Live a Live



An ambitious game by Square, featuring multiple story lines set in seven time periods ("chapters"), which can be played in any order before culminating in one hell of a Wham! Episode. These story lines each provide a different setting and genre. Although the storylines are mostly standalone at first, they eventually combine into a single plotline that thrives on well-executed Player Punch moments.

The plot itself is an interesting example of The Rashomon. The chapters of the game each draw on influences from different sources, as wide and varied as 80's anime, spaghetti Westerns, fighting games, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Aliens, to name but a few. The game tends to play these tropes straight for the most part, but at times subverts them just as happily.

Live a Live also deviates somewhat from the usual Squaresoft games when it comes to the battle system, being somewhere between standard turn-based combat and a Tactics-style system. Although the battle system stays the same throughout the game, each chapter has its own distinct atmosphere and art style. They are, in chronological order:


 * The prehistoric slapstick comedy romance chapter, starring Pogo the green-haired caveman and his monkey friend,
 * The classical Chinese kung fu nature chapter, starring an old, dying Xin Shan Quan master and his potential successors Li, Yuan, and Sammo,
 * The (initially hidden) Wham! Episode ,
 * The Japanese Bakumatsu Stealth Based Mission political revolution ghost robot maze chapter, starring the ninja Oboro and ,
 * The Spaghetti Western time trial puzzle chapter, starring The Sundown Kid,
 * The modern day arcade fighting game chapter, starring the wrestler Masaru,
 * The near future Humongous Mecha Gainax Mind Screw anime chapter, starring... well, Akira,
 * The sci-fi silent space Survival Horror The Computer Is Your Friend chapter, starring the robot Cube.

(If you're considering playing the game for the first time, it is highly recommend you start with the robot sci-fi chapter. It's the only one that isn't either full of Guide Dang It moments or a complete Mind Screw, and contains a very nice tutorial mini-game. Both the kung fu chapter and the mecha chapter are also nice to begin with. After that, it may get a little bit difficult at times.)

Live a Live was never officially released outside Japan, but following two English Fan Translation projects, the game has picked up something of a cult following. The latest Aeon Genesis translation patch can be found here.

Compare Bahamut Lagoon and Treasure of the Rudra, two similar Square Soft games from the same time period.

Not to be confused with the Haruhi Suzumiya episode "Live Alive", The Wavering of Haruhi Suzumiya story "Live A Live", or Alive A Life. Also not the converse of Kill la Kill.

