The story follows a group of characters as they mount a rebellion against a race of Daemons that have ruled over humans since blotting out the sun a millennium before.
Most of the original staff returned including director Masataka Matsuura, artist Ryo Hirao, designer Kyoji Koizumi, and composer Masashi Hamauzu.
This is the last FuRyu game to be published by Atlus USA before moving to NIS America for future titles.
The Alliance Alive is a role-playing video game in which the player takes control of a group eventually numbering twelve characters (however, Robbins, Shiki, and Matilda are optional), navigating an unnamed fantasy world in a quest to free it from the control of otherworldly beings called Daemons.
Assigning these points to Talents will increase a character attribute such as their ability to regain health or energy, their weapon skills, and status buffs during navigation of the world map.
Their invasion culminated in the creation of a barrier which caused catastrophic climate changes and generated a cross-shaped flow of energy dubbed the Dark Current to destroy much of humanity.
Those that remained were quickly subjugated, and the Dark Current settled into the world's oceans, cutting off each land from its neighbors and turning the sky black.
They are Galil, a young boy with a kind personality; Azura, a cheerful woman who often drags Galil on her adventures; Renzo, an optimistic young man with a wealth of information; Barbarosa, a monster soldier who swore loyalty to Azura's father after he saved his life; Vivian, a historian and the daughter of a Daemon overlord; Ignace, Vivian's Daemon butler; Tiggy, a young girl studying the Dark Current; Gene, a man who has acquired magical powers due to an associated with the Daemons; and Rachel, a kind-hearted mercenary.
[13] The aim was to create a game that would evoke the character-focused narrative and role-playing experience of the Ultima and Wizardry series, in addition to classic RPGs from the genre's golden age.
[10] While there were several gameplay similarities between The Alliance Alive and The Legend of Legacy, Koizumi noted that the biggest difference was the expanded party size in battle and their more stable job-based roles.
Talent points were implemented based on users wanting an equivalent to experience point-based leveling up from other RPGs without compromising the Awakening mechanic.
[14] In contrast to other games of the time, a world map was implemented for navigation, which in turn expanded the number of enemies and locations to explore.
Murayama was the one who proposed nine protagonists, and due to its leaning towards a young cast, Matsuura and Koizumi requested an older sister and mentor figure, as well as a non-human party member.
It was decided from an early stage that controversial actions such as party betrayal would not be included, as that could potentially annoy or alienate players.
[9][16] Asano was chosen due to his preferred "solid" watercolor artstyle, qualities Matsuura felt were needing to create a distinctive world map design rather than the "fancy" style used by The Legend of Legacy.
Rather than an orchestra, Hamauzu used a small group of performers with instruments such as a violin and a guitar, then overlaying them when adding the synthesized elements.
[20] Using player feedback from the demo, the development team were able to make adjustments to the game, such as gameplay speed and font size.
[7][21] A launch edition was released in North America, featuring a 20-track soundtrack CD, artbook and keychain packaged with the game.
Unlike the original game published outside Japan by Atlus, this western release was handled by NIS America.
During its first week of release in Japan, The Alliance Alive debuted in second place in gaming charts behind Nintendo Switch exclusive Arms, with sales of over 31,000 units.