Parasite Eve

 PlayStation
User Score
8.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 201 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 179 out of 201
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 201
  3. Negative: 5 out of 201
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. llamayarmybar
    Nov 18, 2016
    7
    Parasite Eve, a tedious, early quasi-three-dimensional cinematic, action-rpg from what some might say was the year that the original Playstation peaked and its time was coming to an end. So why so many positive reviews one might wonder. Nostalgia? "John Carpenter's Thing" fans? Or are their actually people that found a shallow roleplaying game with a few bizarre animated CGI clipsParasite Eve, a tedious, early quasi-three-dimensional cinematic, action-rpg from what some might say was the year that the original Playstation peaked and its time was coming to an end. So why so many positive reviews one might wonder. Nostalgia? "John Carpenter's Thing" fans? Or are their actually people that found a shallow roleplaying game with a few bizarre animated CGI clips enjoyable? Whatever the reasons are, you can bet that rose tinted glasses are worn by most people giving this game such high praise. First off, the plot is dull science fiction nonsense. It comes off like a bad B horror film with some elements of science fiction thrown in to keep people preoccupied with how awful everything else is. The dialogue is a total joke, to the point where I wasn't sure if I was reading text that was so poorly translated that it just came off as terrible, or if the Japanese actually wrote lines like that. Like the kind that sound utterly ridiculous. I understand this was "loosely" and "based" on a real book about a really far fetched, as well as impossible scientific theory based around mitochondria in human cells. However, it just doesn't translate well here. Gameplay is centered around turn based combat and set pieces. The kind of early ugly stilted level design or "set pieces," that look like background tapestry, or a garbage covered matte painting. The kind of set pieces that are so ghastly to look at that you forget that the developers have also added actual ITEMS that you have to find throughout them, items that you can easily miss because of how awful everything looks on screen. Making annoyance number two on the list of things this game gets wrong- item hunting. You can literally go one chapter, find say four new guns, then get to the next chapter and find one gun that's better than all of those guns, but the thing is, you didn't know that before you upgraded one of those other four guns. That's because the game expects you to be a total freaking genius and be able to tell the future at the same time. The inventory system is woeful. Twenty slots? Twenty slots fills up fast when your "Parasite Eve" magic skills don't do jack diddly and you have to rely on bottles of "Medicine 1" and "Medicine 2" or how about the infamous "Medicine 3?" The inventory system is one that you'll constantly be managing, not because you have to worry about ammo or healing items, but because you will constantly run out of room picking up ten new items that you'll never use ever ever. Did I mention the combat yet? Oh boy. So you can wait, then shoot, then you wait again, but after awhile, its okay- cause you can shoot again. Riveting stuff obviously. I don't really see the point of running around in such a muddy looking pre-rendered room with what are essentially revolting "3D" objects bumping into each other. Its arguably unnecessary and any classic turn based system would've sufficed, but that's just my opinion. The stilted animations already looked dated in 1998, so you can imagine what they look like now. Where I seem to have the least problems with Parasite Eve however, is the soundtrack. The soundtrack is great, even though ninety percent of it is basically reused in every chapter, but whatever, its really good. Its very low-key, its got a good ambient sort of electronica sound to it, its never overbearing, or obnoxious, and though some of the loops are super short, its very difficult to find it actually repetitive. It typically fits the mood they were going for. The sound effects are pretty minimal however, you'll hear the main character's lady shoes clopping all over the place. That's what she gets for wearing high heels everywhere she goes I guess. Gun shots sounded muted and cartoonish, but this was the Playstation 1 we're talking about. The one thing that really drives me nuts and I think has a great deal to do with WHY people have such a hard on for this game, is the cutscenes. The cutscenes are very well directed, they are absolutely great looking and probably drove a lot of people to buying Parasite Eve to begin with. However, that isn't what I remember the game for, sure I recall the first time I saw the rat transformation, the melting crowd, the museum boss fight, and those were all memorable. No the one thing I remember the most however was how boring the game was, it was tedious, the upgrade system still doesn't really make sense to me, the plot was blah, the characters were uninteresting and to top it all off, the game looked terrible for 1998. Trust me, Square could've made a much better looking game. Final Fantasy VIII came out in 1999 and that looks loads better than Parasite Eve, so something tells me that they had a smaller budget for this project. Overrall, its an average rpg with a few memorable moments, but the praise this game gets is unjust considering all of its flaws.… Expand
  2. Skipper
    Mar 19, 2013
    5
    I was excited to play this game given my appreciation for survival horror as a genre and squaresoft as a producer. If you have played resident evil (1 or 2) and vagrant story this game is like a mashup of these two. However, the end result was not as good as either. Parasite Eve is not a bad game, but it's not particularly good either. I'll mention the things that I did not like aboutI was excited to play this game given my appreciation for survival horror as a genre and squaresoft as a producer. If you have played resident evil (1 or 2) and vagrant story this game is like a mashup of these two. However, the end result was not as good as either. Parasite Eve is not a bad game, but it's not particularly good either. I'll mention the things that I did not like about the game, and you can assume that the rest of it plays well. 1) The storyline seemed under-developed, and implausible (even for a sci-fi game). The characters were bland and uninteresting. 2) The inventory management system needs work. You can carry very few items, and it doesn't really matter what weapons and armor you equip in most (if not all) situations. You constantly have to discard consumables in favor of other items. 3) The combat is plain and doesn't seem to have been well-thought out. You wait your turn, shoot, wait your turn, heal, wait your turn, shoot. Most of the skills and magic are a waste of your time. 4) There was no element of "horror" at all in this survival horror. This is because you always have more than enough ammunition and firepower to kill all of your enemies. You never have to run or worry about what's around the next corner because you can just shoot it to death. That being said, the CG movies of monsters were pretty cool. Finally, The game is short (10-12 hours) but seemed to drag for me. The main character moves frustratingly slow and going back to previously explored areas to double-check for items seems like a chore. Like I said, the game isn't bad, but there are many better RPG's and survival horror games out there.… Expand
  3. guiletheguiles
    Feb 16, 2022
    7
    Parasite Eve is definitely a sea of great ideas that I've been meaning to dive in for a long time. After spending over 9 hours with it, I can say that it surely shines, but not as much as I hoped it would.

