In 2015, Atlus published The Legend of Legacy, a 3DS JRPG produced by a dream team of veteran developers with credits on classics like SaGa, Final Fantasy, and Chrono Trigger. The game was met with mostly positive reviews, but at the time, another game was in development from the same team. This game came to be The Alliance Alive, which is something of a spiritual successor to The Legend of Legacy. Boasting of a new setting, an improved battle system, and a deep cast of characters, The Alliance Alive has proven itself to be a more than worthy follow up, building on its predecessor in notable ways.
It’s clear that the developers wanted to respond to the complaints about the lacking story of Legend of Legecy, and the narrative that’s been crafted here is far stronger. The story — penned by Yoshitaka Murayama, the creator of the beloved Suikoden series — begins one thousand years prior to the events of the game, when the human world was taken over by the Daemon race and divided up into regions by what came to be known as The Great Barrier. The sky was blackened and Daemonkind established an oppressive government over the people, enforcing their rule through another race called Beastfolk. It’s an interesting premise to be sure, and the nuance and detail of the world is brilliantly realised as you constantly delve deeper into new regions.
You first take control of Galil and Azura — two freedom fighters living in the Rain Realm — and set out in search of a fabled ship that can supposedly cross between the realms, but there really isn’t a main protagonist in The Alliance Alive; this is very much an ensemble affair. Whether it be a feisty engineer and professor named Tiggy, or an air-headed daughter of Daemon royalty named Vivian, each character in the main cast of nine has a pleasing amount of charm and depth. There’s a great mixture of humour and seriousness, and the 40(ish) hour storyline is filled with plenty of surprises and plot twists that’ll keep you pushing onward. If we were to name one flaw, however, it’d be that there are points early on where it can become rather easy to lose one’s way.
Though the game limits your freedom in the opening hours to a relatively linear path, The Alliance Alive has a surprisingly deep and expansive open world that frequently rewards the player who travels off the beaten path. Every region is filled to the brim with things to do, from towns to trade goods and rest in to secret caves that house powerful, optional boss fights in their depths to side dungeons that can give you new building locations for guild towers. There’s always something more you can be doing, always another place to explore or conquer, and we occasionally were surprised by the depth of the world.
In battle, you can have up to five party members on the field at once, and a series of preset “Formations” will dictate where they stand and what role they have. There are three roles available: Attack, Guard, and Support, each of which offers distinct stat buffs for certain commands. On top of this, there are three rows on each side of the battle field, and where you place your characters will dictate the effectiveness of certain attacks, and the likelihood of being targeted by enemies.
The best part about this battle set up is the endless amounts of depth and flexibility that it offers in how to best maximize your party’s effectiveness. One enemy encounter may be quickly wiped out by putting everyone on the front line in Attack roles, while another may require you to do something more advanced, like putting a shield up front to tank attacks while attackers poke from behind as they’re being buffed by a mage in the back. Though there’s a series of preset roles to begin with, you can tweak these to your liking and even create entirely new ones that suit your needs. All of this comes together to make for a battle system that favours fluidity and foresight; plotting out effective formations and swapping them on the fly is as satisfying as it is engaging.
The progression system of The Alliance Alive was designed by Kyoji Koizumi — of SaGa fame — and it borrows heavily from that series of games, focusing on unconventional yet refreshing means of building your characters. There’s 11 classes of weapons and just about every character can wield just about every kind of weapon. Just handing a character an axe doesn’t mean that they’ll be able to fully use it right away, however, as everyone starts with just a handful of basic "Arts" for a weapon type.
By frequently using a weapon in battle, characters will occasionally trigger an “Awakening” that unlocks a new Art for them to use. Seeing as how Awakenings are triggered at a random (yet reliable) rate, it’s always surprising and exciting when a new Art is unlocked. New Arts aren’t just more powerful versions of previous ones, either; they often come with bonuses, like a wider area of attack or additional damage against certain enemy types.
