Live A Live Nintendo Switch Review – Is It Worth It?
[Music] Hello everybody zion over here from Nintendo life and today we’re here to Share with you our review of live alive On the nintendo switch now this review Was originally written by alanna heggs For nintendolife.com but was reworked Into this video by me [Music] [Applause] [Music] Early on in square’s remake of live Alive it’s plain to see the influences The game had on chrono trigger from Spanning multiple timelines to the Inventive area of effect skills and Right down to the simple sometimes deep Story the director takashi tokida Clearly used in 1994’s live alive as a Springboard for his eventual masterpiece But live alive deserves its own time in The spotlight and after never officially Being localized for the west now this 28 Year old jrpg is finally getting the Chance one thing we were keen to Emphasize early on during our preview Was the game’s overall uniqueness we Were stunned by just how distinctive it Still felt today and beyond the first Four chapters that novelty never really Stopped live alive starts out by Presenting seven different characters All related to a different time period You can select any one of the seven to
Start your journey and each character Has a self-contained story that you can Save and exit out of whenever you want You don’t need to play any of these in Any particular order they’re all very Different and there’s only one little Thing that sort of connects them later On we’ve talked about a handful of these Different scenarios in our preview like The distant future outer space chapter Where combat is pretty much non-existent But there are other nuances too like the Present day where you play as an Up-and-coming fighter who challenges six Different combatants in a street fighter Style rpg tournament it’s sort of like You’re given seven delicious slices of Cake and while they are all still just Cake they all taste completely different Many of the chapters have some obvious Influences such as alien and 2001 a Space odyssey in the distant future or Chinese poetry in imperial china which Is all tied together beautifully by the Game’s hd 2d visuals this is a remake Done in the same vein as octopath Traveler triangle strategy and a Template that the dragon quest 3 hd 2d Remake is following this nostalgia Inducing visual style is both faithful To the original super famicom game and Also stunningly detailed and might just Be the best looking hd 2d game yet not a Pixel is out of place as every single
Environment is utterly gorgeous with Character models that look distinctive And sharp and features colorful pixel Environments that blend seamlessly with The 3d aspects rocks on cliffs computer Units forests of bamboo and more all Meld together perfectly as jagged grass Sways in the wind or a warm flame Flickers with sunset orange digital dots Even the crystal clear water looks Flawless as you sneak your way through Edo japan underwater with your cute Little pixel snorkel poking out overhead And not an oled it’s a real feast for The eyes and on top of this yoko Shimimura’s stunning score which was Rearranged for this remake also really Propels the feel of each timeline into The stratosphere these rearrangements do The original justice and more from an Intense battle that will rock through The ages to a quiet walk along a chinese Mountain the use of traditional Instruments helps emphasize the feel and Mood of each time period perfectly now The remake also attempts to make the Game’s accents match up to the era and Location where appropriate with mixed Results Most of the chapters that are clearly Set in a particular location like the Wild west and imperial china nail their Respective accents with some nice Immersive voice acting but par for the
Course with hd 2d voice acting plenty of It feels out of place there’s a lot of Stiff delivery and mismatched lines that Can take you out of the action it’s Better than octopath traveler and Triangle strategy but still jarring but Live alive’s biggest strength is in its Structure where it plays around with Traditional rpg conventions and blends This with unusual themes and settings Perfectly as a result of its Chapter-based structure these all feel Like bite-sized adventures that take Between 30 minutes to 3 hours to Complete while it may feel like you’re Trying to hit every ride imaginable at Disneyland as you breeze through the Timelines and the characters don’t all Get a ton of development we felt like we Were flicking through an adventure book Peeking through the pages and stopping When something interested us then going Back to each chapter until we’d finished It off and one thing we learned about Live alive is that it loves a surprise And for those that see each chapter Through to the end you’ll be rewarded With more to stick around for now in This video version of our review we’re Not going to touch on any of those Elements as we think it’d be best to Keep those visuals away from you but Just know this is where fans will get Their narrative fix it’s nothing too
Deep or complex but the story manages to Convey some somber reflective themes That feel very mature even today but Make no mistake despite a brand new coat Of paint live alive still contains the Bones of a 1990s jrpg this means there Are times where things can get very Vague edo japan while having one of the Most interesting gimmicks can also be One of the most difficult chapters Because of it oberomaru can kill as many Inhabitants of the castle as he chooses Or he can use his unique ability to hide And sneak and depending on who you Leave alive You can get different rewards letting All 100 survive is particularly Challenging and we struggled to make it Through without dying multiple times Luckily live alive is mostly linear for A chunk of its playthrough and the game Auto saves after you reach each new area The last chapter is perhaps the most Guilty of being vague without a guide These can be a real pain with lots of Back and forth required particularly if You miss a key item or don’t know where To find a character and while there is a Handy radar which was added for the Remake that guides you in which Direction to go it’s certainly not a map And i personally turned it off because i Thought it broke the immersion and it Was distracting but still we loved it
