Having dabbled with the Nintendo 3DS original, The Alliance Alive HD Remastered was a game I was excited to try out. This is a fantastic anime-inspired turn-based RPG that is great for fans of strong story-driven RPGs. If you missed out on the original game, this HD remaster is the best way to experience this RPG.
How to Download The Alliance Alive HD Remastered
You can download the remastered version of the game from Nintendo Store, PlayStation Store, Steam or GOG. Click on the Download button below the review.
The Game Review
One of the first things that are worth taking note of is that the story was crafted by Yoshitaka Murayama. If that name sounds familiar it is because this is the writer of the excellent, Suikoden, which is one of the greatest RPGs of all time. This HD remaster is giving those who missed out in the 3DS a chance to experience this breathtaking RPG.
Let’s start with the story which is epic in every sense of the word. What I like about the story is that it does not just revolve around one “hero” instead we see the story from many points of view. The world has been taken over and conquered by a Daemon race that has split the world into five regions. They rule with a brutal iron fist and humanity is firmly kept in its place.
The story of the game is about people from each region standing up and fighting for their freedom. Seeing this “alliance” form is really cool and the way you get to see different points of view and motivations is really cool and gets you very invested. I think that this is actually one of the best stories in an RPG of the last decade easily!
Some might feel that The Alliance Alive HD Remastered has a bit of a slow start, but I did not. The game, once it opens up it opens up big time and this world is pretty spectacular with many diverse biomes for you to explore. While the exploration and storytelling are great, an RPG can live or die by its combat.
Thankfully the combat here is great. It was great on the 3DS and they have not tinkered with it here. These are turn-based battles, but the real strategy comes from the Formation System. You have three different lines that fighters can be on and. You might want to have a tank up front dealing and taking damage while a healer hangs out at the back? There are many strategies you can have here and you can save formations and change them on the fly.
The progression system in the game is really weird. The game does not have what you could call typical classes, but the way your characters level up feels kind of random. You unlock “Arts” which are basically special moves for weapons and these are what I found my self-driving towards getting as I played the game. It is very different from other RPGs I have played that is for sure.
While the name of this game is The Alliance Alive HD Remastered, I must admit I do not see a ton of improvement in the visuals. I played the Nintendo Switch version of the game and while the game already looked great, I do feel they could have done more with the visuals. The soundtrack is fantastic, but there is no voice acting and with a story as good as this I really wish it was voice acted!
For me, The Alliance Alive HD Remastered is a great game and one that was criminally underrated on the 3DS. It is awesome, people are getting the chance to experience it with this new release. If you like RPGs do yourself a favor and check this one out.
