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Parasite Eve (Played on PS3)

SkylineRKR

Member
Its December again, and as fate would have it I could finally recover my lost PSN account, which contained a ton of digital downloads and PSX classics. This right here is one of the reasons you shouldn't dump your PS3 just yet.

Parasite Eve being one of them. Its one of my fav games of all time. And I mostly played this around X-mas. So I was thinking about it, and just decided to boot it up. I started yesterday night and am now at the end of Day 5, on disc 2.

PE is billed a Cinematic RPG. And they couldn't be more true. Its full of awesome FMV (that still look quite good), and full of short scenes inbetween the action like being in a police car in between locations. A lot of this isn't unlike Resident Evil, but PE really is an RPG. You can name your character and build her stats, you level up and you unlock Parasite Energy abilities, which is just magic in this game. You also gain battle points, which you can distribute to stats like ATB speed, item slots, or your weapon stats. The best way, sadly, is too just pump everything into your weapon attack (you can distribute all weapon stats to any other you desire with a Tool item). The combat is hybrid too. You'll engage in random encounters, but they are kind of fixed in spots and don't happen too often. You can run around while charging your ATB, this is all you can do. When ATB is filled you can either fire your weapon (which freezes Aya in place), or use PE casts. Because Aya freezes and enemies move around, weapons have different properties. a handgun is fast, but lacks range. A rifle has better range but shoots slower. You need to find the sweet spot between maximizing damage but not at the cost of too much recovery time. The upgrade system is rather deep and robust (you can add some crazy things to your gun, and you can be immune to pretty much all statuses on your armor), but you'll need some foresight and planning. And it isn't needed to beat a fresh game.

The game is brilliant for a few reasons. First of all the horror cinematic RPG hybrid I don't see too often. Secondly the OST by Yoko Shimomura and the real life setting. The game takes place in Manhattan, from Christmas Eve to December 29. You'll visit locations such as Central Park, Carnegie Hall, Soho and Chinatown. In reality I believe this game is a sequel to the novel by Hideki Sena. And in my opinion Square has mishandled this franchise since. PE2 was good still, but also kind of mundane and had rather uninteresting settings and characters. That game chased RE a bit too much for my liking. Third Birthday is a difficult one to dissect. I utterly hated its story as much as anyone else, but there was barely a PSP game I played more than this one. I was simply hooked to finding chips and min maxing my character. The TPS gameplay, for a PSP game, was actually pretty fucking good and body jacking was kind of cool.

Even though Aya moves slow, I am actually amazed by how playable this game still is. Especially with analog control. The combat is rather simple and quick, attack when your ATB is filled and run around avoiding things (or cast Haste to make this easier). The pacing is rather perfect, I found myself constantly doing one more area despite wanting to quit. I think it shouldn't take you more than 8 hours to beat. The game never pulls you out or send you on a useless fetch quest just to extend time.

Parasite Eve is a masterpiece.

Intro gets you into the mood:

 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
One of my favorite PS1 games! I play through this every couple of years - such a lovely blend of horror, buddy cop movie, and turn based RPG.

If you have a PC, you owe it to yourself to play through this game's Retro Achievement set, it's similarly amazing.

 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
I only played through the original PE once, but it's pretty special. Outstanding atmosphere and soundtrack, one of my favorite of Shimomura's. I didn't like the final escape, which forced me to replay the final boss a number of times (do I remember correctly that you need to refight the boss if you fail the escape? It's been a while, but I remember the frustration). The Christmas-time New York setting works tremendously well, just like in the movies.

It's quite a slow game, and gameplay-wise I preferred PE2, a less interesting game but extremely replayable. The two games are a bit like Dino Crisis 1 and 2: the first is slower and has a better plot, the second is more action-y and more fun overall.

I really didn't get The 3rd Birthday. Got frustrated in a certain part and rage quit it forever.
 
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IAmRei

Member
I only played through the original PE once, but it's pretty special. Outstanding atmosphere and soundtrack, one of my favorite of Shimomura's. I didn't like the final escape, which forced me to replay the final boss a number of times (do I remember correctly that you need to refight the boss if you fail the escape? It's been a while, but I remember the frustration). The Christmas-time New York setting works tremendously well, just like in the movies.

It's quite a slow game, and gameplay-wise I preferred PE2, a less interesting game but extremely relatable. The two games are a bit like Dino Crisis 1 and 2: the first is slower and has a better plot, the second is more action-y and more fun overall.

I really didn't get The 3rd Birthday. Got frustrated in a certain part and rage quit it forever.
3rd birthday is in the name only, the plot is awful, and the gameplay is weird ... I'm glad i didnt buy it and only test it on emulator ...

I wish capcom can remakes DC1 and 2 with treatment of RE1R
 

DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
Its December again, and as fate would have it I could finally recover my lost PSN account, which contained a ton of digital downloads and PSX classics. This right here is one of the reasons you shouldn't dump your PS3 just yet.

Parasite Eve being one of them. Its one of my fav games of all time. And I mostly played this around X-mas. So I was thinking about it, and just decided to boot it up. I started yesterday night and am now at the end of Day 5, on disc 2.

