Parasite Eve: Yippee-Ki-Yay Mitochondria!

I wonder if others find Parasite Eve (PE) a "Christmas game" in the same way that Die Hard (1988) is a "Christmas movie"? Both involve two NYPD officers and events that quickly spiral out of control for both protagonists, and unfortunately both Aya Brea and John McClane end up having a violent and horrifying Christmas

Dammit Rockso, have some compassion. Aya and John are having a rough Christmas :(​

Director Takashi Tokita describes the game as a "cinematic RPG" [1] setting it apart from other games at the time, but I'm not entirely sure what he meant. I think that could describe any rpg... But I will say PE is a unique rpg and any fan of Square products should definitely give it a try. I will detail when discussing the gameplay, but to summarize: it is a really cool and sleek hybrid implementation of action and turn based combat: it's similar to Vagrant Story (2000) but with an ATB meter (called AT in this game, but I'll refer to it as ATB, sue me) and other factors make a much more enjoyable combat experience than Vagrant Story. I fell in love with this combat design! Unfortunately, this does not mean the game is without some problems.

And so let's see how the atmosphere, gameplay and experience for PE hold up in 2026.

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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.​

Even contemporary reviews "described the game as a hybrid of Final Fantasy VII and Resident Evil" [1]. So let's address that. The game is built on the FF7 engine, so that comparison is fair, but RE? Maybe a hot take, but I think that is very overblown: you might as well describe ANY third person game with rpg elements and a horror setting as "Resident Evil like". I cannot find anything concrete from any developers or the director that this was the intention, please correct me in the comments! I love Capcom and RE, but just because they made an incredible horror game, doesn't mean a comparison to any horror game is warranted. Especially here, as the atmosphere and gameplay (we will get to later) really has nothing to do with the design of RE except on the most superficial level, in my opinion. So why am I bringing it up? Well, the more I thought about it, the more I thought how wrong the comparison was and made me want to write this. I guess those writers just meant it is a "horror game with FF7 cutscenes" and just shoehorned in RE as another game that came to mind?

Hey Capcom, Aya was killing dinosaurs before you thought it was cool with Regina was in Dino Crisis (1999) :P​

I do like the story, but it is very exposition heavy to the point it drags on a little too much during some sequences. If you are already a well read fan of sci-fi thrillers and horror, then you especially won't find it particularly profound and even banal. That said, there is plenty of action and gripping moments that make me forgive most of that. The cast is small, but everyone does their job and serves the story, the partner dynamic between Aya and Daniel I found great :)

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.​

The graphics are classic psx quality and look pretty good to me. One small criticism is that a little more brightness in a few areas would help, but I never found navigation or environment interaction difficult. That said, the cut scenes can be a little awkward: I would say overall, they look great for the time, but parts of the opera scene you can't unsee >_<

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...​

Speaking of the opera influence, on to the music. I'll now just go ahead and say it: I find the distorted/synthesized opera vocals a little annoying, and it is an extra slap in the face that the final song during the credits shows they could have easily included clean vocals, had they wanted. I really encourage anyone to listen to the ost which has "Se il mio Amore Sta Vincino" with clean vocals and sounds great! I think that would have been better to use. This is something I became curious about, as other tracks on the ost with parts with clean vocals seem to also have some distortion at other parts. I wonder if this was a problem at the recording studio?

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.​

As I mentioned earlier, I really don't get the RE comparison and we will now clearly see that when it comes to the gameplay. For one, PE does not have tank controls and I find that essential for the survival horror element of RE. While there are horror aspects in PE obviously, I would not describe it as "survival". For example, you really are not in danger of ever running out of ammo unless you are not using the more powerful weapons you pick up as you progress or fell into the "trap" of using weapons with a high rate of fire. Towards the end of the game, I had plenty stocked up and wasn't playing in a particularly conservative fashion or anything. You can effectively carry as much ammo as you could ever need for any scenario: there is little reason to run from encounters, for the purpose of conserving ammo. Only reason to run is for "normal" rpg reasons like saving time or avoiding annoying enemies.

At the station, store items and refill your ammo for next outing.​

To summarize, it is not a game where you have to juggle with limited resources. There is no shop so item "scarcity" might seem like RE in that respect as you can not just replenish what you want at will, but enemies drop plenty of ammo and health items for you, just like in a "standard" rpg game. Well, speaking of enemies, let's talk about the combat which is lots of fun! And that's it for my RE rant.

