We all have our Christmas traditions: giving gifts, watch holiday movies, listen to Christmas music, argue about Die Hard . One of our extremely absent holiday traditions is the inclusion of Christmas video games, mainly because it’s a rare commodity. Maybe you download your Kingdom Hearts II save file to make your way through Christmas Halloween Town, or just play Bayonetta 2 to experience the holiday moments.
One of my annual traditions is playing the iconic Square Enix game Parasite Eve . Just as Die Hard is undeniably a Christmas movie, Parasites is undeniably a Christmas game.
During Christmas 1997, a strange virus breaks out in New York. Unlike a flu pandemic or other viral breakout, this virus causes its hosts to spontaneously ignite before consuming their essence and mutating into godless monsters. Aya Brea of the NYPD attends a festive date show when the entire audience bursts into flames, killed by a mutant creature calling itself “Eve” who took on the body of actress Melissa. Determined to stop this viral breakthrough and uncover the mystery of it all, Aya becomes a single female army in a six-day rush to stop Mitochondria Eve from destroying New York and mutating all of its inhabitants in an apocalyptic rampage fueled by the mitochondria’s desire to destroy the end of the human race.
Parasite Eve is a unique survival horror game. Parasite Eve uses a few typical tricks, but also includes some RPG mechanics that add multiple layers to the survival gameplay. Customizing weapons and armor, traditional experience and leveling up, “magic” in the spirit of the mutant powers of the PE mitochondria, and “random” encounters and boss fights at times make the game more like Final Fantasy than Resident Evil . With a stellar soundtrack from Yoko Shimomura and character designs from Tetsuya Nomura, the game definitely resembles Resident Evil, the Final Fantasy equivalent .
The combat system is also very different from what is commonly used in Survival Horror games. While Aya gains an absurd arsenal of weapons throughout the game, the overall combat feels more like Vagrant Story lite than Silent Hill . After pressing the action button, the dome of the pentakis icosidodecahedron grows out of Ai, showing the distance at which enemies can be attacked. Body parts can be targeted similarly to Vagrant Storythough most of the battle is straightforward, even after acquiring more interesting PE spells like Haste or Liberation. The gameplay is quite accessible and easy to understand, and the constant development of Aya’s abilities is satisfying. As with many Square games from the era, more knowledgeable players can grasp the essence of weapon customization and truly change the game’s power level.
One of the reasons Parasite Eve is a tradition for me is that it is delightfully short – most of my pieces end at 8 o’clock. Playing Parasite Eve is like reading your favorite novel or watching one of my favorite Christmas movies; it is comfort, the playful equivalent of sipping whiskey and gogol-gogol. Running the file in the second or third week of December and playing for at least one hour a day will ensure that you finish the game before Christmas.
Despite the rampant bodily horror that reigns throughout the game , there is undoubtedly something festive about Parasite Eve . Themes of human tenacity, camaraderie, and survival in the face of an overwhelming threat fit into the holiday sentiments of crushing capitalist control and hopelessness. The game has a live cast of characters, and despite the short run time in general, the storyline is full of secrets and dialogues. It’s packed full of truly unique creature designs, an immersive soundtrack, and some deliciously hideous cutscenes.
Source: Switch RPG.
Parasite Eve is unconventional even by Square Enix standards. It was the first M-rated game to be released by Square, and a direct (unofficial) sequel to the novel of the same name. Rather than taking place in an extremely fantastic setting, the game unfolds in a detailed depiction of a real city. The rampant and apocalyptic destruction caused by Mitochondria Eve is certainly fantastic, but every time I replay it, Parasite Eve seems more low-key and unique than many Final Fantasy games . A cult classic for good reason and a forgotten gem to boot, Parasite Eve represents an era of blatant creativity that Square hasn’t known for decades.
My only criticism of Parasite Eve is not the game itself; I would like it to be more affordable by modern standards. It was released on PSN almost 9 years ago, so it can be played on PS Vita (my preferred method) or PS3. Of course, emulation is always possible, but Parasite Eve could enjoy a celebration of an entire generation if released with a little facelift on a new console. It deserves to be enjoyed, especially if you’re a horror fanatic, and deserves to be on every list of annual Christmas traditions.
