Live A Live

Select Scenario by pressing ctrl and F at the same time, and type in the genre written over that protagonist's head when you start.

Prehistory - caveman! (NOTHING) Near Future - mecha! (NOTHING) Edo Japan - ninja! Imperial China - kungfu! (NOTHING) Distant Future - scifi! (NOTHING) Modern Day - wrestler! Wild West - cowboy! (NOTHING)

---

Twilight of Edo Japan (ninja!)

This chapter hates you. That's why I'm writing a guide for it, specifically. Due to the 0 and 100 kill achievements, you should save in two slots when given the chance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2lmrCJ6Zgg

This is a link to a 0 kills TAS. It does a few things differently, but it's still a good visual reference.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39467 - Give Peace a Chance

After the intro, Oboro'll spawn behind two guards. Move north, inbetween the next pair of guards to trigger a battle. Run from it, and continue north. Another cutscene will play, explaining the password system. Every time the bell rings, the password will switch between "Mountain: River" and "Mountain: Origin." Oboro will point out each time the bell rings, so it's on you to remember or save before it's important. After the cutscene, travel northeast into a room with a guard and a chest. Inside the chest is a Chain Mail you equip to Oboro's body. Exit, go northwest, and evade the Ronin. Head through the north door, and you'll exit the building. Run down and left, evading all encounters, then go between the pair of guards in front of the door. By this point, the bell likely hasn't rung, so the password is River. Remember the building in the bottom left for later as you pass the guards into the building. Once inside, go through the rightmost door to witness a Ninja spin through a false wall. Follow him, and give the password. Should still be River. Go up the rope ladder, and head left to trigger a cutscene.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39450 - Poor Watanabe

Achievement will trigger after the cutscene. Go downwards and interact with the left chest to obtain a Money. You'll need four of these, and there are ten total, but half are locked behind something way later and one requires a kill. Stand over the peepholes in the floor to see some cutscenes, if you wish. Get the Castella from the chest in the bottom left of the room, and get the Suijin's Tabi from the one in the middle left. Equip the Suijin's Tabi to Oboro's feet, and head to the top left of the room to spawn a Ninja. Go invisible until he's to the right, then book it into the exit to the left. Head south on the roof, and do not enter the building. Continue east until you're in the room above the gate. Avoid stepping on the tile in the middle of the room, it's a pitfall. Continue along the wall until you enter another building. Open the two rightmost chests for the Storehouse Key and another Castella. Exit to the right.

Back on the wall, loop around or fall down the pitfall in the gate and get back to the two men who asked for the password from earlier. Interact with the bottom left building from the top middle, and use the Storehouse Key, then enter. Going toward the chest will spawn a Ninja right behind you. There's barely enough time to get the chest then go invisible, but it's easier to go invisible immediately. Inside the chest is a Basement Key. Go back past the guards, then enter the northwest hall and keep going north. Go through the southeast door to be in one of the peephole's rooms from earlier. There are two Castella in these chests. North exit twice, and you'll be outside. Northeast are two guards and another storehouse. Use the Storehouse Key on it, and enter. Do not interact with the woman in here. Two Tenmusu in the pots below her, and in the chests are an Ode Shuriken, Genji's Tabi, Izanagi's Scroll, Topknot, and Money. Equip the Topknot on Oboro's head, and the Genji's Tabi on Oboro's feet. Fight the two ghosts that were near the woman. These don't count as kills, since they aren't human, and you're gonna need the EXP for later. Use anything but Blazing Firefly, since the ghost will avoid the tile damage and your other moves deal more. Note that with the Genji's Tabi equipped, you will absorb health from fire tiles instead of taking damage. After the two ghosts, Oboro should be level 3. Exit and reenter if you think you want more EXP, but you'll be fine for now. The guards won't let you through, so return to atop the wall and where you got the Storehouse Key. Go to the top left exit, then save.

