It is hard to believe but Square Enix has done the impossible withLive A Live. This game was an exclusive in Japan since 1994. Fans took it upon themselves to release an English patch for it, which has been playable for quite some time now. Still, it is nice to see it officially released outside of Japan nearly three decades later.
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It’s also nice thatLive A Liveis more than just a straight port to the eShop like some other SNES-basedSquare Enixgames. This game is part oftheir HD-2D selection, making it look and sound like a modern game. As many things as Square Enix added,Live A Liveis also missing some basic remaster functions that hopefully can be patched in soon.
8Needs Difficulties Or Assists
Surprisingly, this game does not have difficulty levels. Most modern games do and Square Enix is no stranger to that. If an RPG is too hard then players just need to level. That is the common mantra in the genre, but some scenarios in this game make it difficult to grind.
The Wild West storyline, for example, does not have extra battles. There are other scenarios where this is seemingly impossible too.Live A Livecould use standard difficulty settings ranging from Easy to Medium to Hard orsome assist features.
7Add Fast-Forward To Story
Not every storyline in this game is a winner. The Prehistory one, for example, is told entirely through emoticons. It’s not exciting to follow but thankfully players can skip the cutscenes if they wish. This is a great featurein an RPGwith a lot of story elements.
However, the game would benefit from a fast-forward feature as well. It would make it possible for players to follow along with basic story beats without entirely missing out on some potentially interesting events.
6Needs An Autobattle
Being able to fast-forward through battles would also be great. Combo this with an autobattle system andLive A Livewould feel even more modern. Turn-based RPGs have learned that not everyone has the patience to sit and wait around for every character or enemy to move.
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That’s whythe action RPGgenre has exploded in the past decade. EvenFinal Fantasyhas all but ditched the classic turn-based style. Games that do have more traditional battle systems, likeTriangle Strategy, also have enhanced movement. That’s why both or either of these features would be great to see in this game too.
5Add More Extras
Square Enix did a good job with this remaster. Again, it looks and sounds great which is more than they needed to do. As a remaster of an almost three-decade-old game, fans would assuredly love to know more about its history. There are some extras in the game like the jukebox which allows players to listen to music.
That’s about it, so things like artwork would also be good to add in a patch along with some behind-the-scenes interviews with the team. What do they remember about creating Live A Live originally and what did the new team think about workingon the remaster?
4Make A Bigger Map
There is only a mini-map right now in the game which feels weird.Most retro RPGs, especially ones made by Square Enix, have a couple of map options. ManyFinal FantasyandDragon Questgames are good examples of this.
There is no way to make the map bigger while exploring the world and there is not a map section in the menu. Both of these features should get added toLive A Liveas soon as possible. One feature would be sufficient but two would be an even better treat.
3Add A Better Waypoint System
It’s easy to get lost in the game which is odd considering that there are navigational tools. On the mini-map are diamonds that come in three sets of colors. Orange diamonds, or flags, indicate where players should go next.
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Gray diamonds are unexplored areas while blue diamonds mean players have been in an area before. Even if players know a general idea of where to go, it can still be tricky as there is no mission statement like in a quest menuin most RPGs. Adding in a waypoint system, like an arrow, could help prevent players from getting lost as well as the aforementioned quest menu.
2Running Or Fast Travel
Players have two sets of speeds that can be toggled at the press of a button or changed in the options menu. The running speed for all characters inLive A Livecould be faster. The various worlds in each scenario aren’t huge, but being able to get around faster would help lessen the tedium. Being able to fast travel would also help a lot in the game.
The concept might not have been around when thisgame was made in 1994. However, fast travel is a common mechanic in games nowadays which should be featured in more remasters of games like this.
1Add A Photo Mode
One of the best features of the game is the redone sprite work. Everything looks great in HD-2D but players seldom get to enjoy the art on a grander scale. There is no way to zoom in or out or change camera angles.Square Enixcould add a way to pause the game, entering into a photo mode that allows players to shift things around.Super Smash Bros. Ultimateis also a 2D game but the photo mode in it operates just like this. That means it is possible forLive A Livetoo.
Live a Livewas released on May 19, 2025 and is available on Switch.
