Live A Live: Finale (Main Walkthrough)

The final segment of the game will be a little bit different depending on which character you choose as your main protagonist, but there are still a few things to do for each line of progression. Most of the events here consist of the optional dungeons for each character, and I suggest going through each one even for the characters you're not planning on using (except the robot's). They have some useful items.

If you start as the Kung Fu inheritor or the cowboy, come to Hash's fake grave and get the Brion. None of your final party members can equip the sword unfortunately, but it will still be necessary for the final dungeon a bit down the road.

Also on the mountain is this shimmering spot on the second screen. It will be called a few different things depending on which character you're using, but you need it if you're going to recruit the robot (unless he was your main choice of course).

Your next step should be recruiting at least one party member. The wrestler and the robot will both be in the castle which is nearby, but I didn't want either of them just yet so I had to go a bit further.

Nooo! But what about Bel?! Oh well. I guess they hadn't really defined the concept of monogamy back in his time. Some of the interactions will change slightly depending on which character you're using. I think if you're not using Li here you will have to fight the caveman in order for him to join. I took this guy's Ooh! Mask, King's Fang and Basic Rock and gave them to Li. Sorry fella, I just like her more. Anyway collect some Naorigusa here if you happen to have wandered down this way. To the east you can inspect the sign on the way to the Forbidden Land if you want to recruit the ninja, which I did.

No working your womanly charms this time, Li.This guy wants to fight. In typical rpg fashion we have to convince him we're not evil by kicking him in the teeth repeatedly, so do that. Also see the light green trees around here with the poofy tops? A couple of them have brown seeds laying on the ground beside them, which you can inspect to receive Joshua Seeds.


To the west you will find two more Joshua Seeds past the Naoriguse patch. Further west in Familia Village you can find more Naorigusa. Unlike the patch where we found the caveman, these ones do not regrow if you leave the area and come back. Let's go to the castle, next.

On the bottom floor in the right-hand room there is an armory. As long as you didn't pillage this place during the knight chapter, there will be plenty of decent stuff here. From top to bottom, left to right, there is;
Nightmare Helmet, Genji's Helm, Axian Sword, Marvella Sword, three Amethyst Shields,
Genji's Tabi, Izanagi's Scroll, Unicorn Horn,
Silver Holy Robe, Genji's Armor, Silver Holy Robe, Genji's Gauntlet, Gatsun Glove,
Giant Meaty Bone, Castella,
Peach Bun, Potion No.9, Unicorn Horn

Over in the left room you'll find a single measly Defender, but down the stairs is the wrestler if you want to recruit him. But first you will have to watch a long scene of him training and also beat his face in, because punching things is his sole personality trait.

You are a jerk, wrestler guy. Luckily he happens to be a level 2 jerk, so I took him out in one hit with XuanYaLianShanQuan. Up on the top floor in the left-hand room you will find Holy Armor, a Marvella Sword, an Amethyst Shield, and a Unicorn Horn. In princess Alicia's room on the right you can find a Parasite Sword, a Silver Holy Robe, another Unicorn Horn and an Izanagi's Scroll.

Also while you're up here you can go out onto the balcony and recruit the robot with the Item we got from the sparkling point on the mountainside. If you equipped some attack items like the Kotobuki Lacquer onto the mech pilot to carry over, you can put these onto the robot to give it some new skills and make it a bit more useful. It also has a decent counter ability and is the only character with an area heal technique, but it will never level up. You can only change its stats with equipment and by using Power Parts dropped by enemies.

Speaking of enemies, there are a few in particular you want to watch out for.
Mustard Dragons: Extremely high defense and powerful fire attacks, damage from an electric field will kill them
Pistachio: Extremely high defense, when hit will counter with a move that causes every status effect on all party members. The robot's Noise Stream works best.
Ishtar: Lots of hp, will use a magic technique that will hit the entire screen. Use your strongest attacks.
Tumble Bug: Very high defense and evasion rate, attacks deal about 100 damage each. Only about 65 hp.

Optional Boss: Death Prophet
This fight can be initiated by escaping from battle a total of 100 times during the final chapter. You will know when you are getting close because the last 5 fled battles will give you a message afterward. Like most other optional bosses in this part of the game it has high defense, and it can also turn you to stone (unless you have Ariel equipment from other optional bosses, which I did). My Kung Fu inheritor was still able to do a decent amount of damage with her ultimate attack, and the ninja dealt an acceptable amount with Bronze Leaf. The mecha pilot died instantly because I hadn't trained him at all, and the Wrestler never landed a single attack. Alternatively, you can completely cheap out and just hit it in the tail, causing it to die instanlty. Either way you will get the Ariel Mail for beating it.
Note: My main character was level 23 when I fought this battle.

When you've got all the equipment, Naorigusa, party members and experience you think you'll need head to the Forbidden Lands and inspect the stone demon head. If you have the Brion, it will open. In the northeast corner inspect the pile of bones for an Alice Biscuit and the next one over to the left for a Demon Cloud. There is also a Fujin's Scroll right by the door to the next chamber as well.

The forbidden lands are filled with tough enemies, but this guy can be particularly rough... unless of course, you remember how we beat the first one. Yep, it still works, and as far as I can recall 4 of the 7 playable characters have attacks that will work for this strategy (Kung Fu inheritor, caveman, wrestler and mecha pilot). If he starts off stuck in a corner like this just move over to the far edge of the screen and he'll creep forward. He gives out a ton of exp.

In the second chamber as you go along the path we took as the knight, you can get a Unicorn Horn from the pile of bones in a room to the north, a Fudo-Myoo's Fuda to the east of that, and another Demon's Cloud to the south. In the next chamber with a bunch of doors, open a chest with an Izanagi's Scroll in the northeast, get a Gold Topknot in the middle, and then head through the door at the west end as there is nothing else.

In this room go through the door on the top-left corner to get a Venus Figuring, an Argos's Eye, and a Potion No.9. The next room to the right has a set of Golden Robes. When that stuff is all collected, head through the northeast door to work your way up to the peak where the Medieval chapter concluded. As you walk around you'll see nothing here, but as you try to exit the demon king will appear to speak to you. When you regain control head back down the stairs anyway to be back in the wonky time/space area. Start heading south and you will end up being confronted by another optional boss.

Optional Boss: Head Plucker

My, what a wonderful name that is. Put your two characters who have the most health out front around the middle of the screen so that the boss can't reach the others. He only has one attack and as he uses it his stats will slowly drop. However you don't even need to do this if you approach it right. I had the wrestler use Tsuda a couple times, and the ninja use Strength of Ninja. He had his back turned a couple times so I had the caveman attack then, and he was finished after about 10 moves.

Unfortunately, you will be spat back out wherever your character first appeared and you will have to make your way all the way back to the peak. When you're done have a short chat with Mr. Embodiment Of Pure Evil and the fight will begin.

The "true" way to beat this boss is to take out the mouth and two eyes. It's not hard, they will barely fight back, the most difficult thing you might encounter is getting in the right position. Attacking the "mole" will result in a very strong counter attack, so leave it alone... unless of course you have a Parasite Sword in your inventory which will wipe it out completely and end the battle. If you don't do that however, once the three parts are disposed of you will fight...

This fight is mostly the same strategy, albeit a bit more stressful. Try to space your party members out along the one side of the screen so that his Saint Alicia technique will only hit one person at a time. He will also use a move called Cancel Ray a lot which hits the whole screen and (obviously) cancels your attacks. Ty to stick to instant moves like Dodegesden, Tsuda, Blade of Wind, etc. though using the cowboy's Hurricane Shot or the ninja's Bronze Leaf shouldn't be too difficult to pull off. Use the medicine box or Naoriusa to heal constantly. He will heal himself once in a while as well, but not often enough to really drag things out.

If you choose to finish him off after the battle you will fight the Knight one-on-one, and it will result in a pretty crappy ending. There's one line of dialogue and then the screen goes yellow and the credits roll. That's it. So, choose to spare him and start making your way out of the cave. Thought we were done? Nope! Plot twist, this game never ends! (I'm kidding, we're almost done)

When you get to this room the other three characters will come in. Speak to any of them to start a scene, which will end in you having to redo all of the end-of-chapter boss battles. It should be a cinch at this point, you get to keep all your weapons and armor. Kick their bits, and then sit back and enjoy the wonderful artwork of the credits.

That's it, the game is done! Congratulations!