The 3rd Birthday for PSP Reviews by Gamers

Certainly some of the best graphics I've seen aside from the cutscenes not being redone to fit English. Minor (and I mean minor) spoilers ahead.

But the story...ugh. Gamers have been demanding better story lines, but apparently companies are willing to just give up on the portion of buyers who won't invest in a game UNLESS it has good writing. This game is an attempt, but ultimately it fails to deliver that during the body of the game, so there is no poignancy left to be had by the only good storytelling, which occurred at the climax. The player is already drained by repetitive story elements and difficulty with the psuedo-philosophical time travel nonsense.

That brings me to my ultimate point: even as someone who routinely writes mystery/detective fiction (meaning I have an above-average tolerance for webby storytelling), this plot is unapproachably convoluted. After a point, I just stopped trying to make sense of things. Part of the problem is the constant traveling back and forth to different years but on the same day. Eventually you lose track only to discover that it wasn't very crucial in the first place. Numerous gameplay elements are never explained via tutorial and you essentially have to read tons of text documents to process any of it.

There's a Heavy Rain-esque unnecessary nude scene that made you feel like the perverted scientist character for enjoying. To be 100% up front, it was one of the more enjoyable parts of the game. Also, the graphics on bosses and backgrounds were done extremely well. The game is not without strengths; the weapon customization and enemy animations were great.

The game's brevity, lackluster storytelling, and lack of gameplay diversity ultimately make it fan fodder. I haven't played other Parasite Eve games (and not putting Parasite Eve on the cover makes me think they were going for non-fans as well), so I'm unable to comment about its relationship to the series and I'm not familiar with the characters or attached to them.

This is my review taken piece by piece:

-Concept: Take on the world as Aya, a young female soldier and go back in time to try and change the future in many ways while at the same time going along to help Aya discover her own past.

-Graphics: The graphics are of course top notch for a game on the PSP, but what else do you expect from Square Enix. Character designs are great and the enemies are well designed whereas some others look kind of goofy.

-Sound: The game has good voice overs as well as a great soundtrack. I paid special attention to the opening theme song as it caught my attention.

-Playabillity: The game's shooting holds well enough, but that's not the main attraction of the game. What is is the overdive abillity, which works really well. Use this abillity to transport Aya's spirit and will from soldier to soldier. Do this not only to save yourself when you are almost dead, but when somebody has a cool weapon that you need or just want. Plus, the soldier AI are very responsive and you should use them to help you take down an enemy with a lock-on command. Plus, use what is known as the overdive kill to take down an enemy from the inside. The enemy AI can sometimes be unfair though. Sometimes you're left with absolutley no chance to save yourself. One wrong step even when you're at the top of your game can sometimes spell certain death. Plus, why does the game have you run from enemies when they are in fact faster than you and take you down with one hit? Plus, enemies health bars are just way too big. The only thing that really marked this down to an eight was the unfair advantages that your enemies have on you. On the other hand, turrets tanks and helicopters work really well.

-Entertainment: Watching the city crumble to enemies known as the Twisted is very suspensful and the blood is very realistic. To anybody who are a fan's of shooters with a few twists, or you just want to take on the next Square Enix game, this is the game for you.