The alliance alive: Save 70% on The Alliance Alive HD Remastered on Steam

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Score distribution:

1. Positive:

   3
   out of 6

2. Mixed:

   2
   out of 6

3. Negative:

   1
   out of 6

1. For the life of me, I honestly don’t get the average to low review scores for this game. It’s hands down one of my favorite JRPG’s and ranksFor the life of me, I honestly don’t get the average to low review scores for this game. It’s hands down one of my favorite JRPG’s and ranks right up there with Persona, Final Fantasy, Bravely Default, etc. I loved the characters, story, environments, combat, and music. I was hooked from the start and constantly impressed by every aspect of the game. The random nature of leveling up and gaining new skills was fresh and was never a problem for me. Admittedly, I wasn’t sure at first if I’d like it, but I quickly grew to love it and stat increases and new skills came frequently enough for me to begin to prefer this system. On top of that, the option to choose your parties combat formation added an extra layer of depth to strategy that I absolutely loved. This game literally made me, for the first time, appreciate using characters whose primary roles and weapons were shields and defending. Additionally, the combat and grinding could be sped up and was never an issue.

   There’s several difficulty spikes throughout and the lack of voice acting was admittedly strange during cutscenes — definitely felt lacking. But the OST, gorgeous art work and character design, and emotional and interesting story more than made up for that. I loved this game. I took my time with it and by the end felt super accomplished, sad to part ways with the characters I’d grown to love, and so happy I took a chance on it.… Expand

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2. This remastered edition shines on the Nintendo Switch. Graphics are crisp and clean and especially the sound is remarkable. There is this auraThis remastered edition shines on the Nintendo Switch. Graphics are crisp and clean and especially the sound is remarkable. There is this aura around the whole game, that makes it all feel like a dream. Well recommended!… Expand

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3. 
   




4. The Alliance Alive HD Remastered me ha encantado, siendo una gran sorpresa. Es un JRPG que me ha parecido especial. El sistema de combate,The Alliance Alive HD Remastered me ha encantado, siendo una gran sorpresa. Es un JRPG que me ha parecido especial. El sistema de combate, aunque tiene sus carencias, engancha y es muy gratificante. Los gráficos, son bonitos, pero se nota que es un remaster de 3DS. La música, el rendimiento y los controles son buenos. La historia es entretenida y me ha gustado. Tengo que destacar los personajes y el sistema de reclutamiento. Me ha parecido una propuesta muy original, y me he divertido mucho reclutando todos los secundarios y distribuyéndolos por los diferentes grupos. Si te gusta este género, me parece una propuesta muy entretenida y diferente. Muy recomendable.… Expand

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5. Como remaster mejora varios aspectos con respecto a la versión de 3ds que hacen el juego mucho más atractivo. Una pequeña mejora en la nitidezComo remaster mejora varios aspectos con respecto a la versión de 3ds que hacen el juego mucho más atractivo. Una pequeña mejora en la nitidez de los gráficos, un turbo MUY necesario en las batallas (que creo que el original no tenia)…
   Sin embargo, el juego sigue siendo un juego de 3ds. Podrían haberse añadido cosas como voces en las escenas ya que resultan bastante sosas, y incluir nuevas melodías, cosa que es uno de los puntos más débiles del juego.
   Los puntos negativos aparte de lo dicho: «la música, no hay música de batalla como tal, ni de victoria, acabando en muchas situaciones como un continuo que acaba cansando. Las mazmorras comienzan siendo interesantes, pero acaban convirtiéndose en algo muy lineal, una progresión pasillera de luchar contra los mismos enemigos una y otra vez. El sistema de evolución de personaje es el típico de «SaGA», si te gusta disfrutaras este juego, si no te gusta… aún así es una buena opción ya que es de los mejores juegos con este sistema. Hay muchísima parte opcional fácil de perderse debido a tener que revisitar todas las localizaciones una y otra vez cada dos por tres ya que no hay ningún tipo de indicación por las que deba aparecer algo. La dificultad del juego resulta también desequilibrada, en parte por el sistema de evolución.
   Como puntos positivos, si te gusta el sistema de combate y evolución de «SaGa» este es de los mejores juegos al respecto. La historia esta bien y los personajes también aunque no sean nada rompedores. El juego tiene una tremenda rejugabilidad, con dos modos de Juego Nuevo +.
   Es un buen juego pero debes valorar tus propios gustos para saber si es para ti o no. Eso sí, considéralo como un juego de 3ds, no de switch.… Expand

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6. A solid, but mediocre JRPG without any exceptional highlights, but quite a few shortcomings.

