Parasite Eve Series Retrospective | An Exhaustive History and Review
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Thanks to games like Resident Evil, Dead Space and Signalis, a long forgotten relic of the 90s has come roaring back into relevance. Survival horror is back and bigger than ever - but where is one of it’s flagship franchises?
Today we’ll be exploring Parasite Eve, a series that is as chaotic as it is brilliant, combining Final Fantasy with Silent Hill and Stephen King with Stephen Hawking. It may be an iconic PlayStation franchise - but where it is now and why did it disappear?
It's part critique, part retrospective, part review and part history lesson - obviously full of spoilers and obviously full of my opinions.
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All media in this video is used for the purpose of review, commentary or criticism and is defined as fair use under US Copyright law.
Credit for the incredible thumbnail goes to the immensely talented - @MicahTheBrave
Credit also goes to Goodreads user "Brandon" for his hilarious review of Parasite Eve the novel that turned me onto the two baffling quotes shown during that section
=== Chapters ===
00:00:00 - Survival Horror Reborn (Introduction)
00:03:11 - The Root of All Evil (Novel)
00:12:06 - The Root of All Evil (Film)
00:22:19 - Parasite Eve I - Development
00:35:17 - Parasite Eve I - Square’s Survival Horror
00:55:50 - Parasite Eve I - Cinematic Role Playing
01:07:14 - Parasite Eve I - A Matter of Fine Balance
01:18:32 - Parasite Eve I - The Blockbuster Finale
01:33:35 - Parasite Eve I - Post Traumatic Content
01:43:08 - Parasite Eve II - Development
01:52:35 - Parasite Eve II - Evolution
02:06:56 - Parasite Eve II - Progression
02:20:33 - Parasite Eve II - Doppelganger
02:33:49 - Parasite Eve II - Recurrence
02:55:50 - The 3rd Birthday - Development
03:05:57 - The 3rd Birthday - A Circus of Change
03:18:28 - The 3rd Birthday - Twisted and Wrong
03:30:16 - The 3rd Birthday - The End of an Era
03:45:44 - Survival Horror Remade (Conclusion)
===
#ParasiteEve #SurvivalHorror #Retrospective
If you're desperate for more LENGTHY video CONTENT - you're in luck. I've just posted a new video covering the new Prince of Persia game. Does it live up to the series legacy? What happened in the 14 years since we last saw the Prince? Can it compete in the video game world of 2024? Enjoy! - kzhead.info/sun/h8d_dr6vhal-gZ8/bejne.html
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😊
I feel like ive seen this game before a long time ago, its very vivid to me
😅S
Pinky
Who else falls asleep then wakes up to random videos?
Me
Has happened 2 times lately😂
Me too
HOW DID YOU KNOW
How I found this video 😂
I keep waking up to this video on autoplay
Same
Same! Almost every day.
Okay yeah I just woke up to this too
Just woke up to it to 😂
Lol hhh first time this morning
I keep falling asleep with KZhead on auto play and this is probably the 10th time I've woke up to find this video played all the way through again.
bro i fell asleep to this wdf is happening
Its actually incredibly comforting to know that, when I picked up the 3rd Birthday as a teen and it made No Damn Sense, that I wasn't alone. Even the people who knew it was a sequel (which I did not) were in the same boat.
Honestly I'm not even sure I understand it to this day and I made a massive video on the subject!
Parasite Eve was my first love, this game literally made me the biology freak I am today. At one point, all i did was playing Parasite Eve 2 over and over again, I remember crying when my memory card died and my 16 completitions save got deleted. Man those where the times, thank you
Oh that is brutal - I'd be absolutely gutted as well!
"Biology freak" --- well put lol. My Beloved at the time dealt with some intense stress by playing the Chrysler Bldg for like, a year. I bought him his PS + PS2 while we were together (I'm working class, so it was a labour of love, saving up for them took ~16months on min-wage part-time multiple jobs while in school). I remember so many good times with those machines + games. I'm a crap fighter but a good puzzler + level explorer, he was a great fighter + good puzzler, & we both loved stories, so we'd play solo but handing the controller between us to do each of "our" sections so we'd complete the game together. SSX Tricky was the only thing we played where we both did the whole game. I loved SSX Tricky & the game's intertwined with Parasite Eve bc that was pretty much what we did to get thru that year, just the Chrysler Bldg + SSX Tricky lol. I just realized how odd it was those 2 games together. I think I miss the way that couple generations of games had worked out how to tell interesting stories using all play-elements + looked good but hadn't hardened into these products with standard genre conventions yet; they always seemed to have quirks & felt arty even coming from top companies.
YEAH! PE2 is such a forgotten gem! Bounty mode for the win! :D also the soundtrack is as wacky and awsome as the monster design, the entire game is an wierd artpiece!
Awesome!!!! Me too! I'm a research biologist & Parasite Eve for sure had something to do with it. Culture was enthusiastic about biology in the '90s-- "sequencing the genome" was such a buzzy phrase! People respected scientists & even feared them. Scientists were very sexy. It was the coolest possible thing you could become. It was always my dream. I feel bad for kids growing up in today's largely anti-academic culture. Anyway, ahem ... I am also a bit of a opera nerd, which might be related to a lot of Square games! lol.
I lost my Castlevania-SOTN-almost-all-items-but-two (which I was about to get) save due to memory card failure and have never gotten over the trauma 😂😭🥺
I played parasite eve and PE 2 in middle school and they still sit on my shelf to this day, it is so insane to me all these years later they fumbled a premise like this so badly in the end.
It's a real shame isn't it. A third person shooter revival of Parasite Eve doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing but they really just botched almost every single element of it.
The real masterpiece is the soundtrack alone
@@morpheuslaughingJust listen to the battle music. Japan isn't great at making video games, but it's great at making video game music.
O man, I didn’t even know Parasite Eve started as a novel. I just thought Squaresoft had some wild writing staff.
It's pretty surprising isn't it. I'm sure most people thought exactly the same!
I read the book a decade ago after playing the game and the review here is very accurate, it can be a tough read but if you can stomach it it's wonderfully disturbing. I prefer the original ending over the film's but that's just me
The book is worth it imo
The game actually references the book. There’s a scene when Maeda (I think? Might have been another scientist) mentions that there had been another “Eve” in Japan who gave birth to an ultimate being, but it died. He’s referring to the events of the book. Cool Easter egg for those few who got the reference.
@@evanminoi noticed that too because I read the book before i played the game
The immense strength it must have taken to make this video without giving in to the impulse to say "the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell"...
I pride myself on trying to avoid the obvious lines. I think I'm still yet to compare any older game to Dark Souls so long may that run continue
@@IFinishedAVideoGameDude, it would have been funny as hell if you ended the video with something like a take away message from the games that the Mitochondria is indeed the powerhouse of the cell
Sorry for bumping old comment, but add a touch of humor it would add a lot with very little.
@@IFinishedAVideoGame good luck xD you can run, but you cannot escape
The whole video I was watching, I waited for this line. Lol at least it's not forgotten
I was a 3d character modeler/rigger in the PS1/PS2 days so it's very nostalgic seeing video footage of artists working in front of their PCs at the time. We create assets an entirely different way today with a lot less limitations, but there was a art to creating models that were aesthetically pleasing with very limited polygons, bone count and texture map sizes. Fun times
I really admire the skill it took to do so much with so little back then! Of course the possibilities are virtually endless now but there is something special about making memorable visuals from virtual thin air!
What was it like, if you can give a brief description. I only have very limited experience with 3D modeling using 3dsMax and even AutoCAD, and that was difficult enough to make anything that resembles anything recognizable. I remember the basic process was to like, think about what ever object you are trying to model, and try to break it down into its most basic shapes that make up the object, and kind of build up from a rough approximation of your object and it’s basic shapes. This was quite a while ago now, and I was only a beginner, so my understanding here could be totally wrong now, or not at all how some people 3d model nowadays.
@@quiggs8361 You're not too far from exactly how we did it. The process started with 2d concept art and at the time, the model sheet art typically focused on big, bold shapes with strong silhouettes rather than smaller details like zippers or buttons. If you Google search some Jak And Daxter concept art, you'll see what I mean. Since this was before Zbrush and sculpting digitally first becoming the norm.. we would use common modeling techniques called 'box modeling' or 'cylindrical modeling' or 'edge extrude modeling'. You start with very low resolution base shapes to nail proportions, then slowly add more and more edges and move verts in 3d space to describe the character until you've reached your polycount limit. Alternatively, some modelers would work backwards(Same with texture artists). You can start with double or triple the polybudget, then start collapsing and trimming edges strategically until you've hit your polycount. The final model is a combination of what the 3d asset gives you + what the 2d handpainted texture gives you.
@@rodneyabrett Is it cool to ask what you do now? are you still in the video game industry? Whenever I see these behind the scene footage of dozens of people at work in their cubicles I'm always amazed at how they're somehow all on the same page, it's crazy to me that you can have hundreds of people work on a project that is thematically consistent all the way through. I imagine you have to be extremely confident in your art skills to shift from your personal art style to someone else's so everything looks like one style
@@andrecaldas1431 I work for Steel Wool Games now on the Five Nights franchise as a character rigger and character modeler. Obviously we're able to use a lot more polygons to describe the 2d concept art today than we were able to back then. When you work for a studio on a professional level, you have to get used to not having ownership of your art. It isn't really about your personal style, but rather executing on a shared unified vision that the directors and concept artists decided long before you create a single polygon.
Man, I never played these games. But I will never forget walking in on my cousin playing this with my brother, and I saw that intro sequence of people spontaneously combusting as Eve sings. A sequence so haunting that I ran out of the living room crying and unable to sleep that night.
I hope this video can serve to purge some of that childhood trauma! In all seriousness though, I'm not surprised - it's genuinely disturbing!
@IFinishedAVideoGame Well this was an excellent video that I found randomly. Still working through it but I love how in-depth you go, you just earner yourself a sub!
@@IFinishedAVideoGameyes that opera scene, the central park scene, the rat mutation and the seminal zombie head turn in the original Resident evil were all burned into my memory from youth. I actually had nightmares for a week after playing resident evil at 11 in 1996. It really was that good back then. We'd never seen anything like it. Cheers for the great videos
oh, you are lucky it wasnt a zombie tearing a head off and then slowly turn around looking at you...cus that shit kept me up :(
@@benturner3458 home. BB. BB Mm mm. Mm So BB . BB me for. Mm. So BB BB BB to BB BB BB BB all.... Oh. ....... .,, , is on.. It's . Off... Me.. It . Off. Oo ? Oh. ... Too if Mom BB BB bbjnnnj7
I've had a love for this game since I was a child. I was born in 1993, and I was exposed to PE before I could even read. My mom used to play it for me and would read the subtitles for me so that I could enjoy the story. During a time where there weren't that many female leads to look up to, Aya Brea quickly became my first love for a video game character. To this day, Aya is still my number one favorite, and PE is still my favorite game/story. I would love nothing more than to see it get a remake or a sequel that it deserves. The Third Birthday was such a massive let down, and nothing broke my heart more than being forced to literally kill a character that is so special to me. Thank you for your review, and for giving something so beloved to me some attention that it deserves.
You're more than welcome - I'm glad you enjoyed it and it could kindle those memories again!
I love your comment. Aya is special to me for the same reason. I’m a dude but I have a daughter and I want her to know there are female heroes out there. She loves Zelda but I’m working on getting her to play older games lol. I’m trying to make sure she understand the important difference of being strong and being a woman as opposed to being strong BECAUSE you are a woman. This character is super important!!!
I had the same experience with the original Resident Evil and my Mom! Scared the absolute shit out of me when I was a kid lol. But I remember being confused when people were arguing that there was no strong female representation in video games because all of my favorite games growing up had incredibly capable, strong women as MCs. The Tomb Raider trilogy, Silent Hill 3, Resident Evil 1, 2, 3, and Code Veronica, and Parasite Eve. We really had it pretty good in the PS1 era 😂
Daniel jumping on flames is one of the greatest scenes in videogame history.
Absolutely - it's a completely wild cutscene
Everytime he appears, all he did are just badass incarnate. It's respectable how daring he is despite facing supernatural threat that would kill him in an instant.
You've really got a knack for taking a comprehensive, deep dive into a game's history, without making the end result feel bloated or superfluous. 👍
That's awesome to hear. I'm always concerned that these videos are simply too long but as I'm writing them this just feels natural - I wouldn't feel like they were worthwhile without the detail and side stories!
@@IFinishedAVideoGameo😅😅😅ilooooolllllooooooooooooooooooôooooôoo9oooôooôooôooooooooooooooooooooooôoooooooooo9oooooooooooooooôoooooôooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooôooooooooooooooôooooolooôoooooooooloooooooooloooooooooooooôooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo😅ooooooooooooooooooôoooooo😅ooooo😅ooooooolllllllolooooooooooooooooo😅oooooooooooooooolooooooooooooooooooooolooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooloooooooolooooloololooloooooolllooooooo Oooooooollooo Ooloooooo Oloooooo Ooooooo Oooooooloolloollooooolll Oloooollooooo😅ooooooooooooooolo😅ooooooooooooolooooooloooooòoloo😅ooooooooo😅o😅looooooo9oloo😅ooooooooooooooo😅ol😅oooooooololoooooooO😅ooo😅ooooooooooolooooooooloo😅oooo😅ooo 😅ooooolooloooOoo Oooooooooooollooooooooooooooooloooooolooo😅looloooooooOlooooooloooooloooooo😅oloooolooO😅OOOloOooooooooooooooooooooo Ooo OooooooOoloooooooooOoooooloolooooloooooooooooo OoolooloooooooOooooooooooooooooooooooooo😅oloooooooOooooooooooooooooooooloooooooo😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😊😅😅😅😅
Parasite eve 1 to this day is still my favorite game of all time
Likewise!
I think the horror of parasite Eve is so good because it's like "The thing" it can be anywhere, be anything, and you can't even stop it getting people
It does seem like they've taken some John Carpenter influence! Body horror is always just so disturbing!
the makers have said that FF7, Parasite Eve & Chrono Trigger/Cross were all created at the same time based on 'The Thing' so yes! they all have the same concept to the main bad, hence FF7's 'Reunion' the concept that you can cut off the limbs of Jenova and they will 'join back together again' @@IFinishedAVideoGame
It's not even just that it can be anywhere. It IS EVERYWHERE. It always was. It is a part of everyone.
The thing I like most about Parasite Eve is that the game rejects the novel's take on organ donation. The novel hews towards traditional Japanese biases against it, and the characters are ultimately punished for their role in the process of donating organs. The game, however, says that Aya's donated organ is a GOOD thing, and in fact it is the thing that makes her a superhero who can save the city. This is a SCALDING hot take from a Japanese company in the 90s and I'm still surprised that they went that way, 25 years later.
This is honestly an amazing point that I very much wish I'd been able to include. That's extremely interesting because you're spot on. I'd love to know what drove Sakaguchi and Tokita to take that stance on what was a seriously controversial topic
I think the original game actually presents *both* points. Because on the one hand, Aya getting Maya's cornea is presented as a good thing, but Melissa getting Maya's *kidney* is presented as a bad thing. The game shows organ donation being punishing (Melissa) *and* it being rewarding (Aya). You could say though, that the "organ donation = good" point is a stealth point in the game, as we find out about Melissa undergoing organ donation *much* earlier in the game, and it's presented as a bad thing (it being the cause of her getting the neo-mitochondria and mutating into Eve). They only bring up Aya getting the cornea in the second to last scene, just before the Opera ending and credits. It always felt to me like an "Donation isn't *always* a bad thing" rather than "donation = good"
Sounds to me like the reason for the novel's success was more rooted in a fascination with the political controversy of organ donation it represented in a country where challenging the status quo itself is already taboo. It wasn't therefore a famous novel but rather an infamous novel. It is therefore no surprise then that it never took off with western audiences because without the central theme being considered controversial the rest of the narrative becomes very bland. For the IP to really capture the same attention it'd need to explore equally divisive themes around biology and social norms.
@@IFinishedAVideoGame pin this comment!
@@MissScarletTanager I like your nuanced view more.
Man, I remember all my friends pre-ordering Parasite Eve. We got it at the midnight launch and drove home. We cooked popcorn and grabbed our soda and slimjims, turned off the lights and melted our faces until we passed out. Those were amazing years man and I will never forget the first game.
same
Damn, that sounds so sweet. A great era to have experianced.
I'm surprised that had a midnight release. Parasite Eve always seemed like more of a niche sleeper hit, despite it coming from Squaresoft. A lot of other games at the time, including Resident Evil, just seemed to overshadow it. But it is definitely my favorite of that genre in that era.
@@Bristecom Yea in my area SquareSoft games post FFVII had pre-orders with midnight launches.
My best friend & I got us pe2 directly at release too. From a video rental and then made copys for us 🤫 Looking back I feel a little bad for doing this, even though it was very common in Germany at this time 😬 (You guys should have seen the VHS library of my friend. He had a device that would remove the copy protection..). ANYWAY, we met up each weekend and as often as possible and played it together. Same with Vagrant Story and of course many more great games.. ❤️
youtube where am i
I woke up and here I am😂
I literally never heard of Parasite Eve until now but I feel sooo frustrated by how the series ended.
I'm glad that the sheer insanity of it comes through even if you're not familiar with the series before hand!
Part one and two played completely different from each other. I didn't even like the 3rd one on PSP.... but I did like the first two because of the guns
The Parasite Eve fans, we like to pretend 3rd Birthday doesn't exist and hope but even though it will never happen...is a proper remake of the series.
Fun fact... if you watch the trainers for FF7 "REMAKE" - there is a rather nice Easter egg of the main character for PE in her iconic black dress on a billboard so perhaps on a few years they will announce a revival
That's the effect that Japanese Steve Moffat does :,))
The amount of work you put into these is beyond amazing to me. I'm simultaneously nostalgic for when I first played PE, and also really intrigued by the stuff I didn't know about, like the book and the movie.
This one was a real nightmare so I'm really happy that it's come across well and people who are familiar with the games are getting something new out of it!
Late 90s to beginning of 2000's game output by squaresoft is probably something we will never see again in gaming! At least in major AAA studio releases anyway. So much creativity and blending of genres to make something truly unique and interesting it just makes me yearn for an era of gaming long behind us.
It certainly makes you feel sad to know what they've become - a victim of their own success in a way
@@IFinishedAVideoGame a blue pill . A red pill. Which one will you take.?
@@IFinishedAVideoGame is that why our media is constantly attacked? Or are the boomers as afraid of losing their hold on society as ever.
@@IFinishedAVideoGame open your mind
Yes, but part of that was because new territory was everywhere and the gaming community was young and the market unsaturated, so more risky ideas got the green light. And loot boxes hadn't been invented yet. Don't worry, the era hasn't actually ended- it's just moved to the indie space. I just played through Inscryption which is very genre blendy, very high quality, and so refreshing.
I think that if Capcom owned it, we would already have a full remake if not another full new story.
I think you're probably right. They really should be the blueprint that other legacy Japanese developers follow!
That’s true!! Never thought of that before. And the remakes in general are actually GOOD, which is astounding imo, given the quality (or lack thereof imo) of remakes, sequels and prequels in all media these days 😅
Megaman fans on suicide watch. 😂
And an entire other burrough of NY would be on disc but dlc.
@hammylove821 bro we got megaman 11. But the auras wrath part of me is looking down the bridge
I was such an innocent baby when I played this game that I remember being shocked once I figured out what Eve had broken into the hospital for.
God being reminded of just how awfully Aya got done is such a crime. It's so sad that one of the best female characters in gaming has been hidden away because we don't want people to see the 3rd birthday and how it really is the worst angle. I would absolutely love a remake of the parasite eve games but like any game series there needs to be a champion and a prospect of actual sales to warrant the cost. Super well done video. Subbed.
Thanks so much my friend. Glad you enjoyed the video and sorry for putting you through the 3rd Birthday again!
The 3rd Birthday was great I just beat it about a week ago! You just gotta look at it as not part of the series. And they didn’t actually ruin her character.
If you want a remake .. check the trailers for FF7 REMAKE... you might see some Easter eggs on billboards
@@jamesredline1352it is part of the series. You cant ignore that. Its trash.
@@Crabo99 I think it’s the game that deserves a remake. I think the fans deserve it too
My god Square was amazing in the late 90s. I loved just about everything they made.
It was a genuine golden age. So many of my favourite ever games came from that period
Now thier making forspoken 😂 how the mighty has fallen
Now they can't make a game without a bunch of british accents.
@@maniestranger4329 Yeah, they really need to stop listening to the vocal USA market.
Heck yea. A far cry from today. Put it simply, most of their 90s talents have defected and made their own studios, starting with Sakaguchi-san himself.
If square was really wanting to go the remake route with some of its classics, they really should consider Parasite Eve as a contender in a possible future remake.
Absolutely - it would totally suit the current trend of survival horror games with lose RPG mechanics!
I have heard that the scripts of Parasite Eve and Xenogears were drafted for FF7. When they got rejected, they were given approval to be made into their own games. This video suddenly clicked with me that Jenova is very similar to Eve. A foreign alien that corrupted and altered genetics of the animals and humans of the planet. The idea that Jenova's cell were put into humans for experiments to create the ultimate being, hence Sephiroth. Perhaps Parasite Eve novel influence FF7 more than we realized.
Quite possibly! I know that Sakaguchi was very happy to move ideas around so maybe there is a bit of Parasite Eve in FF7!
They are basically Lavos
@@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526 Absolutely.
One of the things I miss in games nowadays are the detailed and vivid descriptions of the environments. This is one thing I will remember forever: in PE 2 when you get to Ark there is a place with a lot of cages. The cages contain monkeys that were experimented on, and every single one has a different description. Ones I remember particularly well were one where a monkeys eyeballs popped out of their sockets and he is eating them, and one whose brain was exposed, dripping blood because he was scratching it constantly. Those are just some throwaway lines of dialogue, but are still better horror than 95% of the stuff that comes out today.
That's the best kind of horror, the kind that sticks with you long after you've stopped playing. Much like the infamous keeper's diary from RE1, which was also completely optional to read, but painted a horrifying image of what it was like to turn into a zombie. Sadly horror today is way too often relying on getting an instant reaction out of the player, rather than building atmosphere and letting the players' imaginations work against them.
that logic what made Amnesia so great. game punished you for looking at monsters and making you safer in darkness while letting your imagination run wild with text description of em
I really agree - that was an element of PE2 I really enjoyed. The environments were just so detailed
Exploding babies and some of the other anmc lore was also really great and Bowman's diary entries were also pretty creepy.
To be clear PE2 also did environments differently as well. Other games at the time did narrated descriptions. PE2 had Aya explain what the thing she was looking at was, in her first inspection of an object. If she inspected something once you only got a description of what it was, however if you continued inspecting the thing Aya would monologue and extrapolate about it. Most things in the game had 3-4 inspection dialogues that further fleshed out the story. From explaining what happened between the first game and second game via just examining the news clipping in the fbi headquaters a few times to finding out that Aya doesn't even age anymore by examining herself in the mirror multiple times. It was done in such a way that if you wanted nothing but what is this and to continue the game, the game facilitated that. However if you kept examing things you got more lore, backstory, forshadowing, and hints about future story and game play elements. It was very well done imo.
"Aya Brea is too good of a character to be left in the PS1" Nomura: Brings her back and completely annihilate her character
It's just absolutely brutal and I have no idea why he even bothered
Nomura has always been a hack. Kingdom Hearts was only popular cause Disney fans are rabid. He needs to be led, he is not a good leader.
I mean looking at the storyline of the KH series lately explains why this happened
I just beat The 3rd Birthday about a week ago and I loved it! If you just treat it like it’s own game it’s pretty great. And they didn’t actually ruin her character. You have to finish the game to find that out though.
@@jamesredline1352he covered that in the video. The twist doesn't fix any of the issues. If they wanted us to be playing as eve we should have been playing as Eve not "Aya".
The good ole days when literally everything that came out of SquareSoft was straight fire. Now, we'd be lucky if we get anything a quarter as good as what it used to be.
The museum is so astonishing and I love how they played with New York as a setting. Creepy dark central park, seeing the burning Chrysler building in the distance. So good. Excellent chunky video!
Thanks very much and you're bang on - the New York setting is really fantastic!
I LOVED Parasite Eve. Second one was pretty good too. I'd love to see a third one day.
A real shame they stopped at two.
That first half of parasite Eve 2 was great
There is a third game called The Third Birthday. It was for PSP. Not very good.
@@RhysChristian490 that's the joke. Nobody acknowledged it's existence. It was THAT bad.
The rule of three in video games. Almost no video game series gets a third game, and if it does, it's often mid, or the very last game. (I.E: Shenmue 3.)
4 hours of my life I'll never get back... and I wish I could give you again. This is a banger of a retrospective and had me hooked from the first second. Top tier production.
That's awesome to hear. Glad you enjoyed it!
I mean you can just rewatch it to give him 4 more hours
Qf😂😂a@@blackheavymetalman
I fell asleep watching KZhead a week ago and in my dream I heard this video playing and I was a little freaked out lol. When I woke up I watched the movie and started taking an interest in the games. I found a franchise I like from falling asleep with KZhead on. Thank you!
That's awesome. Thanks youtube!
There was a girl at my high school who looked EXACTLY like Aya Brea (the game, not the film) and every time I saw her walk by, I liked to imagine there was some mitochondrial monster roaming the halls.
Did you hit that
Sounds like a terrifying ordeal to have to go through every day
@@AC-hj9tv bro that's fucking wild why did that come to mind first
Parasite eve 2 is my favourite game on the PS1, great story, great graphics, loved the battle system, and it’s replay ability is fantastic.
It really is criminally underrated. So many people stop after 1!
2 was good, dont get me wrong, i didnt hate it. i hated the complete 180 on the movement style. i tried so many times, but i could not get used to the inverted controls. thats the only reason i couldnt finish it (well and losing the memory card with the save file). was a good sequel, but they should have definitely stopped after 2 or just not have released 3rd birthday
I’d buy remastered PE 1 and 2 right now
Rare to find a reviewer who takes the time to really understand why PE2 stands on its own. This is good shit man.
I really enjoy it's gameplay! The story is kinda disappointing by the time it actually wraps up but that combat system is really cleverly put together
@@IFinishedAVideoGame LOL for real! I helped my favorite streamer through PE2 for New Years Eve via online guide and it was also my first time seeing the whole game-when it finished I was yelling “WAIT, THAT’S IT???” 😂 a bit disappointing and quirky honestly but a unique journey that I’m glad we went on during his livestream The first Parasite Eve was so stylish and classic but at least the sequel held its own with bold colors and presentation, also some genuinely exciting moments More of a wild card type of game, less put together but not the worst Thanks for the video!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame nicely done man!!!
I always felt the museum was a great choice for the last stage in PE1. Such a good setting to go with a game about evolution of beings from prehistoric era. A fantastic video! I'll check out more!
Hope you enjoyed them!
Let's not give up hope. There is always hope Parasite Eve and Aya will get the revival she deserves.
Well recently the new SE president announced that they would be focusing more on existing IP rather than always creating new things. Usually that would be a pretty big red flag for a wave of cheap rubbish but considering just how much good stuff they have - it might lead to something like a PE remake!
@IFinishedAVideoGame honestly the symbiogensis was such a missed opportunity 😆
If Parasite Eve gets a good remake it will be due to great videos like this putting it in the spotlight.
If I can in anyway help contribute to the series coming back in any form I'll be a happy man
Or maybe there could even be a new part 🤞 Remakes are all good and well but a new story would be nice for a change 😅
what if you send a link to this video to Square headquarters? :) @@IFinishedAVideoGame
I love PE 1, and I play it every year for Christmas. I'd love to see more PE, but I don't trust Square currently to make a good one.
Yeah, the game is just great as it is, I don't even want a remake, they'll fuck up the gameplay by making it illisible and over the top. This and the damn particules everywhere on their damn graphic engine.
I'm certainly going to make a Christmas playthrough a thing on the channel going forwards
3rd Birthday
Love that you play it every Christmas! I only saw the whole game for the first time Holiday 2020 despite being intrigued by it since the trailers used to be shown in Toys R Us above all of their PS1 games....good memories! I’ve watched a playthrough of Parasite Eve 1 at least 6 times now and I’m sure I’ll watch it again It’s festive, comforting, classic, fresh, it’s so many good things It’s so unique!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Yay soon!
I'll never forget the despair I felt when symbiogenesis true identity was revealed, this series is one of my fondest memories and it deserved so much better. That said, I think you're right, loving and remembering PE for what it is and was, rather than the timeline we never got is the best thing we can do for it.
Absolutely - it seems like there is a lot of love out there for the series and that really warms my heart (even if SE won't do anything with it)
The cinematic cutscene/camera in Parasite Eve 2's opening was also done in Final Fantasy 8 (the scene where the 2 gardens battle it out)
That's a very good point - no wonder someone with Seed in their name noticed that!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame hahaha! You got me!!
Glad to see someone actually reviewing Parasite Eve 2 for its own merits, it's a great game but usually underated just for being different to the first game.
Yeah I really wanted to try and open people's eyes to it's positives. It's a very well designed and interesting game in it's own right
absolutely fantastic video. the fact that you didn't just list off the synopsis of the plot and give a list of gameplay features, but actually gave us the history of the series and contextualized various things about each game made this such an enjoyable watch. can't wait for your next video!
Thanks my friend! Yeah I always try my hardest to contextualise every decision and try to see what the developers were actually going for. I think it makes for a much more interesting video than just doing an IGN style review of an older game!
Thanks for this phenomenal review. I was a young child watching my dad play, dino crisis, resident evil and parasite eve. He passed two years ago but man this brought back so much nostalgia. Also the breakdown was top tier.
I'm sorry to hear that but maybe you can revisit a few of them as a tribute! Thanks for your kind words!
I knew the final boss of PE2 was a nightmare and this video confirmed it. One of the toughest fights I´ve encountered in any video game I´ve ever played; so hard, that I could never beat it. Still haunts me after all these years.
Oh god it's so brutal. Three phases of utter torture!
Really sorry to hear about your bout of surgery and very glad to see you are doing better. I remember watching my cousin play the opening to Parasite Eve 1 and the opening stayed with to this day, though I could never remember what it was, so thank you for this deep dive into its history. The tale of the 3rd Birthday actually really annoyed me, as they seemed to entirely miss the concept of their own idea and just utterly ruin one of the rare examples of a female video game character done right, smart, strong, willing to fight her corner and clearly professional, it's a shame she was reduced to KH character waiting to be saved by the big strong hero, or being manipulated and salivated over.
Thanks very much! Yeah The 3rd Birthday really is a frustrating mess - Aya could easily be one of the most iconic female videogame characters of all time but instead was sacrificed on the altar of Nomura's poor taste
Aya's characterization in 3rd birthday really gives me Other M vibes...
They even came out the same year!
And then you find out that it was just Eve inhabiting Aya's body the WHOOOOOLE time because Aya got killed already. Boo, 3rd Shitday sucks. PE1 was an awesome RPG, PE2 was an decent Resident Evil clone, and SQUARE ENIX couldn't even be bothered to license the name "Parasite Eve" from the author prior to sticking Aya and Eve into that cashgrab 3rd game that has NOTHING to do with the other twos' mythos.
Seems to me more like Nomura and Toriyama had a completely unrelated story in mind but decided to disingenuously pitch it as a Parasite Eve sequel in order to improve their chances of getting it approved and funded. The complete departure from the source material along with what basically amounts to cameo appearances of PE characters who are substituting for characters the writers actually intended combined with a completely different protagonist in both personality and abilities supports that conclusion.
@@TonyBMan And yet you can dive between anyone else without killing them....
I haven't played any of the series you've done retrospectives on but the level of effort and presentation are incredible. They keep me engaged the entire time. Incorporating information about the various developers and designers makes it really feel like a narrative of the franchise rather than just reviewing games.
Thanks very much. I like to think of my style as "narrative history" so it's cool that it's coming through in the script! Thanks for watching and leaving such a nice comment!
The way you explaining franchise of this game from the novel until spin off with no stone unturned really fascinate me. And your opinion is also just and fair. Consider me as one your fan and waiting for your other essay video man.
Thanks very much! I'm really proud of this video and I'm pleased you enjoyed it! Next one is on the way!
Parasite Eve (sans 3) was one of the defining games of my childhood. I definitely played the game too young (8/9 on a PS1 demo disc, then for some reason my parents BOUGHT it for me) so it left a huge mark on my psyche. Loved 1 and 2 so much even if they were such different games
Oh man I'm sure that seeing those cutscenes at that age would have been intense! I'm almost jealous in a way - I played the first when I was far too old for them to land in such an intense way!
3rd birthday was so freaking awful!
about the age i was when i played Turok 2 (i never could beat it though) and about a year later dino crises, which i also never manages to complete and scared the pants off me. i had nightmares about that game. my dad would get me M rated games and i hardly had to convince him most of the time, had grand theft auto vice city and san andreas at like 13, and had SOOO much fun with those games taking turns with my friends.
the way the third game treated Aya in the attempt to explore the character honestly reminds me of how Metroid Other M ended up. Hell, both came out the same year.
Both blonde badass video game icons, demoted to confused, whiny girls. What was in the water in Japan at that time lol?
That just wasn’t a good year for video games in general. We got some golden titles but the majority was nothing but copper at best
@@szeltovivarsydroxan9944 executive driven development where they want everything to appeal to everyone the it ends up appealing to no one cos execs don't know what people enjoy. Cos execs aren't humans
Other M is still a good videogame, unlike THAT abomination
@@chillhour6155 I loved The 3rd Birthday! It was a lot more fast paced and fun and very impressive for the PSP. Great soundtrack too. I don't get why people hate on it so much other than not being what they expected. All 3 games are great in their own way in my opinion.
As someone born in the late 90s, i missed out on a lot of these early Square games. I had only really heard the name in passing over the years and had no knowledge of the game play or story. I'll definitely be giving this a playthrough now. This video really peaked my interest in the series and I hope that it can see the light of day again.
That's awesome to hear. Hope you enjoy playing it - it's honestly much more fun than watching me talk about it!
Can we talk about the extra layer of awful Aya being Eve in The 3rd Birthday adds when you take it in tandem with her being hypersexualized and basically infantalized the entire game. "Oh don't worry guys we aren't doing it to Aya we're just doing it to her little sister who is for all intents and purposes a child."
It really is extremely disturbing isn't it. I'm kinda baffled I still get the odd comment defending it!
Parasite steve - the flatmate who eats your food
Parasite Steve - makes lemon water
As a cellular biologist, the book's focus on the lab work was interesting to me because of its accuracy but the line about the actin cable literally made me laugh out loud while reading it. The stuff I couldnt stand and ended up literally skipping was all of the academic and college topics. That actin line though lmao.
It's a very odd book isn't it. You explain what it's about to someone and it sounds very engaging (because the ideas are fantastic) but the process of actually reading it is very punishing!
It is even worse if you read it expecting it to be like the game (or the admittedly not-so-good movie); hundreds of pages of medical jargon and anti-organ donation propaganda, maybe 5% of the pages actually contain the freaky mitochondria monster stuff that we are here for, and even THAT isn't all that impressive in the book.
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Is the book less about narrating characters and their inner thought and feeling, but rather explain actions with great details and context?
YES IT MAKES SENSE TO GO AFTER THESE MONSTERS, ITS HER JOB, YES.
YES
This series got blessed by so many talented composers
The best I thing I can say about the ending of 3rd is that it effectively recontextualizes Aya's stark change in personality. The worst thing I can say is that all of that clothes ripping absurdity and gross leering has been targeted at a ten year old girl trapped in an adult woman's body. What on earth were they thinking.
It's one of those things where yeah it has an explanation, but it's almost as bad as if there wasn't any!
It reminds me of Kojima responding to initial criticism of Silent from MGS 5, claiming that there's a reason for her outfit and that they will "regret your words and deeds." No Hideo, saying she breathes through her skin doesn't make it okay :V
its one of the weirder parts of japanese culture. they produce a lot of characters which basically just sexualised children.
@@Shenaldrac it's okay to sexualise sexy grown up woman, it's not ok to sexualize a child, duh.
@@dimas3829if this is sarcastic hell yeah, if not it's just... it's tiresome, at least for me.
guys who does best long reviews did my favorite game series ever. Thank you! Also I hope you get fast recovery.
Thanks my friend. Luckily the recovering has really turned a corner in the last few days so I'm well on the mend. Hope you enjoy the video and that it does the series justice!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame i liked that you were very objective and unbiased in reviewing , my personal favorite is second one, and I ve noticed a lot of people on internet hating on it saying that is resident evil clone which i would not agree completely, I think it was great blend of both in my opinion, I wish it had more RPG elements like first one but still was amazing game.
The most unrealistic part of the first Parasite Eve game is the NYPD being portrayed as competent
Agreed, the mitochondria within us going genocidal is far more realistic.
Well considering they get murked by Eve rather early on and try to prevent a genius scientist from coming into New York I wouldn't say they are all that competent
Id love to see a Galerians remake or reboot
Now that would be out of left field!
Nowadays I often only listen to videos as I'm doing something else on the background, but in your case, I can't help but stay glued to the screen. It's almost visible the passion you have not only for the work you put into your videos but also the franchises you talk about here; Panzer Dragoon being another that I honestly loved watching through as well. It's so refreshing to see someone in this day and age not chasing trends and delivering such amazing and emotional videos on this platform. You have my thanks for that
That's such a nice comment and has honestly made my day. I'm absolutely going to continue to do things my way and hopefully everyone will stick around with me as I do!
You can see Eve is smiling as she melts, knowing the failsafe and the Ultimate Being will clean up what’s left.
That's hilarious. Your comment just made me imagine the Ultimate Being suddenly grabbing a mop after it's born
Great video! Glad to see such in-depth content on some of the PlayStation's finest games. This video seems to have a lot of comments so someone has probably told you this already but Brahman's beam attack is actually avoidable if you keep moving around the area clockwise or counter-clockwise the entire time except when you are shooting. Brahman rotates slightly slower than Aya's movement speed so as long as it is not facing you directly when it starts charging the beam you should be able to avoid it.
Yeah bit of an annoying one on my part! I clearly just felt it was impossible to dodge but I was just dodging it all wrong!
These retrospective series are the best thing I found on KZhead in a long time! Love the documentary format they are presented in with so much additional information. Well done, sir. Very well done!
You're welcome. Glad you're enjoying it!
Mate I just want you to know how much I appreciate your hard work. Despite the health issues, which I'm grateful you got over, you were still able to produce top quality content as always. Thank you for everything you do!
Thanks very much my friend. It's always great to see you in the comments and hopefully this video can give you a good few hours of fun!
@I Finished A Video Game I'm always happy to comment. And yes after finishing the video I couldn't helped but draw the comparison between Parasite eve 1 and 2 with dino crisis 1 and 2. Both sequels went more action oriented and really were their own beasts despite being in a direct sequel to more slow paced survivor horror. But alas you made a great point that parasite eve doesn't have a champion spokesman to scream for a rebirth.
Holy shit, the entirety of that Parasite Eve II explanation felt like an extended "but wait, there's more" bit
I mean it effectively is! You're working towards the ending before you even hit the halfway point!
I've never been a fan of Nomura's writing and direction, and the way he tells stories, but hearing the story of 3rd Birthday is still quite distressing even as a non-fan. I was going to eventually try out FF7 remake, but now I feel uncomfortable with giving money to anyone associated with that PSP entry. I'm kinda astonished that the internet isn't more angry about it,
Honestly FF7 remake isn't quite as bad. There is certainly some strange "subversion for the sake of subversion" going on but it's nothing as deeply franchise destroying as 3rd Birthday! I'd say give it a go - if anything it's saved by having a really great battle system
I worked on this game! Thank you for this, it brings back so many great memories.
You're very welcome! Which game did you work on? That's awesome to hear
Pe is one of my favourite psx games. It was so amazing when I was a kid.. No wonder I fell deeply in love with square.
It was a really special time for sure
I bought the Third Birthday when it came out and got frustrated with the gameplay. I told myself I would go back to it when I had time and that was 13 years ago. Thank you for closing this permanently open sidequest I've had in my life.
Happy to be of service
It can be pretty fun if you enjoy grindy gameplay. Music and graphics were okay too. But if you come into it as anything other than a mildly fun game to emulate (say, as a PE fan), you will be very, very disappointed.
im so glad you pointed out how tetsuya nomura, motomu toriyama, and hajime tabata may have been given a little too much creative freedom coupled with square enix’s money hungry tactics as of late… I wish square enix wouldn’t be too scared to innovate again. Parasite Eve 1 was a fun innovative experiment and we need more games willing to take some risks.
Let's hope their new president takes them back towards this direction! His first interview claimed that they needed to find a balance between new IP and utilising what they already have - hopefully he can reign in some of the stranger directors!
Using mitochondrial powers to manifest "Parasite Eve Remake" ✨🙌✨
I'm right there with you
Just got done cleaning my house, got 4 hours till anyone's home - absolutely perfect time for this to drop
Hope you enjoyed it!
normura on pe3: she was too good of character to leave behind…that’s why she isn’t in her own long-awaited sequel 🤦♂️
He's one of the most baffling creators of all time
this started playing while i couldn't find my tv remote. did i watch the entire video? yes.
Praise be to the youtube gods and to you for accepting their blessing
Your style of presentation and thorough critique of each series intrigues me so much I've even watched a couple of your videos of game series I've never played before (Jade Empire and Dino Crisis). You go into so much detail and provide examples without pointless tangents padding the runtime. Keep up the excellent work! And you, IFAVG, I will watch your channel with great interest.
Thanks very much! I really enjoy making them and so far it's just been really cool to see people enjoying watching and listening! Should have a new one out in a couple of weeks!
aya breais my fave female survival horror char. i also like the premise of the mitochondria as opposed to the zombie games. im saddened that she was left alone in the dust
Yeah it's the science spin that really makes the series stand out. It's a huge shame it's not been used again since
I've heard about this series a ton of times but I always assumed it was 'Parasite Eve' like 'Christmas Eve' but it turns out to be a much more interesting title. Fantastic video as always, appreciate the work a ton.
Well the first game is set on christmas eve 1998!
Yeah it's odd isn't it. I think they just set it on there to go along with the name but it's very much originally taken from the Mitochondrial Eve Theory!
Somehow I almost never correlate Christmas Eve & Parasite Eve together that way because the words mean different things and I compartmentalize pffft there’s so many things about the original game that feel so cute like that despite all of the horror and anxiety the game holds, it has cute characters still and such a polished style
I've watched many PE retrospectives, as I enjoy seeing different perspectives on my favorite game franchise, and I have to comment to say this BY FAR is the most comprehensive and detailed analysis I've seen. Truly deserving of the absurd number of views for a Parasite Eve video. Thank you for your hard work. Also chiming in to say if you have not heard of RetroAchievements, look it up! I recently did a 100% achievements run of PE2 and it was such a fun and daunting experience. Going to tackle PE1's achievements soon.
Honestly I'm kinda amazed this video has as many views as it does. Usually my videos get a respectable amount but almost four million really must be a testament to the amount of love that is out there for this series! Square Enix really need to recognise what they are sitting on!
What a fantastic memory to relive The first 2 are a huge part of my childhood
Hope the video did them justice!
Massive thanks to everyone who's reached out to check in and pass over a kind word after my surgery. It was hugely appreciated! If you want to join our little Patreon club and help keeping the channel going for many years to come, here is the link! - patreon.com/IFinishedAVideoGame
I didn't even know you had surgery, but I'm glad you're on the mend!
Hell yeah, well done, rest up, you've got a new scrub!
Glad you're healing and continuing to make absolutely amazing content keep up the amazing work and let that body mend quick!
Oh wow, glad to hear you’re doing okay. Get well soon!
@@misterbennnn ¹¹14
Oh ho!! I've been waiting for this one! Just finishing up the very depressing (but amazingly made) Prince of Persia video. This is my new favorite channel!
Thanks very much my friend and for supporting the channel on Patreon. It means a lot to me so hopefully I'll be able to make many more videos for you to enjoy!
Whenever remakes come up with my friends, I'm the Parasite Eve hype man. I wish! Then they're like, Parasite Who?
Well you can always recommend them this video!
Damn. these long videos are insanely well done. Takes me weeks to listen to each one all the way through but it's amazing. Keep up the great work.
I personally really like slowly working my way through a video in short sections over a week or two - it's nice that I've got people doing that with mine now!
This is one of my favorite channels on the KZhead. Thanks a million Youfinishedavideogame !
You're more than welcome. I'm really pleased you enjoy my stuff so much!
They could've fix the issues with slow walking speed by possibly only adding a run button when you're NOT in battle. It would probably seem odd that she magically loses the ability in battle but itd probably be worth whatever damage to immersion that causes. Fantastic video essay as always, I can't wait to watch all of it
Yeah the movement speed is a tricky one because I think not having a sprint in battle would be a difficult thing to get over - combat is where you want to feel the most empowered! Hope you enjoy the rest of the video!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Yeah exactly. This reminds me of the RE tank controls debate where some argue that having less control of the character makes for a scarier more tense better experience. But really you shouldn't need to limit the player in that way to brute force fear into a game to make it more suspenseful. But a lot of this has been addressed in modern games, to get the balance right back then they hardly had a choice but to slow things down for the player. & of course you're right that losing the ability to run in a fight would do the opposite of empowering the player so they just made it seem like that WAS her sprint speed especially since it wasn't as bad on smaller maps. Anyways I appreciate the response & the length of these videos. It's a lot more enjoyable to actually get a deep dive on a series rather than a 20 min gist. Really makes the difference for me between a good video & a great video that really has my attention
@@frankmarano1118 RE had tank controls for the fixed cameras that constantly change angles on you, because you'd get annoyed having re-adjust your direction constantly. Enemies are balanced around your control, you're not "diliberately limited by the devs". Same case in PE 2. Camera switches on you all the time.
Parasite Eve was one of my favorite games growing up as a kid in the 90s. That and Legend of Dragoon, Final Fantasy VIII, Dino Crisis, StarCraft, and others.
God I played so much StarCraft as a kid. Kerrigan and Raynor were my Ross and Rachel lmao
Man, I never knew Parasite Eve was that deep! For the longest time, PE for me was just that 'resident evil with RPG combat" and also mostly a skimpy poster of Aya in my friend's older brother bedroom. xD
That's the beauty of Parasite Eve - it kinda is just those things! But it works so well!
It’s genuinely unbelievable that Nomura is still writing.
I'm yet to meet anyone that is genuinely a fan of his writing
@@IFinishedAVideoGame I'm gonna be controversial and say I quite enjoy Kingdom Hearts. That being said, don't let him write literally *ANYTHING* else
Only Nomura games that I genuinely think are good are the The World Ends With You games
@@IFinishedAVideoGameNomura has some neat ideas but he _NEEDS_ someone standing over his shoulder to veto and occasionally slap his hands away from the keyboard. He's one of those people who just works best with a tempering hand. Having him as the sole, or even head writer, is just asking for trouble.
@@H3llrider92 I'm not sure if he writes those, the other developers have a very strong input in them, I think he was more hands on with the first one and more for the visual development part. Both TWEWY ARE really good though!
Never played these games, but listening to this synopsis makes it feel like a microcosm of the ascension and subsequent collapse of Square Enix. Its genuinely sad to see where the company ended up.
Once they started giving power to Tetsuya Nomura, their fate was sealed.
That's kinda how I intended it to go (although in a little less detail than the rise and fall of Sega I did in the last video) Hope it was a good watch!
The sheer amount of time and effort you've put into this retrospective is awe inspiring and I enjoyed every moment of the journey into these nostalgic games, and came to appreciate the series even more with your analysis. Thank you!
Thank you so much for watching my friend
I love Daniel's driving at 300mph down NY streets, accurate.
Probably the best scenes in the whole game
There's always poison in the ink whenever Nomura is involved, I've learned to stay far away from any videogame where he has any involvement in character writing or storytelling
You're the first I've heard feel PE2 design might be a corporate conspiracy to sell guides back then. I've suspected that myself, especially after playing Tales of the Abyss.
It's just hard to believe that it can be anything else considering just how obscure some of the required actions are and how little reward they offer
I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed this whole video. This started auto playing after I finished an episode of Dropped Frames and after letting it play on for about 5 minutes, I was hooked. I’ve never played Parasite Eve, and hadn’t really known what it was before seeing this. Your style, delivery, and thoroughness made this something I just wanted to keep watching. This is essentially what I feel is what I would get if the History channel had well produced and well written series on video games. I love what you did with this and admire the effort and passion it must have required to create this mitochondrial monster of a video. I will definitely be checking out your other stuff.
That's really cool to hear. It's always a real compliment when someone stumbles upon the channel and sticks around! Hope you enjoy my other videos - Vagrant Story is a good next step if you liked the Square Enix history or maybe Dino Crisis if you want more horror!