedy. One push of square and Pogo will sniff, bringing up dustballs to enter in battles to hunt for food. I say seemingly because, in my first chapter (prehistoric), the caveman protagonist Pogo’s power was to sniff out enemies. Seemingly innocuous, each chapter comes with its own gimmick. I’ll break down some of the contents of the chapters when I talk about the gameplay, as the story is something to try and go into as blind as possible to enjoy it. However, the heart poured into each character and the concluding chapters tie all the lives together in an incredibly satisfying way. In broad strokes, the chapters on their own are always a case of good vs bad and it’s very by the numbers. My experience was front-loaded with the shorter chapters making my later game feel long, I can’t fault it fully as it was my choice in selection, but a consistent pacing regardless of direction would have made for an overall smoother story.ĭon’t be put off if certain scenarios don’t take your fancy, I have to preface that by the end of the game, I absolutely fell in love with the story. The quickest chapter I beat was around an hour and a half, whilst the longest could keep you for 4 hours. You’ll have a sprinkle of each with every character, but depending on the focus they will greatly differ in time to complete. Each chapter has one of three focuses: Story, Puzzles or Fighting. This is because not all chapters are created equal. I went chronologically starting from the prehistoric chapter, and whilst I don’t think it was a bad choice, it created an unfavourable pacing. You can choose whichever character you want to start with, meaning there isn’t necessarily a correct way to play through. They span from prehistoric times right through to the distant future. Attack on the FutureĪs I previously mentioned, you play through eight different characters. But is this the grandfather clock of time-spanning tales? Or a remnant of the past? Let’s get into it. The original design philosophy was to experience multiple lives in the same game – breaking out of the epic narrative arcs of Final Fantasy. Like Octopath, Live A Live follows a similar structure of playing through multiple vignettes of characters. It’s befitting as the game’s bones were way ahead of its time. Octopath Traveler’s successful approach of an old-school spin on the modern landscape of RPGS made SE’s President – Yosuke Matsuda – put Live A Live at the top of the list to receive the same HD-2D treatment in the form of a remake.
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