The Allliance Alive HD Remastered
PC via Stream

JAPANESE role playing games have come so far from their once-humble beginnings. The early releases struggled to gain a foothold in the West, but subsequent offerings from such franchises as Final Fantasy 7, Fire Emblem, and Dragon Quest managed to find homes in the hearts of gamers. Intellectual properties like these have reinvented the genre, however slowly, and their success underscores the core tenets of timeless examples: proper emphasis on deep stories, interesting gameplay mechanics, and immensely likable characters.

The Alliance Alive is one such example. First making its mark in 2017 as a Japan-only release on the Nintendo 3DS, Atlus USA saw fit to bring it to other regions the year after. Stripped to basics, it aimed to evoke feelings of nostalgia in gamers, with simple graphics paying homage to the finest RPGs of yore. Compared to the more complex battle systems of contemporary competitors, it focused less on flair and doubled down on the lure and allure of its interface, allowing everyone from veterans to newcomers of the genre alike to enjoy its open-world setting, its smooth combat sections, and its overarching narrative of wonder and fantasy, of struggle, loss, and heroism.

Considering The Alliance Alive’s strengths, NIS America’s decision to port over a remastered version to the Nintendo Switch, the Sony PlayStation 4, and the personal computer comes as no surprise. With an intended goal of presenting an experience that hews as closely to the original as possible, the remaster introduces the title to gamers on latest-generation platforms. They are presented with varying perspectives: from the vantage points of diverse characters, they must piece together the story of the world around them, of the daemons who rule the world, and of the humans who bear the yoke of servitude. By exploring the vast overworld and traveling from town to town, they are compelled to hone their skills in battle and prepare for the inevitable confrontation against the real enemy that hides in the shadows.

Even at a glance, The Alliance Alive HD Remastered presents itself as more than just another run-of-the-mill JRPG title. It begins with the invasion of daemons fearful of the Chaos energy in the human realm. The occupation triggers the Dark Current, which effectively separates the world’s four regions. Barely surviving the cataclysm, mankind finds itself divided and subsisting under the reign of daemonic overlords. The gameplay picks up a millennium hence, focusing on nine otherwise-disparate members of the Night Crows, a rebel force out to gain freedom for the human race. And “disparate” may be too conservative a word to describe the nine given their origins and ideologies; joining Galil, Azura, Renzo, Tiggy, Gene, and Rachel in looking after their own are daemons Vivian and Ignace and beastfolk Barbarosa.

In terms of look and feel, The Alliance Alive HD Remastered is much improved over those of the 3DS version; it sports vibrant colors, richer textures, and a much higher resolution that allow the “solid” watercolor art style of old hand Masayo Asano — who boasts of efforts in SaGa and The Legend of Zelda titles — to shine through. Certainly, it casts the narrative penned by Suikoden series creator Yoshitaka Murayama in superior light, a development that, under Masataka Matsuura’s steady direction, cannot be overemphasized.

That said, The Alliance Alive HD Remastered distinguishes itself in its gameplay. Unlike other contemporary offerings in the genre, it puts a greater emphasis on tactics and skills, with the biggest influences on combat being how comfortable characters are with their equipment. While a character may use any weapon of their choosing, the skills and attacks they use depend on their mastery over it. Anyone can use a spear, or a sword, or a staff, but the abilities they have, from devastating Area-of-Effect slashes to more precise stabs, are contingent on their familiarity and proficiency with their combat gear.

Parenthetically, The Alliance Alive HD Remastered brings much-needed depth to the battle system, requiring gamers to strategize properly and distribute their equipment judiciously according to the characters’ distinct preferences. It’s less about stat points, and more about honing skills. Alongside combat formations, this particular facet eventually shapes much of the game, with characters slowly training to become better in certain weapon types, and then unlocking more and better skills over time. It provides a unique sense of progression, and when coupled with the story’s semi-brisk pace, makes it enjoyable to run through.

For the most part, The Alliance Alive HD Remastered boasts of intuitive mechanics. At the same time, it presents challenges that tend to be easy. It likewise lacks keyboard support on the PC, forcing users to play with a controller; it’s not a huge issue per se, particularly since there is no delay in feedback, but it does limit options. Moreover, framerate issues seem to randomly pop up every now and then. Nothing earth-shaking, really, and nothing an update patch here and there can’t fix so that it runs as well as it should.

On the whole, Alliance Alive HD Remastered is a great game to play, but the relative lack of difficulty and absence of controller support can be a huge turn-off for people looking for a challenging, if fair, JRPG. Nonetheless, it earns major props for its earnest gameplay and interesting storylines. It might not be the polished AAA JRPG offering gamers invariably look for, but it’s a nice look back to the genre’s golden years, and its unique take ensures some 40-odd hours worth of enjoyment.

THE GOOD:

• Interesting story

• Unique combat mechanics

• Diverse set of characters

THE BAD

• Lack of keyboard support

• Framerate issues

• Lack of a true difficulty curve

RATING: 8.5/10

POSTSCRIPT: Little Busters!, an extremely popular visual novel originally developed by Osaka-based Key for the personal computer, is slated to make an appearance on the Nintendo Switch in April. The port will contain the original Japanese text, as well as the English translation that originally came with the Steam release in 2017. The latest iteration figures to include all the updated gameplay elements found in the PlayStation Portable and Vita releases, the additional content from the Complete Edition rerelease for the PC, and a “Busterpedia” guide to help gamers understand the Japanese cultural context of key concepts and situations.

THE LAST WORD: Speculation has Nintendo launching the Switch Pro later this year. While initially touted to run using the new NVidia Tegra X1+ chip, it is now said to employ a graphical processing unit based on custom Volta architecture. The latest rumor effectively quashes any plans for the hardware’s release in the near term. In any case, gamers shouldn’t hold their breath for significant performance improvements over currently available Switch units.