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[Ghosts Of Gaming Past] A Review Of ‘Parasite Eve’
Written by T. Blake Braddy, @blakebraddy
In the world of Japanese horror games, Parasite Eve is a weird case. It is not quite obscure enough to be considered a hidden gem, but it is also not on level with contemporaries like Resident Evil and Silent Hill.
But maybe it should be placed on a higher pedestal, because for its particular time and place in the history of video games, Parasite Eve really stands out as a spectacular (and very peculiar) achievement. Somehow, it holds up a lot better than most games like it because it is more like the games of today.
I’m sure that being a horror / RPG hybrid turned off a lot of people during the initial release – it certainly was one of the reasons I steered clear of it in my teens – but since almost every modern action game or first person shooter has RPG elements these days, there is almost something portentous about the aspirations of Parasite Eve.
Where it fails, it fails miserably. The writing is laughable – the dialogue, in particular, is a haphazard maelstrom of one-liners, cliches, and half-assed jokes – and for all of the great things about it, the game is still undoubtedly of its era, both in terms of how it looks (icky) and how quaint and simplistic it is.
Still, Parasite Eve remains an enthralling experience nearly a decade-and-a-half after its release, which is more than can be said about most of the games of its era. The combat holds up surprisingly well, the leveling and inventory mechanics are fun to play around with, and the story, though ludicrous, is a flawed example of a team trying to put together an interesting narrative for an hours-long experience, all of which are more than enough to keep players entertained for hours.
In Parasite Eve, you play as NYPD cop Aya Brea, who, after a disastrous, fiery date at the opera, finds that she has a weird mental link with the game’s eponymous villain. She chases Eve through several key New York locations, which seem to have somehow been cribbed from both Ghostbusters movies, uncovering a weird, somewhat science fiction-y plot about (and I could not make this up) mitochondria.
There is a subplot involving your partner and a random Asian stereotype, but beyond Eve and Aya, mitochondria definitely takes center stage in the game’s story. Mitochondria is probably said two or three dozen times in the game as a way of explaining the ridiculous supernatural elements, playing them off as totally scientifically feasible. Mitochondria is everywhere, apparently. As a passive observer of this review, you might think I’m laying on pretty thick about mitochondria for effect, but you’d be wrong. The word ‘mitochondria’ is mentioned in at least every other dialogue sequence not involving Eve, and every single dialogue scene involving the villain.
And though I don’t fully understand the gist of the plot – mitochondria has evolved without the aid of human genetics, and so it is somehow independent of humanity, or something – the plot isn’t really what drives the game. Sure, you might bask in the relatively unsophisticated writing ironically, but there isn’t really anything memorable about the story. It’s your typical save-the-world venture, only it goes to Dead Alive levels of insanity at certain points to stand out to the audience.
Where Parasite Eve really stands out is in the gameplay. The controls are clunky in the way anyone who’s played late-90s survival horror games would notice, but it is no worse than the early Resident Evils. Opening trunks and doors, especially, can be a pain, and the scale of the game shifts so often as to ruin the perception of depth. But, for the most part, the game handles nicely.
The ease of control is particularly noticeable during combat. The UI is easily understood, and moving around in the combat space while also managing attacks and spells is fun. This is coming from someone who is completely illiterate with traditional RPGs, so that should say something about the playability of this game. You’re not always placed in a great space for fighting, but the fighting itself is almost never the problem. You run around and wait for your AT (attack time) to recharge and then select a target. Based on the strength of the weapon or its specific limitations, you inflict damage on the enemy.
Similarly, the leveling mechanic is simple, mostly because it is automatic. Being involved in a lot of combat jumps up your level fairly quickly. You can then place points into a whole variety of elements, from Attack Time recharge to individual guns, and how you spec up your attributes might have an effect on the game later on, definitely where the final bosses are concerned. Go into the final battles underprepared, and you’re going to have a really difficult go of it.
The combat is randomized, which can be a fairly polarizing element of older RPGs, but it is fun enough that being dragged into encounters doesn’t matter all that much. It isn’t until later in the game, when a random encounter occurs in literally every room, that the randomization becomes trying.
Mostly, however, fighting the wide assortment of monsters – which, to my knowledge, have nothing to do with the plot – gives the player an opportunity to experiment with weapons, armor, and upgrades. There is also the inclusion of special powers in the form of PE (or Parasite Energy), which give Aya everything from health boosts and speed to revival from death.
