Credit: Nintendo/Square Enix

What Does Lives Taken Mean in Live A Live

Pacifism is always an option.

Daniel Trock

Published: Jul 25, 2022 11:54 am

Historical ninjas were spies and assassins, sent for all kinds of covert operations. If they didn’t have to kill anyone to complete their missions, they usually wouldn’t, but sometimes conflict is unavoidable. This holds true for the Feudal Japan chapter of Live A Live, where your protagonist is always conscious of the people he’s killed. So what, exactly, does Lives Taken mean in Live A Live?

What Does Lives Taken Mean in Live A Live

Throughout the Feudal Japan chapter of Live A Live, Oboromaru will regularly get into fights with the Ode Clan’s soldiers, ninjas, and supernatural entities. As the Enma Master explains at the start of the chapter, Oboromaru’s mission only has one goal, rescuing the prisoner, and anything else is up to his discretion. Every time you win a fight against anyone in the castle, with a handful of exceptions like Shiro’s Lost Souls, Oboromaru will keep a running tally of how many people he’s killed.

If you were worried about this being an Undertale situation where the game will call you a horrible person for killing everyone, don’t be; the number of enemies you kill in the Feudal Japan chapter has no bearing on your ability to complete it. Rather than affecting your ending, the number of enemies you kill (or rather, don’t kill) will determine if you get a couple of bonus items at the end of the chapter or not.

If you manage to successfully complete the chapter without killing any of the castle’s 100 residents aside from Ode Iou, then at the end of the chapter, you’ll be rewarded with Mutsunokami, a powerful sword that boosts Oboromaru’s physical damage by 40 points. Additionally, if you don’t kill any women in the castle, then before the fight against Ode Iou, a maid will give you the Maid’s Sash, an accessory that provides a modest defense buff.

While that sword is tempting, bear in mind that not fighting any enemies means Oboromaru will get no experience, which will make both the battle against Ode Iou and the game’s final chapter more difficult. Committing to not killing any enemies in the Feudal Japan chapter will likely mean a whole lot of grinding later on.

Author

Daniel Trock

Since the first time he picked up a controller as a child, Daniel has been a dyed-in-the-wool gaming fanatic, with a Steam library numbering over 600 games. His favorite pastime, aside from playing games, is doing deep dives on game wikis to learn more about their lore and characters.