PE is billed a Cinematic RPG. And they couldn't be more true. Its full of awesome FMV (that still look quite good), and full of short scenes inbetween the action like being in a police car in between locations. A lot of this isn't unlike Resident Evil, but PE really is an RPG. You can name your character and build her stats, you level up and you unlock Parasite Energy abilities, which is just magic in this game. You also gain battle points, which you can distribute to stats like ATB speed, item slots, or your weapon stats. The best way, sadly, is too just pump everything into your weapon attack (you can distribute all weapon stats to any other you desire with a Tool item). The combat is hybrid too. You'll engage in random encounters, but they are kind of fixed in spots and don't happen too often. You can run around while charging your ATB, this is all you can do. When ATB is filled you can either fire your weapon (which freezes Aya in place), or use PE casts. Because Aya freezes and enemies move around, weapons have different properties. a handgun is fast, but lacks range. A rifle has better range but shoots slower. You need to find the sweet spot between maximizing damage but not at the cost of too much recovery time. The upgrade system is rather deep and robust (you can add some crazy things to your gun, and you can be immune to pretty much all statuses on your armor), but you'll need some foresight and planning. And it isn't needed to beat a fresh game.

The game is brilliant for a few reasons. First of all the horror cinematic RPG hybrid I don't see too often. Secondly the OST by Yoko Shimomura and the real life setting. The game takes place in Manhattan, from Christmas Eve to December 29. You'll visit locations such as Central Park, Carnegie Hall, Soho and Chinatown. In reality I believe this game is a sequel to the novel by Hideki Sena. And in my opinion Square has mishandled this franchise since. PE2 was good still, but also kind of mundane and had rather uninteresting settings and characters. That game chased RE a bit too much for my liking. Third Birthday is a difficult one to dissect. I utterly hated its story as much as anyone else, but there was barely a PSP game I played more than this one. I was simply hooked to finding chips and min maxing my character. The TPS gameplay, for a PSP game, was actually pretty fucking good and body jacking was kind of cool.

Even though Aya moves slow, I am actually amazed by how playable this game still is. Especially with analog control. The combat is rather simple and quick, attack when your ATB is filled and run around avoiding things (or cast Haste to make this easier). The pacing is rather perfect, I found myself constantly doing one more area despite wanting to quit. I think it shouldn't take you more than 8 hours to beat. The game never pulls you out or send you on a useless fetch quest just to extend time.

Parasite Eve is a masterpiece.

Intro gets you into the mood:


Ahh that intro still gives me chills. I would love a remake of this game (but only if it still takes place in 1998).
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Hermen Hulst Fanclub's #1 Member
Great game that I have been waiting for a remake or sequel.... I always wanted to play PE 2 on PS1.

I liked the first game, even though Aya Brea runs like a Slug with her slowness.

 

Power Pro

Gold Member
Great game that I have been waiting for a remake or sequel.... I always wanted to play PE 2 on PS1.

I liked the first game, even though Aya Brea runs like a Slug with her slowness.


Physical copies of PE2 are pretty pricey, but I actually just bought it on PSN for PS3 for $5.99. Nice that the store is still just sitting there with some of the classics.
 
Totally agree, PE1 is a masterpiece. The 2nd not so much but still enjoyable here and there. PSP game is a mess.

I remember to be ecstatic with the world map because the buildings style looked similar to FF8. Cool stuff.

 
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SkylineRKR

Member
I only played through the original PE once, but it's pretty special. Outstanding atmosphere and soundtrack, one of my favorite of Shimomura's. I didn't like the final escape, which forced me to replay the final boss a number of times (do I remember correctly that you need to refight the boss if you fail the escape? It's been a while, but I remember the frustration). The Christmas-time New York setting works tremendously well, just like in the movies.

It's quite a slow game, and gameplay-wise I preferred PE2, a less interesting game but extremely relatable. The two games are a bit like Dino Crisis 1 and 2: the first is slower and has a better plot, the second is more action-y and more fun overall.

I really didn't get The 3rd Birthday. Got frustrated in a certain part and rage quit it forever.

i just beat the game. The boss was really pathetic against my build, though my slow protection never worked here.. weird. It was over really quick. The game is very easy if you at least transfer your accumulated damage points to a better weapon. But I guess you can hit a brick wall if you only transfer a perk (which means your precious weapon will break if you use a regular Tool), and thus losing all invested points. Its a 90s game. It becomes trivial if you start to dabble with perks.

If you touch the boss during the escape, you die and you have to do the whole fight over. But the escape is really easy though. During the first time you'd get here it was simply lame that you couldn't know where to go; there are 2 intersections and you pretty much have to guess. The first screen has one, and you need to go left. And then a few screens later you need to go upwards to the manhole, and not continue straight. For the rest you can't fail unless you stop for whatever reason.

If in some unlikely scenario they would remaster it, i'd rather they change this phase up or maybe not being thrown back to the start on failure.
 

bender

What time is it?
Sad that Square decided to stop the franchise after just 2 games, right?

They never made a third entry.

But The 3rd Birthday is the best game in the...

200w.gif
 

Madflavor

Member
Play the first game, ignore the rest. Parasite Eve was a blend of Resident Evil and Final Fantasy, which at the time were my absolute favorite franchises. Such a great game that oozed atmosphere. Killer soundtrack too.
 
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