Dammit Rockso, have some compassion. Aya and John are having a rough Christmas :(
Atmosphere
This is the first Squaresoft game with a Mature ESRB rating [1] and it is well deserved. The opera cinematic is incredibly violent, and later scenes feature plenty of body horror and a later sequence that reminds me of The Thing (1982). Square definitely nailed the horror atmosphere in this one. And hence came the Resident Evil (RE) comparisons...Poor Aya just wanted to have a nice date night on Christmas Eve and then all hell brakes lose.
Hey Capcom, Aya was killing dinosaurs before you thought it was cool with Regina was in Dino Crisis (1999) :P
Jokes aside, I do like the story, but it does get very exposition heavy at times, and not in a "good way" like Metal Gear Solid.
Graphics are fine for the time (a little dark though), for the most part, but some parts of animated cg sequences do show their age...
Anyway, that is really my only complaint and I did do some digging on this and found I wasn't alone [2]. That minor complaint out of the way, the music is great! It fits very well, adds to the uncomfortable and horror atmosphere and does what it needs to do. One criticism I have is that a more "powerful" general battle theme would have gone a long way, in my opinion. Interestingly, the composer Yoko Shimomura commented on this: to the effect that "typical opera music did not translate well into battle themes" [1] lol wut? You can't make "battle music" with orchestral/opera sound? I would disagree, and to be fair, that was probably taken out of context or misunderstood. Anyway, I'm not going to question such a legend as Yoko Shimomura who would go on to compose Kingdom Hearts which I think everyone would agree has a beautiful composition. And to be clear, all the compositions here are fantastic, I just don't think the vocals tracks should have been distorted the way they were.
Gameplay
The game has a central "hub" and you select locations to visit as the story progresses. You can return to previous locations to farm and level up as needed, in classic rpg fashion. At the police station station, you can upgrade weapons/equipment and manage items between your inventory and the warehouse. Although there is no "shop", I found ammo and healing item drops plenty generous in this game.
As you progress, more locations become available.
At the station, store items and refill your ammo for next outing.
I really like the combat. Dodge attacks and once your AT gauge is full you can take an action: attack, use magic or items.
Guess it is a good time to talk about the weapon/item customization which is another large part of the gameplay. Honestly, I didn't really bother with it until the end: I went all out on a pistol, but then just ended up using the rocket launcher on the final boss anyway >_> So I don't think you really need to worry about it on a first play through, just have fun and experiment! There are a few things to be aware of though. It is a good idea to remove high rate of fire abilities which might sound counter-intuitive: more shots is better right? Unfortunately, the way damage is calculated, it penalizes subsequent shots and so you end up wasting ammo; a good rule of thumb seems to be to not go beyond 2-3. Another good ability to watch out for is multi action on weapons, and to avoid the elemental fire/ice add ons. As for armor, auto-heal is a must, in my opinion.
Experience
So everything sounds pretty solid so far right? And it is! Atmosphere is great (despite my music and story gripes), gameplay is well designed and all encounters feel fair, but unfortunately there are a few issues that do hamper the experience. But again, I love the combat and the spells you have at your disposal!As mentioned, the game functions with a central hub and so it is usually pretty clear where to go. However, there are a few times where it is unclear what to do to progress. I guess I should share that I did follow a guide [3], so keep that in mind as I comment on the experience. For example, if you miss reading a diary you will find yourself stuck and backtracking and clicking around. Fortunately, I think this is really only encountered at the beginning: searching for items to progress as a mechanic is soon dropped and the game becomes much more straightforward which I think was a good decision. However, the museum (to my recollection) later does seem it would be annoying without a guide. I also did not do the post game.
And finally... well, the final chase is probably the dumbest idea any game designer had of all time... And if you die, get ready to redo a boss gauntlet
There is also another instant game over sequence before this on the rooftops that I also found annoying, but that wasn't as bad. What were they thinking?! It's so unfortunate that such a brief part of the game can damage the whole experience, and it doesn't help it is right at the end!I found the ending chase incredibly stupid, the idea completely baffles me.
Citations and RGT Society Love
It was fun looking over the RGT society thread when writing this, great memories ^_^ Many of the image macros here I made for that thread
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasite_Eve_(video_game)
[2] https://www.rpgfan.com/music-review/parasite-eve-original-soundtrack/
[3] https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps/198265-parasite-eve/faqs/80267
Pros
- + Engaging and fun rpg combat.
- + Great music score and horror atmosphere.
- + Wonderful story elements and sequences.
Cons
- - Story is exposition heavy for such a short game.
- - Some gameplay segments are incredibly irritating.
- - Graphics (particularly a few animated cg segments) did not age well, and brightness is a concern at times.
8
out of 10
Overall
This is a tough one to rate. I loved a lot, but at there are problems, but it was never boring! I did have a good time, but I didn't feel that much enthusiasm to attempt the post game, and didn't feel compelled to replay it even for Christmas :( I think it is fair to rate a flawed retro classic, so I give it an 8.
great article. 
