The Distant Future offers a slow, dialogue-filled burn, but it builds to a tense crescendo. The rest of the crew are awoken from cryosleep by Cube’s creator Kato, and from there you can look around the ship and even play an arcade game that simulates Live A Live’s turn-based combat. Cube explores a spaceship that is returning to Earth with some dangerous cargo. It’s the least combat-heavy of the four chapters, and because its story is one that’s better experienced from start to finish without any prior knowledge, I won’t say too much about it. In The Distant Future chapter, you play as a small robot named Cube. If you’re quick, there only ends up being three or so turn-based battles in the whole chapter, but it’s interesting and fairly well paced overall. As you race against the clock, the more traps you’re able to put in place, the fewer enemies you need to fight before the final boss. In true Home Alone-style, you enlist the help of the townsfolk to set up traps from materials you scrounge up from nearby buildings. The Stranger’s story revolves around a gang of bandits that threaten a small town, and it’s up to him and a bounty hunter named Mad Dog to defend the town from their would-be attackers. Somehow, even a barren, lifeless desert with a single horse and rider galloping through is impossibly beautiful in HD-2D, and given the variety of settings in Live A Live, it’s not entirely surprising that this game was chosen for the visual style overhaul first seen in Octopath Traveler.

While I certainly have a favorite among the bunch, I’m going to avoid sharing too much about the events of each chapter given their length (approximately 60-90 minutes) and how important their narrative is.Īfter booting up the game for the first time, I started out with The Stranger and his Wild West chapter. During the preview period, I am able to discuss the first half of the following chapters: The Wild West, Imperial China, End of Edo Japan, and The Distant Future. Not only is the game divided into seven initial chapters each with its own main character and setting, but there’s also an immense focus on story, often at the expense of deeper, more varied gameplay. After finishing four chapters in Square Enix’s remake of Live A Live, my major takeaway is that this is anything but your typical turn-based RPG.

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