Live A Live
Encyclopedia
is a console role-playing game developed by Square
(now Square Enix
) for the Super Famicom
released in Japan on September 2, 1994. It was never released outside Japan, but it has been unofficially translated
into English.
Live A Lives story is split across seven seemingly unrelated chapters that can be played in any order, based on popular genres such as Western
, science fiction
, and mecha
. Each chapter has its own plot, setting, and characters. Although the basic gameplay is the same throughout the game, each chapter adds a new factor to the basic formula, such as the stealth elements in the ninja
chapter. After the first seven chapters are completed, two final chapters take place to establish the connection between the seven previous and resolve the story.
s to level up
. However, the game does some things that are unusual for the genre, such as eschewing magic point
s and money, and automatically restoring the characters' health
between battles.
The game's turn-based tactics
-like battles take place on a 7x7 square grid, in which the character and enemies may move freely and use typical RPG commands. Certain attacks can change the grid's tiles into elemental areas, which damage those not resistant to them. As in roguelike
s, enemies receive a turn after the player moves or completes an action - however, some actions take longer to execute than others. Each character and enemy has unique abilities with different strengths, range, and charge time. While there is no limit to the use of a specific skill, a more powerful skill may have a greater charge time, allowing the enemy multiple turns to attack. Using multiple characters allows for a wide variety of strategies to be employed. Characters can be inflicted with status ailments, and certain items, attacks, and skills can raise or lower a character or enemy's stats while in battle. When a character's hit points reach zero, they collapse and are unable to move, but can be revived by using a healing item or spell. However, if they are hit when in the knocked-out state, they permanently disappear from battle. Certain enemies may be linked to a single leader; when the leader is destroyed, they will "break down".
Each chapter contains some variations on the standard formula. Contact, the prehistoric
chapter, is told without a single line of dialogue, as the cavemen had not yet developed language. Items are created by combining raw materials such as sticks and rocks. Pogo, the protagonist of the chapter, has a strong sense of smell and uses it to track monsters and solve other puzzles. Inheritance, the kung-fu chapter, allows the player to choose between three different pupils, all with different abilities, and train them. The chosen pupil fights alongside the master at the end of the chapter and takes his place in the final chapter. Secret Orders, the ninja
chapter, employs stealth game elements. The chapter is open-ended, allowing the player to complete it in a variety of ways. The player can strive to kill all one hundred humans in the chapter, or avoid killing any of them. Wandering, the cowboy chapter, involves the player gathering supplies, using them to make traps, and assigning them to the different townsfolk to set up. For every trap set, the difficulty of the final battle decreases. The modern day
chapter, The Strongest, resembles a fighting game
, consisting only of bouts against martial arts
masters. The player can fight the masters in any order and learn their abilities by being hit with them. In Flow, the near-future chapter, the protagonist is able to read minds, which opens up more dialogue and is sometimes needed to progress through the plot. The player can upgrade items to make new, often better ones. Mechanical Heart, the sci-fi
chapter, is purely story-driven, with no battles other than the final boss and an optional arcade game.
King of Demons, the hidden medieval fantasy
chapter, plays the most like a traditional RPG, being the first chapter to employ random battles. The final chapter is the most open-ended, allowing the player to choose any combination of protagonists and search for weapons and items to prepare for the final battle.
, a female bandit named Li
, and a boy named Yuan
who stood up to the local gangsters. The Sundown Kid is a wandering cowboy famous for his skill with a gun. Masaru Takahara is a wrestler with the dream of being the strongest fighter in the world who possesses a strong sense of justice. Akira Tadokoro is an orphan in the near future with psychic
powers. Cube is a self-aware
robot created by the mechanic Kato aboard the Cogito Ergosum
. Oersted is a famous knight in the realm of Lucretia, betrothed to the King's only daughter. Odio, whose name comes from the Latin
word for hate, is the Demon King and the main antagonist
of the game.
times, a tribe of cavemen
prepares to sacrifice a woman named Bel to their deity, a dinosaur named O-D-O. She escapes to the south and hides in a cave belonging to another tribe, stealing their food to survive. She is discovered by a young caveman named Pogo, who falls in love with her and decides to help her hide from the rest of the tribe. The northern tribe attacks to retrieve her, but Pogo repels them. However, Bel is discovered in the process, and the elder exiles them. Eventually, Pogo is forced to fight O-D-O, and is assisted by a warrior of the northern tribe named Zaki. After the beast is defeated, peace is established between the two tribes.