This is a puzzle that failing can make you waste a lot of time, and succeeding can get you some decent items. Go left and interact with the lever. Loop around left, and get on the gear turning north. Once you're off it, hold right until you get on a conveyor belt, then go up and right to hit another lever. Go up, right, then down and you'll be back where you started. Loop back around the left until you're back at the gear, then get on the conveyor belt going right, then down more gears. Lever, then exit left and go north again. Get on the gear going north and open the chest for a Grappling Hook, then hit the lever and go back down. Right until you're on the first belt, then go down the gear and go left to hit another lever. Go up, and you'll be next to a rope ladder. Ignore it and obtain the Fujin's Scroll from the chest. Fall down the big hole in the middle. You'll land in a cell in the dungeon. Use your Basement Key on the door, then save.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39468 - Kajo Waraku

Open the cell of the man in the bottom left, and speak with him. Give him three of your Castella or Tenmusu, then close the menu and speak with him again. Achievement will trigger. If you really want those items back, load your save and don't open his cell. If you wish, take note of the inmates of the cells here, but don't open any. There are more cells behind a fake wall to the right, but there's also a guard. Exit through the paper door to the left and go up the stairs and out a door. There will be a man next to you. Do not speak with him and open the chest for a Kotetsu. Equip it on Oboro's right hand, and exit south. There's a false wall to the southeast with a chest containing another Izanagi's Scroll. Ignore this woman, you can't fight her anyway. Exit and go south and you'll officially be on the first floor.

Evade all these guards and enter the top middle door to see a sleeping woman. Save, then speak with her. She will attempt to kick your ass. Defeating her won't count as a kill yet, so she'll be our source of EXP for the evening. Depending on where she spawns, move roughly 2 tiles away so Blazing Firefly will hit at it's furthest range. It'll do 0 damage, but the tile damage and self absorb will help immensely. She'll move in, so move away until she's two tiles away again. If you get cornered, let her hit you and move away before using an item. Hit her with Water Arts to hopefully keep her away and deal a little damage. If too many tiles get covered in water, use Blazing Firefly again. Betting on Cross Slice turning her away should be your last resort. Don't forget about your items. After you kill her, she'll run away and declare that this isn't over. You'll now find her in certain rooms chasing you down. Interacting with her will start another encounter. Do this as you move, or wait to do it until later.

Exit the room, and go through the northeast hallway. There's a Ronin to the left. Speak with him and give the password. It has no doubt changed several times. In the room he's guarding is a Shinobi's Birdlime and Money. Skip the middle room, and enter the right one. Stepping on the pillow will begin an encounter with a robot, which also doesn't count as a kill. This can also work for EXP, but the relentless woman gives out more. Left and up the stairs to the second floor, and a hall the woman will definitely block you in. Save, then defeat her repeatedly until you reach level 9. Respawn her by taking the stairs. Defeating her too much will make her Die For Real, locking you out of 0 kills. It will earn an achievement, though.

As you grind, feel free to experiment with new moves. Notably, Strength of Ninja will deal incredible damage but take a while to launch, so it's wise to use at the start of battle. Once you believe you have ground sufficiently, enter the southeast door to find a woman and some loot. The woman is blocking the middle pot, and will fight you if you speak to her, but the pot below contains a Tenmusu and the chest has an Ode Shuriken. There's also another Kanesada on the wall, if you want. In the paper door hall to the south, head through the false wall on the left and go up the rope ladder. Save right now, I'm not kidding.

This room is trapped to hell. It's best to just not deal with it, but there are a couple of chests you'll wanna open, including two tied to achievements. Go right, to the end of the room, and time going over the pitfall so there's floor beneath it and open the chest for a Fudo-Myoo's Fuda. You'll automatically rush to the other side of the pitfall after timing it right. Now, go back up across the pitfall, and go through the left corridor back through the pitfalls. Continue to another room with a chest, but be careful to once again time your crossing. After obtaining the Fuma Shuriken, go back the way you came. Back at the rope ladder, save again and go south. Evade the pitfalls until you reach a room with a checkerboard-pattern of pitfalls. Navigate them and open the chest containing a Shinobi Gauntlet.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39461 - Like the Wind

There's another achievement here, as well. Save, then fall down the hole directly north of the chest with the Shinobi Gauntlet. Go left, down, down, right, and open the chest for This's Awesum!

