Live A Live Celebrates 32 Years: The Legendary Omnibus RPG’s Story
Thirty-two years ago today, on September 2, 1994, Square — now Square Enix — released Live A Live for the Super Famicom. The RPG marked the directorial debut of game creator Takashi Tokita and stood out for its omnibus storytelling, featuring seven-plus scenarios that players could tackle in any order they chose. Main character designs came from seven celebrated manga artists, a bold move that drew attention at the time. The game built a devoted following, and its famous line, “In the afterlife, keep apologizing to me, Oersted!!!!,” has become a well-known phrase online. The long-awaited HD-2D remake finally launched on Nintendo Switch in 2022.
Live A Live’s scenarios were not just different stories — each brought its own mechanics. The Modern chapter is a short episode built almost entirely around battles, with pre-fight exchanges that feel like a fighting game, right down to the battered faces of defeated opponents. The Western chapter pays homage to Seven Samurai-inspired films such as The Magnificent Seven, tasking players with setting traps and thinning out henchmen before facing the boss, all while scavenging trap materials under a strict time limit. The Prehistory chapter contains no dialogue at all, communicating purely through illustrations and character movements while players track invisible prey by scent.
Hidden elements encouraged repeated playthroughs. The Bakumatsu chapter features secret goals such as the “0-kill” run, where the protagonist draws no blood, and the “100-kill” run, where every enemy is cut down — both demanding full mastery of the castle map and its events. A hidden boss stronger than the final boss also awaits daring players. The soundtrack was composed by Yoko Shimomura in her debut work at Square, and includes the iconic boss theme “MEGALOMANIA,” widely considered the game’s signature track. The near-future chapter’s in-game song “Go! Go! Buriki Daio!!” reportedly has ties to Famicom Tsushin magazine from 1994.
The HD-2D remake arrived on Nintendo Switch in 2022, followed by PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC releases in 2023. It preserves the Super Famicom original’s visual identity while bringing modern improvements to playability, and it includes voice acting, making it the recommended way to experience the game today. Some screenshots in the original coverage come from the Virtual Console version. Thirty-two years later, Live A Live still stands as a remarkable showcase of how much variety a single RPG can hold across its scenarios — a legacy well worth revisiting.
