The Alliance Alive

Despite its terrific combat, The Alliance Alive is far from a spectacular experience. With the 3DS having such a vast catalogue of RPGs to choose from, it's not enough for Alliance to simply be passable. It's hard to truly recommend the game to anyone except those who have already exhausted their options on the system.

A JRPG that combines classic concept with original decisions, but that remains in the shadow of the greats of Nintendo 3DS.

The Alliance Alive is a successful effort at justifying why the 3DS is still relevant. Thanks to its wide and varied world, well implemented sense of progression, in-depth combat system and rich visual component, this is an RPG that should feature in a great number of 3DS systems, even as the console is past its prime.

While it may not stand out as an individual title, The Alliance Alive gets by with somewhat unique ideas and a memorable soundtrack. The varied cast doesn’t leave much impression and the combat gets too easy late-game with minimal grinding which makes it a chore more than anything. There are some great ideas here that fail to work together in a way that makes for an overall fun time.

The Alliance Alive tries to make improvements on its predecessor, but only to a certain level of success. It still gets bogged down by a somewhat repetitive gameplay loop, and the expanded story focus is merely adequate. However, the game can be comforting if you are longing for an RPG that feels like the ones of the days past.

The Alliance Alive is a solid RPG with a lot of flaws (generic characters and story) but balanced with a lot of strong points too (fun gameplay and combat). Despite its annoying shortcomings, the game can be recommended to anyone looking for an RPG that plays like it's straight from the golden era.

A few frustrating moments aside, I generally enjoyed my time with The Alliance Alive.

RPG superfans who are craving something different, who absolutely need a 3DS game, and who have not played February’s much better 3DS RPG, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology, will find a thing or two to like about The Alliance Alive. Cattle Call moved a bit closer to greatness with The Alliance Alive, but they are still not quite there as one of the 3DS’s last RPGs falls short.

The story and characters of The Alliance Alive will stay with me far longer than anything else in the game. Yoshitaka Murayama has proven '90s-style storytelling is still as enrapturing today as it was two decades ago. His work just needs to be paired up with a better game. I respect all of the new gameplay ideas present here, but without fine-tuning, they bring down what should be one of the last great 3DS games.

The Alliance Alive is a great-looking game with an interesting premise and intriguing battle mechanics, but in the end it falters from its combat decisions.

If anything, go back and check out The Legend of Legacy. [Issue #33 – May/June 2018, p. 69]