"O. Dio: It doesn't matter how many rats you rustle up... O. Dio: You won't be able to win against a Gatling Gun!!"
 * Abhorrent Admirer: Okame-no-Kata in the Bakumatsu chapter.
 * Acrofatic: Sammo, naturally.
 * Action Girl: Li.
 * Adult Fear:
 * After Combat Recovery
 * AI Is a Crapshoot: "Everything in this ship must work in harmony... I was built to maintain harmony... Therefore, my will is absolute... Nobody will stand in my way... Anyone who tries... Will be terminated! KILL YOU...."
 * All Cavemen Were Neanderthals
 * All Your Powers Combined: The focus of Masaru's chapter and his end quote with his chapter boss,
 * Anachronism Stew: Anyone care to explain how found their way into feudal Japan?
 * And Then John Was a Zombie:
 * Anime Hair: Most of the characters keep it down, but Pogo, Matsu, and Akira more than make up for them. At least the latter two have an excuse: their chapter is modeled on a Super Robot anime. Also, Oersted.
 * Apocalypse How: You can pull off a Class Z by
 * Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Odie Olbright
 * As Long as There Is Evil
 * As Long as There Is One Man: Subverted horribly.
 * The Atoner:
 * qualifies as well, having performed a Heel Face Turn some indeterminate amount of time after he
 * Badass: Arguably all the heroes.
 * Corporal Darth from the Sci-Fi Chapter gets special mention.
 * Badass Biker: Matsu.
 * Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: fought robots.
 * Big Damn Villains: At one point in the Bakumatsu chapter, a bunch of guards come after you, only to be attacked by a masked man. You can let the masked man kill the guards for you if you're going for zero kills.
 * Big Eater: Sammo, and to a lesser extent, Bel.
 * Bonus Boss: There are many:
 * In Pogo's chapter, the King Mammoth.
 * In Oboro's chapter, the Fish in the river, and the Ghost guarding the sword.
 * In
 * Bonus Stage: The entire game of Captain Square in Cube's Chapter.
 * Booze-Based Buff: During the Western chapter, your healing items consist entirely of various alcoholic drinks.
 * Of course, getting drunk comes with its debuffs...
 * Boss Rush:
 * Could also apply to Masaru's chapter; the entire chapter consists of seven battles, but they're all against boss-level enemies.
 * Bound and Gagged: Happens to Bel during Pogo's Chapter.
 * Bounty Hunter: Mad Dog.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: The first thing you see at the start of Akira's chapter is Akira's eyes staring right at you. He then starts addressing you directly for a short time before the action cuts to his actual story.
 * Breather Level: Cube's chapter only has one required boss battle, and it doesn't have a single Guide Dang It.
 * Sundown's chapter has a total of five battles, of which one is optional (and eliminates one of the others if you choose to fight), three are laughably easy, and one is against the chapter's boss.
 * Broken Record:
 * Climax Boss: All the fights against the different Odio incarnations, and the Demon King in Oersted's Chapter.
 * Cool Ship: Cube's chapter; it takes place entirely on the Cool Ship.
 * Crutch Character: Oboro and Pogo can (and probably will) be leveled up very high in order to defeat their respective Bonus Bosses,
 * Still other characters have stats—like Masaru's ludicrous HP—that make them practically invincible once you do get around to levelling them up.
 * Cyberpunk: Akira's chapter.
 * Dangerous Forbidden Technique: The Xuan Ya Lian Shan Quan from the Inheritance chapter. You can only use it once for the final battle of the chapter. It stops being dangerous and forbidden in the final chapter, though, where it can be used at any time once it's learned. Justified, considering that it's only dangerous to the master because he was too old to use it - his disciples have no such problems.
 * Dangerous Terrain: In battle, there are different types of damaging panels: poison, water, fire, and electricity. These panels also effect enemies, and some enemies can recover on said panels. Oboro is capable of creating fire and water based panels, and Cube can create electric-based panels. Gori from Pogo's chapter can create poison-based spaces.
 * The bosses love elemental spaces. Most notably, Ode Iou's true One-Winged Angel form has an attack which creates an enormous area of poison based panels. OD-10 also has Driveback, which creates electric based panels in a 3x3 placement (which can actually kill it).
 * Taken to extremes in the Captain Square minigame, the only part of the game where you can quickly die from elemental squares alone.
 * Death Seeker:
 * Despair Event Horizon:.
 * Eleventh-Hour Superpower: The Xin Shan Quan Master's chapter, with the Xuan Ya Lian Shan Quan.
 * Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The Master, in the Ancient China Chapter; you do not name the Master, you name his fighting style. He is just referred as The Master.
 * Evil Speechof Evil: Almost all of the Odio incarnations make one; the exceptions are O-D-O from Pogo's chapter, and O. Dio from Sunset/Sundown's chapter. The most memorable has to be the speech at the end of
 * Expy: Sundown is quite similar to Man With No Name.
 * Face Heel Turn:
 * Fallen Hero: Hash in the medieval chapter. He was a hero who defeated the Demon Lord, but lost faith in humanity and went to live as a hermit in the mountains. He subverts it by helping Oerstred defeat the Demon Lord to prove that he is still brave.
 * Fan Nickname: "知力25" (INT or IQ 25) for Masaru. Because his base IQ will ALWAYS be this. Parodied with Cirno crossovers.
 * Fartillery: Both Pogo and Gori have gaseous attacks which can cause some status effects to boot.
 * Fate Worse Than Death: In Akira's chapter, the people being abducted are being turned into liquefied humans to power the Kuruu Odio statue, or to become robotic super soldiers.
 * ended up with a horrible fate:
 * Fetch Quest: You don't have to go through the character dungeons in the final chapter, but if you don't, you'll have a difficult time with Odio and
 * Fighting Game: Masaru's chapter.
 * Fun with Acronyms: Unknown if it's played straight or a case of Woolseyism, but read all of Cube's abilities in order and write down the first letter of each. If it's the former, it's definitely a textbook case of Fridge Brilliance.