    The story of Parasite Eve is quite mature. It's lovely to see how far a game can go when the writing is strong like this one. It takes a while to grasp everything going on, but by the    Parasite Eve is definitely a sea of great ideas that I've been meaning to dive in for a long time. After spending over 9 hours with it, I can say that it surely shines, but not as much as I hoped it would.

    The story of Parasite Eve is quite mature. It's lovely to see how far a game can go when the writing is strong like this one. It takes a while to grasp everything going on, but by the end of the game I felt fulfilled. In addition to being an elegantly well told tale, it also packs memorable characters and a great protagonist. Aya Brea is very well designed, from her style to her profile, and the fact that she's tied with the main villian (who's also quite memorable, by the way), just enhances your time with her, making her one of the main reasons why the story and setting will stick to your mind.

    And it all just immerses you more and more as you go through it. Part of the reason why this game vibes so well with its theme is due to its beautiful renders, amazing environments and epic cutscenes that, while they don't hold up to today standards, they can still pack quite a punch. On top of that you have Yoko Shimomura composing the sountrack, hitting you with beautiful, classy, intense and diverse songs that refuse to leave my mind even after the credits rolled. Indeed, a genius of video game music.

    As for the core gameplay, it's a unique mix of RPG and Survival Horror. Not a perfect hybrid, but a very good one, I must say. I had a lot of fun with the combat. It's a near perfect marriage of Vagrant Story and Resident Evil 2. And, yes, I know it sounds weird to say it, but it just works. Great enemy variety, challenging bosses, good collection of magics and tons of guns for you to manage your way to the end.

    The problem with this game lies in how archaic it is. Regardless of the time it was made, I just felt like things should flow a bit better and, definitely, faster.
    Aya's movement speed is probably the worst thing in the game. She's slow when outside combat and extremely clunky during fights where mobility is key. In a game where you have to backtrack to get everything you want while taking the least amount of damage as possible, movement is essential and it just doesn't work well.

    In fact, many other things doesn't work as well as it should. The gun tuning system is very rough, the UI takes a bit to get used too, for an RPG the game can be extremely short (which usually doesn't bother me, but now it somehow did), cutscenes are unskipabble and inventory management is a HUGE mess. Why didn't they just add an item box instead of forcing a very repetitive trip back to the police department?
    And while the boss fights are very well done, I have to say that the final boss is an unnecessary difficulty spike. A pseudo-bullethell shooter with a toothless chase afterwards.

    Parasite Eve is a pleasant and nostalgic trip back to the 90's. It works great, brings new ideas to the genre, manages to be a unique hybrid and introduces Aya Brea, whith a great soundtrack to boot.
    But it's archaic design, slow pace clumsiness breaks part of the experience.

    A great game, nonetheless. Just not one of the best RPGs of an era filled with wonderful RPGs.    … Expand
  4. sebastianali
    Jul 7, 2019
    5
    Gran idea. Mala ejecucion.
    La falta de rejugabilidad, los combates tediosos y que requieren mas suerte que estrategia, el inventario limitado, subir de nivel y que los stats apenas suban y la dificultad desbalanceada hacen de parasite eve un juego muy malo.
    Encima no entiendo los encuentros aleatorios, es decir que mier... esas probabilidades al super azar!
  5. joglow
    Feb 27, 2023
    6
    Played the game because of the female prognostic and never got disappointed.

Awards & Rankings

15
#15 Best PS1 Game of 1998
8
#8 Most Discussed PS1 Game of 1998
9
#9 Most Shared PS1 Game of 1998

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. PSM Magazine
    60
  2. Gaming Age
    92
    Parasite Eve has been one of the only RPGs since Final Fantasy 7 to genuinely deserve any kind of hype, or at least anticipation.
    Read full review
  3. Gamezilla!
    90
    It was nice to play a RPG-type game that was set in a real-world environment instead of some faraway mystical land.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »