Live A Live

You might be forgiven for thinking that we here at Nintendo Life are a little too excited by Live A Live, an HD-2D remake of a 1994 JRPG that, by many accounts, was a bit of a flop. But even though not all of us were blown away by the demo, the reviews are in, and they're looking pretty good — so we're anticipating the game selling at least as many copies as it did in 1994, which was a piffling 270,000.

If you're one of those 270,000+ people intending to get the game, have you given any thought to what order you'll play it in yet? It might make a difference.

Live A Live has seven chapters available at the beginning of the game, which all take place in different time periods. Each one is roughly based on a successful and beloved film genre, from spaghetti westerns and martial arts to Kubrickian sci-fi, and they're presented in a chronological order from prehistoric times to the distant future.

Much like the Star Wars movies, which can be watched in order based on their release date, their numbering, or a fan-made suggestion called "Machete Order" which cuts out Phantom Menace entirely and positions some of the prequels as flashbacks, how you play Live A Live can influence how the game plays.

The easy answer is to play them chronologically, of course — but as many reviews have said, each chapter has its own gimmick, and its own tone, and you may find it a bit of a mixed bag in chronological order. Perhaps you'd like instead to play from your least-favourite setting to your favourite, or vice versa — if you're a kung fu fan, you should either start with the Earthen Heart Shifu chapter... or instead leave the best for last... right?

Or you could just throw caution to the wind and play in a chaotic order, with whichever one takes your fancy at that moment. Why not? Variety is the spice of life, as they say.

But the order in which you play the first seven chapters may well impact your takeaway from the game. Will you see it as the tale of an evil force returning every few hundred years, or as a cool collection of random mini-stories? Will you notice certain recurring tropes and plotlines jumping out at you when some of the stories are juxtaposed? Does it even matter??? You tell us:

What order are you going to play Live A Live in?

Live A Live is out today, and you can read our review, in which we call it "well worth the long wait", right here.

Tell us about your order preferences (and what you think of the game!) in the comments...

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