Every review I've ever read for The Legend of Legacy (the game to which The Alliance Alive is the spiritual successor) has lamented its lack of story. The lead developer shares this concern, and has expressed in interview that he had to focus heavily on making the combat interesting in TLoL in order to make up for the weak storyline, something he considers a failing. Unfortunately for him, I want actual gameplay in my games. The Alliance Alive is a step backward from The Legend of Legacy in almost every relevant way. (For reference, I have both games on 3DS.) The SaGa progression system is present, and is nearly as good as it was in TLoL. Sadly, because the story keeps dictating who gets to be in your party, your effort keeps getting forcibly sidelined, a flaw TLoL sidestepped entirely by having a bare-bones story about being an explorer/mercenary who chooses his path and companions freely (you're free to swap party members anytime you're in town). TLoL challenged my old turn-based combat preconceptions by making the field fluid with every passing turn. The elemental properties of the battlefield vary depending on where you initiate combat, and both you and your enemies can command certain elements to dominate and pick sides, causing constant flux in what attacks are effective or even possible to execute (the entire magic system is limited by what elements your side controls; if the enemy steals fire from you, your fire spells will fizzle out immediately). The Alliance Alive dallies with an extremely dumbed-down version of this that involves no flux on the field itself and only depends on where you initiate. Where I was stance-dancing and worrying about my team composition and available spells via weapons and elemental stones in TLoL, I was mashing auto-attack and winning handily in TAA. If you want a grand overarching narrative with pale gameplay, TAA is for you. If you want solid exploration and combat you can sink your teeth into, pick up TLoL on the 3DS.