For the challenge and the triumphant Feeling it instills in you don’t go in Expecting a lot of interaction but do Expect some surprises now these gimmicks Don’t always lead to frustration and Almost every time creativity wins out Every time the near future for example Lets you use akira’s telepathy to read The minds of npcs which adds some fun Flavor text to the world and characters And in the wild west setting up traps in A time limit while amping up the Pressure captures the quiet restlessness Of a western perfectly we couldn’t help But be swept up in their charm as each One fitted its respective timeline Better than we hoped the icing that Holds this cake together though is the Combat as mentioned in our preview not Every single chapter relies on combat But when it’s there it’s fun after You’ve got it figured out battles are Mostly random encounters depending on Your chapter and you’re thrown into a 7×7 grid when your gauge fills up you Can move your character around the grid Every move you make however means the Enemy’s gauge also charges slightly so Get used to playing a little bit of Chess figuring out where best to place Your character this is thanks to the Fact that many of the skills you use in Live alive have an area of effect so When you select your character’s skill
You can see where the attack can Actually hit sometimes you’ll be able to Attack an enemy if it’s on one of the Squares surrounding you other times you Can hit them from a distant diagonal With a shot and some skills can disrupt Enemy attacks push them back a square or Two and even lay down dangerous poison Or elemental traps that cover a small Portion of the area at first it can feel Like there’s a lot to wrap your head Around but there are a lot of little Conveniences old and new that really Help make the combat fun and engaging But also not too easy firstly there’s no Mp so you don’t need to worry about Managing an extra resource instead Spells take varying lengths of time to Charge up depending on how strong they Are the game’s structure also eases you In to give you enough time to see what Each character is good at and get used To their play style you can also see What each enemy is strong and weak Against every single skill has an Attribute whether it’s a strike a kick Or fire elemental and using these Strengths along with positioning Yourself is key to victory we really Enjoyed how you could often change the Tide of battle by simply moving a Character out of the enemy’s line of Sight and how laying down traps often Clinched victory for us even when the
Final moments ramped up the difficulty And we sometimes bashed our heads Against the wall as we had the wrong Setup we pushed through triumphantly It’s just a shame that all of the end Game encounters are random encounters Live alive has been well worth the long Wait this remake reintroduces an Influential unique jrpg to the wider World with assurance with a wealth of Different gameplay styles music and Visuals that somehow hang together Beautifully despite looking like Octopath traveler and perfecting the hd 2d visual style you do well to remember That this is still a super famicom rpg With many of the frustrations that come With 90s rpgs still intact in this Remake still though we admire that Square enix decided not to change too Much with this remake instead delivering An authentic and faithful update to the Game that the majority of players Outside of japan missed nearly three Decades ago This is a piece of gaming history we Have loved getting to experience for the First time We here at nintendo life give live alive On the nintendo switch an 8 out of 10. Now i personally have spent a real chunk Of time with this game and have been Loving it as well and there are a few Things that i wanted to mention now i
Pretty much agree with all of the things That alana brought up in her review here But one of my favorite aspects of the Game really is the pick up and play Nature of it all rpgs so often if you Make it 10 20 30 hours in and you put it Down for a while Good luck getting back into it because There’s so much to remember you have no Idea often times what direction you’re Going in what why you there’s uh this Random Mage in your party where did they come From what did these weapons do what is What does this character even do but With live alive you don’t really have to Worry about any of that since all the Characters stories are done in just a Few hours and they’re self-contained if You’re the kind of person who only has a Few hours a week for a game and can’t Dive into a massive rpg like the Xenoblade series or persona or something Like that and you still you love rpgs This could be an incredible game for you But even so i don’t think the game is Designed just solely for those people Either but that individual aspect of This rpg alone i really appreciated for About a week there it felt like every Night i had an hour or two to myself After dinner after i was done hanging Out with my partner and i could go play A full chapter of live alive and i would
Go to bed feeling satisfied you know Like i like i actually got somewhere in A game where if i was playing a 100 hour Rpg you you did nothing and even though I’ve really loved spending time with Live alive i can fully admit it’s very Fair to say that not everyone is going To enjoy this game like if you can’t Stand a bit of snes era jank then this Game may not be for you but go give the Demo a shot we’ve covered the demo Already extensively on the channel here Before you should have a good idea of if This game is for you or not and if not That’s okay but what i will say is that A project like this Doesn’t come around often it it just Doesn’t so if this looks like your cup Of tea i know xenoblade chronicles 3 is Right around the corner but give that Demo a shot make a decision for yourself Even though this is not going to go down As one of my favorite games probably Ever made It is an incredibly unique experience That i will continue thinking about and I am glad that i played and let me tell You there are plenty of good probably Even great games that i’ve played over The years that i Don’t remember a lot of and that could Be a me problem i’m not sure but i am Confident that live alive is going to be One of those games that i don’t forget
Now in case you haven’t already been Forming your own thoughts take a moment Think about it and let us know what you Think of live alive in the comments down Below if you’ve played the demo if You’ve enjoyed this preview footage if You think the game’s not for you let us Know and of course if you enjoyed this Video and you want to see more videos Like this then why don’t you live a Little and click that subscribe button Because you can only click it once and Then never again it’s that that’s it Just do it why not yeah you’re already Here thank you all so much for watching I’m zion for nintendo life thank you Alana for spending the time with live Alive and writing this review i’m zion From nintendo life stay safe out there And we will see you all next time [Music] You Oh
