I must have written a dozen drafts for this review. It's good and I like it but I don't LOVE it. The game has a lot of excellent qualities of which I'll get to in just a bit. There are also a lot of frustrating gameplay elements, some which were admittedly mitigated through the use of an emulator. I used save states for things like instant death or hard bosses because the cutscenes are unskippable and it's a pain to sit through them again and again. Fast forward also helped. It's of course to be expected, it's a product of its time but it is nonetheless frustrating.
Ask anyone on the street and they'll tell you that Parasite Eve is Square Enix's unholy love child of an RPG mixed with Resident Evil. To be honest, the game has nothing to do with Resident Evil save for the horror theme. Just throw that idea out the window. Ammo is plentiful, there are no zombies, the puzzles are serviceable at best. Parasite Eve shines in a lot of other departments.
The story is loosely based on the book by the same name written by Hideaki Sena. The game kinda serves as the book's sequel but Sena had no involvement in the story of the game.
We play as Aya Brea, a NYPD cop with a mysterious past. While attending the opera, Aya witnesses a cast member transform into a monster called Eve. The monster burns the entire crowd to a crisp and Aya pursues Eve into the sewers. Eve eventually escapes and we spend the bulk of the game pursuing Eve.
The story as is, is surprisingly entertaining. Believe me, without spoiling the plot, the story definitely goes places. It can get pretty bizarre and wacky and it's something that you'll have to experience for yourself.
The graphics are great even for today thanks to the use of detailed pre-rendered backgrounds and Square's staple CG cutscenes. I especially love the aforementioned backgrounds. I've always loved this technique because it allows developers to cram much needed fine details into the background. Traversing the world feels like traversing a painting at times and Parasite Eve's version of New York City is no exception. For example, your main base of operations is the police station and it looks like its design is based from cop shows from the 90's like NYPD Blue. The desks are littered with folders and papers, there are phones and dimly lit computer monitors on each desk. It is fantastically designed.
The game has a fantastic eerie and atmospheric soundtrack courtesy of Yoko Shimomura, one of the greatest composers the game industry has and will ever see. The soundtrack and the game's story complement each other beautifully. There's something alien and foreboding about all the tracks and the music really enhances the body horror imagery.
As for the gameplay, I feel that that's the part that can be frustrating at times. I love the overall aesthetics of the game but the gameplay can be kinda hit or miss. Especially when we're talking about combat.
Right off the bat, I like the overworld sections best. You traverse through certain parts of NYC like Central Park, the Natural History Museum and the police station. There are multiple and varied areas in the game. For the most part they don't really overstay their welcome. There are some frustrating parts though. It is not always clear what is interactable in the environment and what is not. Certain crucial key items are hidden in obscure places and these items are necessary for you to progress.
Some areas can get confusing to navigate and the game as a whole would have benefitted from a map system of some sort.
The game uses Final Fantasy's well known ATB-system where you can perform an action once a bar has been completely filled over a certain amount of time. The difference between Parasite Eve and Final Fantasy is that in Parasite Eve, you can move around during battles, potentially dodging enemy attacks. But it doesn't always work. Arenas are cramped, limiting your freedom to move and some attacks from some enemies seem impossible to dodge. This gets extra frustrating late in the game when enemies can annoy you endlessly with adverse status effects like poison, stun and mirroring the controls.
You'll primarily fight with guns: handguns, SMG's, rifles etc. You can use items to patch yourself up and there's a sort of 'magic' system where Aya can use her mitochondria powers to heal or buff herself. There are a few offensive powers but for a JRPG especially they're rather scare, only two. Nonetheless they are rather powerful but the biggest downsize is that they'll drain most of not all of your MP. The result of this is that combat isn't all that varied. There are no enemy weaknesses and almost every battle boils down to shooting your enemies to hell and back. Honestly if this game was any longer I would complain more about this but Parasite Eve is rather short for a JRPG, around ten hours long. For me personally, this isn't a bad thing. I love JRPG'S but the sad thing is that I don't have a lot of time anymore to spend it on these games.
I recommend playing it if you like JRPG's and body horror. Even in this day and age, Parasite Eve has a lot to offer. It has an entertaining story with a great cast of characters, an incredible soundtrack and the overall look and feel is still incredible
It's a game that accomplishes most of what it's trying to do but it never reaches its full potential. The gameplay has its annoyances, admittedly they are products of their time. But if you stick with it and learn to work with the game's quirks, I'm sure you'll have a good time.