It doesn’t stop there, though, because Arts themselves can be individually leveled up to get even more combat potential. Each Art has three level bars corresponding to each of the three roles, and using an Art frequently will increase its effectiveness in the role you use it in. For example, an attack art that’s repeatedly used in the Attack role will begin doing more damage there than if it’s used in the Guard role. Considering the massive amount of Arts that become available to any given character, this gives you plenty of control over how specialised your characters can be.
Amazingly enough, it still doesn’t stop there, as you can also “Seal” Arts later on in the game. This is done from the main menu, and it allows you to block off the ability to use certain Arts in battle in exchange for the remaining Arts receiving a boost in power. This proves to be a very welcome inclusion, as you have quite a long list of Arts to pick from once you unlock this ability, and many of them can sit there unused. The inclusion of Sealing arts just goes to show how well thought out the combat system is; it’s clear that the developers thought through the natural pitfalls of the battle system and added in features like this to compensate.
Kicking the standard of JRPGs, characters don’t gain levels or experience; once battle is finished, party members will sometimes receive either HP or SP boosts at what seems to be a random rate. Even so, the character growth seldom feels like it’s too far behind (or ahead) of the difficulty at any given point in the story, and more challenging enemy encounters seem to trigger increases at a higher rate. The nice part about this opaque system is how it keeps things interesting when it comes to grinding and growing characters; it’s not a matter of defeating X number of enemies before your stats see a marginal jump, but rather, an ongoing question of whether your characters will improve after the current enemy encounter.
Though character growth is primarily handled through that randomised system, The Alliance Alive has introduced the concept of “Talents” for those who still want the feeling of obtaining XP. Each enemy encounter will give you a certain amount of talents, which can then be invested in skills for each character. Just about every character has access to the same skills, which essentially act as buffs to make it easier to define roles and play to each character’s strengths. You can invest points in things like making Arts with certain weapon types cost less SP, or increasing the rate at which your character gets an HP bump, and this gives you quite a lot of agency in how to skew your characters’ growth. Buying any skill costs a lot of Talents, which means that you need to be thoughtful in how you invest points and focus on building characters for specialised purposes.
Another, more passive form of growth can be found in the Guild System, which centres around supporting your party in their adventuring efforts. After a certain point in the game, you can build new locations to house one of five support organisations with a plethora of services ranging from weapon development to enemy research. New guild members can be recruited in towns and assigned to different guilds, which will level up and expand their usefulness as more members are added. Building new towers and networking them has the effect of giving you greater support in battle, as each guild will have a chance of helping you out with things like a blanket shield for the team or support fire from a nearby cannon. The guild system adds an extra layer of strategy and depth to your performance both in and out of battle, and it’s nice how the guilds aren’t forced on you. If you don’t want to waste time hunting down recruits and scouting out new tower locations, you can almost completely ignore this subsystem. It’s encouraged that you don’t, however, as the guilds greatly added to our enjoyment of the game and helped give a more tangible manifestation of the titular alliance that the game is centred around.
From a presentation perspective, The Alliance Alive doesn’t amaze, but it certainly gets the job done. The graphical style takes after the pseudo-chibi look of Bravely Default, and presents a colourful, storybook-like world with plenty of diversity, from the rain-soaked forests and fields of the Rain Realm to the fog-covered, creepy locales of the Caged Realm. Though The Alliance Alive gets points for these thematic differences, it by no means is the kind of game that pushes the 3DS to its limits; there’s little here in the way of “Wow” moments of fantastic visual flair, and it mostly omits usage of the stereoscopic 3D feature. Still, the graphics are by no means poorly done, and the watercolour-like art style is rather charming in many places.
The soundtrack was composed by Masashi Hamauzu of Final Fantasy fame, and the quality of his musical direction is evident in the brilliant soundtrack. Music ranges from goofy to melancholy, ominous to adrenaline-pumping and it masterfully captures emotion through a mixture of genres and styles that suit the situation. The somewhat jazzy guitar track of the Burning Realm sounds quite different from the synthesizers and tambourines of the Rain Realm, but it all fits together somehow and creates a musical experience that’s just as in-depth as the gameplay.
