The 3rd Birthday

 PSP
User Score
6.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 150 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 69 out of 150
  2. Mixed: 37 out of 150
  3. Negative: 44 out of 150
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  1. DemonWithin
    Jun 5, 2011
    7
    When the game was first announced I was excited for I loved the Parasite Eve series.This game really (as stated in many other reviews) has nothing to do with the previous titles other than Aya and a few other characters making an appearance.I do like the game it's very fun and I think it's one of the best PSP games out there right now.The story.......it's confusing and I don't really careWhen the game was first announced I was excited for I loved the Parasite Eve series.This game really (as stated in many other reviews) has nothing to do with the previous titles other than Aya and a few other characters making an appearance.I do like the game it's very fun and I think it's one of the best PSP games out there right now.The story.......it's confusing and I don't really care for it.The controls work nice,just wish the camera would have been better.The whole jumping from body to body thing too,I think it's a dumb idea, it works, but it's just stupid to me.I give the game a 7/10 it's fun and its worth a play just don't expect it to tie up anything with the other Parasite Eve titles.… Expand
  2. ECB19
    Feb 20, 2019
    7
    Before I played it I really wanted to play, but in the end this game disappointed me, when I saw that it is not faithful to the first games of aya brea, for me the best game of the saga is the second parasite eve, the first game is also very good, and this 3rd is not at that level as history (it is not well explained and it shows that the game still lacked development), soundtrackBefore I played it I really wanted to play, but in the end this game disappointed me, when I saw that it is not faithful to the first games of aya brea, for me the best game of the saga is the second parasite eve, the first game is also very good, and this 3rd is not at that level as history (it is not well explained and it shows that the game still lacked development), soundtrack (recycled the clasics and did not create anything new).
    I arrived to the conclusion that anyone can enjoy the game but it is below the parasite eve of ps1.    … Expand
  3. theshonen8899
    May 12, 2011
    6
    I am a huge, HUGE fan of the Parasite Eve series. That being said, this game is nothing like it, and it does quite a lot to blemish the series. Let's start off with the problem that pains me the most, Aya Brea. She's not the same Aya Brea you know from Parasite Eve, at all. She's weak and looks like a slut. The strong-willed, badass Aya Brea you know from Parasite Eve is dead, and in herI am a huge, HUGE fan of the Parasite Eve series. That being said, this game is nothing like it, and it does quite a lot to blemish the series. Let's start off with the problem that pains me the most, Aya Brea. She's not the same Aya Brea you know from Parasite Eve, at all. She's weak and looks like a slut. The strong-willed, badass Aya Brea you know from Parasite Eve is dead, and in her place is a skimpy, frail, teenage-like girl with a gun. It really, REALLY hurts me to see one of the most amazing female characters in gaming become this, and it definitely killed much of the game. To make matters worse, Aya now loses her clothes when she gets hurt. Square said this was a matter of realism, although I have a pretty hard time imagining they would treat a male protagonists the same way. They aren't being subtle here: Aya Bra is a sexual item in this game. Most of the satisfaction you will get from this game is watching her clothes fall off. The next problem would be the story, which makes little sense. If you watched the trailer and wondered why everything was happening the way it was, don't expect this game to explain it to you, because it won't. You are a tiny girl possessing soldiers from the past shooting monsters. That's all you will get from this game's story. Don't expect memorable characters either. They are all shallow and you will forget all their names a week after playing the game. The last parts to address in this game are the graphics and gameplay, which luckily are fantastic. The graphics are probably the best I've seen on a PSP, very similar to that of Crisis Core and Birth by Sleep. Absolutely stunning for this fiveish year old handheld. Gameplay is creative and addicting. You play by taking control of different soldiers and unleashing special attacks when gauges fill up. It's very difficult to describe properly so you'll need to look it up in the videos. You get to lock on to targets which may seem too easy at first but the game itself is not easy at all, as the enemies will be ruthless and have interesting weaknesses you need to discover. Overall while the game suffers from brutally murdering the Parasite Eve image and has a horrible story, the graphics and gameplay make it worth trying on the PSP. If you have never played Parasite Eve, you will want to pick it up. If you are a fan of Parasite Eve pretend The 3rd Birthday has nothing to do with it, because for the most part, it doesn't.… Expand
  4. Alluminn
    Jun 25, 2011
    7
    The game, I enjoyed. The overdive system makes for a very interesting form of play, where you really have no regard for your health bar. I honestly felt bad that, when the guy I was possessing was about to die, I would just hop into someone else and let him die. There were a few parts that made me pull my hair out, namely near the end of the game. On a scale of one-to-rape, some parts ofThe game, I enjoyed. The overdive system makes for a very interesting form of play, where you really have no regard for your health bar. I honestly felt bad that, when the guy I was possessing was about to die, I would just hop into someone else and let him die. There were a few parts that made me pull my hair out, namely near the end of the game. On a scale of one-to-rape, some parts of this game are so high on the scale that you should be chopped up and in a freezer. Even on normal mode.