Ask anyone on the street and they'll tell you that Parasite Eve is Square Enix's unholy love child of an RPG mixed with Resident Evil. To be honest, the game has nothing to do with Resident Evil save for the horror theme. Just throw that idea out the window. Ammo is plentiful, there are no zombies, the puzzles are serviceable at best. Parasite Eve shines in a lot of other departments.
The story is loosely based on the book by the same name written by Hideaki Sena. The game kinda serves as the book's sequel but Sena had no involvement in the story of the game.
We play as Aya Brea, a NYPD cop with a mysterious past. While attending the opera, Aya witnesses a cast member transform into a monster called Eve. The monster burns the entire crowd to a crisp and Aya pursues Eve into the sewers. Eve eventually escapes and we spend the bulk of the game pursuing Eve.
The story as is, is surprisingly entertaining. Believe me, without spoiling the plot, the story definitely goes places. It can get pretty bizarre and wacky and it's something that you'll have to experience for yourself.
The graphics are great even for today thanks to the use of detailed pre-rendered backgrounds and Square's staple CG cutscenes. I especially love the aforementioned backgrounds. I've always loved this technique because it allows developers to cram much needed fine details into the background. Traversing the world feels like traversing a painting at times and Parasite Eve's version of New York City is no exception. For example, your main base of operations is the police station and it looks like its design is based from cop shows from the 90's like NYPD Blue. The desks are littered with folders and papers, there are phones and dimly lit computer monitors on each desk. It is fantastically designed.
The game has a fantastic eerie and atmospheric soundtrack courtesy of Yoko Shimomura, one of the greatest composers the game industry has and will ever see. The soundtrack and the game's story complement each other beautifully. There's something alien and foreboding about all the tracks and the music really enhances the body horror imagery.
As for the gameplay, I feel that that's the part that can be frustrating at times. I love the overall aesthetics of the game but the gameplay can be kinda hit or miss. Especially when we're talking about combat.
Right off the bat, I like the overworld sections best. You traverse through certain parts of NYC like Central Park, the Natural History Museum and the police station. There are multiple and varied areas in the game. For the most part they don't really overstay their welcome. There are some frustrating parts though. It is not always clear what is interactable in the environment and what is not. Certain crucial key items are hidden in obscure places and these items are necessary for you to progress.
Some areas can get confusing to navigate and the game as a whole would have benefitted from a map system of some sort.
The game uses Final Fantasy's well known ATB-system where you can perform an action once a bar has been completely filled over a certain amount of time. The difference between Parasite Eve and Final Fantasy is that in Parasite Eve, you can move around during battles, potentially dodging enemy attacks. But it doesn't always work. Arenas are cramped, limiting your freedom to move and some attacks from some enemies seem impossible to dodge. This gets extra frustrating late in the game when enemies can annoy you endlessly with adverse status effects like poison, stun and mirroring the controls.
You'll primarily fight with guns: handguns, SMG's, rifles etc. You can use items to patch yourself up and there's a sort of 'magic' system where Aya can use her mitochondria powers to heal or buff herself. There are a few offensive powers but for a JRPG especially they're rather scare, only two. Nonetheless they are rather powerful but the biggest downsize is that they'll drain most of not all of your MP. The result of this is that combat isn't all that varied. There are no enemy weaknesses and almost every battle boils down to shooting your enemies to hell and back. Honestly if this game was any longer I would complain more about this but Parasite Eve is rather short for a JRPG, around ten hours long. For me personally, this isn't a bad thing. I love JRPG'S but the sad thing is that I don't have a lot of time anymore to spend it on these games.
I recommend playing it if you like JRPG's and body horror. Even in this day and age, Parasite Eve has a lot to offer. It has an entertaining story with a great cast of characters, an incredible soundtrack and the overall look and feel is still incredible
It's a game that accomplishes most of what it's trying to do but it never reaches its full potential. The gameplay has its annoyances, admittedly they are products of their time. But if you stick with it and learn to work with the game's quirks, I'm sure you'll have a good time.
