Live A Live [Model SHVC-5V]

Live A Live was released on September 2, 1994 in Japan. Originally meant to be released in Japan before Final Fantasy VI, delays occurred in Live A Live's production and the release order was reversed. Reception of the game has been positive, with praise going to its unique gameplay and narrative mechanics, though its short length was faulted. Selling 270,000 units, the game was considered a failure.

The original concept was born from the desire to make an RPG where players could experience multiple standalone stories at once, contrasting against Final Fantasy where smaller stories served a grand narrative arc. The production was made possible by the expanding storage capacity of the Super Famicom ROM, with the aim being for players to be able to complete each section within a day.

Active production began in December 1993, though the entire development including early planning lasted one and a half years. Once production finished, the team split up to work on other projects within Square.

The first world created was the Medieval edition, which informed both the wider narrative and the gameplay design. The scenarios originally had a graduating difficulty scale, but Tokita abandoned this so players could tackle the scenarios in any order they wished. Inoue was responsible for the battle system design, wanting to make a strategic experience which Tokita described as 'real-time shogi'. Another goal was to evolve the standard gameplay of RPGs at the time. One idea of Tokita's that was rejected involved not displaying hit points, but having the character physically act like they had been injured or look weakened as they took damage instead.