Conclusion
Cattle Call has done a fantastic job with The Alliance Alive, addressing the complaints of its predecessor while building on its strengths to make something that’s truly special. Whether it be the engaging story, expansive overworld, deep combat, or unique progression options, this is a game that oozes quality in just about every aspect. The Alliance Alive is a must-play for fans of JRPGs, and we would give it a strong recommendation to anyone looking for another great game to add to their 3DS collection.
Comments 50
It looks fantastic, I just wish it were on Switch. I just don't have enough space to carry two portables around
Just another trophy under their belt. Atlus really has supported the 3ds almost better then Nintendo. I'm definitely picking this up tomorrow but not sure when I'll start it.
Isn't this the same two pictures repeated four times?
This looks great! I've never played The Legend of Legacy, should I play that one before this game or is this just a more improved experience with no connection to the former game?
I'm so disappointed Atlus didn't want to release this gem physically in Europe. I loved the demo, and would have gladly bought a physical copy Day One, but as a digital only title it automatically goes to the "get it from sale" list.
I was disappointed with Legend of Legacy, but it doesn't mean I'm not interested in this game. This review seems very in-depth and addresses my concerns about this game. I am going to get it. My SWitch is collecting dust. I just wish they would put more of these type of games on the Switch. Thanks Mitch for a great review.
Ahhh, this snuck up on me! I'd feared that it would end up being a middling game like its predecessor The Legend of Legacy, but that fear proved unfounded. I'll be looking forward to buying this once I wrap up a few other major RPGs I'm currently playing.
This is one game I will be confident in buying. Thanks NintendoLife!
Nice review, and I'm so happy that this is a giant leap above The Legend of Legacy. Once I finish DETECTIVE PIKACHU, I'll have to pick this one up!
Judging by the screenshots, it seems a bit repetitive
An excellent RPG, it was on my list already. All the recently released games show that the 3DS has still lots of potential.
I'm glad they listened to the complaints from Legend of Legacy. The first game could have been a outright classic but it was held back by issues such as an annoying escape system, poor/near non-existent story, and a lack of character and progression. This game seems to fix all those issues. I have it preordered and will be picking it up tomorrow. Can't wait!
I'm tempted to buy from the Eshop and start playing tomorrow but i guess i'll try to hold a bit longer for a physical copy, maybe i'll add Radiant Historia together as well.
Atlus always supported older platforms longer than most publishers, as long they keep bringing good games i'll keep buying them. Can't wait for Strange Journey Redux too!
Thanks for the review.
@Yorumi I'm the same way, but this one isn't too bad. The first several hours are pretty loaded tho, but the game really opens up after
@Xaldin I never played Legend of Legacy, but from what I've heard, this is an entirely self contained experience. Considering that it seems to be improved on its predecessor, I'd say you should just get this one.
@Oat What do you think about the "popping-in" environments of The Legend of Legacy? That's the main thing I couldn't swallow in the demo...it was just weird to see everything materialize as I went along (and then disappear), not to mention that I mostly looked at the map screen. That part seemed really dumb and total busywork getting the map to be 100% discovered.
Other than that, I'm tempted to pick Legend of Legacy up at it's new $20 price on the eShop...
@Kalmaro But 3ds fits in your pocket!
@SMEXIZELDAMAN So does my Switch!
No joke. I just take the joycons off and put them in my other pocket with my phone. There goes all my room though
I’m not overly interested in RPGs but this one has my attention for some reason
@Tuulenpoika Ditto. No physical means no rush. A game like this could make do with one small production run for the people that want it.
@Tuulenpoika It sucks that the 3DS is not region free also........... If it was you could of just got it from the NA, but nope.
Yes, another great game for the 3DS! There we go!
This seems to be better than legend of legacy but I’m still debating over this or Bravely Default. Bravely Defaults last chapters look so boring though.
Great - will definitely buy. I still vastly prefer the 3DS as a portable gaming system over the switch.
Will definitely get this--RPGs are the exception to me moving on entirely to the Switch.