 * It's the former, but a few early English translations screwed it up.
 * Game Within a Game: Captain Square in Cube's chapter.
 * Gatling Good: O. Dio's weapon.
 * Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: There are multiple in the final chapter; the most notable example is the guardian of Masaru's bonus dungeon, who only appears if Masaru is in your party.
 * Glass Cannon: Several. Yuan has the highest power rating of the Kung Fu heroes, but the lowest HP. The Sundown Kid has very low HP as well, but strong, long-range attacks and some of the most devastating techniques in the game. Oboro is similarly flimsy, but he's a Ninja, which is enough said right there.
 * Grand Finale: The best ending.
 * Gone Horribly Right: Congratulations, Straybow!
 * Guide Dang It: Oboro's chapter, period.
 * Guns Are Worthless: Averted. The Sundown Kid is the strongest character in the game, even moreso if you get his .44 Magnum. Gun attacks in general are long-ranged, damaging, take no time whatsoever, and tend to not pose a significant disadvantage on the character using them.
 * And on the other end, O. Dio's ultimate attack has a range that's completely diagonal to the end of the field and hits for 999 damage. So basically, the Sundown Kid AND the Big Bad of his chapter averts this trope.
 * The Gunslingers: Sundown and Mad Dog.
 * Have a Nice Death: Cube's chapter is full of them, and if you happen to activate any of them, you are greeted with
 * Heel Face Turn:, from Pogo's chapter, There's also  from Akira's chapter,
 * Though it's possible
 * Heroic Sacrifice:
 * Hoist By Their Own Petards: The three antagonists in Akira's chapter get turned into liquified humans too when the mass of liquified humans they gathered end up engulfing them.
 * Hot-Blooded: Fittingly, both Akira and Matsu. Masaru doesn't talk much, but he reveals his nature to fit this in a particularly epic moment at the end of his chapter.
 * Humans Are the Real Monsters:
 * Humongous Mecha: "Go! Go! Buriki Daioh!"
 * Infinity+1 Sword: Notable in that you need to get them all for the best ending.
 * Also, there's not one but two swords in Oboro's chapter that are his 2nd best weapon (one is his best for the chapter, one you get after you beat it), although both of them are absurdly difficult and obscure examples of Guide Dang It. And you can only get one.
 * Interface Spoiler: In battle, enemies consist of still images that slide around when moving and attacking and usually take up multiple spaces. Zaki only takes up one space and has idle, moving, and attacking animations like the members of your party. Guess who joins you in the fight against the chapter boss?
 * It's a Wonderful Failure: Die in any of the chapters, and you get a nice little scene of someone or something reacting to your demise.
 * Kaizo Trap: Can sort of happen in Sundown's chapter;
 * A more plausible invocation of this trope is vs. any boss monster that self destructs as a final attack. If you took to the strategy of getting everyone close in order to pin the boss in, then watch as everyone dies.
 * Kill All Humans: Odio's primary goal.
 * Kill'Em All:
 * Kleptomaniac Hero, Found Underwear: Akira's chapter. Belonging to three different people, no less. Bonus points for not actually doing the act himself, even though he gets smacked for putting the one who did it up to it.
 * Sundown and Mad Dog can also swipe Annie's nightie in the Wild West chapter.
 * Knight in Shining Armor:
 * Large Ham: Zaki, somehow, despite not having a single line.
 * Let Me Tell You a Story: Akira's chapter is entirely this, with Akira as the story teller. Even has a bit of He Knows About Timed Hits as Akira introduces you to the gimmick of the chapter.
 * Load-Bearing Boss: Subverted. So very, very subverted.
 * Lost Forever: As long as you do not complete, you can replay any chapter to attempt to get a better run or collect items you may have missed. However, once , you can no longer replay older chapters, so anything you missed becomes impossible to reclaim.
 * Luck-Based Mission: Beating Pluto in Captain Square depends entirely on how often the enemies use their strongest attack.
 * Magikarp Power: Bel, in Pogo's chapter. She is unspeakably underpowered compared to Pogo and Gori, especially against the enemy levels you're up against at the time. However, if you manage to carry her all the way to level 7 in the short time before she's kidnapped again, she learns "La La", a ranged singing attack that packs enough power to ruin O-D-O in 2 rounds.
 * Mega Manning: Masaru. Each time he gets hit by a wrestler's signature moves, he learns that move immediately; it's actually possible to have him defeat a wrestler using that wrestler's signature move. Also the Xin Shan Quan inheritors, sort of. Any of them will learn all of the Master's attacks anyway, but you can influence which ones they learn first during the training sessions. Beat one up with only the Ryuuhawan, for example, and they'll learn the Ryuuhawan when they next level. Switch to killing them with Old Fox Dance after that, and they'll learn Old Fox Dance next, etc.
 * Meaningful Name:
 * More Dakka: O. Dio's solution to a lot of things.
 * Magikarp Power: Bel, in Pogo's chapter. She is unspeakably underpowered compared to Pogo and Gori, especially against the enemy levels you're up against at the time. However, if you manage to carry her all the way to level 7 in the short time before she's kidnapped again, she learns "La La", a ranged singing attack that packs enough power to ruin O-D-O in 2 rounds.
 * Mega Manning: Masaru. Each time he gets hit by a wrestler's signature moves, he learns that move immediately; it's actually possible to have him defeat a wrestler using that wrestler's signature move. Also the Xin Shan Quan inheritors, sort of. Any of them will learn all of the Master's attacks anyway, but you can influence which ones they learn first during the training sessions. Beat one up with only the Ryuuhawan, for example, and they'll learn the Ryuuhawan when they next level. Switch to killing them with Old Fox Dance after that, and they'll learn Old Fox Dance next, etc.
 * Meaningful Name:
 * More Dakka: O. Dio's solution to a lot of things.


 * Murder Is the Best Solution: Odie Oldbright kills all the wrestlers that Masaru faces in his chapter. Masaru proves him wrong.
 * Multiple Endings: Four in total.
 * Nightmare Face:
 * Ninja: Oboro's chapter.
 * Nonstandard Game Over: All over the place in Cube's chapter, along with one in Oboro's chapter.
 * No, You: Pogo and Zaki do this in picture/emoticon format.
 * Nubile Savage: Bel.
 * Old Master: The Xin Shan Quan Master. Unusually for the trope, he is his chapter's protagonist, rather than a side character.
 * Omnicidal Maniac: The game has a fair number of these, but in particular.
 * One-Hit Kill: Attacks that cause stone count. Pure Odio has the attack Life Eraser.
 * O. Dio's Gatling Shots, which do always does 999 damage.
 * One-Winged Angel:
 * Pacifist Run: One of the possible ways to beat Oboro's chapter.
 * Painting the Fourth Wall: In the most recent version of the fan translation, every level has its own font for displaying dialogue. For instance, the Western Level's text looks like a old-west sign, the Ninja level's text looks like Japanese calligraphy, and . In the final chapter, everyone speaks using their respective chapter's font.
 * Prehistoria: Pogo's chapter.
 * Present Day: Masaru's chapter.
 * Press X to Die:
 * There's also.
 * Pro Wrestling Is Real: Masaru's chapter.
 * Psychic Powers: Akira has them. Telepathy, Telekinesis, Pyrokinesis, Cryokinesis, Vitakinesis and various illusion-casting and physical-power-amplifying powers besides. He's got 'em all.
 * Puzzle Boss: In Cube's Chapter, Earth from Captain Square counts, as you need to defeat a Fire Elemental and a bunch of Water Elementals..
 * Even better is the second boss in the Demon's Peak from Oersted's chapter.
 * Robot Buddy: Cube. Unusually for the trope, he is also the main character of his chapter, but he's still Kato friend.
 * Robot Me: Oboro, with some guesswork, can find a blank robot and bestow it with his likeness and afew of his moves.
 * Robot War: Occurred in the backstory of the Sci Fi Chapter. Darth, who has lost many friends to the battle robots, is particularly bitter over it.
 * Running Gag: The whole Watanabe thing, where someone ( mostly always a father) dies shortly after it's brought up or said.
 * It happens once in every chapter. Some are more obscure like the antenna in Cube's chapter, and a way to trigger an audience member getting mauled in Masaru's.
 * Sapient Ship:
 * Say My Name: All over the place in the Cowboy chapter.
 * Sdrawkcab Name: The title itself. As written in the artwork, it looks a vertical mirror is centered on the A, creating a perfect palindrome (LIVE A ヨVI」). The fact that "live" backwards spells "evil" is not a coincidence.
 * Self-Imposed Challenge: In the Cowboy chapter, you set traps to prevent having to fight O. Dio's goons. Of course, you don't have to set a single one and fight the guy with his entire ensemble, which take up most of the field, AND O. Dio himself. Observe: The reason why Sundown's the most badass of all the main characters.
 * Shout-Out: Plenty of them, ranging from diverse sources (mostly movies rather than games) such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Gods Must Be Crazy, For a Few Dollars More, Street Fighter, Akira and Alien. A few references are made with the names too, such as the various crew members in Cube's chapter (Kirk and Darth being the most obvious, but Huey less so). Finally, the alien monster in Cube's chapter - a fierce, purple quadruped nicknamed "Behemoth" - is a cameo from Square's slightly more famous series.
 * "Sundown Kid! Come back, Sundown Kid!"
 * "Sundown Kid" is a take on the name of a famous outlaw in American history who has had at least one well-known film made about his life.
 * Decking yourself out in Rider accessories in Akira's chapter. Besides its namesake, it's just full of lovingly corny, Japanese retro sci-fi in general.
