Fantastic Game, but Not a "Work of Art"

Parasite Eve is a fantastic game made by Square (now Square-Enix) released in 1998 for the Playstation. It is an excellent RPG that spans 2 discs with many lush cut scenes. The game takes NYPD officer Aya Brea through a horrifying six day adventure through-out New York City.

The story is a sequel to a Japanese book of the same title, and both play with the idea of the Mitochondrial Eve theory. Mitochondria are the organelles in our cells that give us energy and are responsible for cell growth and death, among other functions. What if they evolved independently and essentially had a mind of their own?

The game has a very unique battle system where you have full control over Aya in an enclosed area, allowing you to dodge and get in close for your shot. The system of upgrading your weapons and armor using Bonus Points, tools, stat boosters and trading cards is very fun and encompassing. The game is fairly linear, but there are quite a few optional areas to explore, especially in the "EX-Game" unlocked after you beat the game once. As mentioned there are many fantastic FMVs.

The game is rather short though, which could be seen as a good thing. Aya's general movement is quite sluggish, I imagine to keep on par with not making it extremely easy to dodge in battle. This makes exploring areas back and forth a bit of a chore at times. After some time in an area, battles come much less frequently which also can be a pain if one is trying to level up. There are many useless weapons who's use is really only to strip the bonus points or attributes off to create your ultimate weapon in the EX-Round.

Many times this game is described as a mix between Final Fantasy & Resident Evil. The relative games made around the same time would be Final Fantasy VII & Resident Evil 2, for which are both better games than this. It draws on vaguely similar RPG elements of Final Fantasy and horror elements of Resident Evil, but does not stand up next to those games in excellence. Parasite Eve is still an awesome game, better than many games, but with quite a few flaws in my opinion.

Also, I bought the black label version, which frequently goes for more money here on Ebay. The extra bonus disc is not worth anything extra you might otherwise pay for a Greatest Hits version. The extra disc includes four demos, only one playable demo, which is of a very poor game, Xenogears. The rest are videos showing Final Fantasy VIII and others.

To sum up:
Pros:
Excellent, smart story
Awesome gun upgrade system
Unique battle system
Beautiful cut scenes

Cons:
Sluggish character control
Low replay value
Somewhat relative gameplay

parasite eve

The most intriguing, intellegent, and insightful game to date, Parasite Eve not only captures all of the spectacular elements of the Final Fantasy series, it also makes up for its flaws. This game will make you think, unlike most of the games out there; so know your biology or else you may end up confused. Gamers will play as Aya, a beautiful young woman who anticipates a normal time at an NYC opera house, but soon comes to realize that her evening was pre-destined to be nothing sort of bizzare and baffling, begining when the lead actresses "Special Talents" throw everyone, except Aya into a masacure of internal combustion. Aya, detirmand to solve the puzzling mystery, is thrown into a series of shocking events, each one leading her closer to the realization that this grusomely evil actress, Eve, may not be as different, "Biologicly," as she may have thought.

Parasite Eve

Parasite Eve is one of the latest games I have played and it is a great game with an original storyline. The game is about a female cop named Aya who goes to see opera and the lead actress causes almost all of the audience to burst into flames. Questions keep piling up constantly as the player goes through the game more and more. The good things about this game are it's graphics and it's battle system. The graphics are top notch for the PS1 and the cutscenes of the game are amazing. The battle system is a mix of an RPG and a shooter. While you have Parasite Energy (PE) that is equivalent to Magic Power (MP) and items that heal your health and abnormal statuses like an RPG, you have the ability to move freely and dodge attacks like shooters. Some flaws that the game has when it comes with the battle system are the invisible walls that limit your free will to move, affecting how well you will be able to dodge attacks and how they are planned out in specific spots. If you've played this game before, you'll know that dodging attacks can be pure torture. One HUGE example of this flaw is the fight with Eve in the carriage ride. IN this fight, you are BARELY given ANY space to dodge Eve's constant attacks. The fights being planned in specific spots aren't nearly as bad, but it still takes away some of the fun in this game. The controls in this game are good, but nowhere near perfect. The controls in this game are easy to learn once you start fighting in Day 1. You're given the choice of using either a specific type of gun or a club (mainly in case you run out of ammo). The only problem I really had with the controls are how slow Aya runs. This is the most annoying part about the entire game. Of course, this would have made the game ever shorter, which brings us to another problem of the game. Although this game is fun, it's really too short and will end quickly. At the end of this game, you'll be wishing you could have played this great game longer. One last problem with the game is how tedious some parts of the game could be, especially to new gamers. All in all, this game is a great experience, even though it does have it's flaws, this game can easily become one of your favorite games.

