Parasite Eve

It seems that everybody has a lot to say about Parasite Eve. It has garnered praise for graphics, criticism for length and both of the above for game play. Well, I am no exception and have a word or two concerning this offering from Squaresoft.

I Went To The Opera And All Hell Broke Loose

Parasite Eve is based on a Japanese novel of the same name by Hideaki Sena. It is set in present day New York City, well, Christmas 1997, to be exact, which was when the game was released in Japan. The protagonist in the story is Aya Brea, a young NYPD officer. While she is on a Christmas Eve date at the opera, all hell breaks loose. The operatic lead begins singing an aria and everyone in Carnegie Hall spontaneously bursts into flames. Aya is mysteriously unaffected while everyone around her burns. Once all is reduced to charcoal, only Aya and the singer, Melissa Pearce remain. Aya confronts Melissa, who is calling herself Eve. Eve says some cryptic things that foreshadow the rest of the story, Eve has an unusual flashback and the two fight until Eve disappears.

The Mitochondria Are Revolting

The premise of Parasite Eve is that mitochondria, a micro-organism that lives within human cells and has existed symbiotically with the nucleus for hundreds of millions of years, have awaken and are self aware. "Critical for production of energy within living things, mitochondria has its own genetic code and the ability to evolve and multiply. What if this organism had her own intentions and was waiting for the day to take over the human race...?" Melissa/Eve is transformed by them and weilds power both to mutate and to incinerate organisms. Only Aya, who has some mysterious link to Eve, explained in flashback scenes, is immune to her power and she must track Eve's trail of carnage through the city. The story covers six days and is basically a string of battles between Aya and Eve with a little build up between each confrontation. Aya has some affinity for using the power of the mitochondria and learns to access this Parasite Energy, much as magic is usually used in other RPGs.

The idea of mutating animals serves as a great spark to the imagination of the game designers. The mutated, fireball slinging creatures which Aya battles are excellently conceived and implemented. There are no mushrooms or flying snakes here, dreamed up at the last second to fill a void in the monster hierarchy. In Parasite Eve, rats, parrots, spiders, polar bears and all manner of animals become truly nasty monsters. All of this is beautifully set in New York City.

Parasite Eve has been rightfully acclaimed for superlative graphics. The cut scenes in the game are spectacular. The pre-rendered backgrounds are beautiful and the character animations are very well done. New York City is strangely silent in Parasite Eve and there is a very limited cast of characters. What little interaction there is between them is accomplished by written dialogue. This lack of voice acting was a real disappointment to me. I recently finished playing Panzer Dragoon Saga on the Sega Saturn, which is also a "cinematic" RPG and even though the voice acting was in Japanese, I still listened to it for the emotional information and character development that a human voice affords. Reading, scripted dialogue in Parasite Eve really seemed out of place when so much effort went into the cinematic quality of the game. This silent and beautiful, empty world in some ways reminded me more of Myth than of anything else. It often feels like walking through a museum of New York City.

To Anime Or Not To Anime

Early conceptual art, released for Parasite Eve, was full anime style. The tone and fantastical horror of the story do not fit so well in an anime environment. As later art was released, it was less and less anime. The finished product is and is not anime. Most of the characters in the game still have that cherubic 15 year old structure, but they are full height and their eyes are large and expressive. North American audiences have grown, if not to love (I know, I know, some of you do love it), then to accept anime graphics. North American RPGs tend to be darker and more charged with evil and testosterone, witness Diablo. Anime completely dominates the console RPG market while North American style RPGs dominate the PC world. I think that Diablo has proved that there is room for both styles in the console market. Parasite Eve, while a step away from anime, remains anime.

Moving Combat

Combat in Parasite Eve is also a step away from typical RPG fare. Basically, the combat system is the same as that of Final Fantasy VII. Each character has a time meter which charges at a fixed rate. When her meter is full, Aya can perform an action. That action can be to attack, to access inventory or to use some Parasite Energy. Between actions, Aya and the enemies she battles remain free to move about the combat screen, which is the same rendered environment wherein the combat occurs. Enemy attacks are typically slow moving. Their fireballs and energy lances etc, trace slowly across the screen and Aya is able to dodge them. Combat goes like this: Aya runs constantly around the screen, waiting for her meter to fill up. When it does, she selects a target (the game freezes at this point) and attacks, standing still. Now she runs around some more, dodging enemy attacks, waiting for the meter to recharge.

This system of combat is definitely more active than that of standard RPGs and is somewhat like the combat system of two other recent games: Tales of Destiny or Panzer Dragoon Saga. Each of these games have a combat system where the player is constantly and actively involved in combat. Of the three, I prefer the system of Panzer Dragoon Saga, but Parasite Eve's system is an interesting adaptation. My problem with it is that I usually felt like I was cheating or being cheated. Most of the creatures have such simple and predictable patterns that they rarely if ever hit you and I felt like I was cheating by being able to dodge all of their attacks. The main bosses, on the other hand, tend to have attacks that are unavoidable and I felt cheated. If Squaresoft was going to go this far, I don't know why they didn't take it one more step and let me aim and pull the trigger myself. Still, the combat system of Parasite Eve remains an interesting step towards more active RPGs.

A Game Or A Movie?

It is incorrect to label Parasite Eve a Role Playing Game. The term, "cinematic," which Squaresoft is using is more correct. This is a cinematic game or cinematic adventure. It is not really a Role Playing Game. Parasite Eve is completely scripted and linear. There is no making of decisions or using your own imagination. All of the characters are predetermined. As close as you come to role playing is to be able to change Aya's name. You are, rather, swept through a cinematic adventure where you control the combat and inventory of the protagonist. The cinema only stops if you are not paying enough attention or miss something and are unsure what to do next. It may happen in Parasite Eve that you miss a vital clue because the interface is a little touchy. You seem to have to be exactly in the correct spot to interact with a hot spot in the environment. If you are off by the tiniest margin, it seems as if nothing is there. Any confusion won't last long. Again, this is alike to Panzer Dragoon Saga and to Tales of Destiny. In all three cases, the story is excellent and interesting but I sometimes wonder if the term game is very accurate or if interactive movie or story would be more correct. The very fact that it is impossible to skip any of the cut scenes gives some indication of what Square thinks is most important in this production.

Straddling The Divide

Parasite Eve straddles a number of divides. It is and it is not a cinematic experience. It is and it is not anime. It is and it is not set in a fantastical world. The developers seemed to want to break out of the genre but to lack the courage to really take the last step. Perhaps Square's reputation is too important to them or they remain stuck in their tried and true format. To me, this game seemed to want out of more of the standard fantasy RPG mind set. Finding weapons scattered about, or after battles with mutated animals just felt wrong, even in New York City. It dismayed me at the start of the game to consistently do more damage to an enemy by hitting them with a nightstick than by shooting them with Aya's handgun. Level Ups and Hit Point gains felt forced in a contemporary New York City setting. I came to be quite irritated with Aya's slow, knees bent, I'm swinging my bent arm sideways, and battling in high heels, anime style movements. All of these things are consistent with traditional RPGs yet so much of the game was non-traditional RPG: Contemporary setting, less than anime art work, roving combat system, cinematic character, and so on.

Does Size Really Matter?

The most consistent criticism of Parasite Eve is that it is too short. Everyone is wowed by the cut scenes, the character animations and the beautifully rendered backgrounds. The premise is interesting and the story, good. The gameplay innovations are interesting and work quite well. Gamers are, however, disappointed to spend their money on a game and complete it in ten hours of play. This is understandable, games are expensive. I, to play Devil's advocate, get irritated by games with overly long time spans. No matter how vibrant a virtual world and how compelling a story, I tire of playing the same game. There is a constant string of new games to play. RPGs are the worst for dragging on endlessly, past the point of enjoyment, until you only play out of pure pigheadedness and desire to finish the damn game. Every random battle becomes an irritant and you just want it to end. "Leave them wanting more," I say. If Parasite Eve sounds too short to be worth your money, then that is why you read reviews before purchasing. That's why we are here. Rent it on a weekend and play it. The game is well worth playing and should be enjoyable to RPG fans as well as those who have never before played an RPG.

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