    The story, now, was a gigantic train wreck. If you're a long-time fan of PE, then seriously don't play this game. It will ruin the series for you. The story is so convoluted and nonsensical, the lead writer should honestly be fired. Immediately.

    So yeah, if you're looking for an enjoyable gameplay experience, I'd definitely refer this. If you want a good story, then get the heck away from this game and never look back.    … Expand
  5. Drain
    Aug 18, 2014
    5
    Being a huge fan of the original Parasite Eve games... I couldn't have been more excited to finally play another one. They were some of my favorite PS 1 games, and some of the best survival horrors ever made. Sadly, what we are given here is a game that has nothing to do with those, despite having the name. It's a "Parasite Eve" game in name quotes only, as if the first 2 games didn'tBeing a huge fan of the original Parasite Eve games... I couldn't have been more excited to finally play another one. They were some of my favorite PS 1 games, and some of the best survival horrors ever made. Sadly, what we are given here is a game that has nothing to do with those, despite having the name. It's a "Parasite Eve" game in name quotes only, as if the first 2 games didn't happen at all. There is absolutely no reference or connection to the previous games. It's not played anything like those were. It's instead a straight up arcade shooter, and little else. Aya Brea, like the title, is in name only, as she has nothing to do with the Aya Brea from the previous games. This is very disappointing, as it's obvious that they just took a shooter, and adapted it into Parasite Eve to better sell it. If this wasn't Parasite Eve, I probably never would have played it. If they weren't going to bother to connect this to the other games, I wish they wouldn't have mooched off the title. They basically bait and switched us, meaning any fan of the original games will be rather upset.

    So what is this game about then? It's basically about an invasion of monsters which the game calls the twisted. They are taking over the entire world very quickly, and you try to stop them, being the only person(for some reason) that can do anything about it. Other marines/swat/etc do try to help every level, but they are little more than fodder for you to use with an expendable throw away attitude. The twisted somewhat resemble the mutants you'd expect from Parasite Eve, but they aren't alterations of normal creatures like what you'd see from the original games; they are instead just new original designs. You see, in the original games, the monsters were all mutations of normal creatures, such as giant rats, deformed monkeys, a huge 3 headed dog; there's none of that here. This is yet another thing that has no relativity to the original games despite leeching their name.

    But soon enough, the story becomes a huge over convoluted mess about time travel and "High Ones" that makes absolutely no logical sense. I don't think I've ever said the words, "Why?", "How?", "And?" so many times when suffering through this kind of nonsensical crap. I think the writer honestly must have been smoking a bong, that or they just threw this slop together in a weekend then started working on all the cutscenes for it. Long story short, the story is garbage. It's so garbage that it's comparable to Starcraft 2, and it's as confusing as Bioshock Infinite. Ya, it looks great... the cutscenes are so pretty, congratulations... but none of makes any sense, so it's all a big waste. Should I give you a point for doing all these nice cutscenes and take it right back for them being completely pointless and nonsensical? It's like sitting through the RE 6 cutscenes. They look nice. But they're still all garbage because the writing is garbage. I'm not a baby that claps his hands at the sight of pretty pictures.

