O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.
SquareSoft’s Parasite Eve had a weird fate, probably not something both developers nor its first fans expected. Both of the games in the series were popular, both sold well, both were critically acclaimed. Aya Brea is still considered to be one of the best female game protagonists. Yet, they tend to not appear in “important” lists of “important” gaming websites. Despite being so loved and well known, the games got somewhat forgotten. And I’m actually somewhat confused that Square Enix decided to announce another sequel for this or next year (though it is a spin-off) to arrive on PSP. But today, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about two games that I love dearly that definitely stood the test of time.
Parasite Eve was released in Japan with a tagline “cinematic RPG”. And there’s a good reason for that. It was my first ever jRPG. For most it was the first ever jRPG to break a lot of the genre rules and conventions. There were “cinematic” stories in jRPGs before. But Parasite Eve managed to tell the story in a cinematic way as well to the point where it jumped between gameplay and storytelling truly effortlessly.
If you’ve never played PE, it might be a bit difficult to tell why this was the case and why the game felt so much like watching a movie (in the best possible way). Mostly this has to do with the fact that lots of ideas and tricks the game used became new conventions for storytelling in all kinds of genres, including even pure action titles. Story and narrative was so well infused with the usual gameplay concepts – lots of cutscenes, dialogue, adventure elements and also jRPG combat, all fitting naturally. You start with a rather unexpected turn of events in the day of a cop in NYC, yet a few story days later Aya has to jump off a roof of a hospital that has a fighter jet crashing into. It’s like playing a cool game and watching an amazing sci-fi horror thriller at the same time.
And 12 years later? Well, we had Mass Effect 2 do similarly amazing storytelling. Random encounters are something frowned upon. The music is still unforgettable, but game music got incredibly varied and amazing in general. Oh and that run animation Aya has? It’s like she’s running in place, it’s annoying. The game has aged, undoubtedly. Some things weren’t amazing even when the game came out or shortly after. I mean, why do you always have to reload manually after each fight, and going through so many menus to do it as well? Yet, it’s still incredibly exciting. Some of its moments remain fresh and more amazing and “cinematic” than some of the games we have today. It’s a bit clunky, but not the text adventure to graphic adventure kind of switch. And you can easily try and enjoy it today, ignoring some of the things that didn’t age well.
Parasite Eve II was a completely different game. And I’ve seen people being disappointed in that. I mean, you can relatively easily think of a way to remove any links to the original game and change the main character and voila – you get a totally different new independent project. No longer a horror-jRPG, but a survival horror with jRPG elements. Story and storytelling are far less “cinematic” as well, and pretty simplistic at that. Some called it a “Resident Evil RPG” and sure, on the surface level there are lots of similarities, down to some of the combat and controls conventions. But that’s on the surface level.
I tend to classify it as a “tactical survival horror” because despite controlling and looking similarly to RE it feels very different. In RE combat worked essentially like this: run to a safe distance, aim, shoot a couple of times, go to the inventory and reload, judge distances again and run to a new safe spot. It’s incredibly simple but highly engaging and never boring. In contrast, the same basic ideas have far more depth in Parasite Eve II. For example, each weapon has a set weight, which defines how quickly Aya can go in and out of aiming mode and regroup after a shot. Oh and reload speed too, which, by the way, always happens in real time even if you put ammo in the “attachments/quick inventory” usable during fights. Every weapon has a range it can be effective at, though it’s no longer visually represented as it was in the first game. Some weapons have modification options that affect the way it performs, giving you new options, but always having some drawbacks to go with that. Attached a sub-barrel grenade launcher to a M4A1? Well, now you can put away a separate grenade launcher. Except, M4A1 is now harder to use due to weight and you’re locked to using a 3-shot burst mode only with it. Parasite energy usage (effectively magic) also adds a unique element to the combat system, since a lot of enemies have specific weaknesses and resistances, just like in a jRPG. So just exploring and just fighting enemies in PE II is far more involved than it ever was in RE (and for the better, really, RE is a different game). Though, it is interesting how RE would use some of these ideas later in 4…
Does the game still feel great? Well, it’s one of the most replayed PlayStation-era games for me. In fact, it might be the most replayed game for me out of all games (including RE titles that I’ve played way too many times). And I replay it because I love it. Some things are a bit awkward – I do wish the auto-aim would work a bit more like later DMC/Bayonetta, rather than how “sticky” it is. And people who just can’t stand the classic survival horror formula and its controls might not want to take a dive. But to me, this is one of the best titles to have ever been made and if I ever get a chance to develop a game it would serve as a main template and influence. Because we never got anything just like this. And might never will. Give it a go if you ever get a chance.