Short, sweet, and strange. Written and paced like an action movie. A brisk injection of RPG flavor in experimental horror packaging. The gun mod system is goofy fun in that you can clear the normal game with whatever as long as you don’t accidentally lose a stat-dumped gun. But it also feels a little egregious and inscrutable at times. (What do any of the mods actually do??) Great music. My decades-long curiosity is satiatedly put to rest. I may come back for the EX mode in the future, however the prospect of a roguelike hundred-floor gun mod grind doesn’t sound more enticing than any of the next games on my list.
An interesting Fusion between JRPG and Survival Horror. It takes place in New York City during the snowy days around Christmas Eve, a rather cozy setting, that contrasts the horror Aya encounters during those days really well. The depiction of gruesome body deformations, where the game derives its horror from, is presented in beautiful CG sequences (for the time). Of those, there are surprisingly a lot of. New York is also displayed beautifully with detailed prerendered backgrounds, where the game shows a lot of distinct looking locales. All of this is accompanied by a great soundtrack, part of which are ambient electronic tracks, that give this game a very distinct atmosphere.
The game mainly consists of traversing through various locations, engaging in semi random battles. Meaning, enemies are not visible and just appear, but the formation of those groups of enemies is often predetermined. Those battles are played out in a semi active manner, making use of the ATB system known from the Final Fantasy games around that time, but with the addition of real-time player and enemy movement, so the main challenge consists of dodging incoming attacks. When it comes to dealing damage, the game has a broad arsenal of guns, all with unique stats and quirks that merge well with this round based but also active combat system. Aya has some additional abilities, which provide more options in combat. Equipment can be upgraded, also in a rather unique manner, in which weapons or armor can be merged together to transfer distinct stats or effects from one item to another.
While I love all the unique systems and ideas for combat, the game overall was a bit too easy to really make good use of them. Once you have a good upgraded weapon, that works for you, there is no need to switch to something different, and all those extra abilities Aya has, are mostly not needed, at least until the very end, where the difficulty ramps up a bit. I still enjoyed the combat, enemies go down rather fast and the game develops a good flow. The only gripe I have is the limited inventory space in a game, which throws way too many items at you. The survival horror aspect really takes a backseat with the amount of ammunition you have at your disposal, but that didn't bother me too much, I was already interested enough to see where this grotesque journey goes, and I was not disappointed.
The game mainly consists of traversing through various locations, engaging in semi random battles. Meaning, enemies are not visible and just appear, but the formation of those groups of enemies is often predetermined. Those battles are played out in a semi active manner, making use of the ATB system known from the Final Fantasy games around that time, but with the addition of real-time player and enemy movement, so the main challenge consists of dodging incoming attacks. When it comes to dealing damage, the game has a broad arsenal of guns, all with unique stats and quirks that merge well with this round based but also active combat system. Aya has some additional abilities, which provide more options in combat. Equipment can be upgraded, also in a rather unique manner, in which weapons or armor can be merged together to transfer distinct stats or effects from one item to another.
While I love all the unique systems and ideas for combat, the game overall was a bit too easy to really make good use of them. Once you have a good upgraded weapon, that works for you, there is no need to switch to something different, and all those extra abilities Aya has, are mostly not needed, at least until the very end, where the difficulty ramps up a bit. I still enjoyed the combat, enemies go down rather fast and the game develops a good flow. The only gripe I have is the limited inventory space in a game, which throws way too many items at you. The survival horror aspect really takes a backseat with the amount of ammunition you have at your disposal, but that didn't bother me too much, I was already interested enough to see where this grotesque journey goes, and I was not disappointed.
cool but its like it doesnt know if it wants to be survival horror or an rpg. in an awkward way
No game ever is quite like it. Sadly including it's own sequels.
is this the greatest game ever made?
No, but it's really fucking good
No, but it's really fucking good
A primeira vez que zerei gostei muito, mas subir a torre no new game + foi muito chato, são labirintos gigantes, repetitivos e a personagem anda muito devagar, recomendo ver o final verdadeiro no youtube. Os bosses são muito difíceis e isso é um fator bom.
No início Deus fez o homem a sua imagem, homem esse chamado Adão que por sua incapacidade de solitude acabou se sentindo sozinho, mas porém todavia contudo Deus foi generoso e forneceu a ele uma companhia, e das costelas de Adão foi feito a segunda gostosa do mundo, Eva.
Parasite Eve é simplesmente a experiência de PS1 que eu precisava, reforço mais uma vez o quão os caras estavam com a pika pingando de tesão quando fizeram o PS1, só jogo pika jogo foda alguns nem tanto mas é detalhe, nem jesus é perfeito quem dirá um aparelho de videogame. Mas puta merda, olha os jogos que essa buçanha tem, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy 7 e 9, MegaMan X4, MegaMan 8, Resident 2, Klonoa e o inferno a quatro.
Mas, um jogo em específico me chamou a atenção pra jogar ele, parasite eve, eu já havia visto comentários do mano hater de JRPG Tulkas e também um vídeo especial de natal do Kane, mas só umas semanas atrás tive interesse pra ir jogar pois eu tive um tesão com RE 2. E porra, vamos concordar que Parasite Eve é conhecido como o Resident Evil da Square Enix né, mas rapaz, que joguinho BOM. Fui pega de quatro e meteram no meu burrinho o meu novo favorito desse console e um dos meus jogos favoritos, após zerar o grande Parasite Eve vulgo LA PELÍCULA estou completamente satisfeita e feliz.
Aya top mulheres dos videogames e quem não iria na Eve forma final é mentiroso ou mentirosa.
Nota: 10
Parasite Eve é simplesmente a experiência de PS1 que eu precisava, reforço mais uma vez o quão os caras estavam com a pika pingando de tesão quando fizeram o PS1, só jogo pika jogo foda alguns nem tanto mas é detalhe, nem jesus é perfeito quem dirá um aparelho de videogame. Mas puta merda, olha os jogos que essa buçanha tem, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy 7 e 9, MegaMan X4, MegaMan 8, Resident 2, Klonoa e o inferno a quatro.
Mas, um jogo em específico me chamou a atenção pra jogar ele, parasite eve, eu já havia visto comentários do mano hater de JRPG Tulkas e também um vídeo especial de natal do Kane, mas só umas semanas atrás tive interesse pra ir jogar pois eu tive um tesão com RE 2. E porra, vamos concordar que Parasite Eve é conhecido como o Resident Evil da Square Enix né, mas rapaz, que joguinho BOM. Fui pega de quatro e meteram no meu burrinho o meu novo favorito desse console e um dos meus jogos favoritos, após zerar o grande Parasite Eve vulgo LA PELÍCULA estou completamente satisfeita e feliz.
Aya top mulheres dos videogames e quem não iria na Eve forma final é mentiroso ou mentirosa.
Nota: 10
I have heard that many people say that survival horror and the roleplaying game genres don't mix. I heavily disagree. Sweet Home, arguably the first ever survival horror, was also an RPG. These two genres have been married since the beginning, but few manage to capture the best aspects of both genres the way Parasite Eve does.
Set in December 1997, the plot, which is a direct sequel to the novel of the same name, follows NYPD officer Aya Brea and her partner Daniel as they try solve the case of Melissa, a woman possessed by a mitochondrial entity known as Eve, who burns the audience of the New York Metropolitan Opera on Christmas Eve. What follows is a twisting tale that is one part hard science fiction, one part David Cronenberg horror, one part buddy cop film, one part kaiju monster film, and one part stat grinding RPG. It's a wonderful amalgamation the likes of which would never be made in today's video game climate.
Graphically, this game still holds up when it's upscaled. Character models, while low poly, have a certain charm and liveliness to them, in no small part thanks to Tetsuya Nomura's art style. Nomura, in my opinion, has always been a good character designer, despite his quirks, and Parasite Eve as a series is easily some of his best work. This is also some of Yoko Shimomura's best work as a composer. This was one of the first times she had access to disc based media for composition, and she made an extra effort to craft something special.
In terms of gameplay, it's a real time system where you pause and issue commands. It's very similar to a Final Fantasy game, but unlike the Final Fantasies of the era, all combat takes place on the field. It might seem basic at first, but there's a shocking amount of depth, especially when one gets into the gun modification aspect of the combat.
It was also one of the the first horror games to ditch tank controls. It proved that you didn't need tank controls to make a horror game. If I had a few complaints, it's that the game can a be a little unfair in its final segments. In particular, escaping the final boss after you defeat it is annoying, especially because if it captures you, it's game over, and you have to fight him all over, and this is from the era that you can't skip cutscenes. The translation of the game isn't the best either at times, but it's still better than what Capcom was doing with Resident Evil at the time.