 * There is no possible way that Gori's constant snickering wasn't a reference to Muttley.
 * If you play the piano in Akira's chapter he'll play the Chocobo Theme.
 * Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Largely idealistic.
 * Standard Status Effects: Poison, Paralysis, Blindness, Confused, Petrified, Slow, Faint, Death (In which the character disappears from battle and cannot be revived). Along with these, there is also Drunk, Broken Arms, and Broken Legs.
 * The Smurfette Principle: Li is the only female protagonist. She's only one of two playable female characters in the entire game. On top of that, she's optional; depending on the player's choices in the Kung Fu chapter, Sammo or Yuan could take her place.
 * Somewhere a Paleontologist Is Crying: Surprisingly averted in Pogo's chapter.
 * Spiritual Successor: Chrono Trigger shares many similarities with Live a Live.
 * Start of Darkness:
 * The Jimmy Hart Version: Buriki Daioh's theme is a rearrangement of the theme of Mazinger Z.
 * The Stinger: Particularly in Pogo's chapter. It ends with Pogo speaking the first words mankind ever spoke. Namely, Love. And the Gori snickers. Most chapters have a stinger of their own, but it's mostly just a 'fin' screen.
 * Stone Wall: MASARU . When he can level up, he does so quickly, and his HP and defenses shoot through the roof. It's rare to see him ever die once leveled, even without the best armor.
 * Street Urchin: Yuan.
 * Stripperiffic: Bel.
 * Super Robot: Buriki Daioh, in the Cyberpunk chapter.
 * Sword of Plot Advancement: Brion, in the Final Chapter. It is required to enter the Forbidden Land.
 * Terminally Dependent Society
 * Theme Music Power-Up: Pretty much once per chapter, but best embodied by Buriki Daioh.
 * Toilet Humor: One of Gori's attacks is him throwing his poo at the opponent. Just like a real ape!
 * Tomato Surprise: O. Dio is the last survivor of the infantry that was wiped out, yes.
 * Took a Level In Badass: At least half of the playable characters become Badasses over the course of their chapters. The rest were Badass to begin with.
 * The Trope Kid: The Sundown Kid.
 * Then Let Me Be Evil:
 * Troubled but Cute: Akira.
 * Turncoat:
 * Twenty Minutes Into the Future: Again, Akira's chapter.
 * Uncoffee: Black tea, in the sci-fi chapter.
 * Unstoppable Rage: Several:
 * Masaru, before fighting Odie Olbright.
 * O. Dio, before fighting Sundown and Mad Dog.
 * Akira and Matsu both have moments in Akira's chapter.
 * Uranus Is Showing: Uranus! Uranus! FUCKING URANUS!
 * Video Game Cruelty Potential: One way to get Oboro's Infinity+1 Sword in his chapter is to kill everyone in the castle, which makes you just strong enough to fight a Bonus Boss for it. This includes innocent servant girls and lady nobles...
 * Video Game Cruelty Punishment: If you off even just one female (even the kunoichi. The ghosts are fair game, however) in the castle before a specific point, then you won't be able to get one of the best accessories in the game.
 * Villain Protagonist:
 * Visions of Another Self: Odio's seven reincarnations.
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Wham! Line: You probably guessed it long before, but after a certain point in Cube's chapter, inspecting any database terminal, computer, or anything electronic displays the message
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: This one's a bit complicated:
 * When All You Have Is A Gun: Whereas the rest of the characters in the game get a pretty good variety of attacks, Sunset's and Mad Dog's attacks can pretty much be summarized as "shooting people," "shooting multiple people," and "shooting multiple people many times."
 * Winged Humanoid: The Odio Mole,
 * The Wild West: Sundown's chapter.
 * Yoko Shimomura
 * You ALL Share My Story: The Final Chapter.
 * The Wild West: Sundown's chapter.
 * Yoko Shimomura
 * You ALL Share My Story: The Final Chapter.