The dungeons can be quite confusing and labyrinthine, so you might spend a lot of time wandering down same-y paths and overly monochromatic rooms, if you’re not careful. And while the cut scenes somehow manage to hold up and look pretty awesome after all of these years, the overall style of the game suffers from being released in the late 90s, not a great time for 3D PlayStation games. The color schemes consist of either flashy clashing brights, reminiscent of the early 90s, or overwhelmingly brown, drab backgrounds. It’s not bad if you’re passing through, but if you get stuck in, say, the NYC sewer system, the scenery will become fairly revolting after a spell.
As the story progresses, how and why Aya is involved becomes clearer, but the game seems to take a deliberate joy in explaining everything, so be prepared for extended, overly explanatory cutscenes, which are unskippable and often occur just after a save point. In some ways, having to tap X through every line of dialogue before encountering the final iteration of Eve may be the most infuriating part of the game. (Not to mention that the final version of Eve is controller-breakingly difficult and will require several retries.) However, the save points themselves occur more often than in Resident Evil and are not limited.
You’ll probably curse the game’s makers for throwing several versions of a final boss at you, but if you’re quick and resourceful with your upgrades, then you should be able to put this whole nightmare to rest.
I haven’t picked up a lot of PS1 games recently, but I’d venture to guess that technological and mechanical innovations of the last decade have rendered 99% of them unplayable, and so that is probably one of the best things that can be said about Parasite Eve. Even given the graphical and mechanical flaws, it’s still a fun, interesting, and rewarding experience.
Certainly, players unfamiliar with the laughable simplicity of storytelling in these types of games will have a lot to overlook, but it’s kind of like listening to really funky older music. You might not entirely “get” it, but what you look for is the kernel that makes the experience still worthwhile.
Parasite Eve is seldom mentioned as a classic, but it deserves to be given as much credit as possible for what it does well. The somewhat incomprehensible story may be to blame for its second tier rank among the horror games of its day – I am amazed that it is based on a novel – but the irony is that perhaps all of the things that made it seem weird at the time make it stand out in a positive way today.
The Final Word: Give Parasite Eve a shot if you’re a fan of weird Japanese games and can run down a PS1 machine. It’s worth a shot for the horror completist, and it really even works as an evolutionary fossil between simple action games of the 90s and the RPG-tinged shooters of the 00s.
We are now one full month into Spring 2024, which kicked off on Tuesday, March 19 and comes to an end with the start of Summer on Thursday, June 20. This year’s summer movie season has a whole bunch of exciting horror highlights, including A Quiet Place: Day One, MaXXXine, and Alien: Romulus, but let’s hold that particular thought until June rolls around.
We’re here today to talk about Spring 2024 and the many horrors we still have left before the weather gets warmer and we find ourselves in the heat of one hell of a spooky summer.
Here are 12 horror movies you don’t want to miss in Spring 2024!
STING – April 12
Two words: SPIDER HORROR. Writer/Director Kiah Roache-Turner (Wyrmwood) hopes to induce eight-legged terror with his brand new horror movie Sting, only in theaters April 12.
Of particular note, Sting features practical spider effects from 5-time Academy Award Winner Weta Workshop, with the spider in this one inspired by H.R. Giger’s Xenomorph!
In Sting, “One cold, stormy night in New York City, a mysterious object falls from the sky and smashes through the window of a rundown apartment building. It is an egg, and from this egg emerges a strange little spider. The creature is discovered by Charlotte, a rebellious 12-year-old girl obsessed with comic books. Keeping it as a secret pet, she names it Sting.
“But as Charlotte’s fascination with Sting increases, so does its size. Growing at a monstrous rate, Sting’s appetite for blood becomes insatiable.”
BLACKOUT – APRIL 12
Indie darling Larry Fessenden is back with new horror movie Blackout this Spring, Fessenden’s third movie – following Habit and Depraved – to put his own spin on classic monsters.
While Habit was centered on vampires and Depraved was a fresh take on Frankenstein’s Monster, Larry Fessenden’s Blackout is the filmmaker’s contribution to werewolf cinema.
The film follows Charley, an artist whose drinking binges blur with his sneaking suspicion that he might be a werewolf. He distances himself from those he loves and sinks deeper into solitude, his flashes of memory of his nighttime grisly acts manifested through his artwork.
ARCADIAN – APRIL 12
If Nicolas Cage is covered in blood, you better believe we’re going to be watching. Cage gets his own A Quiet Place with Arcadian, a new creature feature coming to theaters April 12.
In Arcadian, which also comes to Shudder later this year, “After a catastrophic event depopulates the world, a father (Nicolas Cage) and his two sons must survive their dystopian environment while being threatened by mysterious creatures that emerge at night.”