   On the plus side, there’s a lovable cast and aA solid, but mediocre JRPG without any exceptional highlights, but quite a few shortcomings.

   On the plus side, there’s a lovable cast and a quite engaging story with some (sadly sometimes foreseeable) twists.
   Visuals are technically solid and the style fits well, the music however is on the lower end and often feels quite off.

   The gameplay systems work okay for the most part. but promise a large amount of tactical depth which they simply can’t deliver. Apart from a handful of story-forced situations, there’s no incentive to switch between the members of the fairly large cast, exploration is seldom rewarded, equipment upgrades feel lackluster, the talent and ability systems are imbalanced and grindy, formations are fun, but you’re actually punished for experimenting with them, as your character’s abilities level up separately for each of the 3 positions.

   Combat is okay-ish, with speed-up and auto-battle (which btw has glaring oversights that make it near unusable in non-trivial situations — healing spells don’t remember on whom they were cast and are instead always cast on the caster themselves — and not being able to see your party’s status while auto-batlle is active doesn’t help either), but often feels meaningless from a challenge standpoint, as you’re auto-healed after each battle (apart from some special situations). Overall the difficulty is rather low, apart from a few situations where it suddenly spikes into nearly one-shotting your party. I already mentioned balancing problems, did I?

   All in all, I don’t regret playing it, but I definitely won’t bother with any of the new game + modes. If you really like JRPGs and don’t mind the balancing issues give it a try when it’s on sale, otherwise, don’t bother.… Expand

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7. I really wanted to like this game but there are just too many glaring flaws.

   Graphics — 7.0
   Nice art design. Probably the best part of theI really wanted to like this game but there are just too many glaring flaws.

   Graphics — 7.0

   Nice art design. Probably the best part of the game.

   Music — 5.0 Not one track that was memorable. Story- 6.0 Not bad by any means but nothing stood out as really well done either. I did enjoy the cast of characters.

   Gameplay — 3.0 the most important part of any game. Terrible design choices and one of the worst progression systems I’ve ever encountered. Too many enemies to wade thru when you’re just trying to get from point a to point b. Lack of direction adds to this.

   Overall — 4.0 A highly forgettable RPG on a system that has plenty of excellent choices. Pass on this one.… Expand

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The Alliance Alive HD Review – A Hint of SaGa, a Dash of Final Fantasy

If you find yourself feeling curmudgeonly about today’s JRPGs, didn’t hate Final Fantasy II, and somehow never had a Nintendo 3DS, then boy howdy do I have the game for you. Originally published to little fanfare by Atlus USA, this joint development effort between Cattle Call, Grezzo, and FuRyu has come to the PS4 by way of HD remaster. Helmed by industry veterans with GOAT-status games under their belts, The Alliance Alive HD takes a cool idea (extremely old-school JRPG aimed at older players), fiddles with it a bit (makes it more accessible than the game before it), and makes it pretty (not on 3DS).

That Feel When You’re Even Too Nerdy for Nerds

That previous game was The Legend of Legacy, another game from the same crew and fueled by the same goal. Director Masataka Matsuura and his homies wanted to make a game inspired by SaGa, so it’s a miracle The Legend of Legacy was ever localized. Granted, this generation also saw actual SaGa localizations too, with more on the way. Miracles do happen sometimes. Anyway, The Legend of Legacy had all the SaGa hallmarks: use-based stat boosts instead of EXP and levels, character choices governing the story, and also the team just straight up hired the guy who designed the combat systems in multiple SaGa games. So despite SaGa’s daddy Akitoshi Kawazu (who also directed Final Fantasy II, to clarify that earlier connection) nowhere to be seen, The Legend of Legacy may as well have been directly related.

It went about as well as you’d expect, with modest success in Japan and middling review scores over here in the west (I would have given it a higher score if I had reviewed it, for what that’s worth). This sequel of sorts, the actual subject of this review, comes from similar motivations but is also a reaction to feedback. Thus, we have The Alliance Alive. It looks and kinda smells like The Legend of Legacy, but it eschews a lot of the more intense SaGa-ness in favor of more relative simplicity. It still doesn’t go for basic exp grinding, but it doesn’t have all the stat-wrangling. In fact, it stops just short of doing away with stats entirely.

Throwing the Kids a Bone or Two

The Alliance Alive does retain elements from the team’s original inspiration. After combat, characters do randomly get HP or SP increases. There’re no exp or levels, as The Alliance Alive is mostly concerned about gear and abilities. Abilities are tied to weapon types, and you get more by using the ones you have. Using abilities can also make them get stronger. So, it’s sort of like SaGa, but a little lighter and friendlier. There’s also another layer of progression called Talent, which one can grind like exp.