There is no other game like Parasite Eve. Even its sequels play nothing like this game. If you like horror games, RPG games, or just sci-fi horror, you owe it to yourself to at least try it. I say pick it up off PSN before the PS3 store is taken down permanently, whenever that may be.
Side note, every time they said "mitochondria", I thought "It's the powerhouse of the cell" like I was some kind of sleeper agent and that was my killphrase. Thanks, American Public School System.
Set in December 1997, the plot, which is a direct sequel to the novel of the same name, follows NYPD officer Aya Brea and her partner Daniel as they try solve the case of Melissa, a woman possessed by a mitochondrial entity known as Eve, who burns the audience of the New York Metropolitan Opera on Christmas Eve. What follows is a twisting tale that is one part hard science fiction, one part David Cronenberg horror, one part buddy cop film, one part kaiju monster film, and one part stat grinding RPG. It's a wonderful amalgamation the likes of which would never be made in today's video game climate.
Graphically, this game still holds up when it's upscaled. Character models, while low poly, have a certain charm and liveliness to them, in no small part thanks to Tetsuya Nomura's art style. Nomura, in my opinion, has always been a good character designer, despite his quirks, and Parasite Eve as a series is easily some of his best work. This is also some of Yoko Shimomura's best work as a composer. This was one of the first times she had access to disc based media for composition, and she made an extra effort to craft something special.
In terms of gameplay, it's a real time system where you pause and issue commands. It's very similar to a Final Fantasy game, but unlike the Final Fantasies of the era, all combat takes place on the field. It might seem basic at first, but there's a shocking amount of depth, especially when one gets into the gun modification aspect of the combat.
It was also one of the the first horror games to ditch tank controls. It proved that you didn't need tank controls to make a horror game. If I had a few complaints, it's that the game can a be a little unfair in its final segments. In particular, escaping the final boss after you defeat it is annoying, especially because if it captures you, it's game over, and you have to fight him all over, and this is from the era that you can't skip cutscenes. The translation of the game isn't the best either at times, but it's still better than what Capcom was doing with Resident Evil at the time.
There is no other game like Parasite Eve. Even its sequels play nothing like this game. If you like horror games, RPG games, or just sci-fi horror, you owe it to yourself to at least try it. I say pick it up off PSN before the PS3 store is taken down permanently, whenever that may be.
Side note, every time they said "mitochondria", I thought "It's the powerhouse of the cell" like I was some kind of sleeper agent and that was my killphrase. Thanks, American Public School System.
This game is a genuine masterpiece of PS1 RPGS and survival horror. So underrated, so good, so fun.
This game is great, with it's body horror and all truly a charming game. Game itself is pretty weird actually, since Square makes EVERYTHING a Jrpg this not uncommon though. These guys are the same guys that made a RACING JRPG named Racing Laggon, lmfao. But hey, this games battle system is quite fun actually, it's not like those old rpg games that you press attack button and wait for the enemy to attack you. You have full control over your character in battles and you need to dodge projectiles like you're playing a rogue-like. This was WAY better than i expected. Music is awesome, but in sometimes it can get repetitive because all of the musics font feel like the same. Enemies and their design look great, cutscenes also look great. My problem was that you sometimes need a map, which can be hard to find your path. My biggest problem was 'THAT' shitty chase scene. Story itself is okay, characters are good and Aya is cute as hell. Moreover the bosses, enemy placement, or item placement and level designs are pretty good too. One other thing is that this game isn't that scary, maybe i got too old for horror games but i still shit myself when i play Silent Hill 3 idk. Ending doesn't make sense that's why they needed to retcon it on the second game. Overrall an amazing game, definitely holds up even to this day. I strongly recommend it.
Absolutely AIRTIGHT experience, everything about this game is so fucking COOL. The whole "crime series" vibe, the urban feel of New York, THE MUSIC, the combat and nice cast of characters... What else do you need?
Just get through first two days, they're a bit boring, but everything else is amazing.
Just get through first two days, they're a bit boring, but everything else is amazing.
Grind is kinda reterd
I really enjoy the setting and a lot of the set-pieces of this game. A Square ps1 game taking place in New York City is a lot of fun! Wasn't a massive fan of combat but it had its moments. I like the main cast and you get a decent soundtrack too!