Live-a-Live Remastered, Finale - Final Chapter

 

Final chapter, time to finally put this game to bed. It's an interesting one too. Choose a character to be your "main", collect the rest of 'em, and go after the bad guy.

I go with the monk. One of the better characters to play as, and starts on the snowy mountain. Each character has a different starting area, all in the Middle Ages.

Basically they all got dropped here, like in Predators. Like God or Fate or Time scooped them up IDK

First character acquired! Pogo here is rummaging about in a clearing. It takes some work to recruit him, unless you're playing as the game's sole female character. In which case he sniffs the air and instantly becomes obsessed with her.

This clearing can be farmed for healing grass infinitely, which makes it even more silly that I spent like an hour farming healing items in Akira's chapter that ended up not carrying over to this one.

Pogo has some really strong attacks. He's hands-down one of the best characters in this final chapter. Maybe THE best character for damage output. Absolutely should be a fixture for the final battle. Who else, though?

Here's Oboro, and he doesn't know what the hell he's doing in these woods so he attacks! ...yep, this is Predators.

Recruiting Oboro is a matter of defeating him one-on-one. Unfortunately he doesn't just instantly defer to Lei's pheromones the way Pogo does.

Next I find Akira, lurking around and brooding like Darby Allin.

Cool!

Now I have four characters and could technically go take on the final dungeon right now. Good chance I wouldn't succeed, but we have that option.

However, in order to get the real final boss and the good ending, you need to assemble all seven characters AND find the ultimate weapons for each of them.

Next I find Cube, who is lurking in some shadows in the now creepily-empty castle. Ever since Oersted fell to darkness, the kingdom has been overrun I guess.

I might not have even seen Cube here if I hadn't been looking for him. Him being easy to miss is a crime, because...

...despite being lower level than everyone else and not really able to gain levels, he's the best healer in the game AND has a pretty strong attack with that big laser. Akira has similar healing abilities, but no real power-attacks. Which means Akira's getting the boot for now.

Next I take on the secret dungeon with Lei's ultimate weapon. On the snowy mountain, a wall can be shattered to find...

...this cavern full of punchable walls and strong enemies.

This boss in particular is a real jerk. Spam heals, Cube!

Here's Lei's ultimate weapon. It's been a good day so far, and Cube didn't have to use his laser.

This weapon is sick, and we can see the massive upgrade that comes from these ultimate weapons. Most of the weapons in this game tend to be on the mediocre side; it doesn't really prioritize any big upgrades. So these weapons are crucial for beating the final boss.

Next is Pogo's secret dungeon, also on the snowy mountain.

This place looks particularly awesome. Said it before, the visuals in this remake are supremely good.

Another ultimate weapon down! Pogo gets a sizable attack boost.

The entire Middle Ages chapter is about 98% empty at this point. Did Oersted just murder everybody? Dunno, it never really says for sure.

Going through a certain door takes us to Cube's dungeon, which is more of a quick series of puzzles.

These puzzles are all over the place, but none are particularly serious. We wrap up this trial and move on to...

...Cube's ultimate weapon, which is more of a stat stick than anything else. Still, I'll take it, since he's such a fixture in the group now.

Final party is taking shape: Lei, Pogo, Cube. All have their ultimate weapons. Who'll get the fourth spot, though?

With the world empty, our heroes raid the storehouses of the castle for fun and profit.

Even the king's bedroom is dull and lifeless. Just like his marriage was!

Next is Oboro's dungeon, which involves farming keys from enemies and using them to open doors.

Bunch of different key types, and this dungeon is a little bit complex. Maybe the longest one so far, like his chapter.

Oboro ultimate weapon. Big DPS increase from this, enough that I think he'll do for the fourth party member.

At this point I gave the final dungeon a whack. The dark castle is sealed up, and your chosen hero un-seals it by holding up the sword that was once owned by the previous legendary hero (the fellow we saw die in the Middle Ages chapter).

Wait a minute. Middle Ages? Holding up a sword to open sealed path to the dark castle of the bad guy? Sword used to belong to a legendary hero who fell? Nice Chrono Trigger nods here, and from the same company.

Lei learns her strongest attack, Heavenly Peaks Descent. Dishes out crushing damage...while having very limited range, as seen here. Need to be in position for it.

This intimidating statue room houses statues of all of the Odio forms. Continuing beyond here locks you into the final battle, so it's time to go finish getting everyone.

Recruiting Sundown is the most long/tedious process of any of the characters. Have to talk to him in four different places that are all spread out across the Middle Ages world.

Sundown is super-powerful, though. Tremendous DPS, especially if leveled up a bit. Probably could have switched Oboro out for him, but I ended up staying with Oboro.

And last but not least, got Masaru. For some reason I completely whiffed on getting any screenshots of him. Very weird, not sure how that happened. Either way, we aren't missing much.

Also whiffed on getting shots of the last 3 side-dungeons / ultimate weapons. Though again, not missing much. Akira, Sundown, and Masaru all have fairly bland dungeons. Interesting thing is that Akira's is reached by running away from fights with him in the party until you randomly warp to it.

Masaru has a great weapon, but starting at level 1 really hurts him in the last chapter. Akira is just objectively not very good. Sundown is where it's at though.

Overall, for the final chapter, I'd rank the characters as such:

#7 - Akira

#6 - Masaru

#5 - Oboro

#4 - Lei

#3 - Sundown

#2 - Pogo

#1 - Cube (For the heals, primarily)

Time for the final battle. We get a recap of the end of the previous chapter, as the game switches over to "no screenshots allowed" mode. Get the camera!

Now we face down Oersted, the Lord of Dark. Though not the one we know...

His battle form is a giant face with four distinct parts. Each one has different abilities that can fire in different patterns. A lot of strategy is needed in this fight in terms of positioning.

Cube unleashes his DEATH BEAM for huge damage. This proved crucial for the fight.

Ultimately you get 3 of the 4 parts down and the fifth transmogrifies into the boss' second form:

This archangel form of Oersted, which is more what one would expect the final boss to look like. It's another good / tough fight. Everyone absolutely earned their keep here, except Oboro, who underperformed quite a bit. I should have brought Sundown instead.

Oersted reverts to his normal form and congratulates us on winning...before falling down.

And that's it for Oersted. That is, if you get the bad ending. Go here without recruiting all seven characters, and Oersted dies, and everyone walks out. Go here WITH everyone, and...

Oersted revives and follows the heroes out. The game isn't over yet by a long shot, as he now sics the Many Faces Of Odio on us.

This means fighting all seven of the chapter bosses in one-on-one duels, one after another. Some of them are super easy due to their respective hero now being much stronger.

Some, on the other hand, are a challenge. Either due to the hero being the same level as before (Cube) or lacking in key accomplices they had the first time.

Here's the real final boss, the full-on Lord of Dark without Oersted. It's a tough fight with a bit of Lavos DNA. Good to finally meet the real final boss of this game.

All in all, easier fight than the previous final boss. At the end, Oersted himself regains his humanity and limps in to help seal away the boss.

He expresses regret.

Lei talks about feelings, and it's a real "I've learned something today" moment for everybody. Better ending than Oersted just keeling over.

As long as good exists so will evil, etc.

The real question is...how the hell are all these characters going to get out of here and back to their own times?

Credits show them walking into the sunset.

Well...ah...maybe they're just staying in the Middle Ages and running the place. Since it's deserted, they can pretty much have anything they want now. Like the guy with big glasses in the Twilight Zone who wanted to be alone with his books. The crippling silence and isolation is gonna get to them though. And Lei is like, the only girl in the group, which is gonna cause problems with five dudes around. Six? Is Oersted hanging out too?

Maybe Cube has some functions we don't know about and can help deal with the complete mismatch of dude versus lady. That's right Cube, you gotta sleep with Pogo. Least until we figure out how to get Beru summoned to this weird dimension.

Well, this ending is as weird as this game is. I gotta go.

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