NostalGame: Parasite Eve (1998)
Let's revisit one of the underrated Square Enix title
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During the PS1 era, we played numerous classic RPGs, but Parasite Eve was a game that got away from us. We acknowledged that going back and playing these classics without the nostalgia goggles can be difficult to find enjoyment due to outdated mechanics, dodgy controls, or dated visuals. While playing Parasite Eve, we tried to factor in how these elements would have been for us in the 90s.
Parasite Eve constantly reminded us why we used to love PS1-era RPGs. The realistic graphical style and constant FMV sequences, for instance, have a similar feeling to Final Fantasy VIII. Parasite Eve is so highly regarded for a reason, and as a hardcore 90s RPG, it is so easy to see why. The review looks into why Parasite Eve is a must-play, assuming that a lot of readers out there played this game growing up.
Coming in, we knew very little about Parasite Eve and were surprised that this game has much more of a story focus than we expected. The game begins with the young detective Aya attending an opera in what can only be described as the most eventful opera ever. The lead actress Melissa goes a little cray-cray and sets everyone in the audience alight, leaving no survivors except for Aya, who somehow managed to escape unharmed. The entire game revolves around Aya investigating this mystery and other supernatural events all around Manhattan.
A single playthrough of the game will only take about 10 hours, and the many story beats, twists, and turns are very well-paced. To put it simply, this dark-themed story had us hooked from the start, and it didn't let us go. Also worth mentioning is that there's a bonus dungeon in the new game plus mode, which not only provides an extra challenge but also adds some more to the story. Parasite Eve does an awesome job in this area.
The whole visual style of Parasite Eve is brilliant, or at least it would have been for its time. The pre-rendered backgrounds are all detailed and unique, and the dark visual style helps create a feeling of hopelessness and unease. This is especially evident when the entire city is forced to evacuate, leaving just Aya and a few other police officers up against a supernatural entity that they know nothing about. This visual style is then hit for a six when the FMV sequences are played. Not only are there so many of them, but there are some really cool ones too, particularly with the monster designs, which are a great way to introduce all of the boss battles.
The music also perfectly fits with the atmosphere. Or lack of music. Very often, there will be silence, and while most of the time, this helps add to the tension. At other times, we felt that we should be hearing something more. The combat is one of the coolest things about Parasite Eve. We can perform actions whenever the ATB feels up to the top of the screen, but what's interesting is that while it's filling up, we're able to control Aya around the battlefield. Trying to dodge enemy attacks and choosing when to attack is such a vital part of battle. For instance, it's often worthwhile waiting a few seconds until you've dodged an attack rather than attacking as soon as possible but being hit in the process. The main method of dishing out damage is through Aya's firearms. This system has a lot of variation due to the many weapon types and their abilities. Aya can also use her PE abilities to cast supporting spells, and these are gained through leveling up. This system works so well because PE is naturally regenerated as the battle progresses.
The core RPG mechanics come into play with Aya's equipment. As we mentioned before, there are many different weapon types and weapon abilities that can be customized through finding hidden items around the world or by using your bonus points gained from leveling up. You can choose to raise certain parameters of your equipment. These parameters or weapon abilities can then be transferred to other pieces of equipment through the use of tools which are fairly uncommon and hidden throughout Manhattan. When you do use a tool, you'll have two options. You can either transfer or bonus parameters, which is damage range or clip size, or a single gun's ability from one gun to another.
The catch is that the gun that you're transferring from will be gone for good. This system is so simple but works surprisingly well. We were often faced with difficult decisions such as do we destroy this gun to send its abilities to my main gun or do we transfer my main gun's parameters over to the new gun which will be strongest statistically but at the expense of all of its abilities. There are lots of abilities to consider too such as increasing the amount of attacks per turn or status-inflicting shots.
Item management is another major factor to consider. Due to the limited inventory space, you'll need to choose which items to keep and which items to throw away. We always felt that the space we had was the perfect amount. Yes, we did throw a lot away, but never an excessive amount, just enough to keep me thinking.
Aya can also use her PE abilities to cast supporting spells, and these are gained through leveling up. This system works so well because PE is naturally regenerated as the battle progresses, which makes timing their use so important. The combat here is generally awesome, with some of the boss battles being very memorable. We did have a few minor issues though. One is that your PE will gradually stop regenerating after a certain amount of use in battle. To fix this, you can just spend a turn changing your armor, but we really didn't think that this mechanic was necessary at all.
Secondly, a few times we suffered serious damage because an invisible boundary in the environment stopped us from moving. We felt that there should have been some space there to move, but clearly, we were wrong. While there are a few areas in Parasite Eve that don't have things trying to kill you, most of the locations will be dungeons full of random encounters. And by random, it's not really random. Assuming it's a place that you can fight, the first time Aya enters the room, there'll be a 100% chance for an encounter, then a 45% chance on re-entering, and this drops every time you encounter an enemy.
This is cool as exploration never feels interrupted with too many unnecessary random encounters, which a lot of other games of the era could have done with. As we mentioned before, these locations have a great atmosphere about them, with quite a few optional routes to take with loads of hidden chests to discover. Progression through dungeons never felt linear, and this was great. To progress through doors or other barriers, you'll often need to find keys hidden around the place, just as you would with a Resident Evil game. But with this comes our biggest gripe with the game.
