The Edo period shinobi Oboromaru can cloak himself in shadow to hide from enemies and complete his entire chapter without killing a single human, or he can brutally murder his way through the manor he’s infiltrating. Here and only here, the protagonist caveman Pogo can use his powerful sense of smell to track down the whereabouts of NPCs or enemies he’s looking for.

In prehistory, for instance, language has yet to be invented, so all the storytelling brilliantly takes place with animation and imagery. Not only do the different chapters take place in different eras, but each one distinguishes itself with unique characters and mechanics to suit them. You can even pick one up, put it down, start another, and return to the first later if it suits you Live A Live will conveniently keep track of your progress in each story even if you save over a file, a feature I made a lot of use of as the discovery of numerous, fun hidden secrets prompted me to revisit chapters I’d thought I’d combed thoroughly. On the surface, all of Live A Live’s seven vignettes are disconnected, and it largely doesn’t matter which one you start or end with.

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