Live alive was one of the most unexpected and interesting re-releases of 2022 when it hit Nintendo Switch – and now the remaster of this cult role-playing game from 90s Square Enix comes to PC and PlayStation. Live alive will be released on April 27 on Steam, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
Live alive features a time-skipping storyline that follows characters from prehistoric times, Imperial China, Medieval Europe, Edo Japan, Wild West, Present, Near Future, and Far Future. Each chapter has its own storytelling style and game mechanics: it’s a kind of playable game Cloud AtlasS.
It’s not an entirely successful experiment, but it’s a truly original and fascinating recovery from the vaults that’s worth checking out if you’re a student of Japanese RPGs. Live alive was released in Japan in 1994, but never made it to the West. It is directed by Final Fantasy 6 designer and Chrono trigger director Takashi Tokita, a star of the mid-90s Square Enix team.
The new remake takes advantage of Square Enix’s beautifully embellished HD-2D style, which places retro sprites in 3D environments rich in atmospheric effects, as seen in the Octopath Traveler games and Triangle Strategy. An HD-2D remake of dragon quest 3 is also under development.