Sounds like a pretty cool JRPG. If this were one Switch I'd almost certainly buy it. But I am not really interested in picking my 3DS back up right now.
ill be picking this up as well, my new 3dsxl will be going strong for some time...looks like a fun game
I just played the demo and it was great. Way better than legend of the legacy. I'm stoked for this game.
@Tuulenpoika Exactly that or I might just wait for it to be heavily discounted or for a potential switch port. I do not see why they could not release it physically.
@Kalmaro Cargo pants is your friend
i played the demo and while it looked better than The Legend of Legacy, it felt somehow lifeless, soulless .....so it gets better later in the game? good to know ...i hope the characters arent flat in the full game just like they were in the demo
@Auzzo I wouldn't hold my breath for a Switch port. But the reason why this one gets the digital only treatment has probably something to do with Atlus finally establishing their own EU branch, and this game just happened to fall between the transition period with its release. The problem is, they don't even see it worthy to release a limited physical run later on after they've set their stuff up, despite many people not being happy about the digital only thing after we got the good thing going with Deep Silver's releases. I would honestly be more than OK with a delayed release should it mean a physical copy I could play, and I'm sure many others would be, too. Especially after the whole SMT IV debacle all those years ago.
@BlackenedHalo Your mileage may vary. It's not Persona levels of character development, but I felt it was a notch above a standard JRPG story.
@Nazo I really don't feel like buying extra pants just to fit my gaming habits, haha.
Urghh, I want this but I don't want to play any more games on my 3DS with the Switch out
@Kalmaro You don't have to take two with you EVERYWHERE haha.. sometimes just take the other (like I refuse to take my Switch to more bustly areas... or when I know I'll only get brief gaming spurts).
@smelly_jr Yeah I definitely feel like it's a bit of busy work. I personally didn't mind it that much. I thought that it gave the world a pop-up book feeling, like one of those books you used to read as a kid. I completely understand why others wouldn't like it.
It's a solid rpg. The music is fantastic and the gameplay is very fun. With that said it's also incredibly light on story so if you're looking for more of a narrative I might get The Alliance Alive instead. These two games basically have the same combat system. In addition the retreat system is handled much better in Alliance Alive.
One last thing. Get used to the game not really explaining it's mechanics, especially in Legend of Legacy. Even after reading through the digital manual there are still a bunch of mechanics that the game wont explicitly explain to you. It does provide a nice sense of discovery but it can also be a bit annoying.
Hope that helped.
@SpiderPirate4 I can't think k of too many times where I'd want my 3ds over my Switch.
@Oat Ah, thanks! I guess I'll spend a little more time with the demos of each before I jump into one or the other. And since you brought up music, I'm a big fan of Masashi Hamauzu's work so that's the main reason I'm most interested in these games!
What's the file size on this game? I've already got my 3DS packed with stuff, but I'd like to get this digitally...
@Kalmaro I'm assuming you're either young, or don't travel a lot. I can think of many reasons where I'd bring it instead (and have), or where I'd actually take both (as they take up very little room).
After about a good 2 hours of playtime I can feel that this game has potential, it seems very solid so far.
Expect for the music, for whatever reason this particular composers' work has never appealed to me and I am bummed to see him back again to hamper my experience. I'll try to deal with it though.
Anyone think that this will get ported to Switch?
@smelly_jr 13,061 blocks / 1.59GB
Source: https://twitter.com/Nintendo_Pe/status/972212480167596033
I'm still going to pass. They were too lazy to have separate music for battles, It ends up playing the overworld theme instead. In the end it feels like low quality to me
@Boponpa I doubt it, but never say never. It's a pretty sure bet that the next game will be on the Switch tho.
Now, if only an imported special edition set was available here... (won't buy the PAL eshop_only version)
edit: well, a few regular game packs (with no bonus) were finally made available at decent prices on eBay. Got one!
edit: I actually got the package edition for the price of the simple boxed game. o_o
Great review / write up . Really bummed the 3d is not realized .. that will probably affect my enjoyment to a small degree , but this one will certainly be added to the playlist at some point
@Kalmaro I traveled back in time to tell you that it’s coming to Switch. 😁
@Orange_pikmin You are a good person. Have a thumbs up/heart thing.
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