izigame.me

It's hard to review this one, but I think people should give it a try.
For people who hated how Octopath Traveler does storytelling, making several party members travel together but not fully interact because each individual is the main character of their own story, no matter how extensively their tales intertwine, you'll probably enjoy this one a lot more. Not because these people interact, they don't (until the final mission apparently, but I haven't gotten there yet, this review changes if I think this review is misleading), but because each main character can actually be the main character of their own specific short story. There is no hint of camaraderie beyond who you see in that isolated individual tale, and there's a decent reason for that which you might understand why the moment you select a character to play as.
But see, I loved Octopath Traveler, and for what it's worth I like this game too. The individual stories can be quite compelling, but there's a catch, I found some relatively boring or even juvenile compared to others. There didn't seem to be "consistency" or similar enough execution or tone in the stories. Don't get me wrong, authors ought to experiment with a wide variety of tones and vibes and moods, but when the short stories vary too much it can get jarring. It's not really the same thing when, say, you're reading a sci fi story anthology and so every story is sci fi, but it's more like you're picking up an anthology and today you see a comedy, tomorrow a farcical tragedy, and the next a genuine dramatic bittersweet beat. Some stories are similar but others are a bit too different, maybe bordering on mood whiplash for me lol
The music. Ok it seems to me that every video game is contractually obligated to have good music these days, but even with that in mind Live a Live's soundtrack is superb. Megalomania is one of the greatest video game songs ever made. I totally see how Toby Fox claimed it inspired Undertale. And I can see how Octopath Traveler gets associated with this game beyond similar publisher. Even when you look up the older versions of the song in youtube they're amazing, even the Western track. I am in awe of the composer's talent. Bravo!
But like I said, some stories are amazing, and some didn't cut it for me. But maybe that's true of things in general, you might like some, you might strongly dislike others. So it's hard when Steam has the Recommend VS Not Recommend. But push comes to shove, there's a lot to like in this game. If you hate one of the stories, and especially if it happens to be the first one you play, don't quit. Read several of them (truthfully, I haven't read all of them yet but I look forward to it even if every single one after this writing sucks, that's how compelling this game is overall). Of course, if my experience from this point is negative the review might change, but all in all this game is worth your time. An old classic that got revived, you love to see it