While sporting a different art direction, I’m pleased to report it’s equally as impressive graphically as SquareSoft’s other masterpiece. I had to do a double take when I first booted up Parasite Eve as it seemed to be running on exactly the same engine as Final Fantasy VIII, one of my favourite games of all time. So although it can get trumped up on its own crazy concepts at times, Parasite Eve is a unique tale from Square that mixes equal part horror and sci-fi plotting to great effect. I like that they rounded out the plot, but could’ve taken a bit more to their characterisation. They add a bit of nice humour into the mix at times but they’re a lot more two dimensional than Aya, with Daniel being a traditional hot headed family man and Maeda being a smart but clumsy buffoon. The supporting cast here, including Aya’s cop partner Daniel and Japanese scientist Maeda, are decidedly more mixed. During a time when Lara Croft’s boobs were getting bigger with each new Tomb Raider entry, it’s fantastic time see a female lead who is smartly dressed and every bit as kickass as the men (although seeing her pull a gun from her evening dress in the opening CG scene is still an incredible moment). She’s resourceful, smart and tough as nails plus it’s just coincidental that she’s a woman. Part of the success of Parasite Eve is thanks to its lead character Aya, who stands tall among gaming protagonists. It can be grotesque at points too, but that just helps to add to its charm. It centres on the idea of Mitochondria, evolved cells passed down by female hosts and although the game gets a little lost in the technobabble of it at times, it provides a compelling central idea to keep the story moving forward. The story is rooted in the Japanese novel Parasite Eve albeit this is a sequel story that you can go into without having read the book. Eve’s rampage through New York City at Christmas is an absolute thrill from start to finish and the game never lets up the pacing as you head from location to location desperately trying to stop the destruction. She discovers that Eve was once Melissa, a drug-taking starlet and as she uncovers more about the situation, it reveals some uncomfortable ties to Aya’s own past. The subsequent journey follows Aya as she battles this being calling itself “Eve”, who posses abilities far beyond that of any human. Things take a rapid turn as when the singer starts performing, the crowd begin spontaneously combusting but Aya remains strangely unaffected. Then modifying the monster stats as well.On Christmas Eve, tough New York cop Aya Brea decides to let herself relax and goes on a date to the opera. It doesn't seem too difficult as all the items exist, but would require replacing the locations they're acquired to be in the main game on first play through. If someone with experience would want to take this on that would be awesome, but I'd like to know from those with experience how hard this would be. I think it would be really fun to replace the weapons and armor in the main game with the ones from the Chrysler Building, and then up the difficulty of the monsters you fight so there's still a challenge. I always thought the better items you find don't get utilized much since you have to grind to get them on a 2nd play through, and it makes the main quest somewhat boring since you're now OP. As well, the true ending awaits at the end. In Parasite Eve for PlayStation 1 there is a new game plus which grants you access to the Chrysler Building, a huge dungeon for you to fight your way through and gain access to newer and better weapons and armor.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |