Live A Live Review

Live A Live

Release: July 22, 2022
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Historia Inc
Genre: Action, Adventure, Genres, Nintendo Switch Categories, Role-playing, Switch Reviews, Turn-Based
PEGI: T
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Square Enix’s latest role-playing game, Live A Live, is seven stories set within seven different eras, with seven different characters. The key word is different because that’s what Live A Live is. It’s a very unique experience. Is that experience good though? Is Live A Live worth checking out? Here is our review for Live A Live for the Nintendo Switch!

Stories And Gameplay

Live A Live doesn’t just have one story…it has seven stories! The stories take place in seven different time periods: Prehistory, The Wild West, The Near Future, The Distant Future, Twilight of Edo Japan, Imperial China, and Present Day! Each time period has its own setting and characters. They all have their own storytelling too, such as Prehistory’s picture dialogue, The Near Future’s anime like storyline with a psychic and robots, or The Wild West’s western movie vibe.

The stories are all really good, though our personal favorites are the Near Future, Wild West, and Imperial China. Its great that you can choose to play any of these stories first and you can jump between stories at any time. You can save your spot in the story, plus there’s auto saving too. Some people might be turned off by the fact that the stories are all so wildly different. However, that difference make the game unique, though some similarities help keep some connectivity.

While the stories are different, they do share somethings in common. They all have the same battle system. Some games use the Y button for special moves outside of battle, some of them have a place where you upgrade items, and of course the graphics are the same throughout the stories. All of these features are pretty good. The battle system, especially, is very unique. It’s a combination of turn-based and real time movement. The characters have different abilities you can use but the battle system is familiar and easy to use. The battles themselves are pretty easy overall. There is some challenge but Live A Live isn’t the hardest game. Still, the whole experience is very addictive.

Live A Live is a different kind of RPG. If you’ve ever played Saga Frontier or Octopath Traveler, then you’ll understand it a little bit. Different stories and different characters are the main similarities. Each of the stories having their own time periods makes Live A Live totally unique. The stories are fun and the gameplay is very good too. Live A Live also has the best HD-2D graphics yet!

Graphics and Sound

Live A Live has the same HD-2D style that Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy had. That said, the graphics look better than ever. The different eras, places, and characters in the story allow Live A Live to experiment a bit and really push the graphical style. Live A Live is absolutely the best HD-2D has looked so far. The graphics are wonderful. We can’t wait to see what Square Enix does with this graphical style next!

As for the sound, Live A Live has full voice acting and it is very good. The soundtrack also absolutely rocks, with each era getting its own unique soundtrack. There’s even a full-on Anime-like opening theme song for The Near Future! Wow.

Live A Live is such a good game. The stories, the gameplay, the graphics, and the voices/soundtrack all come together to create one of the most unique RPGs on the Switch!

Conclusion

Live A Live is a must play for RPG fans on the Nintendo Switch. Everything in it combines to create a unique and addictive experience. The HD-2D graphics are also the best yet. If you like games like Saga Frontier and Octopath Traveler, then you must play Live A Live. Heck, even if you don’t like those games, give Live A Live a chance. It has so much to offer!

Thank you to Nintendo Canada for providing a digital code for this review. Live A Live is now available via retail and in the Nintendo Switch eshop!

Trailer