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39460 - That Guy's Amazing Geta!

This is the best footwear in the chapter. However, if you want to keep it, you'll have to fall down a pitfall on any other tile in the room and return from the dungeon. If you don't wanna do that, load your save after getting the achievement. If you know where you're going, it's pretty quick. Once you're back in the area with the Shinobi Gauntlet, evade pitfalls and head to the right, down the rope ladder.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39459 - Castellan

Go up the stairs to the third floor. Go through the false wall on the left, and speak with the man in the corner of the room. If you haven't killed anyone, he'll give you ten Castella and the achievement. Return to the room after the stairs, save, and go up the rope ladder. Go north, interact with the peg, and use your Grappling Hook. The robots in here will throw you down into the dungeon, so just ignore the chests. If you really want them, the bottom left contains a Genji's Helm, and the top right has another Grappling Hook, which is useless at this point.

Down the rope ladder, up the stairs to the fourth floor, up another rope ladder. This one has robots you can fight. Kill them all, or just go south. Bottom left chest has Genji Armor, which is way better than your Chain Mail. Before going down the rope ladder, ensure you have three Money and save. Through the door, do not step on either pillow, and check the false wall in the back a few times. Pick "Not at all!" and a battle will begin.

For 0 kills, you have to kill all of Gennai's minions before him. This can be done with strategically placed Shuriken Storms, or your Fudo-Myoo's Fuda. Once it's just you and Gennai, avoid standing beneath, beside, or diagonal to him. Pelt him with Shuriken Storms, and use an item if he tags you with Electric Discharge, and he'll fall quickly, dropping a Zenmai.

Go backwards, up the rope ladder, and throw yourself down the hole in the middle. Back in the dungeon, go through the false wall to the right and into the cell on the far left. This will be your fourth Money. Now, check the cell beside it, and use the Basement Key on it. Speak with the man inside, and let him go. He will refill certain chests containing money and armors, and even pop an achievement for you! What a nice guy.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39457 - Ganbare Goemon!

You don't need to collect any more Money, but going back for extra armors isn't a bad idea. Since Gennai's dead, every mechanical trap has been disabled, so the pitfall room of hell isn't so bad anymore. Goemon doesn't refill the Shinobi Gauntlet or This's Awesum!, though. Once you have at least 4 Money, get back to the room where you defeated Gennai and head through the false wall. Interact with the small hole in the top right corner, and use three Moneys on it. Not two, not four. Go back where you came and you'll be in a different room. Save, then use the Zenmai on the puppet in the middle. This thing meows at you? Kill it however you see fit. Afterwards, it will join your party.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39456 - O, Robot

O-robo isn't a bad party member, but for the secret bosses, it's better for you to have an extra turn, so skip it on 100 kills. Anyway, be so careful in here. The tile O-robo was on will now be a pitfall. If you step on it, you both will fall into the dungeon, and O-robo will shatter, making 0 kills impossible. Exit through the false wall, do not step on that pillow, and put your fourth Money in the hole. Go through the door on your left, and up the stairs.

Fifth floor. Stepping through the door will make O-robo fulfill his purpose. Afterwards, save in a third slot. Walk past it and into the room. After a cutscene, Ryoma will join the party. Give him some equipment, the man's struggling. Fight the ghost. Now that you have a second party member, battles are a lot easier, since running out of health doesn't mean dying. Remember that after an enemy's attack you have time to move three spaces, and you'll probably be fine. After the battle, enter the secret passage. Just before the stairs, another ghost will attack you. This one's a little tougher, but still manageable. Afterwards, go up the stairs.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39465 - You Wouldn't Hit a Woman, Would You?

Sixth floor. Stand in front of the door, and a cutscene will play because you didn't kill any women. Don't kill her, obviously. After the cutscene, don't move for a few seconds. You'll get the real reward, and the achievement. Equip both the Maid's Obi and Medicine Box to yourself. Now's your best chance to grind a little. It'd be faster to kill guards for EXP, and thus battle the superbosses while going for 100 kills, but I think the equipment the bosses drop is worth it. If you don't want the equipment, you can just do it during 100 kills.

Fall back down to the dungeon and exit the building southways. You'll pass the guards who didn't let you pass earlier. Enter the building to the right and fight some ghosts. This will take a while, so put on a podcast or something and take full advantage of fast forward. By a while, I mean 4 EXP per battle a while. Your goal is for Oboro to hit level 14. At level 10, you'll learn Blade of Wind, making this a little faster. At level 14, you'll learn Shadow Mirror. It can do great damage.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39451 - Guardian of the Lake

Lord Iwama can be encountered in the moat. You can get there either through the dungeon, or by going down the tree on the way to where you got the Storehouse Key. It's the shadow in the moat that isn't breathing through a reed. Using Shadow Mirror on it while it faces away may deal around 200 damage. What I did was separate Oboro and Ryoma to the top and bottom rows so Iwama's Water call couldn't hit both, then had Oboro mash Shadow Mirror while Ryoma used Quickdraw Wolf Fang while diagonal to make its stats lower, or use an Izanagi's Scroll to heal Oboro. If the fish goes to the bottom half of the screen, have Oboro instead use Wind Blade. Heal before someone dies, since being on opposite sides of the map makes it a little hard to get over in time. Alternatively, if you zone it out hard enough with Quickdraw and Wind Blade, it might start wasting its turns moving. The Suijin Scale didn't drop for me, so you may have to load your save a few times.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39455 - You Cannot Have This Blade...

Go to the passage between the tree and the moat. On the way there is a diamond in the top corner of a corner. Stand so that it is touching the bottom of the screen, then move two tiles up, and move downward. Ignore the pot, it's useless now. Go back up and through the fake wall. Save. Interacting with the sword on the wall, and then with the man that appears after will trigger a battle with Majin Ryunosuke. Do not stand directly next to him, since his Road to Ruin can instant kill you. Have Oboro use Top Spin to make him waste turns turning, and have Ryoma shoot rapidly. You won't deal much damage like this, but you won't take any damage, either. Shuriken Storm and Bronze Leaf, if you have it, will deal more damage but are riskier. After defeating him, collect the sword on the wall for your achievement. To leave the pot hall, walk in front of it, ten tiles up, and hold down until you're out.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39466 - Secret Orders

Head back to the sixth floor. Enter the door you go the Medicine Box at before, and save. The enemy inside is a total pushover. Leave the room south, then head south again to battle the final boss. If you beat the secret bosses, he will be too easy. If you haven't killed a single human, Ryoma will give you his Yoshiyuki and earn you the 0 kills achievement.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39469 - The Honorable Restoration

During the cutscene following the final boss, Ryoma will ask if you want to join him. Pick "Interesting." and the achievement will follow.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39453 - You Have Brought Shame Upon Your Family

Load your save just before Ryoma joins the party and start killing guards. You'll want to be at least level 10, though going higher isn't a bad idea. The Outcast Ending is only obtainable while Oboro is by himself. I don't know if it's possible with O-robo, but Ryoma will stop you. Once you're ready, head back to the entrance where you ran away from those guards, and kill them to leave the castle. After multiple confirmation text boxes, a gauntlet of battles will begin. At the start of the normal enemy battles, move above and behind a topmost enemy, kill it with Blade of Wind, and take out the rest of them with it while moving as little as possible.

Eventually, a boss fight will start against one very powerful minion. His strongest attacks are far away ones, so try to get right beside him and mash Blade of Wind so he'll use his weaker ones. Alternate between healing and attacking, and you'll win eventually. He has 816 HP. Achievement will pop after winning.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39464 - The Deadly Arts

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/snes/562650-live-a-live/faqs/64434

This is a Gamefaqs list that goes over every possible kill in the chapter. It doesn't go into too much detail. I'll go over the missables and more elaborate kills in too much detail. First, make sure you don't kill any women before the sixth floor. The woman who gives you the Medicine Box won't appear, making her a missable kill.

Outside of the Castle: 4 humans guarding the enterance, 5 humans in the first house (1 woman), 5 humans between the two houses. Your first two missable kills are the guards who ask for the password. Pick any option other than the correct one to fight them. There is also a man hiding beneath the roof to the northwest of them.

