GBAtemp recommends #110: Parasite Eve
On this entry, we're going to discuss one of the PS1's bigger yet underplayed horror RPGs. A new personal favorite of mine after recently playing all the way through it, this is:
Parasite Eve
PE is an action-RPG that allows you to move freely through open environments to find puzzles and items to continue the journey, as well as using real-time combat to take on random enemy encounters. To compare it to other RPG's, it's very reminiscent of Final Fantasy XII combat systems or Vagrant Story, allowing you to move freely around enemies waiting for your combat action to charge and letting you dodge attacks with your movements. When your gauge charges you can make an attack with different gun types, (the game's primary weapons are all firearms,) or with psychic abilities. You can heal, cast a strike, cure an ailment, or boost a stat, all while being able to position yourself and immediately move afterward freely. It's this kind of combat system that to me personally, sets Parasite Eve apart from other RPG's enough to make it more accessible to those that hate traditional turn-based combat. And you continue to have all the staples of RPG's with different armor types, guns, and upgrades that can be swapped around for different styles of attack.
As I played the game, I was drawn in by its enchanting music and its ability to build a creepy atmosphere. The game isn't outright scary, though it may have been for its time, it doesn't rely on cheap jump scares to keep your attention and spook you. PE is ominous thanks to its deeper characterization and environmental building. It puts you in stressful situations and threatens characters you begin to care about with horrifying outcomes. Not to mention thanks to the way it does random encounters, you can never actually see what is about to attack you. No enemies are running around on the screen, meaning you don't know when you're walking into a wave of enemies you know nothing about. Some enemies have different weaknesses and abilities that can completely debilitate you. And honestly, some of the enemies themselves are just downright gross and horrifying.
The pacing is certainly mixed but not in a terrible way. At times the game slows down, but almost when you need it to. I rarely ran into points where I thought the game was bogging me down with enemies or making me run around too much, aside from one particular section in the sewers. This was mostly thanks to the introduction of mutated bat enemies that can immediately shoot projectiles that reduce your range of attacks to almost nothing and was easily the most frustrating segment of the game. Aside from this section, however, I think PE is consistent overall.
It's also not an incredibly long RPG's when you compare it to other PS1 RPGs. My save file after completion of the game was at 11 hours and 47 minutes, and I played it over the span of a week or so. With the minimal time I have for gaming, I feel as though it says something that Parasite Eve kept making me want to come back and pick it up to know what happens next. It's crazy, over-the-top and sometimes nonsensical but still enticing and a fun ride.
Completion of the game also unlocks a new game plus mode, making everything a bit harder as per usual. However, new game plus also opens the Chrysler Building, a 77-floor consistent wave of enemies that leads to the games ultimate final boss. I found new game plus to be pretty tough but in a lot of ways, not worth the second playthrough. It's the biggest complaint I do have about the game since it feels like the only way to genuinely finish the game. The 77 floors aren't incredibly long, but they are all pretty repetitive and get boring quickly. The actual final boss is a great last moment for the game, but having it be locked by such a massive horde of enemies and a second playthrough was indeed annoying.
Overall though, I still have a newfound adoration for Parasite Eve and its place in the PS1 library. It's a unique title worth experiencing, and I couldn't recommend it more for lovers of the Playstation era.
Genre: Horror/Action RPG
Release Year: 1998
Developer: Square
Published By: Square Electronic Arts
Released For: Playstation 1
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Last edited by chavosaur,