Talents are passive bonuses, which do things like make SP costs lower, for example. Put enough time in, and you can even use some abilities for free! The costs are high though, so it’s a sort of “get what you give” situation. It almost feels optional, which is a bit weird. Overall, The Alliance Alive isn’t nearly as difficult as SaGa games can be, which is definitely the goal here.

Not only is The Alliance Alive easier than its predecessor (and inspiration), it’s also much more story-driven. SaGa games are usually fueled by their systems, and colored with themes and concepts more than plot. This game goes in the other direction, and is much more story and character-driven. Characters are introduced through story beats, although there is also a Suikoden-like element of optional (and sometimes hidden) character recruitment. Much of the cast is strange or charming in a quirky way, such as a girl who uses her scientific genius to make… a giant, shape-shifting duck mech. And yes, she fights in the duck.

Old School is Still Cool (for JRPGs anyway)

So The Alliance Alive is a breezy, accessible tribute to SaGa, that’s a spiritual follow-up to a more traditional and ornery tribute to Saga. Both games are worthwhile for their dedication to a unique niche, but if you never had a 3DS (this is PlayStation Lifestyle after all), this is a new chance to check this style out. As far as HD remasters go, this one is pretty simple. It’s the same game, with a higher resolution and a few visual changes to accommodate the drastic change. 3DS games are pretty ugly after all, so blowing it up to such a higher resolution would have exposed some… kinks. The character models are just sharper, but things like trees and bushes are totally different.

Personally, I prefer playing The Alliance Alive on a handheld. It isn’t the most visually complex game, so I feel like it thrives more on a smaller screen on a compact device. When I played The Alliance Alive HD on my TV, sure it looked a lot better, but it also felt off in a more experiential kind of way. The world map felt emptier, the animations jankier, the colors more muted. I hopped back over to the 3DS version for review purposes, and it felt much more appropriate. Plus, the UI living on the lower screen made for a much more elegant experience.

Obviously, I think The Alliance Alive is a great game regardless of what platform you play it on (that counts the Switch version as well). It has this weird “SaGa, but reined in some” vibe to it that could be a decent entry point into some weird JRPG shit. I would personally rather play it on a handheld platform, but The Alliance Alive HD does exactly what it’s here for on the PlayStation 4, and if that’s your console, this is a fine option.

It’s also totally great on a mobile PS4 remote play rig, which I messed around with as well. Regardless of how you play it, The Alliance Alive is a fulfilling JRPG that isn’t afraid to do things a little differently, while still showing its love for that classic 90s style. The Alliance Alive HD puts the game on modern platforms, and it’s absolutely a title deserving of a second chance.

The Alliance Alive HD review code provided by publisher. Version 1.00 reviewed on a Standard PS4. For more information on scoring please see our Review Policy.

Tags: Cattle Call, FuRyu, NIS America, SaGa, The Alliance Alive, The Alliance Alive HD Remastered

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The author of the song «At the Dawn» of the Alliance group died — RBC

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Oleg Parastaev

(Photo: Oleg Parastaev / VK)

The author of the main hit of the Alliance group “At dawn” Oleg Parastaev has died. The musician died at the age of 61 in his country house, presumably from heart problems. This was told to RBC by the soloist of the group Igor Zhuravlev.

“Yes, that’s right, he really died. I just fell in the country, and that’s it, in front of my wife. It looks like a heart, it was today at 5 am. Complained before, said that his hands hurt. The funeral will be in Veshki, next to his mother. The date will be known later,” Zhuravlev said.

Earlier, RBC reported that YouTube blocked the main video of the «Alliance» due to the fact that the keyboardist’s account associated with it was deleted. The hosting later unblocked the clip.

The Alliance Group was founded in 1981 in Moscow. The video for the song «At Dawn» was filmed in 1987, but it was made public only in April 2019.

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Igor Zhuravlev — biography, personal life, photo, news, group «Alliance», soloist, «At dawn» 2022

Biography

The concerts of Igor Zhuravlev and his group «Alliance» are now attended by a respectable audience in costumes. However, in his youth, the musician was known as a notorious rebel.

Childhood and youth

The future Alliance frontman was born on May 1, 1960 in the capital of the USSR. Igor’s childhood passed in the area of ​​the current Nagatinskaya metro station in Moscow. In an interview, Zhuravlev does not talk about his father and prefers not to make his middle name public.

Cinematography made a great contribution to the development of the personality of a young Muscovite. The first picture that Igor remembered was the movie fairy tale «Morozko». The future rocker fell in love with classical music after watching the film «Come Tomorrow …», and the tape «Fantômas against Scotland Yard», according to Zhuravlev, destroyed his childhood: the boy realized for the first time that evil can be stronger than good, and was horrified by the discovery.