    All that said, I did actually enjoy playing the game. The graphics(in combat) are rather nice for the PSP, probably being one of the best looking games on the system. The combat plays almost entirely like a shooter, except giving you the ability to switch between soldiers, which you possess and use to fight. I didn't like this constant switching around between expendable fodder soldiers, but it was alright once I stopped viewing this as a Parasite Eve game.(This is yet another feature that has no relevance to the series or her original powers) The shooting handles nicely, for the most part, but I did sometimes have trouble getting "Aya" to target the correct things.

    After finishing the game, you realize that you've barely unlocked anything in it, as they built the game around replayability. All I had by the end was 1 sweater and a few guns to purchase. Seriously? This repetitive arcade shooter is built around being repeatedly run in order to unlock most of the stuff in the game? No thanks. The game does have a gun slot system with upgrades and a DNA slot system, but they're very shallow and barely affects the game. As I said, you barely even get most of the guns in your first run through, and DNA barely feels like it does anything at all. Do you really want to sludge through that whole game again just to use some more toys and put "Aya" in a few more outfits?

    Overall, it's hard to recommend this game. As a Parasite Eve title, it's complete garbage. As an arcade shooter of its own, you may get some fun out of it. It looks nice, the controls are good for the most part(can't correct Y axis aiming, /sigh), and it is fun to play. It's just very disappointing to have a game making a mockery of the name it's using, while at the same time having no replayability despite apparently being designed with it in mind. At the end of the day, it just makes me wish we had gotten HD remakes of the original titles instead.(Like the Final Fantasy games)
    -Drain (Steam)    … Expand
  6. DasBaronne
    Jan 28, 2013
    6
    So. Have you ever wondered what Mindjack would look like on the PSP? Have you ever wondered what Mindjack would look like if it was melded into a third person horror game like Parasite Eve or Silent Hill?
    Well...you would get THIS game. The graphics are great, game-play is ...uhm "difficult" (due to poor design).
    The story line is just...horrendous (and you won't understand it unless    So. Have you ever wondered what Mindjack would look like on the PSP? Have you ever wondered what Mindjack would look like if it was melded into a third person horror game like Parasite Eve or Silent Hill?
    Well...you would get THIS game. The graphics are great, game-play is ...uhm "difficult" (due to poor design).
    The story line is just...horrendous (and you won't understand it unless you're either obsessed with the series, hyper-intelligent aka a plot-detective, or really bored and with access to wikipedia).
    Its fun if you're really bored and in need of some highspeed gameplay , but I wouldn't put my hopes up TOO much.
    I actually bought this right around the time it came out. It IS fun to an extent, but it isn't perfect. Or "GREAT".    … Expand
  7. HazukiRyo
    Apr 18, 2011
    6
    Yuck, this game left a bad taste in my mouth and overall filled with disappointments. The things I hated the most about it is a very repetitious and confusing as hell story. The game play doesn't vary at all throughout the whole experience - keep shooting same boring shapeless nasty creatures over and over! The enemies have way too much HP and you have to empty many clips of ammo justYuck, this game left a bad taste in my mouth and overall filled with disappointments. The things I hated the most about it is a very repetitious and confusing as hell story. The game play doesn't vary at all throughout the whole experience - keep shooting same boring shapeless nasty creatures over and over! The enemies have way too much HP and you have to empty many clips of ammo just to bring them down. In game cinematics, although quite beautifully rendered, don't explain the story very well and leave you more confused. I would recommend staying far away from this game and checking out Syphon Filter games or Resistance Retribution instead.… Expand
  8. Mattaclysm
    Apr 10, 2011
    7
    3rd Birthday is supposed to be the 3rd Parasite Eve but aside from the main character it doesn't really feel like it. It's become more of a shooter but there are still the RPG elements and gun customization features. First off let me state my major complaint. The controls on the PSP. They're terrible. Why was this game made for the PSP? The analog is so stiff it makes playing a game like3rd Birthday is supposed to be the 3rd Parasite Eve but aside from the main character it doesn't really feel like it. It's become more of a shooter but there are still the RPG elements and gun customization features. First off let me state my major complaint. The controls on the PSP. They're terrible. Why was this game made for the PSP? The analog is so stiff it makes playing a game like this much more difficult. It's the same problem I had with MGS: PW. Even an option to use the d-pad for movement would have been better. There really is no sense talking about the graphics they really are as good as they possibly could be on the PSP. The music is pretty good. In episode 2 hearing a new version of the Parasite Eve 1 battle music was cool and definitely brought me back to classic gaming on the PS1. The story has been hard to grasp I don't understand this overdrive time warp thing. What's going on here? When did this whole Aya time travel thing happen? The gameplay is really fun. I am a huge fan of RPG's and shooters so the mix is a perfect match. I just wish this game could have been made for consoles. For me the reason why this game loses points is mainly the controls on the PSP. Otherwise it'd be a nearly perfect game.… Expand
  9. Lord_Black
    May 14, 2011
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The 3rd Birthday is an excellent game for the PSP, with some quality graphics, with many details (although it falls in the soldiers a little), and certainly among the best of the console (personally, I think is the best PSP, but that is a matter of taste. Square Enix also reminds us that without doubt the best time to make the cutscene (movie scene) in video games. Finally, I found the story was good, a whole tribute to Parasite Eve, and that proves to be completely faithful to the spirit of this saga, but do not forget, this The 3rd Birthday is not a direct continuation of the previous games Ps1 (with more than 10 years was impossible without recourse to a remake), but rather a way to Square Enix to recover one of the great classics that saw the original Playstation. No doubt a highly recommendable game.

