The 3rd Birthday

I got this game recently and was surprised when I didn't find a single Parasite Eve/3rd Birthday topic, so I thought I should make a topic for both of them.

Currently up to chapter 5, and enjoying it very much. The game looks perfect(almost no pixelation and lots of prerendered scenes), the music is quite nice (not sure if they brought back Yoko Shimomura though), and the gameplay so far is pretty entertaining, if pleasantly difficult. The plot is quite intriguing, and I can't help but wonder what happens next. Despite the general lack of references to previous games so far (damn you amnesia!), I did like Maeda showing up again. Evenif heseems to have replaced shyness with a good dose of creepiness...I have to say though, I can't help but be annoyed by the word "Overdive" since it just seems so...off without an R.

I'm wondering though, did the game perform poorly? Or is the series simply this obscure?

Parasite Eve is pretty under the radar, so... And it's been ages since the 2nd game.

I think generally poor reviews and previews that revealed how little the game has in common with previous entries in the series pretty much killed it dead.

I've played a bit of it so far, and I'm... Well, frustrated. The controls are irritating and the plot is all over the place. It's got some neat ideas, but so far, it doesn't really seem to present much of a cohesive whole.

The 3rd Birthday is... not generally viewed in a positive light generally because it shares little in common with anything else in the Parasite Eve universe.

Combat-wise its morely a third person shooter then an action RPG like the first two games. Plot wise, it pretty much has absolutely nothing in common with everything else in the PE verse, not even ONCE mentioning mitochondria, and ultimately accumalates into one big incoherent mess. And Aya/EVE is turned into the Ms. Fanservice that she mostly never was.

All that being said, I did find my first playthrough the game fairly enjoyable, even if it was on Easy mode. Said enjoyment kind of died upon learning the absurd demands the game wants in order to unlock things.

edited 4th Jun '11 3:33:22 PM by RenHydron

I finished the game a few moments ago...and....uh...OK, that was just all over the place. Was that seriously supposed to be understandable? Oh well.

Well, at least they had the courtesy of dropping the "Parasite Eve" part from the title. Though there were disappointingly few references to the older games... And Aya isn't as fanservicy if you keep her from getting hurt. Her clothes only got ripped 3 or 4 times total for me. Though that shower was very gratuitous and came out of nowhere.

Overall, it was a pretty nice game. The plot could use a lot more explaining and the latter enemies way less health, but I like a challenge and, despite the somewhat clunky camera, 'twas a pretty good quality game.

Now, time to dust off the PS 1 and go back to the earlier titles...

PE 1 (the best of the series) is on PSN for 5.99

My synopsis:

Plot is obscure to the point of redundancy. I literally dont care about it at this point.

DNA upgrade system is overly complex and unwelcoming.

Teamwork aspect seems unnecessary.

Too many redundant weapons.

Total lack of relatable characters.

Despite all this, I actually like it.