LIVE A LIVE (SFC)
LIVE A LIVE Preparation Guide for the Final Chapter
In the SFC version, equipment and save choices are difficult to correct later. Check at three stages: before entering the Middle Ages, just before clearing it, and immediately after starting the Final Chapter.
Scope: Original Japanese SFC version (1994). Does not cover the HD-2D remake's rules. / Content checked: 2026-10-14
Covers preparations for the Final Chapter and your first steps after starting it. This guide compares reference material and has not been verified through hands-on play. The cutoff for receiving items in the castle town was checked against one SFC-specific source. It does not cover every route or dungeon.
Content discussed below: Discusses unlock requirements for the Middle Ages and Final Chapter and branches in the game system, without explaining the story's ending.
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1. After the 7 scenarios, keep a save you can return to
- Clearing all 7 initial scenarios unlocks the Middle Ages, and clearing that chapter leads to the Final Chapter. In the SFC version, a save made after finishing the Middle Ages no longer lets you replay earlier chapters. If you want to fix missed equipment or carryover choices, do so before entering the Middle Ages.
- Keep separate saves for after clearing the 7 chapters, just before finishing the Middle Ages, and progression in the Final Chapter. Once you start the Final Chapter and save, that file also no longer lets you choose a different protagonist. Keep a save from immediately before the choice if you want to start with someone else.
2. Equip carryover items on each protagonist
- Only the items equipped by each chapter's protagonist when that chapter is cleared carry into the Final Chapter. Items merely sitting in the inventory do not remain. Before the chapter's last battle, check the head, left and right hands, body, feet, and accessories, and gather the items you want onto the protagonist.
- Choose for more than immediate defense: consider whether the equipment can be used as an item in the Final Chapter. For example, the Inro obtained in the Edo chapter can provide healing if you equip it and carry it over. Even if you have collected it, do not finish with it still on a companion or left in the inventory.
- There is an exception when you finish the Edo chapter with 0 kills: the right-hand weapon becomes Yoshiyuki. Do not plan on carrying a different right-hand weapon over unchanged in that case.
3. Leave the castle and mountain pickups in the Middle Ages
- Treasure chests and other pickups at Lucrece Castle and the Archon's Roost remain collected in the Final Chapter if you take them during the Middle Ages. Locations left untouched contain different items in the Final Chapter, so leave these two areas' pickups if you want that later equipment. Advice that you can take every Middle Ages item refers to the HD-2D version's rules.
- The items to leave are the placed pickups in the castle and Archon's Roost. You do not have to forgo gifts from the castle-town residents, items in Uranus's house, the Hero's Shield in Hasshe's cabin, or Naori Grass and Yoshua Fruit outdoors. Use these supplies to make the Middle Ages easier.
- Before leaving the castle town, speak to the residents and obtain Defender. Once Uranus joins, the townspeople stop giving you items, so do not put this off. Replenishing Naori Grass also prepares you for stretches without a healer.
4. Start the Final Chapter by gathering equipment and companions
- If you want to continue the heroes' adventure, choose someone other than Oersted as the Final Chapter's protagonist. Choosing Oersted leads to a different route. You cannot remove the chosen protagonist later, so first decide whom you want to use.
- After starting, gather nearby companions while collecting the equipment at Lucrece Castle, then obtain Brion on the Hero's Mountain. Rather than rushing to strong enemies with a small party, build your strength with equipment brought from earlier chapters and found in the castle.
- Before swapping out a companion, check their equipment. It does not automatically return to the shared inventory. Review your formation after the change too; a combination with healing, area attacks, and single-target attacks gives you more ways to respond.
Before moving on
- Finished any chapters you wanted to replay before the Middle Ages
- Equipped each protagonist with the items to carry over
- Kept a separate save before clearing the Middle Ages
- Decided how to handle the castle and Archon's Roost pickups
- Chosen the Final Chapter's protagonist
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