LIVE A LIVE

Description

LIVE A LIVE is one of Square’s most unusual and ambitious RPGs, originally released on the Super Famicom in 1994 and later remade in HD‑2D. Rather than telling a single continuous story, it unfolds as an anthology of seven distinct scenarios, each set in a different time period with its own protagonist, tone, and gameplay twist. From the wordless comedy of Prehistory to the tense, horror‑tinged atmosphere of the Distant Future, the game constantly shifts style and mood, yet all of these stories ultimately converge in a shared finale. The mirrored logo — “LIVE” and “EVIL” reflected around a central “A” — encapsulates this structure, hinting at the dualities and cycles that underpin the narrative.

The tone of each chapter is deliberately varied. Some are light‑hearted pastiches, like the Wild West homage or the fighting‑game parody of the Present Day, while others are sombre meditations on mortality, legacy, or isolation, such as Imperial China or the Near Future. This tonal diversity gives the game the feel of a short‑story collection, where each tale stands alone but also contributes to a larger mosaic. Thematically, the scenarios circle around the persistence of hatred and violence across time, embodied in the recurring antagonist Odio, and the possibility of breaking free from destructive cycles through empathy, sacrifice, and connection.

Within Square’s broader history, LIVE A LIVE occupies a fascinating place. Directed by Takashi Tokita after his work on Final Fantasy IV, it foreshadowed the ensemble storytelling of Final Fantasy VI and the time‑spanning structure of Chrono Trigger. Its willingness to experiment with genre tropes — from kung‑fu melodrama to sci‑fi horror — anticipates later Square projects like Parasite Eve and Vagrant Story, which also blurred the boundaries of the traditional JRPG. Yoko Shimomura’s score, her first major project at Square, showcased the versatility that would later define her work on Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy XV.

Though modest in its original commercial impact, LIVE A LIVE became a cult favourite, remembered for its bold structure and thematic resonance. This 2022 remake introduced it to a global audience, where its anthology format and mirrored themes were newly appreciated as ahead of their time. A game that dared to fracture the RPG form into multiple voices and genres, only to reunite them in a meditation on violence, legacy, and the possibility of change.