Before there was Kingdom Hearts, we had another crazy Tetsuya Nomura and Yoko Shimomura combo and that was a survival horror RPG. The whole concept of Parasite Eve is insane, I mean in an era where the horror survival genre was picking up steam via the likes of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, Square looked at this and said how could they do the same and add their own their own sort of flair. As a result we now have a unique game that mixes elements from both Survival Horror and the bread and butter of Square, RPGs.

Parasite Eve took me by surprise which how much I enjoyed the whole premise. As a horror game, Parasite Eve is essentially a biological monster movie, the monster being Eve herself. I really like how the story just focuses on Eve as the threat and the force that must be stopped, rather than some bigger concept such as an outbreak of Zombies or Monsters. It makes this game feel more like a video game version of Cloverfield, The Thing or War of the Worlds rather than a story that has some sort of bigger picture about a corrupt corporation that is the root of the problems. Don't get me wrong there is an element of that in this game, but it is rather minor to the larger plot as this is a more personal story for our main character Aya.

The story itself is quite enjoyable as it takes place the island of Manhattan, New York which is a fascinating setting to be used by Squaresoft as typically we are just used to their JRPG fantasy lands. You will be adventuring across a lot of iconic locations in Manhattan such as the Museum of Natural History and Central Park. This makes the story more immersive as you see a horror tale told in a whole we live in. It also just makes it more fun exploring a dilapidated version of NY if you've ever been there. I love the cast of characters too, the main trio being Aya, Daniel and Maeda. These three all not only having their own standout vibrant personality thanks to the great writing, but also the fantastic iconic Tetsuya Nomura designs that just get better with age. I mean take one good look at Aya and she is a clear modern Final Fantasy Protagonist.

While on the topic of character designs, I also just wanted to talk about the great creature designs in Parastate Eve. Everything here is so fucked up and icky, it makes you feel so unnerved. Whoever designed the monsters in this game, especially Eve and all her different forms truly has a fucked up mind and I mean it in a good way for creativity. The fleshy and gooey creature design of Parasite Eve adds so much character to this game that it makes it stand out from all the other horror games of the time. And just as I have stated before, seeing all this shit happen in the setting of the real world just makes it more unnerving.

The team at Square used their best knowledge and abilities they learnt from using FMVs and pre-rendered backgrounds in their Final Fantasy games to make some of the most rich environments, background and awe-bringing cutscenes I have ever seen on the PS1. While FF7 has not aged the best in terms of visuals, you can see how Square have learnt to make these low-poly visuals timeless by the end of the PS1's lifecycle.

The gameplay itself is what really hooked me. I don't think I've played an RPG with this unique a system since Mega Man Battle Network. As a base, Parasite Eve is a survival horror as most of the time you are looking around for resources such as health items and bullets that you will need to manage and keep stock in your inventory while also making space for other stuff like key items, weapons and armour. There is quite a lot of resource management in this game which gives it that early survival horror aspect that a lot of people loved the earlier resident evils for. However the real heart of the game is in it's JPRG-like combat and equipment systems. Whenever you encounter enemies, the game because sort of a real time ATB combat system where you can move and dodge attacks in real time while you Active bar is filling. Once it is full you can enter a command to do such as shoot the enemy or heal or maybe buff yourself. Best I can probably compare it to are the new FF7 remakes which have the same idea. I love this combat so much as it adds element of strategy to enemy encounter in survival horror as opposed to just resource saving. But the big make or break of the battles in Parasite Eve is not just how you perform in battles, but how you prepare your equipment.

The equipment upgrade and management system is quite robust in this game and is the key to winning battles or giving yourself an easier time. Every weapon or piece or armour you find out in the field has some sort of perk, whether it's a gun that gives you the ability to shoot enemies twice, a gun that gives you poison rounds, a vest that gives the very helpful "auto-cure" ability, or a vest that gives better resistance to debuffs, there is plenty of equipment you will find. The goal is not just to equip the strongest weapon or armor you find, but to use the upgrade system to help you use these pieces to equipment to build the best weapon and armour to get you through the game. The upgrade system allows you to take the perk or stats of a weapon or armour and attach it to another, at the expense of getting rid of that piece of equipment. The catch here is that you can only do this a limited amount of times based on how many tools you find, so there is sort of a strategy in choosing when and how to upgrade your weapons. You really need to think things through otherwise you can screw yourself up and get rid of some perks that you might want for your weapon or armour later in the game. At the end of the day, you just want to ensure that you are at the end of the game with a weapon and vest that has all the perks you want with the best stats, and that in itself whole other strategy you need to keep in mind as you play this game. I loved this system and how made me always think of how I'm going to upgrade my equipment as I picked up more equipment and tools.

Of course with the soundtrack being headed by Yoko Shimomura, it is a given that it will be excellent. The NYPD theme will forever be stuck in my head as that song is just such a vibe. Also this being a horror game and all, Shimomura pulls of some great creepy beats which is new to me as typically she known for more upbeat or dramatic soundtracks. The final boss theme is just WOW and I did not expect Shimomura to reach this level of epic with creepy beats.

