What happened to Parasite Eve?

[Xanatos]

A mixture of RPG and 3 person shooter and one of the best games that Squaresoft (Now SquareEnix) made was Parasite Eve (this is my own opinion so if anyone disagree it's OK). This game was based on a Japanese fictional novel by Hideaki Sena. There are 3 games in Parasite Eve series and every one was well accepted and every one was sold over million copies. Parasite Eve 2 was also released under the Sony Greatest Hits label.
First two Parasite Eve games were released for PS1 and Parasite Eve 3 for PSP. This title is one of the best SquareEnix products and I'm wondering why doesn't SquareEnix pay more attention to this game. It's really a shame that they didn't developed a Parasite Eve game for PS2. I mean why don't they make a Parasite EVE 4, I'm sure that many would like that.

So I want to know what do you think about Parasite Eve games and should there be a sequel?

[ViviMasterMage]

I haven't played it, but anything made by square-enix/soft is worth a try, and if they did bring a new one out (for PS3 or Xbox360) I would be sure to give it a try.

[KeyranSolo]

Wow, I never knew there was a Parasite Eve 3. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two, and now I know there's also one on the PSP, it gives me more reason to buy one.

But yeah, fantastic set of games, I liked Parasite Eve 1 the best, because it had more RPG elements, but don't get me wrong, Parasite Eve 2 was a blast too.

[KatytheHedgehog]

I've played Parasite Eve and Parasite Eve 2 and I like it but I haven't played Parasite Eve 3 though sadly.... I can't agree with you more Xanatos-444 about a Parasite Eve 4 I would like if they made it for Ps2, Ps3 or both.

[LokentheWolf]

Technicly there is no third Parasite Eve yet. (According to the Wiki because I wasnt aware that there was going to be a third game)

The newly announced title is a Spin-off of the Parasite Eve series, which is why "Parasite Eve" has been excluded from its title. The game was originally announced for the DoCoMo cell phone, but in the Tokyo Game Show 2008 presskits, it was confirmed that the game will be exclusive for the PSP.

I enjoyed Parasite Eve 2, even though I never played through the first one, and after playing through decided that I wanted to get the first one, but never got it. Personally this series had alot of potential, even though they ended 2 on a rather final note. If Square Soft didnt have the Final Fantasy Series I'd say that Parasite Eve was their best work.

Also, according to the wiki there's a book. Now I gotta get my hands on it and read it. Thanks Xan, now I have something to look for.

[T.G. Oskar]

Well, if you consider how the story is meant to be, we've only played Parasite Eve 2 & 3. It's a bit hard to explain, but it should make sense (and give some glimpses of why there may not be another Parasite Eve per se, but why there can be more games with the main protagonist)

Thing is, the real first Parasite Eve is a Japanese horror movie based from a novel. It's not full of that much action, but it's pretty full of gore, as far as I can gather. The main, key elements (mitochondria, evolution and the rebellion of a body organ) emerge from the movie, and many of the events in Aya's past refer to the movie actually.

Parasite Eve (the videogame) is an adaptation of the game and the virtual sequel. Some of the original movie's main story was retconned to allow Aya to fit, but the plot of the movie fits quite well, and those who actually saw the original movie may recognize the elements drawn from it.

Parasite Eve 2 is the direct sequel to the videogame, but it departs a bit from the movie origins. It still uses the mitochondrial creatures, and it still refers to "Eve" and the New York incident, but it makes few or no references to the movie whatsoever (as far as I understand)

The so-called "Parasite Eve 3" is really a completely different game, most appropriately called "The Third Birthday", even though it ties a bit (or so Wikipedia claims) to the original two games. It's not meant to be a real PE3, since it doesn't contain any instances of mitochondrial creatures, but it works on how much the survival horror genre has evolved through the years (as well as the 3rd person shooter genre) As well, The Third Birthday has not been released as of yet; it will be released eventually for the PSP since it was originally expected as a cellphone release (much like the sequel to FFIV), but America doesn't have a cellphone system that could even duplicate or emulate the DoCoMo, and American cellphone companies are too hard to deal with (imagine that T3B was released only with...say, Sprint, or AT&T, or T-Mobile)

Parasite Eve was quite original in that it blended the developing survival horror genre with RPG elements. Most of the developments in PE have bled into other games (such as the weapon upgrade, which was essentially recovered and updated for Resident Evil 4), because the story is very solid (it is based on the book, but it blends the new features excellently with the old), it gives the feeling of horror and suspense without scaring (because you usually got the alert when the screen "froze" and you entered combat mode), and because the main character has powers. Mostly, the last one: while other games had heroes that barely had any power to survive and depend greatly on scavenging resources, Aya possesses virtually the same kind of weapon her enemies have, and to a much more refined degree.

I'd personally would love to replay the old game (never got to finish it, nor saw the real ending), and I look forward for 3rd Birthday to see how the system has changed (as far as I've heard, Aya will retain her powers or somehow get a new use for them, and the system will be closer to a third person shooter as other survival horror games)