Live A Live Endings guide: How to get Every Ending
Given the game it gives players quite a lot of choices throughout its story, it's perhaps not a surprise that Live A Live contains multiple endings. These different ending options aren't as wildly different as in some RPGs, but there's a handful of different fun ways that this story of different heroes from disparate ages can wrap up.
This guide exists to help you work through the multiple endings of Live A Live, listing how to get all endings so you can see them all - or just exert some control over the finale of the story for the one time you complete the game, depending on if you're planning multiple play-throughs or not.
This guide will contain spoilers for Live A Live, of course - if you're not yet ready to hear about the endings, head back to our Live A Live walkthrough contents page - from there you can reach our various guides covering all of the game's nine chapters, and the character recruitment that effects the final stages of the game. But, for now - let's talk ending options.
Live A Live Endings: How to get every ending
Live A Live doesn't have as complicated a setup for ending options as some of its period-appropriate peers like Chrono Trigger, but it's fair to say that there's a few different endings you can acquire. The variations on the ending basically split into two categories: Good Endings where the heroes win in various ways, and Bad Ends where the villain wins in various ways. There are a few variations in each category of ending.
We've divided this guide up in the same way. The key choice that will define which side of that railroad you end up on is after completing the Middle Ages chapter - you'll be given a choice of character to be your primary party member for Live A Live's final, secret chapter. This choice is the first defining factor of your ending.
The core thrust of matters is that picking any of the seven characters you first play as will lead to a good ending and the Good Hero version of the Last Chapter. If you instead pick Oersted, you'll be on the bath to a bad ending where you will be playing as the villains for the bad version.
Beyond that, there are a few variations of the heroic and villainous endings depending on certain actions, and your performance in battle. The Live A Live ending variations are as follows:
- Hero Endings
- Villain Endings
For Achievement/Trophy hunters, each ending will unlock an achievement. The only exception is that After All (Hero Bad End) and Armageddon are the same ending, and only share one achievement, so you don't need to get both of them.
True Ending
The best possible ending, where the heroes succeed in their quest.
Prerequisite Condition
- Select any other protagonist but Oersted.
- Recruit all 7 of the playable protagonist in the game - our Character Recruitment guide will help. Although you can only use 4 party members at a time, as long as you have recruited them before the conditions are met.
- Engage in combat with the final boss and win.
- Spare final boss's life during the event scene.
Normal Ending
Similar to the true ending, but triggers if you failed to recruit all seven protagonists during the final chapter.
Prerequisite Condition
- Select any other protagonist but Oersted.
- Engage in combat with the final boss and win.
- Spare the final boss's life during the event scene.
Never-Ending Cycle
Exact revenge on the evil Odio, but at great cost for our heroes. Choosing to kill results in this regardless of how many characters you recruited.
Prerequisite Condition
- Select any other protagonist but Oersted.
- Engage in combat with the final boss and win.
- Kill the final boss during the event scene.
After All (Hero's Bad End)
This is pretty simple - it just involves you getting blasted by the final boss. This triggers a small ending scene, after which you can reload a save and try again. It's technically a Game Over, but it's also an ending.
Prerequisite Condition
- Select any other protagonist but Oersted.
- Engage in combat with the final boss. Let the final boss use its ultimate attack or lose to him.
- This ending is basically identical to the Armageddon Ending.
Odio Victorious (Villain's Bad End)
This is the ending thread that plays out when you select Oersted as the character for the final chapter. You play a different chapter with a different goal, and it results in this ending if you're successful.
Prerequisite Condition
- Select Oersted as the protagonist for the Dominion of Hate scenario.
- Defeat all 7 bosses to view this ending.
Armageddon Ending
The Armageddon ending is identical to the After All ending on the hero side - except that if it looks like you're losing, you can trigger a special move to put an end to everything, triggering this ending.
Prerequisite Condition
- Select Oersted as the protagonist for the Dominion of Hate scenario.
- Engage in combat with any of the bosses found in this scenario.
- During combat get injured, when your HP is really low, the flee battle command is replaced. Use it to trigger the Armageddon Ending.