Live A Live

Live A Live is a remarkable remake of a 1994 Japanese RPG that never officially reached the West and was long considered one of Square's most significant untranslated gems. The game is divided into seven entirely self-contained story chapters set in vastly different historical eras and genres — from a prehistoric tribal adventure through the story of a kung-fu master in a Chinese temple, a Wild West-era western, a sci-fi spaceship tale, to a horror chapter set in modern-day Yokohama burdened by a mysterious crime.

Each chapter has its own protagonist with a distinct play style and pacing: the prehistoric segment gets by almost without written dialogue and relies on smell and pantomime, the western is built around setting traps before a final showdown, and the sci-fi episode approaches a self-contained detective horror where there's no combat for a long stretch. Only after completing all seven stories is a connecting eighth chapter revealed, in which the storylines intersect against a shared enemy across time. The battle system is turn-based but plays out on a chessboard-like grid, where the position of characters and enemies fundamentally affects the reach and effectiveness of attacks, so moving a single square often matters more than the choice of ability itself.

The remake completely transformed the original 16-bit pixel art into a stylized HD-2D look, similar to games like Octopath Traveler, while keeping Yasunori Mitsuda's original music, newly recorded in a richer arrangement. Full voice acting and a range of small quality-of-life improvements were added, from faster movement to a clearer quest log. Thanks to its structural boldness, genre diversity, and long-unavailable status, the remake was warmly received by critics and fans alike as one of the most delightful surprises for lovers of classic JRPGs.