The 3rd Birthday is a third person shooter, action rpg that serves as the third entry in the Parasite Eve series. Some say it’s a sequel to some a spin-off and even a reboot but one thing is for sure it tore its fandom apart.
But before we proceed please be advised that this retrospective may contain some spoilers and most definitely some cringe and whacked out theory or two from a certain fan(me) so please bear that in mind as you go on.
Now that we have that one out of the way here we go…….
This game is initially perceived as an episodic game for mobile phones. Square Enix wanted to capitalize on the success they had with their titles such as Final Fantasy 7 and Front Mission which had mobile game release treatments prior that. The development for the game was shelved for a year or two until Tetsuya Nomura pushed it as a console title be it the PSP. The decision was made because of the developer’s aim for “realism” something that the PSP’s could deliver and something mobile phones couldn’t back then. Another thing worth mentioning is that Square Enix hired Hexa Drive a Japanese indie game dev studio to co-develop the game. Hexa Drive is consists of former Capcom employees most notable for their work on the sci-fi shooter Lost Planet. The game received mixed reviews the negative ones pointing out the confusing story and the said approach to realism.
The game features an ots(over the shoulder) and cover shooting mechanics with a lock on system that enables you to move around while shooting your firearm. Gone are the Parasite Abilities of the first two games and it was replaced by the Overdive and Liberation. Overdive is the ability to transfer you consciousness to an NPC having the ability to control them which makes it feel like more of a squad shooter, not only that you can Overdive to a nearby NPC to gain advantage of the terrain but also serves as a quick escape especially if your HP is low allowing you to control someone with full health. Another thing worth mentioning is the Overdive Kill a button prompt during combat that allows you to Overdive to an enemy and make them explode. Liberation on the other hand functions as a special skill which makes you move faster and inflict more damage at certain span of time.
Having rpg elements this game has some quite of customization to it. You have access to wide variety of guns such as pistols, rifles(assault/sniper) shotguns and some special weapons like Lightning Farron’s Gunblade. Parasite Ability is replaced by Over Energy which utilizes an EN chip which was dropped by certain enemies that you will acquire and equip to have access to some buffs like HP regeneration, making your Liberation meter fills faster and so on.
Once again you played as Aya Brea but this time she is totally nerfed, suffering from amnesia stripped out of her powers confused and totally vulnerable. Having the power to transfer her consciousness to another person she uses a device called Overdive System to go back in time to confront the new threat called the Twisted. The game’s narrative is told through cutscenes and in game dialogue. The game is split into chapters and divided in several segments. For an rpg this is quite short about less than 10 hours per playthrough. Though there are a lot of items that you won’t be able to unlock on a single playthrough and multiple replays is advised if you want to unlock every weapon, protective gear and that “shower scene”. You can also unlock some in game cheats such as infinite ammo, faster HP regeneration and so much more.
I can’t tell you more about the game with giving some more further spoilers. But being the lazy person that I am there’s no way in heck that I’m gonna waste my energy to elaborate more of the plot. Rather let me tell you about something else. This game somewhat serves as both a farewell and reintroduction for Aya as a character. She is now portrayed as someone who can feel fear and lost the convictions she showed on the previous games. That being the part of the developer’s vision of realism. They don’t want to show Aya as somewhat like an action hero but instead someone who gets scared wounded and confused being unsure of a lot of things including her own self. That same “realism” became the subject of a number of controversies.
There’s a third “form” of this somewhat wardrobe damage that leaves nothing to the imagination which I can’t show you!
A game that should’ve been the one to reinvigorate a series that laid dormant for ten years became a game that nobody wanted. Despite the developers’ attempt to breathe new life into the series it became something most of fans couldn’t fully understand. The Parasite Eve series is a product of what we called the Golden Age. A series synonymous of being not afraid to try something new and this game is no exception. Square Enix tried something new but couldn’t get the result they hoped for. Was it doomed by the timing? Ten years is a very long time for a sequel and it didn’t help that the second entry concluded the story with its ending. Still some fans including me see this one as a flawed masterpiece.
Right now I know what you’re thinking. I’ve been cringe yapping and made that microscopic spoiler but where’s that theory.
Okay here it is……….
Have you ever wondered why the two games was never ported to another system after the 2000s? Though most of the PS1 titles got a sequel on PS2 and some are even ported to iOS and Android. And why did they ditch the Parasite Eve title?
My theory has something to do with the title itself. Then Squaresoft only paid the license for the IP including some of its elements and said license expires in a few years if the licensee failed to renew it. If you watched d the movie which is a faithful adaptation of the novel you’ll see that aside from the mitochondria mutation there’s really nothing more that connects it to the game. The in game universe and character rights belongs to Square Enix but since the license expired it really troublesome for them to release without going in some legal shenanigans. And that’s why they ditched the title, changed a lot of things in the lore and hope to breakaway from Parasite Eve and establish a new continuity.
See I told it was a pretty whacked up theory.
Thank you very much for spending time on this cringe trip of mine.
This is Stingy Perry signing off.
Nah-uh young lady you’re not going out there with that outfit, you hear me!
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