Parasite Eve is a playstation title released by Squaresoft in 1998. Being an avid fan of Square’s older titles, I felt compelled to give this a go. It’s an extremely interesting game, possibly even experimental in some regards. By the time I finished, I understood why so many people put this game on a pedestal. Square really outdid themselves this time.
New York City has Never Looked Better
Parasite Eve takes place in the Big Apple, following the story of Aya, an NYCPD officer attempting to stop an evolutionary being known as “Eve”. The game features several New York City set pieces, including the Chrysler Building, Central Park (and Central Park Zoo), and other less specific New York locals such as “Soho” or “Chinatown”. The painted backgrounds are excellent in this game (I would expect nothing less from Square).
Music and Art
Let’s talk about the music in this game. It’s more contemporary than other square games, featuring a mix of atmospheric pieces and “heavier” rock style songs (possibly electronic music). I found the soundtrack to be largely forgettable, but did feel that it existed in service of the plot and provided additional atmosphere and mood to each of the set pieces.
I already discussed the background images (which I loved). Let me take a minute to also praise the character models. This game came out one year before Final Fantasy VIII. The character models are excellent compared to the other work that square was doing at the time.
One piece of media in the game that I have to gripe about for a minute is the overworld map. It looks awful:
It’s a minor thing, but the quality of the textures on this overworld map look awful. The camera swings from location to location as you select areas. I found that it didn’t always provide the best viewing angles. A static map of New York City would have been a classy move.
Guns are Tough
Parasite Eve utilizes a real time combat system where both the player and enemies are on timers for their actions. The player can actively dodge enemy attacks, making for an interesting dynamic that, to be honest, I generally enjoyed. Some of the enemies are so large that they can not effectively be dodged, and several times I was pinned in the corner, suffering defeat through an inability to move my character. This, I did not love. It didn’t happen often though.
The game also features a gun upgrading mechanic, where the player can expand modification slots on their weapons and apply modifiers from items they pick up to their weapon of choice. It’s a fun mechanic, and I enjoyed building my mutant murdering boomstick. The game also utilizes one class of ammo for all weapons. I mostly found this funny, as I often unloaded pistols in order to reload my “grenade launchers”.
Bidding Farewell to a Unique Game
I didn’t love everything about Parasite Eve. Some of the level design was bland and some of the locations were unremarkable. I generally felt that more could have been done with setting of an infected, mutated New York City. But I do praise the game for its innovation and for providing an enjoyable horror experience that juxtaposes so well to the popular Resident Evil series. If you find a copy of Parasite Eve, play it. It’s very good. Just watch out for the boss fights. They can be a little unfair.