A Must-Play Classic

I remember back when I was a kid in high school, when I would count down the last few minutes of class anticipating getting home to play this game. Parasite Eve was and will always remain one of my most cherished favorite games, period.

Graphics. The real time graphics are amazing for their time. The characters are unique and well-rendered, the horrors and bosses you will meet during this game are imaginative and significantly unnerving, and the overall creepiness created by the visual effects was enough to make me a little nervous playing alone in the dark. The precious few cutscenes are smooth and transition well to and from gameplay.

Sound. While Parasite Eve lacks slightly in sound effects, the overall ambiance is still there, and the sound effects you do experience are tasteful. The music score is a stunning combination of haunting opera and upbeat synth-pop vaguely reminiscent of crime drama themes. While the music can become a bit repetitive if you're stuck in one area for too long, it's still easy enough to listen to without wanting to tear your hair out. The ending theme is beautiful in both its English and Spanish versions, depending upon which version of the game you were fortunate enough to pick up.

Gameplay. Parasite Eve was a first for me in terms of gameplay because of its free-movement combat system. For someone who primarily played turn-based RPGs and diving in knowing that PE is classified as an RPG without reading much into the gameplay, it was initially a little bit of a challenge, but the combat system is easy to get used to. It feels somewhat manic at times but evasion, which is at times imperative for survival, is highly based upon the player's reflexes and ability to navigate the small combat areas. The random battles can be annoying just as they can in any RPG, but the leveling system isn't too painful. There will be some grinding if you're someone who doesn't like difficult boss battles, and items are a bit scarce. Some of the powerups that you can purchase for your weapons are rather pointless and the inventory is annoyingly small, but fans of games like Resident Evil will be right at home here. Finding concealed items and hidden content is somewhat akin to the style of games back on the NES and SNES consoles where you pretty much had to hump the furniture and spam your action button around suspicious looking crates.

Story. In my humble opinion, PE has one of the most intricate and interesting plots for its genre. The story is twisty and at times confusing as much of the dialog is steeped in medical jargon, but taking into account the fact that an entire novel's worth of content had to be squeezed into one game, the execution was quite satisfying. The characters are not your typical cookie-cutter RPG Johns and Janes by any stretch. Each one has a unique personality that you can love, loathe, or at least understand.

Replay value. Let's be honest. There isn't much replay value in most RPGs, at least not for a few years after playing them on account of the time investment involved in game completion. For me, PE was an exception to the rule. Overall I'd say it's a very fun game with a deeply engrossing plot and enough quality content to make it enjoyable to play more than once. I was glad to pick this game up again and I've so far enjoyed it just as much as I did back when I was putting off homework to fight the twisted beasts of Parasite Eve's macabre world.

Parasite Eve Review

Dubbed the 'cinematic rpg' by squaresoft, Parasite Eve truely is an immersing experience. FMV cutscenes highlight the action, while in-game text and scenes set the mood. The graphics are very slick. They may not hold up well by today's standards, but given the time it was created (12 years ago!) they look fine. The sound is great - an awesome soundtrack accompanies the game. The battle theme in particular is cool and easy to listen to.

The storyline is well-done and heavily rooted in science: it seems mitochondria have staged a coup, and only Aya Brea can stop it. The story starts with a bang and continues on a steady path up to its climax. Sure, you may have to suspend your beliefs to take in the story, but overall, it was a fun trip to take.

The gameplay is very cool as well. If you have played the game Vagrant Story, you have a basic idea of what the gameplay is like. Combos are chained depending on the firing rate of your weapons. Weapons are varied and can be upgraded continuously through the adventure, along with your armor.

There are not many cons to speak of, but again i'll point out a few. Aya's run speed is, at best, slow. Within the context of the game's battles, this is fine. The trouble comes in running through the environments at that same slow pace. Also, and i didn't have trouble with this, but the dialogue through the game, while well-written, is also completely text based. Some may be troubled by the lack of voices, but i didn't mind. It brought me back to the good ole days of rpgs!

Overall, Parasite Eve is a game anyone should try if they are into rpgs. It provides a unique experience, cool storyline, and fun gameplay.

Suggested for those into rpgs.