clan Enma sends one of their ninja named Oboro-maru to rescue a prisoner who can stabilize Japan, then kill Ode Iou. After rescuing the prisoner, he joins the ninja in the battle with Ode Iou, who turns out to be a monster. After Ode Iou is slain, the prisoner reveals that he's Sakamoto Ryōma
. Oboro is then given the choice of returning to the Enma or joining Ryōma in his plans to rebuild Japan.
, and centers on an old kung-fu master of the Xin Shan Quan tradition and his three students. While the master is away one day, the dojo is attacked by a rival dojo seeking revenge for an insult. Two of the students are killed, prompting the master and his remaining student to avenge their deaths. The rival school, led by Odi Wang Lee, is defeated, but the master dies afterward, having used the last of his strength in the fight. The student then is charged with training the next generation.
. An outlaw called the Sundown Kid and his rival, a bounty hunter
named Mad Dog, arrive in Success Town, a place terrorized by a group of bandits called the Crazy Bunch, led by O. Dio, the last remaining survivor of the 7th Cavalry. The two decide to team up temporarily and help the town stand up to the bandits. The townsfolk agree to help, and they make a plan to prepare the town's defenses against an attack. After defeating most of the assailants, O. Dio attacks them with a Gatling gun
. After emerging victorious, Mad Dog challenges Sundown to one final duel. The player has the option of killing Mad Dog or running away.
, a biker gang called the Crusaders has been kidnapping people with unknown intentions. A young boy with psychic powers named Akira Tadokoro is orphaned when his father, a police officer, dies in a fight with the Crusaders. Akira and his sister grow up in an orphanage called Chibikko House. One day, an unusual series of events lead Akira and his friend Matsu to discover a plot by the Japanese government to liquify people and use them to power a giant idol named Odeo. Matsu sacrifices himself to save Akira, who then destroys Odeo using an ancient mech called Buriki Daioh.
called Cogito Ergosum is returning to earth carrying a dangerous alien called the Behemoth. The mechanic, Kato, creates a spherical robot and ironically names it Cube. The player takes the role of Cube as it explores the ship and meets the crew. However, things begin to go wrong as the ship malfunctions and a crew member named Kirk dies in a freak accident. As the story progresses, the Behemoth is released and it kills more crew members. The remaining crew members continue to blame and mistrust one another, but it is finally revealed that the culprit is the ship's computer, OD-10. Cube hacks into the computer via a video game console and defeats it.
chapter is unlocked. A brave knight named Oersted, a hero beloved by the people, sets off to rescue Princess Alicia of Lucretia, his fiancee, from the Demon King. He joins his best friend, the wizard Straybow, and the heroes who defeated the Demon King thirty years prior, the knight Hash and the priest Uranus, and heads to the mountain of the Demon King. However, they cannot find the Demon King or Alicia there. Hash dies after a battle with a powerful monster, and Straybow is seemingly killed by falling rocks shortly thereafter. Oersted and Uranus return to Lucretia that night to regroup, but Oersted is tricked into slaying the King by an image of the Demon King. He is accused of being the Demon King himself, and imprisoned. Uranus helps him escape then dies, and Oersted flees the country, reviled by the people who idolized him the day before. He returns to the mountain of the Demon King and finds that Straybow had faked his own death, after discovering a hidden passageway to where Alicia was being held. Straybow reveals he was behind everything, and his motive was jealousy of Oersted. Oersted slays him. Alicia enters, confesses her love for Straybow, and stabs herself. Oersted realizes that there is nothing left in his life and desires revenge against humanity for taking everything away from him. He sacrifices his soul to become the next Demon King, and names himself Odio.
If the player chooses Oersted as the final chapter's lead character, he defeats the seven protagonists with all of his incarnations, and is left to wander in an empty Lucretia or, if defeated, causes armageddon
.
artists involving Yoshihide Fujiwara
, Yoshinori Kobayashi
, Osamu Ishiwata
, Yumi Tamura
, Ryōji Minagawa
, Gosho Aoyama
and Kazuhiko Shimamoto
.
