Lost classic prepares for its prodigal return
In just a week’s time, a little bit of lost gaming history will be restored, as Square Enix prepares to release its HD remake of the classic ’90s RPG Live A Live. The publisher has released one final trailer to stoke the hype fires ahead of the adventure’s July 22 launch date.
Directed by Square Enix veteran Takashi Takita, and released to the Super Famicom platform in 1994, Live A Live was an incredibly ambitious title that attempted to tell the intertwining tales of eight distinct characters, with each tale featuring its own bespoke mechanics, tone, and maps — married together by a grid-based battle system and an umbrella arc involving the very fate of time itself. Despite its ahead-of-its-time and hugely lofty concepts, Live A Live was something of a flop on release, and would thus not receive any official localization outside of Japan.
Square Enix’s new edition of Live A Live is being developed by studio Historia, which has meticulously recreated the original Super Famicom adventure with new “2D HD” visuals. In addition, the original 16-bit score — beautifully composed by industry veteran Yoko Shimomura — has been rearranged and rerecorded for the new release. The Live A Live remake will offer RPG fans worldwide their first official opportunity to check out this lost piece of experimental game design. Born out of time and flying under the radar, perhaps this new release will afford this forgotten release the opportunity to earn the legacy that has evaded it for three decades.
Live A Live launches on Nintendo Switch July 22. You can download a demo from the eShop today.
