Live A Live

"Thankfully, not quite a painful death at the hands of a psycho."

PREFACE : It was Christmas of 2001. Usually, our family doesn't support Christmas much, since if we want to buy each other something, we do it at any random time in the year. That, and we're not a very religious family. And we get together at random times of the year too. But, that's not important. It was on Christmas Day (well, Boxing Day for me, but meh.) that Live-A-Live was translated. Having been interested in the game for a while, I decided to try it out. Little did I know what exactly I was in for....

Graphics - 6/10
Much of the graphics are on par with FF4, even though the walking sprites seem to have more.... emotion than those of FF4. In battle, though, this is where the graphics improve. The character battle sprites kick much arse, plain and simple. And the monster designs are very neat. HOWEVER, I had to dock a point from here because of the whole ''lizard for a loincloth'' thing, which I know that not everyone will appreciate....

Music - 10/10
If there's one thing I can say about the music in this game, it's just FREAKING AWESOME! Yoko Shimomuma did an extremely great job with the soundtrack, each song being appropriate for the respective scenario. That is to say, the battle theme ''Killing Field!'' sounds oriental, while ''The Wilds'' sounds western, and so on and so forth. ''Demon King Odio'' sounds very sinister, being appropriate for the character in question, while ''Unseen Syndrome'' sounds very.... technological and ambient, which is appropriate for the Future chapter. Also, ''Megalomania'' has to be one of THE most awesome boss themes EVER, in my blatant opinion. But enough about the music, this isn't a soundtrack review....

Story - 9/10
Well, not so much story as STORIES. You see, there are seven chapters to start with, and each has a different story to the other. In one, you play as a ninja, sent to save a man from the clutches of an evil overlord in any way possible. In another, you play as an old monk, teaching his students in the art of Shinsanken martial arts. In another, you play as a robot, having been created on a spaceship where something.... not very good is going on. Then there are two more chapters, the last one tying the eight chapters before this together. The eighth chapter even throws a few twists in your way, as well. Each chapter that has a passable story is told very well, even considering when ONE chapter (Prehistoric) only has ONE REAL LINE of dialogue. The reason why I docked a point from this category is because of the Modern Age chapter, where the less said about the story, the better.

Replayability - 9/10
Well, this is the sort of game you'll want to play through more than once, since there are a fair amount of hidden secrets in the game that not all of them can be uncovered in the first playthrough unless you REALLY know what you're doing. Although, I docked a point here because going through some chapters AGAIN can be frustrating.

Gameplay - 10/10
Let's see, there's a fun battle system tying the game together, which is entirely a good thing. True, sometimes the battles are just too easy. But for the most part, a good strategy is required to beat the critters you're up against. Furthermore, depending on the chapter, you'll either be doing battling, puzzle-solving, and sometimes a bit of both. Admittedly, there ARE some tedious points in the game, but on the whole, the gameplay is just freaking AWESOME, in my ever so blatant opinion.

Other - +1 Point for Silliness
But, aside from the battle system and the multiple storylines, what REALLY sets Live-A-Live apart from many other RPGs is the SILLINESS. I'll not tell you the examples though, because I could end up spoiling the game. Also, aside from the silliness, the game also has a sick, twisted sense of humour with morbid running jokes. I can't help but love that.

Overall - 45/50 (When the point for silliness is added), GameFAQs Scale - 9/10
You might argue that this is just the bias of yet another rabid Live-A-Live fan. You may be right. But, nevertheless, the game is not for EVERYONE. While I loved this game, the average Final Fantasy junkie probably won't. Nevertheless, I strongly urge you to try it - because if you don't, you'll have absolutely no real idea on what you're missing out on!

Buy or Rent? - Well, hard to say. You see, it'd be extremely hard to buy Live-A-Live now. If I could acquire a legal copy of Live-A-Live, then yeah, I'd buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/22/02, Updated 07/22/02