. The Live A Live Original Sound Version, a single CD containing 41 songs, was released on August 25, 1994. A promotional Mini CD
was included with the "Live A Live Perfect Strategy Guide Book." It contained two arranged medley tracks, and was released on October 21, 1994. Both items were published by NTT Publishing. In 2008, the tracks "The Bird Flies in the Sky, the Fish Swims in the River" and "Forgotten Wings" were included on Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura, a compilation of the composer's work at Square Enix.
Square (company)
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
(now Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
) for the Super Famicom
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
released in Japan on September 2, 1994. It was never released outside Japan, but it has been unofficially translated
Fan translation
A fan translation, in video gaming, refers to an unofficial translation of a computer game or video game.The fan translation practice grew with the rise of video game console emulation in the late 1990s. A community of people developed that were interested in replaying and modifying the games they...
into English.
Live A Lives story is split across seven seemingly unrelated chapters that can be played in any order, based on popular genres such as Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
, science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, and mecha
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
. Each chapter has its own plot, setting, and characters. Although the basic gameplay is the same throughout the game, each chapter adds a new factor to the basic formula, such as the stealth elements in the ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
chapter. After the first seven chapters are completed, two final chapters take place to establish the connection between the seven previous and resolve the story.
Gameplay
Live A Live contains the basic elements of a console role-playing game. The characters explore dungeons, towns, or similar areas, fight enemies, and gain experience pointExperience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...
s to level up
Level Up
Level Up was a UK children's TV programme that was broadcast on CBBC. It was launched on the 3rd April 2006, replacing Xchange. The show was an hour long and during the school year broadcasting from 7:30am until 8:30am...
. However, the game does some things that are unusual for the genre, such as eschewing magic point
Magic point
Magic points are units of magical power that are used in many role-playing, computer role-playing and similar games as an expendable resource that is needed to pay for magic spells and other abilities, such as special attacks...
s and money, and automatically restoring the characters' health
Health (gaming)
Health is a game mechanic used in role-playing, computer and video games to give value to characters, enemies, NPCs, and related objects. This value can either be numerical, semi-numerical as in hit/health points, or arbitrary as in a life bar....
between battles.
The game's turn-based tactics
Turn-based tactics
Turn-based tactics , or tactical turn-based , is a computer and video game genre of strategy video games that through stop-action simulates the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics in generally small-scale confrontations as opposed to more strategic...
-like battles take place on a 7x7 square grid, in which the character and enemies may move freely and use typical RPG commands. Certain attacks can change the grid's tiles into elemental areas, which damage those not resistant to them. As in roguelike
Roguelike
The roguelike is a sub-genre of role-playing video games, characterized by randomization for replayability, permanent death, and turn-based movement. Most roguelikes feature ASCII graphics, with newer ones increasingly offering tile-based graphics. Games are typically dungeon crawls, with many...
s, enemies receive a turn after the player moves or completes an action - however, some actions take longer to execute than others. Each character and enemy has unique abilities with different strengths, range, and charge time. While there is no limit to the use of a specific skill, a more powerful skill may have a greater charge time, allowing the enemy multiple turns to attack. Using multiple characters allows for a wide variety of strategies to be employed. Characters can be inflicted with status ailments, and certain items, attacks, and skills can raise or lower a character or enemy's stats while in battle. When a character's hit points reach zero, they collapse and are unable to move, but can be revived by using a healing item or spell. However, if they are hit when in the knocked-out state, they permanently disappear from battle. Certain enemies may be linked to a single leader; when the leader is destroyed, they will "break down".
Each chapter contains some variations on the standard formula. Contact, the prehistoric
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
chapter, is told without a single line of dialogue, as the cavemen had not yet developed language. Items are created by combining raw materials such as sticks and rocks. Pogo, the protagonist of the chapter, has a strong sense of smell and uses it to track monsters and solve other puzzles. Inheritance, the kung-fu chapter, allows the player to choose between three different pupils, all with different abilities, and train them. The chosen pupil fights alongside the master at the end of the chapter and takes his place in the final chapter. Secret Orders, the ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
chapter, employs stealth game elements. The chapter is open-ended, allowing the player to complete it in a variety of ways. The player can strive to kill all one hundred humans in the chapter, or avoid killing any of them. Wandering, the cowboy chapter, involves the player gathering supplies, using them to make traps, and assigning them to the different townsfolk to set up. For every trap set, the difficulty of the final battle decreases. The modern day
Present
Present is a time that is neither past nor future.Present may also refer to:- Time and timing :* Present tense, the grammatical tense of a verb* Before Present, radiocarbon dates relative to AD 1950* Presenting, a medical term* Presenteeism...