I really like the combat. Dodge attacks and once your AT gauge is full you can take an action: attack, use magic or items.​

PE has a nice mix of elements of rpg combat: random encounters and turn based, but still action! Let me explain, as this is probably the highlight of the game. Encounters occur at random and enemies appear by "phasing" in, Aya repositioning herself to engage. While you are free to move and dodge attacks, you cannot take an action until your ATB gauge is full. You can then attack or use magic (consumes PE energy which recharges) and the encounter goes to "wait" as you select your actions, so you have time to scroll through your spells and select targets to shoot. As you level up, you obtain BP to upgrade things like how many items you can carry, your equipment, and your ATB speed. I just dumped everything into ATB speed, seemed like good deal to me >_> Well, since that doesn't carry over to the post game and weapon/armor stats are more important, it is not the best idea >_<

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.

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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

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Scale for reference.

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[Dr.Kisaragi Dr.Kisaragi]

Hey that's okay at least you enjoy we allowed to give a voice if enjoy classic or not.

Do you plan to play the sequel? I'm curious about what is opinion of changing the formula.

 

[diapered]

Hey that's okay at least you enjoy we allowed to give a voice if enjoy classic or not.

Do you plan to play the sequel? I'm curious about what is opinion of changing the formula.

I have played a little of PE2, but not really enough to have an opinion and compare them. You are correct that PE2 is much more different. I remember that PE2 has tank controls which is a big change in design. But I don't remember much more I'll have to find some time to revisit it ^_^

 

[Zerohour2k12]

Nice Review man. Neat touch on the title too. This was a game that I wish I could play for the first time again. It genuinely surprised me. I remember having a lot of fun with it.

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

It’s truly a unique rpg. One that can be said to be a product of its time. During the Golden Age of rpg developer didn’t shy away from experimentations. As a result we have games like this and that Junction System on FF 8 among other things.

Did you know that the music from the chase part of the got remixed and it was used in one of the final boss fights.

Great review you nailed this one!

 

[Kamako]

My whole life I've heard this game compared to Resident Evil, so it's cool to actually hear an opinion which dissents from that comparison.

Great appraisal as per, d-knight.



(Also the Hell's Kitchen meme caught me off guard. xD)

 

[diapered]

Thanks so much everyone Honestly, I kind of rushed this review a little and there are parts I could have written better and had a little more to say, but like I posted for a profile post: I intended to get this posted around Christmas for the article theme and waiting longer would lose it Hopefully it was at least a little interesting/entertaining >_<

Nice Review man. Neat touch on the title too.

lol, I'm hoping everyone gets the Die Hard reference, and the edit in the cover image from that scene. I wish I had had a little more time, as I think it came out a little hard to see what scene it's from.

It’s truly a unique rpg. One that can be said to be a product of its time. During the Golden Age of rpg developer didn’t shy away from experimentations. As a result we have games like this and that Junction System on FF 8 among other things.

Did you know that the music from the chase part of the got remixed and it was used in one of the final boss fights.

Great review you nailed this one!

Yes I did notice some of those nice musical touches when going over my recordings. Probably should have mentioned that. To be clear, I do like the music. My problem with the vocals may just be me, and I understand that was intentional (I read it was to add to the "unnatural" perversion of nature theme), but I really think clean opera vocals would have still accomplished that goal (opera vocals with falsetto etc. has an "ethereal" and other world type of sound already, to me) and would have sounded much better, imo.

(Also the Hell's Kitchen meme caught me off guard. xD)

lol, I realized I had made a bunch of image macros for the Nostalgia Society thread and so just went for it. Hopefully it didn't make the review too goofy.

 

[Mendax89]

Classic Game. Needs a release on Steam&GOG and PS5.

 

[gastd]

I haven't played this game and I haven't regretted it so far, it's nothing special and actually just a Resident Evil copy.

 

[Saint_c]

great article.
Parasite Eve is definitely a Christmas game!

 

[TruxtonTatsujin TruxtonTatsujin]

This game is overall great, but do yourself a favour. Don't bother with the post game. I mean, I did it, but I'm a known gaming masochist. I still see the walls of the Chrysler building in my dreams.