Square Enix revealed Live A Live is getting an HD-2D Switch remaster on the Nintendo Direct of February 2022, and this is a historical moment for JRPG fans, who've been waiting for this for decades.

Live A Live was first released by SquareSoft on Super Famicom on September 2, 1994, but was never officially localized and released in English.

This is only the tip of the iceberg though, as Live A Live was actually re-released several times, but only in Japan. First on the Wii's Virtual Console, and then on the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console, and yet the game never got a localization. However, these past few years, there were several signs thanks to which the fire of hope kept burning inside fans.

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Live A Live is finally getting an official localization after 27 years

Live A Live's influence on Undertale and Octopath Traveler

Live A Live is beloved by JRPG fans for its originality, featuring several protagonists each with their own completely separate scenario and gameplay. A concept later reused in Octopath Traveler. Furthermore, each protagonist was designed by different manga artists to further accentuate their differences. As Live A Live was a joint project between Square and manga editor Shogakukan. Speaking of which,.Live A Live was released just before Chrono Trigger, and not only do they share the same (co) director, Takashi Tokita, Chrono Trigger too had a mangaka handling the designs: Akira Toriyama.

Live A Live's story is one of its strongest points, and passionate fans translated the game in the past in order to make it more accessible to a wider audience.

The game also became a classic thanks to its ingenious battle system mixing Final Fantasy-like turn-based systems with Tactical RPG systems where placement is key. Lastly, Live A Live became a legend thanks to its music by Yoko Shimomura, with Undertale's Megalovania being inspired by Live A Live's iconic boss battle theme Megalomania.

The hint from the Live A Live 26th anniversary live stream

In October 2020, Square Enix held a Live A Live 26th anniversary stream, with the core developers of the game looking back and sharing a plethora of anecdotes on its history. Be sure to check out our full summary and translation of the event.

Back then, director Takashi Tokita mentioned that while Live A Live never got a sequel, a remake, or a remaster, something could happen if fans kept showing their support. A few months before this, in July 2020, Live A Live was also trademarked in Australia, hinting something was fomenting.

Square Enix is localizing its old catalogue

Many fans were expecting Live A Live to get localized soon seeing Square Enix has recently released in English for the first time ever several Japan-exclusive JRPGs. Such as Romancing SaGa 2&3, or Seiken Densetsu 3 which is now known as Trials of Mana and even got a remake. Live A Live was among the few SquareSoft Super Famicom games which never got localized.

The hint from Octopath Traveler's producer

Additionally, all HD-2D games at Square Enix are developed by teams led by Tomoya Asano, the producer of Octopath traveler. Back in January, Asano hinted that Square Enix would announce and release in 2022 several games he's working on besides Triangle Strategy, coming on March 4 to Switch. One of these games turned out to be this Live A Live HD-2D remaster.

Takashi Tokita might have hinted Live A Live was coming to Nintendo Switch back in 2017

Last but not least, it's interesting to look at how back in April 2017, after the Switch's release, Takashi Tokita tweeted he was on a "top secret mission" with a photo of a Switch console. Maybe he was working on the remaster back then? Though I doubt the project was fully green-lit. Seeing Octopath Traveler was still in development, and Square Enix had no way of knowing it would become such a massive hit despite being a new IP.

What do you all think and are you hyped for Live A Live? Tell me in the comments below! Live A Live will be launching worldwide on Nintendo Switch on July 22, 2022. You can find the game's trailers below. Note that the Japanese trailer contains minor spoilers as it introduces the game's protagonists, who are now voiced.