In high school, Igor got fashionable flared trousers and created a school ensemble. The musician does not confirm or refute the information that in his youth he received the specialty of a surveyor.

Music

In 1981, Zhuravlev, together with Sergei Volodin, Andrei Tumanov and Vladimir Ryabov, created the Alliance group, which played music in the style of ska and reggae. In 1984, the Zhuravlev team, previously attached to the Kostroma Philharmonic, received a black mark. «Alliance» was included in the list of «unprincipled» groups that were banned from performing.

However, in 1985 Gorbachev’s perestroika began. The ideological grip was weakening every day, and in 1986 the Alliance became a member of the Moscow rock laboratory. At this time, keyboardists Oleg Parastaev and Konstantin Gavrilov joined the group. At 19In 87, the song “At Dawn” appeared, at the same time a video was shot on it, which gained wild popularity only 32 years later. In 1988, the alliance of Zhuravlev, Parastaev and Gavrilov broke up — Igor began to gravitate toward heavier, rockier music than his former associates.

Igor Zhuravlev and the group «Alliance» — Song «At the Dawn»

Over the years, Inna Zhelannaya and Evgeny Osin, Sergey Arutyunov and Alexander Vetkhov sang and played together with Zhuravlev in the «Alliance». Many of these musicians went on to create other projects.

In 2019, Parastaev created a YouTube channel and posted the clip «At the Dawn», which became a viral video. There are many remixes for the song. The most famous of them belongs to Evgeny Grishkovets with the group «Bigudi» and the soloist of the Latvian group Brainstorm Renars Kaupers. Former colleagues Zhuravlev and Parastaev together recorded the album “I want to fly!” and took part in the festivals «Wild mint» and «Invasion».

As a listener, Igor appreciates the music of the Russian group Center, especially the albums Forever and Intergalactic Warrior. Zhuravlev considers Jay Lee Thompson’s western McKenna’s Gold to be the film with the coolest soundtrack.

Personal life

In his youth, Igor married a doctor named Svetlana, and on the last day of 1985 he became a father. The appearance of Dmitry’s son did not save the marriage. Due to the young age and employment, the parents devoted little time to the child, the boy was left to himself and at the age of 6 he got hit by a car, which almost led to a rupture of the spleen. In addition, Zhuravlev Sr. abused alcohol and other illegal substances.

When Dima was 8 years old, the boy’s parents divorced. Svetlana Vasilievna told her son only bad things about his father and prevented their communication. However, Dmitry’s musical genes took over. The guy began to compose rap, and then became friends with a parent who came to his concerts, and now regularly plays drums in the Alliance.

In 2020, two tragedies occurred in Igor’s personal life. In June, Oleg Parastaev, the author of the text and music of the song “At Dawn”, died suddenly, and in the fall, the biography of Zhuravlev’s wife, the mother of his youngest son Seva, whose voice sounds in the composition “Space Dreams”, was cut short. Despite the shocks, the musician found the strength, albeit with a delay, to celebrate the 60th anniversary with a concert in the Moscow club «16 tons», as well as to take part in the recording of the album «Space Dreams» and the re-recording of the collection «I Slowly Learned to Live».

Igor Zhuravlev now

In April 2021, Igor, together with his Alliance colleagues Dmitry Gorshenin, German Shtorm and Andrey Tumanov, celebrated the 40th anniversary of the group in the Theater Hall of the Moscow International House of Music.

The eldest son of the singer, Inna Zhelannaya, Oleg Nesterov and Valery Syutkin took part in the anniversary concert. At the end of the show, the photo of which was posted on the group’s Instagram account, Igor promised that in the fall of 2021, Alliance would replenish the discography with a new album.

Discography

with the Alliance group:

• 1982-“Alliance-82”
• 1983-“Doll”
• 1984-“I slowly learned to live”
• 1987-“Give fire”
• 1992-1992-1992-1992-1992-1992-1992-1992-1992-1992-1992 “Made in white”
• 2008 — “At dawn”
• 2019 — “I want to fly!”
• 2020 — “Space Dreams”

with the NRG group:

• 1990 — “NRG — Alliance”
• 1996 — “Wake up”
• 2002 — “Second Birth”
• 2020 — “Smake” 920 — “Smake” 920 — “Smile0128

Interesting facts

• Although Inna Zhelannaya was the vocalist of the Alliance in the early 90s of the XX century, the singer claims that she did not like the group’s music, but admired the arrangements that the group made on her compositions.