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    The 3rd Birthday es un excelente juego para la PSP, con unos graficos de buena calidad, con muchos detalles (aunque cae en los solados un poco), y sin duda entre lo mejor de la consola (personalmente, creo que es lo mejor de la PSP, pero eso ya es cuestion de gustos. Square Enix ademas, nos recuerda que sin duda son los mejores a la hora de hacer los cutscene (escena de pelicula) en los videojuegos. Finalmente, la historia me parecio que era buena, todo un homenaje a Parasite Eve, y que demuestra que es totalmente fiel al espiritu de esta saga, pero no olviden, este The 3rd Birthday no es una continuacion directa de los juegos anteriores de Ps1 (con mas de 10 años era imposible hacerlo sin recurrir a un remake), sino mas bien una manera de Square Enix de recuperar uno de los grandes clasicos que la Playstation Original vio. Sin duda un juego totalmente recomendable.    … Expand
  10. Stealthgear
    Mar 13, 2015
    6
    Enter a psp action "shooter" with really polished graphics for PSP. The actual gameplay is lock-on and holding L to empty your ammo. You switch bodies to continue, use barriers as cover, and find a few powerups. The special moves are a little confusing and dodging attacks is quite difficult. Playing the long boring corridor levels will leave your thumbs hurting. It is a harder difficultyEnter a psp action "shooter" with really polished graphics for PSP. The actual gameplay is lock-on and holding L to empty your ammo. You switch bodies to continue, use barriers as cover, and find a few powerups. The special moves are a little confusing and dodging attacks is quite difficult. Playing the long boring corridor levels will leave your thumbs hurting. It is a harder difficulty which is probably what makes it slightly fun. The levels are a little dark. This is a game that would probably benefit from a bigger screen and actual controller. This game feels like a B grade PS2 game. The character of Aya is really nice to have, but there is not much going on here. Some type of portal aliens enter the city and you must stop them. The levels are just too long and the enemies are repetitive. The save menus and upgrades are very confusing. There are too many down sides to make this a great game.… Expand
  11. Decemuladores
    Nov 28, 2011
    5
    As a individual game, would be something more decent, if the character were that weak but not Aya Brea and others, the game would be decent. But as a sequel to those two titles of the PSX is a huge fail because not enough heels or the great achievements that gave these titles.
  12. FreeRPGer
    Oct 29, 2020
    6
    Simply put, the 1st Parasite Eve = 2 thumbs up. (great tale & innovative gameplay).
    Parasite Eve 2 = 1 thumb up. (good tale & OK gameplay - RE clone with a bit of RPGness).
    The 3rd Birthday = 1 thumb down. (convoluted tale & not-so-good gameplay, IMO). Highly disappointed in Aya's 3rd tale (& gameplay). Couldn't even finish this. Yeah, it was different -- WAY different from the 1st    Simply put, the 1st Parasite Eve = 2 thumbs up. (great tale & innovative gameplay).
    Parasite Eve 2 = 1 thumb up. (good tale & OK gameplay - RE clone with a bit of RPGness).
    The 3rd Birthday = 1 thumb down. (convoluted tale & not-so-good gameplay, IMO).
    Highly disappointed in Aya's 3rd tale (& gameplay).
    Couldn't even finish this. Yeah, it was different -- WAY different from the 1st two, but NOT in a way that kept me engaged. IMO, I believe Square should've built upon the RPG mechanics of the 1st game, maybe implemented a wee bit of the 2nd game's survival horror mechanics.
    The only thing that kept me playing for as long as I did, is Aya is good to look at (from any angle), and some of the music is captivating.
    Other than that, I didn't want to waste my PSP's lens/drive - saved it for much better games.    … Expand
  13. lesiuML
    Jan 8, 2022
    5
    Game have a really boring story... At the beginning a lot of this are actually really fun and good but after fev hours everything stating to be repetitive and just boring. Graphics are one of the best on psp and just for graphics it's nice to play this.

Awards & Rankings

18
#18 Best PSP Game of 2011
1
#1 Most Discussed PSP Game of 2011
3
#3 Most Shared PSP Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 56 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 29 out of 56
  3. Negative: 3 out of 56
  1. ZTGD
    Mar 22, 2012
    80
    The 3rd Birthday is still one of my favorite PSP titles, and playing it again on the Vita just re-enforced my love of the series. Once PSOne titles start working on the Vita I can finally have my Aya Brea trilogy in one place to play at my leisure, and while this new game is a radical departure as far as gameplay is concerned, it still fits right in with the theme of the series as a whole.
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  2. Game Chronicles
    Jun 27, 2011
    87
    Expect 15-20 hours of gameplay just to get through the game and that's not including any replays for secrets, alternate paths, or checking out any of the secrets or unlocks. The 3rd Birthday rivals a lot of console action-RPG's these days, and while it probably would have played better and received a wider audience on the PS3, I have to commend Square Enix for publishing a fantastic sequel and an exceptional gameplay experience on the PSP that any fan of the genre or the series should definitely check out.
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  3. Worth Playing
    May 23, 2011
    80
    The combat seems deceptively simple, but it becomes pretty hectic and involved as you progress through the missions. The Overdive ability is pretty unique, and jumping from soldier to soldier to flank an enemy works really well. The controls are easy to use on the PSP, and like most Square Enix titles on PSP, the game looks amazing. It's definitely worth checking out for PSP owners who are hungry for new games on their handheld. I absolutely suggest checking it out, even if you have no prior experience with the Parasite Eve series. The gameplay is what really sells this game, though, so don't come into this title expecting to be wowed by the future exploits of Aya Brea.
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