Second house has 20 humans (8 women). 6 of these are missable. The first is the Ronin in the room directly north of the entrance, missed by witnessing the Watanabe Event. Second is the Ninja through the false wall in the room on the right. He'll ask for the password, and won't accept a nonsense answer. Save before, or remember the password and pick the wrong one out of "River" and "Origin." Don't go into the attic yet. The left door before the hallway is where 6 women are located. Down the left hall, at the end is a man asking for the password. The room he guards will house two kills, one man and one missable woman. Killing the man first will make her run, so save these two for after the sixth floor. You may want to hold off on the man in the next room for a moment as well. Go through the false wall next to him and up the rope ladder. Open the two chests, then stand over the leftmost peephole and no others. With your new armor and likely being level 5, you can fight that man now. Go up the hall, and through the rightmost south door for two more missables. Standing over the north peephole will despawn these two. You should have 25 kills by now.

Exiting the attic to the left, on the wall are five* kills. Once you get the Storehouse Key, do not obtain the Basement Key. Instead, fall right into the dungeon, where a missable kill will taunt you. Go invisible until he opens your cell door, then kill him. The man in the cell next to you and the cell below him are both missables. The top will dissapear after defeating Gennai, and the bottom will kill himself if you feed him. There aren't any more missable kills down here, but if you don't go through the false wall and into Ryoma's cell before defeating Gennai, you'll miss 8 kills way later.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39462 - The Fall of the Shinobi

To defeat the ghost in here, you need to kill all other ghosts in the room and get to it immediately. Her dialog will change when you've done it right. Keep throwing Shuriken Storms at her and she'll go down eventually.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39463 - I Will Cure You of the Disease Called Life

Ryoma will join your party after. There's a man in the cell next to where he was. Save, kill him, then head through the false wall to the right, and you'll be in the moat. If you bump into Lord Iwama, run away. Other than the fish, there are 3 men here. Continue through to the other side, climb the tree, and go back to the storehouse where you got the Basement Key in 0 kills. In here are 7 humans. Reenter and exit the house north. Outside 2 has 3 humans. By this point, I had 46 kills. You can ignore the storehouse. You'll have to loop back around to enter the castle from the dungeon.

First floor has 13 humans (3 women). Obtain the Izanagi's Scroll from the box woman. If it's time to kill her, exit and reenter, check the box, and go invisible for a long time. She'll peek out eventually. Encounter that woman you used to grind EXP in 0 kills. This floor's only missable is a password Ronin. You'll see a Ninja through one of the walls, but you won't be able to get to him. Two women next door. Head to the next floor with 55 kills.

Second floor has 5 humans (1 woman). Through the screen door hall, there's one missable man who asks for the password. Back through the false wall in the screen door hall, go down the stairs. You should be in a room with stairs and a rope ladder, and two chests in the room below. These chests may already have been opened by you. Go invisible in here for a long time, and a human will appear. Go back up the stairs, through the two screen halls, and go up the set of stairs at the end. 59.

Third floor has 8 humans, five of which are missable. When you see a woman wearing purple around a corner, save before going around the corner. If you aren't fast enough, you'll lose a kill. Interact with all guards as soon as possible, and do not interact with the man in black. After defeating all guards (if MIB says "One!" you failed), save and speak with him. You'll fight Hannya-maru, who shouldn't be too hard right now. The man in the room behind him is much more difficult. The tiger isn't a problem, but Dumb Monk has powerful attacks. Try to play keepaway with Shuriken Storm and Quickdraw. The room next to Dumb Monk is kill 67. Go up the stairs.

Fourth floor has 7 humans. 4 of them MIGHT be missable? Take the left door and ignore the false wall to find a sleeping man. Talk to him repeatedly to fight him. Loop around right, go down the stairs. This still counts as the fourth floor. The room behind the Ninja houses the 4 men that might be missable. Kill them now, just to be safe, and save before speaking to the woman. 74. Go north and deal with Gennai. O-robo's kind of detrimental in 100 kills, so don't get it. Up the stairs.

Fifth floor has 11 humans. They're all on the route to Ode Iou. Once everyone in Ode's room is dead, you'll be at 85 kills. Kill Miyamoto Musashi, notice the lack of Yodogimi, and continue to the next floor.

Sixth floor is a turning point. One woman, and you are killing her. Afterwards, throwing yourself down to the dungeon is the fastest way down. Moving through the lower floors is a good time to finally kill that woman that's been chasing you. Exiting the dungeon, head into the secret room with the Izanagi's Scroll and and box woman. Interact with the box, go invisible, and wait. She'll peek out eventually. Exit the castle, and go to the second house. Enter the middlemost south door, and kill all women inside. If you haven't killed the one that follows you yet, you'll be at 93. Exit south, then go through the left hall and enter the last door. You'll find the old man and woman from the peephole earlier. Kill the woman first. If you kill the man first, she will escape and you'll miss the kill. 95. Return to the first house, and enter the first door when you enter. 96. Return to the first floor. You may have to enter through the dungeon. Right of the chasing woman's room and through the middle door are two women. 98. Up the stairs and through the door in the bottom right is woman 99, and the chasing woman is 100. Achievement will pop on Oboro's "I've slain 100 people..." thought.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39458 - You Can't Deny My Love!

---

Modern Day (wrestler!)

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39485 - Adaptable

This is by far the simplest chapter. Three achievements in total, including the one for beating it. Since you can't see your opponent's names until you challenge them, I'll number them. Top left is 1, top middle is 2, bottom left is 4, and so on. For Adaptable, I suggest fighting opponents in this order: 452316

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39484 - Was That Really Watanabe?

1 - Namcat

His moves are Punchama Kick and Spiral Knee. Panchama Kick is activated right in front of him, and Spiral Knee is activated two tiles away. Once you have both, get in a blind spot and use something he can't counter.

2 - Great Asia

His moves are Frankensteiner and Tornado Press. Both are really strong, so make space and heal if you need to. Frankensteiner is used in the tiles surrounding the direction he's looking, and Tornado Press is one to two tiles away from him, horizontal vertical or diagonal. You'll wanna drag him to the bottom right corner for the Watanabe Event, so get him as close as you can with movement before using Max Bomber to get him all the way in. Get him facing up and to the left, then stand two tiles away so he keeps using Bite and mash Battle Cry to heal. It may take a while, but eventually, the event will occur.

3 - Tula Han

The two skills you learn from him are Arm Lock and Cross Heel Hold. Both are counters activated by attacking him with either you hands or feet while close enough. Of course, if both your hands and feet are bound, it'll be hard to not take a beating after.

4 - Moribe Seishi

His moves are Abise-Geri and Tsuda. Tsuda is activated in the four tiles around the direction he's facing. Abise-Geri is activated two tiles away from him, horizontal vertical or diagonal. He has other moves that hit these areas, so you may have to wait and heal a while. Abise-Geri is pretty useful, dealing good damage and occasionally making the opponent turn.

5 - Max Morgan

His moves are Max Bomber and German Suplex. It is possible to acquire both one after another by standing in the tile diagonal to him. German Suplex is powerful, while Max Bomber can knock opponents back.

6 - Jackie Iaukea

He has three skills you need to learn. Aloha Clap, Ogre Grip, and Earth-rending Fury. Aloha Clap is activated right in front of him, and Ogre Grip is activated around the direction he's facing. If he stops moving for multiple turns, Get The Hell Out Of Dodge. His third skill, Earth-rending Fury, is activated in a wide area in front of him. It will deal over 200 damage. If you have both of his other skills and want it out faster, bind his hands with Arm Lock, and he'll be forced to use it. To kill him easily, bind his hands, use Battle Cry to see if he stops moving, then get behind him and use Spiral Knee a few times. You should get Adaptable during this fight.

7 - Odie Oldbright

No need to learn moves here. At the start of battle, use Earth-Rending Fury to the left to deal 200 damage immediately, and understand just how long it actually takes. Then, get in a blindspot and mash Abise-Geri.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39486 - The World Warrior

---