In the late 90s, with the popularity of the survival horror genre on the rise, RPG giant Square decided to throw its hat into the ring with its own take on the genre. The result was Parasite Eve, a survival horror/RPG hybrid based on the 1995 Japanese novel of the same name.
The first Square game to ever be rated Mature by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, Parasite Eve was a bit of a departure from Square’s standard repertoire of fantasy titles, such as the Seiken Densetsu series and, of course, Final Fantasy. Released in 1998 on the original PlayStation, it was not an adaptation of the original novel, but rather a continuation of it. Taking place in New York City some time after the events of the novel, the game introduces a brand new cast of characters alongside the new setting.
While the game had its flaws, Square’s inexperience with developing games outside of the RPG genre did not do much to hinder Parasite Eve’s success, proving to be a fairly competent attempt at an action game. Successfully blending together the RPG and survival horror genres, the end result was more of an RPG with survival horror elements thrown into the mix, as expected of Square, rather than a full-on action game, a la Resident Evil. And, to its credit, the game worked rather well for the most part.
Story
Taking place over the course of six days, Parasite Eve tells the tale of NYPD officer Aya Brea and a horrible incident befalling New York City during the holiday season of 1997.
On a seemingly normal Christmas Eve, Aya decides to attend an opera at Carnegie Hall with her date. Though the night gets off to a rather normal start, things quickly escalate as members of the cast and audience suddenly burst into flames. Somehow exempt from combustion, Aya heads on stage to confront Melissa Pearce, the lead actress of the opera and the only member of the cast to not spontaneously combust.
In her attempt to confront Melissa, whose body has been hijacked by the collective consciousness of the advanced mitochondria in her body, Aya’s own mitochondria begin to awaken as the two battle. Realizing what is happening, Melissa, now calling herself Eve, flees the scene, but not before hinting at a connection between Aya and herself.
What follows is an engaging tale that has apparently done its science homework as, like the novel that preceded it, there are several tidbits of actual scientific facts mixed in with the science-fiction elements that weave together to form a rather intriguing horror story. However, what really sets Parasite Eve apart from the standard survival horror experience is Aya’s character development and the internal struggle and fear she deals with as a result of her newfound power.
The characterization in Parasite Eve is particularly noteworthy, as strong female characters like Aya Brea are something that games as a medium often lack. While somewhat distraught and frightened over the fact that she may become a monster like Melissa Pearce, Aya remains strong and willing to fulfill her duty regardless of how dangerous it becomes. The opening sequence is of particular note, as Aya doesn’t hesitate to assume active duty despite the fact that a large percentage of the audience erupts into flames right before her eyes. Now that’s dedication.
Also, while Aya is a strong, determined character, the vulnerability and fear she displays throughout the game keeps her from becoming stale and one-dimensional. Her actions are believable and the fear she displays in regards to her power really humanizes her character. In contrast, Eve is portrayed as a complete monster, not carrying about who or what stands in the way of her goals, and willing to do anything to achieve them. As a result, the two characters play off each other quite well, with Eve being a mirror of what Aya could possibly become; a fact that Eve herself points out during the game’s opening chapter.
As for the secondary characters, while they don’t get as much development as Aya, they still remain at least important to the plot by providing Aya with support and information. Kunihiko Maeda, a Japanese scientist, deserves special mention as, while he is an original character created for the game, he helps to bridge the gap between the original novel and the game with his knowledge of the incident that occurred in the novel, which is relayed to both Aya and the audience.
Overall, Parasite Eve is Aya Brea’s story, as hers is the character that changes the most over the course of the game. The story itself is solid and engaging, if you don’t mind a bit of a science lesson thrown into the mix.
Gameplay
At it’s core, Parasite Eve is a turned-based RPG, operating on the Active Time Battle system found in other Square RPGs, such as Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger. However, putting a spin on the standard turned-based system is the ability to move freely in battle. As such, the battles are a bit more action packed, allowing the player to dodge attacks while waiting for the Active Time bar to fill.
While battles are still, for all intents and purposes, random, the battles themselves take place in the exact same spot they are triggered, rather than the standard battlefield transition of other RPGs. However, once a battle begins, movement is limited to a confined space, though usually a big enough space to allow for evading attacks. During battle, most actions are dependent on the Active Time bar, aside from movement, meaning that you have to wait until it is full to attack, use items, or use you Parasite Energy.
Parasite Energy is essentially the “magic” system of the game; though instead of the standard Magic Points that some RPGs use, Parasite Energy is dependent on a single green bar that slowly refills over time. The arsenal of parasite powers available during the game slowly grows over time, range from healing, inflicting status effects, scanning enemies for weaknesses, and even a powerful berserker attack.
The different aspects of the combat blend together quite well, allowing for a turned-based RPG experience that is a little different than one would expect. However, if you’re expecting a combat more akin to Resident Evil, then prepare to be disappointed. Again, this is an RPG with a survival horror twist, and expecting something different will only cause the game to fall short of expectations.
Outside of combat comes the exploration reminiscent of both RPGs and survival horror titles. Different from the standard RPG experience, there is no world map exploration. While there is a world map, it mainly exists for the player to select their next destination, which are limited. As a result, the story progression is quite linear, with the exception of one bonus “dungeon” to explore to aid with leveling up and a powerful weapon, only obtained by defeating the bonus boss.
As this is an RPG, there is a leveling system in place, allowing for the player to strengthen Aya by collecting experience points. Leveling, naturally, increases Aya’s health and base stats, along with granting her new parasite powers the stronger she grows. Leveling also grants the player bonus points, or BP, which can be used to strengthen Aya herself or her weapons and armor.
Speaking of weapons and armor, this is where the game really shines. While armor in particular is simplified down to just one piece of armor, as opposed to armor, helmets, gauntlets, rings and other accessories usually available as equipment in RPGs, the customization abilities more than make up for it. By using Tools and Super Tools, which are found over the course of the game, you can transfer stats and attributes from one weapon or armor to another, though using a normal Tool will cause the weapon or armor that the stats are being transferred from to disappear, so you really have to make sure you know what you want to do. Doing so allows for the creation of more powerful weapons and armor, customized with the attributes you find the most helpful for the game.
Unfortunately, while I’d love to say the game is perfect, it isn’t. Taking a cue from survival horror games like Resident Evil, the amount of items the player can carry is limited, which makes things annoying when weighed down with tons of healing items the player may or may not need. Also, while the customization, combat, and storyline are quite enjoyable, the game is flawed in that it is a bit on the short side for an RPG.
Compared to other RPGs, which can take 40 hours or longer to complete, Parasite Eve, even when factoring in level grinding and exploration, still only runs about 10-12 hours. However, 10-12 hours for a game isn’t bad, making the complaint a bit minor, especially when normal action games from around the same time were about just as long. However, the biggest annoyance of the game happens as a result of its short length.
In what can only be described as an attempt to pad out the length of the game, Parasite Eve requires the player to play through the game twice in order to get the true ending of the game. During the first playthrough, the game ends on a rather unsatisfying ending that raises more questions than it answers and is effectively rendered as non-canon given the events of the sequel. Afterwards, the player is allowed to go through the game in EX Mode, which is essentially the same game, except the Chrysler Building is now available for exploration.
The Chrysler Building is essentially a 77 floor labyrinth with seven different bosses to fight, not counting the game’s true final boss, and most enemies give rather small amounts of experience points, meaning the player is expected to play the game from beginning up until right before the end of the first disc, as the Chrysler Building is inaccessible on Disc 2, in order to grind and power up to a reasonable level to take on the end boss.
There are some perks to help the player, such as extra BP to collect and the weapons that you’re allowed to personalize during the endgame phase carrying over. However, in the end, forcing the player to play through the game twice to get the true ending is unnecessary and the Chrysler Building could’ve instead been a special epilogue unlocked by doing certain things in the main game, especially when all of the events, including the fight with the main game’s final boss, are alluded to as having happened prior to fighting the last boss.
Overall, however, the gameplay is rather enjoyable; again, the only misstep being the necessity of playing through the game twice in order to know the whole story. The customization option is probably the game’s most interesting feature, and one I feel benefits the game greatly. Again, this is an RPG, and while it is an enjoyable, action-oriented RPG, the turned-based combat might turn off some fans looking for a faster paced game.
Visuals
Built on the same graphics engine as Final Fantasy VIII and essentially serving as a glorified tech demo for said engine, Parasite Eve combines low resolution character models on top of pre-rendered backgrounds serving as the game’s environment. For its time, the graphics weren’t bad, though these days it might be a little grating on the eyes to players not used to PlayStation/Nintendo 64 era graphics. The pre-rendered cutscenes, however, are of higher quality and comparable to what one might see from a game like Final Fantasy VIII, Resident Evil or Silent Hill.
However, there is an annoying tendency to have some of the best weapons hidden in certain areas of the game with out any visual clue as to where they might be, forcing the player to tirelessly search through random pieces of scenery to find them. A better visual indicator would have helped immensely, though given the game’s rich customization options, it doesn’t become too big of a problem.
Sound
Being a 32-bit era Square game, Parasite Eve, like the other RPGs in Square’s lineup, contains absolutely no voice acting, all of the story being conveyed to the player by text boxes. Instead, the extent of the sound design for Parasite Eve consists of sound effects and the musical score. For the most part, the sound effects aren’t really worth mentioning, aside from the abnormally loud footsteps, so let’s focus on the musical score.
Parasite Eve‘s soundtrack was composed by the talented Yoko Shimomura, responsible for scoring other games such as the Kingdom Hearts series, the Mario & Luigi series, and even Street Fighter II. As a fan of Shimomura’s work, I am happy to say that Parasite Eve‘s musical score does not disappoint. Shimomura’s score does a fantastic job of setting the mood, such as a scene in which Aya reads Melissa Pearce’s diary, made all the more chilling with the addition of the hauntingly beautiful Sotto Voce playing in the background.
With a rather chilling recurring melody and some pulse pounding tracks, from the amazing opening theme, Primal Eyes, to the standard battle theme, Arise Within You, and Eve’s battle theme, Influence of the Deep, the use of music adds a layer of depth, emotion, and haunting beauty to the game. Unfortunately, Shimomura’s touch was something that would be missed in the sequel that followed; but we’ll discuss that some other time.
Overall
While the game does leave a bit to be desired when compared to both RPGs and survival horror games, Parasite Eve is nonetheless a treat to play. Since it is a hybrid of two differing genres, with the RPG side of being a bit more prominent, it’s important to see the game for what it is, as opposed to what it should be based on the genre.
With excellent characters, an engaging storyline, and an interesting combat and item system, Parasite Eve is a title I continuously recommend to those that can find it. While it used to be a bit hard to find, not to mention expensive, the game was recently released on the PlayStation Network Store in North America for $5.99, so what are you waiting for?
If you like compelling stories, survival horror games, and RPGs, Parasite Eve is a game worth checking out.
Screenshots courtesy of Square Enix and FantasyAnime.com.