chapter, The Strongest, resembles a fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
, consisting only of bouts against martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
masters. The player can fight the masters in any order and learn their abilities by being hit with them. In Flow, the near-future chapter, the protagonist is able to read minds, which opens up more dialogue and is sometimes needed to progress through the plot. The player can upgrade items to make new, often better ones. Mechanical Heart, the sci-fi
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
chapter, is purely story-driven, with no battles other than the final boss and an optional arcade game.
King of Demons, the hidden medieval fantasy
Medieval fantasy
Medieval fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that encompasses medieval era high fantasy and sometimes simply represents fictitious versions of historic events. This subgenre is common among role-playing games, text-based roleplaying, and high-fantasy literature....
chapter, plays the most like a traditional RPG, being the first chapter to employ random battles. The final chapter is the most open-ended, allowing the player to choose any combination of protagonists and search for weapons and items to prepare for the final battle.
Characters
Live A Live has a large number of characters. The main character of the prehistoric chapter, Pogo, is a young caveman who has just come of age, who is only capable of saying the word "love." Oboro-maru is a ninja of the Enma with great potential sent on an important mission. Master Xin Shan Quan is an old kung-fu master seeking to pass on his art before he dies; his three pupils are an obese yet agile man named SammoSammo Hung
Sammo Hung is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and director, known for his work in many martial arts films and Hong Kong action cinema...
, a female bandit named Li
Li (surname)
Li is a common transliteration of several Chinese family names, including 李 , the most common Chinese family name, and the Korean family name Lee...
, and a boy named Yuan
Yuan (surname)
Yuan is a Chinese surname ranked 37th in China by population. In Standard Chinese, the surname is transliterated "Yuán" or "Yüen2" . Regional variants include "Yeu" , "Ion" , "Yuen" , "Oan" , "Won" , and "Viên"...
who stood up to the local gangsters. The Sundown Kid is a wandering cowboy famous for his skill with a gun. Masaru Takahara is a wrestler with the dream of being the strongest fighter in the world who possesses a strong sense of justice. Akira Tadokoro is an orphan in the near future with psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
powers. Cube is a self-aware
Self-awareness
Self-awareness is the capacity for introspection and the ability to reconcile oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals...
robot created by the mechanic Kato aboard the Cogito Ergosum
Cogito ergo sum
is a philosophical Latin statement proposed by . The simple meaning of the phrase is that someone wondering whether or not they exist is, in and of itself, proof that something, an "I", exists to do the thinking — However this "I" is not the more or less permanent person we call "I"...
. Oersted is a famous knight in the realm of Lucretia, betrothed to the King's only daughter. Odio, whose name comes from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
word for hate, is the Demon King and the main antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
of the game.
Plot
The first seven chapters can be played in any order, and the final two chapters open up after they are completed.Contact
In prehistoricPrehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
times, a tribe of cavemen
Caveman
A caveman or troglodyte is a stock character based upon widespread concepts of the way in which early prehistoric humans may have looked and behaved...
prepares to sacrifice a woman named Bel to their deity, a dinosaur named O-D-O. She escapes to the south and hides in a cave belonging to another tribe, stealing their food to survive. She is discovered by a young caveman named Pogo, who falls in love with her and decides to help her hide from the rest of the tribe. The northern tribe attacks to retrieve her, but Pogo repels them. However, Bel is discovered in the process, and the elder exiles them. Eventually, Pogo is forced to fight O-D-O, and is assisted by a warrior of the northern tribe named Zaki. After the beast is defeated, peace is established between the two tribes.