Some complaints I do have with this game are the fact that it is highly recommended you read up on the game systems before you play as you really can screw yourself over if you go in without knowing anything about the equipment upgrade system that necessary to understand. You can easily softlock yourself if you do not know what you are doing. Back then, this was the fine but today that's not as not very good game design.

Parasite Eve was an entertaining survival RPG through a horror infested New York, with some Squaresoft drama and intricate JRPG systems that I can clearly see why this game has a cult following. It is something you can easily go back to for another replay as you can truly break the game with prior knowledge of the upgrade systems and have even more of a good time. I enjoyed a lot about the cast and world of this game too and I'm very interested in continuing the story to see what happens next in the Sequel.

Parasite Eve is a stellar novel, using science to it's full advantage to create a gripping tale of body horror, love and loss, and the lengths someone will go for someone. It's one of my favorite pieces of horror ever, so a sequel to that work in the form of a game seems right up my alley. Taking place a year or so after the events of the book, you Play as Aya, a cop in the NYPD, who ends up encountering Eve, a being that formed from the mitochondria that wants to take over the world. Aya spends most of the journey forming a close group of friends, fighting off the various mutations Eve sends out at her, and attempting to prevent Eve from giving birth to the Ultimate Being, thus wrecking havok on the world. For a horror game on the ps1, this one's pretty unique. Most battles are random, with a turn based action rpg system in place. Think system of mana where you have a bar that has to fill up before attacking, but you can still move around and dodge enemies attacks at the same time while it fills up. You can equip various weapons such as a gun or a club, with each having different perks to using one. You can also upgrade each gun, letting you kinda make a build of your own. Maybe you want a gun that lets you shoot more bullets at once, but deals less damage because of it. Maybe you want to have a slower recharge on the bar, but deal insane damage to compensate. On top of that, you also have various Parasite skills to help you. This takes up your mana, or bp in this game, letting you do stuff such fire off a huge laser, heal, and even apply debuffs. It's a fun system that has you juggling what attacks will work best in each moment. Bosses are great too in this game! Each one felt like they tested my skills well enough, though the final boss feels a bit long, to the point of exhaustion. There is also the elephant in the room, the Chrysler building. After you beat the game for the first time, you unlock this huge 70 floor dungeon where you fight through battle after battle in order to reach the top and fight the true final boss. This is just exhausting after awhile, and I was left bored super early on. Honestly, it's more worth looking up the ending on youtube then dealing with the dungeon. While I think the original novel is the much better story, this sequel is still pretty great, and I can see myself coming back to this time to time. Def gonna check out the later sequels too, and if you're a big fan of horror, give this as hot, you'll have a good time.

One of few horror themed Japanese RPGs. Should be more of them! An alright game but I would probably have liked it better had I played it back in the 90s - 25 years later it just feels pretty basic. On the other hand, it's SHORT (10 hrs or so) so no harm experiencing it just once.

Assorted thoughts:

- Annoying battle system where you just have to be the one that kills the other first. Hard to dodge because you are slow (you get a speed up spell but too expensive...)
- Upgrading your weapons/crafting + solo character + "target sphere" that shows your range + oppressive atmosphere - from this perspective similar to Vagrant Story
- Good and creepy CGI with nice body horror and transformations. This is the strongest part, I think! Maybe this would have been better as a movie?
- Bonus dungeon + alt ending via Chrysler Building... Would have done it but too tedious to replay the game (at least partially) to level Aya up. Happy that this type of NG+ exclusive stuff is becoming less common.

This game is a curious gem in the industry: It's a loose sequel from a j-horror book, now focused on an american cop, with ATB combat from FF games, a story involving deep biological concepts and beautiful CGs, and it gets everything(or almost that) right.

The gameplay is simple, you are interrupted by random encounters where you have to run back and forth dodging from monster's attacks while your ATB charges, and then you may do one action of your choice, offensive or defensive, unlocking new spells as you go on, as well as new guns and armors in chests through the stages. If that feels boring, well, it WOULD be if the game were longer, but the right length makes the game stay fun and engaging until the end.

The story is mostly standalone, with some ties to the original novel, and is presented through complex dialogue and beautiful CGs, it's not as confusing as it may seem and the core part of the game is simple, even though the details are a bit more for the savvy.

I felt the soundtrack a bit lacking, the music is good in transmitting the vibe but stays mostly calm and relaxed, not even the battle and boss themes seem fitting, unfortunately.
Other than that, it's a game that has hard to master systems and builds but unless you're trying for the NG+ exclusive beating you will rarely need to heed too much attention. As for said dungeon, it has an extra boss and ending, which I tried to do but them the tediousness of the combat shows its fang, and since its a long, long dungeon, I kinda dropped it and just watched the new ending on YouTube, and I'd have felt cheated if I didn't give up because its just a short scene with a dialogue that ties to the original book, and that's all, so take this as a tip if you're up to the grinding only for that ending and not for the gameplay itself.

All in all, it's a solid survival horror, even if not that scary, with REALLY BEAUTIFUL CGs even when showing gore or ooze or other lousy slimes, easy to play and to enjoy.