To at the present time, the SNES period is taken into account the golden period of RPGs. Beloved fan favorites equivalent to Secret of Mana and Tremendous Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars stand side-by-side with “Finest RPG” chart-toppers equivalent to Chrono Set off and Closing Fantasy VI. That stated, among the system’s most beloved RPGs have nonetheless but to return west, with many of those falling beneath Sq. Enix’s umbrella (or Squaresoft on the time). Thus, many followers of RPGs—myself included—needed to resort to shoddy fan translations on unruly emulators. Fortunately, Sq. Enix has been rectifying their previous errors by remaking and remastering beloved classics and lastly bringing them to the West. One in all these beloved classics is 1994’s extremely experimental RPG LIVE A LIVE. Does this quirky and distinctive RPG remake stay as much as the almost thirty-year wait?
LIVE A LIVE is a set of vignettes that seemingly have little to do with each other at first. It’s a story instructed via time, seen via the lenses of seven (finally eight) individuals starting from prehistoric occasions to the far, far future. Upon beginning the sport, gamers are proven seven of those characters and given the selection of what order they full the tales in. Every period has a novel spin on the sport’s mechanics: some introduce studying strikes from getting attacked, some let gamers learn characters’ ideas, and a few give full freedom over dealing with the duty at hand. Every period leans arduous into LIVE A LIVE’s experimental nature, which is the sport’s best power.
The sport’s narrative breaks down into bite-sized chunks specializing in a specific setting. Rescuing a kidnapped love curiosity from fur-clad cave dwellers, saving a frontier city from rampaging bandits, and skulking a few spaceship beneath risk are just some of the sport’s tales. But even inside these easy plots lies a number of depth, and the power of those tales rests with the characters themselves. Whereas among the plots could also be fairly predictable, the best way the characters deal with conditions is sort of refreshing. My favourite (by far) is the Imperial China period, the place an aged shifu decides to move on his Earthen Coronary heart fashion. Gamers can select their subsequent disciple, although I imagine Lei Kugo—the sport’s solely playable heroine—to be the canon alternative, for she matches the themes of each her period and the sport’s meta-narrative the perfect.
Whereas I gained’t spoil something in regards to the general narrative except for the truth that there are eight to undergo (regardless of seven displayed: the eighth is on the duvet), I’ll say that all of it got here collectively in a means that excited me. These with a eager eye could discover some consistencies throughout eras. I’m ashamed to say that I utterly missed one thing that, on reflection, was blatantly apparent. The storytelling in LIVE A LIVE is deceptively easy, and I applaud how the story feels recent even when touching upon ever-familiar tropes. The sport shocked me as a rule with its narrative, which I discover fairly spectacular.
The exploration and battle system in LIVE A LIVE is primarily the identical from period to period, barring a number of notable exceptions. Gamers management an HD-2D pixel character, roam throughout a extremely detailed 3D world, and encounter enemies randomly or by way of image encounter, relying on the period. Fight takes place on a 7×7 grid and makes use of a flip system just like Closing Fantasy’s ATB system—the Wait model, particularly. Whereas characters solely occupy one area on the grid, enemies usually take up two or extra. This distinction is notable, as every character has a set of strikes with an assault vary like a tactical RPG. With enemy sprites typically far taller or wider than your personal, it makes concentrating on foes a lot simpler, due to their enlarged hitbox.
Whereas there are the same old components equivalent to hearth, water, wind, and earth, there are additionally harm sorts within the type of fists, toes, leaping, binding, and so forth. Enemies have strengths and weaknesses as anticipated, but many strikes have further debuffs or standing results they’ll apply. This retains fight extra tactical, as utilizing a transfer an enemy is proof against would in any other case be ignored. Nonetheless, if that transfer has an opportunity to blind an enemy and drop their protection, it would simply be well worth the harm discount. Battles do differ from period to period, with some extra targeted on melee and martial arts whereas others concentrate on ranged battles or elemental warfare. I respect any system that lets me stack standing results on foes.
Having solely performed a little bit of the unique sport a few years in the past on an emulator, it’s tough to check the 2 instantly. Nonetheless, LIVE A LIVE’s visuals completely show the HD-2D fashion. Whereas the character artwork itself is expertly designed, the artwork path and digital camera framing do wonders for capturing the sensation and aesthetic of a 90s-era RPG. The atmosphere in every period is vivid, and every period is virtually a personality itself, guaranteeing every city and site shortly turns into memorable. As soon as the climactic boss battles start, nevertheless, the artwork design actually shines in each the set-piece battles and the extremely detailed and larger-than-life bosses.
Although the visuals and artwork design are spectacular, the soundtrack is likely one of the standout features of LIVE A LIVE . There’s all kinds of music expertly crafted to suit every period. Be it whimsical flutes and tropical drums within the prehistory period, lonesome acoustic guitar blended with whistling for the Western period, or the straight-out-of-the-90s saxophone-laden jams in The Close to Future, Dwell A Dwell manages to seize every period’s distinctive feeling masterfully. Moreover, I wish to acknowledge voice performing when it’s achieved properly, and LIVE A LIVE’s forged simply clears the bar for an excellent efficiency. Every actor nails the voices, bringing life to the 2D sprites. Some do ham it up a bit an excessive amount of; I chalk that as much as being a part of the attraction.
Whereas the expertise is sort of constructive general, a number of ache factors that make the sport extra irritating than it ought to be. The primary problem in my playthrough was the general pacing. As the sport is an anthology, story lengths differ wildly (as anticipated). Some eras had been simply shy of two hours, whereas others crept into three or 4. But it’s not simply the size of the episode, however the pacing inside it. The Close to Future period was the largest offender by having the participant go to specific areas quite a few occasions inside a short while. Having to speak to a personality within the lavatory 5 occasions, attempting to go away the home 4 occasions, or chasing down enemies via winding alleys properly over ten occasions is a irritating affair. Some episodes have pointless filler that pads out the playtime, however fortunately it solely feels noticeable in a handful of eras.
The opposite major grievance I’ve is concerning the battle system. Whereas the builders do distinctive issues with it, the battles shortly develop tiresome by the point you’ve hit your fourth or fifth period. By the tip of every, I used to be basically spamming one huge space of impact transfer. Additionally associated to fight is the abundance of enemy encounters within the final space of the sport. Mercifully, some eras have minimal fight. Lastly, of minor annoyance: I want the final character confirmed up on the character choice display screen, maybe with a bit lock to indicate different eras wanted to be accomplished first. After finishing my seventh period, I used to be prepared for credit to roll and be achieved with the sport, but there have been one other 5 or so hours forward of me. The problems are minor, all in all, and positively not a dealbreaker by any means, but they’re actually noticeable over time.
Dwell A Dwell is a superb little gem from virtually three many years in the past. The remake precisely captures what a basic SNES RPG ought to feel and look like, and the fashionable additions make the sport far simpler to digest for newcomers. It’s extremely experimental and oftentimes bizarre, but it retains that wondrous attraction present in video games like Terranigma, Secret of Mana, and Closing Fantasy V. It’s whimsical when it desires to be and severe when it must be. Whereas the pacing is a bit off at occasions, and fight does develop a bit stale by the 15-hour mark, there’s a lot to like about Dwell A Dwell, and any fan of SNES RPGs—or RPGs basically—ought to give the sport a glance. It’s a glimpse into the previous with a contemporary contact, which is becoming for a sport about residing lives all through time.