Secret Orders
In feudal Japan, a mysterious figure named Ode Iou is trying to throw Japan into chaos. The ninjaNinja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
clan Enma sends one of their ninja named Oboro-maru to rescue a prisoner who can stabilize Japan, then kill Ode Iou. After rescuing the prisoner, he joins the ninja in the battle with Ode Iou, who turns out to be a monster. After Ode Iou is slain, the prisoner reveals that he's Sakamoto Ryōma
Sakamoto Ryoma
was a leader of the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate during the Bakumatsu period in Japan. Ryōma used the alias .- Early life :Ryōma was born in Kōchi, of Tosa han . By the Japanese calendar, this was the sixth year of Tenpō...
. Oboro is then given the choice of returning to the Enma or joining Ryōma in his plans to rebuild Japan.
Inheritance
In ancient ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and centers on an old kung-fu master of the Xin Shan Quan tradition and his three students. While the master is away one day, the dojo is attacked by a rival dojo seeking revenge for an insult. Two of the students are killed, prompting the master and his remaining student to avenge their deaths. The rival school, led by Odi Wang Lee, is defeated, but the master dies afterward, having used the last of his strength in the fight. The student then is charged with training the next generation.
Wandering
This chapter takes place in the American Old WestAmerican Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
. An outlaw called the Sundown Kid and his rival, a bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
named Mad Dog, arrive in Success Town, a place terrorized by a group of bandits called the Crazy Bunch, led by O. Dio, the last remaining survivor of the 7th Cavalry. The two decide to team up temporarily and help the town stand up to the bandits. The townsfolk agree to help, and they make a plan to prepare the town's defenses against an attack. After defeating most of the assailants, O. Dio attacks them with a Gatling gun
Gatling gun
The Gatling gun is one of the best known early rapid-fire weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine gun. It is well known for its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s, which was the first time it was employed in combat...
. After emerging victorious, Mad Dog challenges Sundown to one final duel. The player has the option of killing Mad Dog or running away.
The Strongest
The Strongest is set in the present day. Masaru Takahara strives to become the strongest fighter in the world by fighting the masters of different fighting disciplines to learn their techniques. However, another fighter, Odie Oldbright, fights the same six masters and murders them all. He then challenges Masaru, who defeats him.Flow
In the near future in JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, a biker gang called the Crusaders has been kidnapping people with unknown intentions. A young boy with psychic powers named Akira Tadokoro is orphaned when his father, a police officer, dies in a fight with the Crusaders. Akira and his sister grow up in an orphanage called Chibikko House. One day, an unusual series of events lead Akira and his friend Matsu to discover a plot by the Japanese government to liquify people and use them to power a giant idol named Odeo. Matsu sacrifices himself to save Akira, who then destroys Odeo using an ancient mech called Buriki Daioh.
Mechanical Heart
In the distant future, a space shipSpacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
called Cogito Ergosum is returning to earth carrying a dangerous alien called the Behemoth. The mechanic, Kato, creates a spherical robot and ironically names it Cube. The player takes the role of Cube as it explores the ship and meets the crew. However, things begin to go wrong as the ship malfunctions and a crew member named Kirk dies in a freak accident. As the story progresses, the Behemoth is released and it kills more crew members. The remaining crew members continue to blame and mistrust one another, but it is finally revealed that the culprit is the ship's computer, OD-10. Cube hacks into the computer via a video game console and defeats it.
King of Demons
After completing the first seven chapters, the medievalMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
chapter is unlocked. A brave knight named Oersted, a hero beloved by the people, sets off to rescue Princess Alicia of Lucretia, his fiancee, from the Demon King. He joins his best friend, the wizard Straybow, and the heroes who defeated the Demon King thirty years prior, the knight Hash and the priest Uranus, and heads to the mountain of the Demon King. However, they cannot find the Demon King or Alicia there. Hash dies after a battle with a powerful monster, and Straybow is seemingly killed by falling rocks shortly thereafter. Oersted and Uranus return to Lucretia that night to regroup, but Oersted is tricked into slaying the King by an image of the Demon King. He is accused of being the Demon King himself, and imprisoned. Uranus helps him escape then dies, and Oersted flees the country, reviled by the people who idolized him the day before. He returns to the mountain of the Demon King and finds that Straybow had faked his own death, after discovering a hidden passageway to where Alicia was being held. Straybow reveals he was behind everything, and his motive was jealousy of Oersted. Oersted slays him. Alicia enters, confesses her love for Straybow, and stabs herself. Oersted realizes that there is nothing left in his life and desires revenge against humanity for taking everything away from him. He sacrifices his soul to become the next Demon King, and names himself Odio.
Final Chapter
In the final chapter, Odio summons the protagonists of the first seven chapters to his realm, a colorless Lucretia with its people mysteriously absent, for a final battle. The player's chosen protagonist meets and recruits the other six characters. Once ready, the group fights and defeats Odio, who reverts back to Oersted. The protagonist is then given the choice of killing him; if he refuses, Oersted attacks the group again, forcing all seven of them to fight the incarnation of Odio from their chapter. After all forms of Odio are destroyed, the protagonist explains what he fights for, and Oersted agrees to return them all to where they came from and dies. Lucretia is freed from Odio's control.If the player chooses Oersted as the final chapter's lead character, he defeats the seven protagonists with all of his incarnations, and is left to wander in an empty Lucretia or, if defeated, causes armageddon
Armageddon
Armageddon is, according to the Bible, the site of a battle during the end times, variously interpreted as either a literal or symbolic location...
.
Development
The characters of each of the game's chapters were illustrated by a group of different mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
artists involving Yoshihide Fujiwara
Yoshihide Fujiwara
is a Japanese manga artist. Fujiwara first came to attention by winning the 1984 Shogakukan New Artist Award for Maris. He worked as Ryoichi Ikegami's assistant until 1986, and his artistic style closely resembles that of his master....
, Yoshinori Kobayashi
Yoshinori Kobayashi
Yoshinori Kobayashi is a bestselling Japanese author and manga artist...
, Osamu Ishiwata
Osamu Ishiwata
is a Japanese manga artist. He won the 1989 Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen for B.B. The manga artist Yoshitomo Yoshimoto is his younger brother.-External links:...
, Yumi Tamura
Yumi Tamura
is a Japanese manga artist. Her debut short story, Ore-tachi no Zettai Jikan , was published in 1983 in Bessatsu Shōjo Comic and received the 1983 Shogakukan Grand Prize for new artists. Since then, she has completed more than 50 compiled volumes of short stories and continuing series...
, Ryōji Minagawa
Ryoji Minagawa
' is a Japanese manga artist born in Sumida, Tokyo.He was invited with Spriggan story writer Hiroshi Takashige to go to a comic convention in Portugal in 1996 as a guest of honor due to his work on Spriggan. He worked on other manga comics before he went on to create Project ARMS with fellow manga...
, Gosho Aoyama
Gosho Aoyama
, born on June 21, 1963 in Hokuei, Tottori Prefecture, Japan is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known as the creator of the manga series Detective Conan .-Educational background:Aoyama was talented in drawing even at an early age...
and Kazuhiko Shimamoto
Kazuhiko Shimamoto
is a Japanese manga artist. He attended college at the Osaka University of Arts in the fine arts department. While in college in 1982, he debuted in the February special issue of Shōnen Sunday with Hissatsu no Denkousei. At this point he dropped out of college and devoted his energies to becoming a...
.
Soundtrack
Live A Live's soundtrack was composed by Yoko ShimomuraYoko Shimomura
is a Japanese video game composer. She has been described as "the most famous female video game music composer in the world". She has worked in the video game music industry since graduating from Osaka College of Music in 1988...
. The Live A Live Original Sound Version, a single CD containing 41 songs, was released on August 25, 1994. A promotional Mini CD
Mini CD
Mini CDs, or “pocket CDs” are CDs with a smaller diameter and one third the capacity.-Formats:Amongst the various formats are the* Mini CD single, a small disc. The format is mainly used for audio CD singles in certain regions , much like the old vinyl single...
was included with the "Live A Live Perfect Strategy Guide Book." It contained two arranged medley tracks, and was released on October 21, 1994. Both items were published by NTT Publishing. In 2008, the tracks "The Bird Flies in the Sky, the Fish Swims in the River" and "Forgotten Wings" were included on Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura, a compilation of the composer's work at Square Enix.
External links
- Live A Live at Aeon Genesis, the fan translation
- Live A Live at FantasyAnime, has an interview with Gideon Zhi, the main ROM hacker and instigator of the Live A Live translation project
- Live A Live at RPG Classics, has a walkthrough
- GameFAQs, has several walkthroughs