Jaeden Martell (IT 2017) also stars in the post apocalyptic monster movie.
ABIGAIL – APRIL 19
If you’re bummed about Melissa Barrera being fired from the Scream franchise, you’ll definitely want to get out to your local theater this month to support Abigail, the new VAMPIRE BALLERINA horror movie from Scream and Scream VI directors Radio Silence.
Barrera stars alongside fellow horror favorite Kathryn Newton (Freaky) in Abigail, which is actually the latest horror movie in Universal’s relaunched Universal Monsters Universe.
In the film, “After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.”
LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL – APRIL 19
One of the most talked about horror movies of Spring 2024 has been the Halloween 1977-set Late Night With the Devil, which has been playing in theaters since its premiere on March 22.
Late Night with the Devil will begin streaming at home on April 19, 2024, less than one month after arriving in theaters. Shudder will be the exclusive streaming home of the movie.
David Dastmalchian (Dune, The Suicide Squad) stars as the host of a late-night talk show that descends into a nightmare in Late Night with the Devil, set on Halloween 1977.
In the found footage-style film that captures a period aesthetic, “A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms.”
INFESTED – APRIL 26
Spring 2024 is all about SPIDERS – sorry, arachnophobes! – with the previously mentioned Sting being followed by the French creature feature Infested (Vermines) later this month.
What’s particularly exciting about Infested is that its director, Sébastien Vaniček, has been hired to direct the next installment in the Evil Dead film franchise, so this will be our first taste of what Vaniček is capable of within the genre. And the buzz for this one is strong.
In his review out of Fantastic Fest last year, for starters, Bloody Disgusting’s own critic Trace Thurman raved that Infested is “one of the best spider attack movies in years.”
In the upcoming horror film, “Fascinated by exotic animals, Kaleb finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap.”
HUMANE – APRIL 26
The daughter of horror master David Cronenberg, Caitlin Cronenberg is making her own mark in the genre filmmaking space with IFC Films’ Humane, coming to theaters this month.
The film is described as “a dystopian satire taking place over a single day, months after a global ecological collapse has forced world leaders to reduce the earth’s population.”
The wild premise? 20% of the world’s population must VOLUNTEER TO DIE!
“In a wealthy enclave, a recently retired newsman has invited his grown children to dinner to announce his intentions to enlist in the nation’s new euthanasia program. But when the father’s plan goes horribly awry, tensions flare and chaos erupts among his children.”
I SAW THE TV GLOW – MAY 3
Fresh off the haunting and singularly creepy indie We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, Jane Schoenbrun is back with A24‘s I Saw the TV Glow, releasing only in theaters this May.
Meagan Navarro wrote in her Sundance review for BD, “I Saw the TV Glow offers a layered and authentic portrait of identity, wrapped in ’90s nostalgia and surreal imagery that embeds itself deep into your psyche.” Meagan continues, “Schoenbrun delivers a singular vision of arthouse horror that entrances for its fevered dream style and insanely cool imagery.”
In A24’s latest, “Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious TV show — a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.”
TAROT – MAY 3
Originally titled Horrorscope, a much better title if you’re asking me, Screen Gems returns to the big screen with studio horror movie Tarot this Spring, a Tarot-card themed spookshow.
When a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings – never use someone else’s deck – they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards in the upcoming Screen Gems horror movie Tarot. One by one, they come face to face with fate and end up in a race against death to escape the future foretold in their readings.
The hook for this one? Artist Trevor Henderson designed the film’s eight monsters!
THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 – MAY 17
Bryan Bertino’s 2008 home invasion classic The Strangers spawns a brand new reboot trilogy this year, with first film The Strangers: Chapter 1 kicking things off in theaters on May 17.
The Strangers: Chapter 2 is expected to follow in Fall 2024.
Madelaine Petsch is the lead of the new reboot trilogy, playing a character who drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest.
When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers.
IN A VIOLENT NATURE – MAY 31
Slasher fans who have been hungry for a new Friday the 13th movie won’t want to miss In a Violent Nature, which plays out like a Friday movie… entirely from Jason’s perspective!
IFC Films will release In a Violent Nature exclusively in theaters on May 31.
In the film, “When a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the woods that entombs the rotting corpse of Johnny, a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 60-year old crime, his body is resurrected and becomes hellbent on retrieving it. The undead golem hones in on the group of vacationing teens responsible for the theft and proceeds to methodically slaughter them one by one in his mission to get it back – along with anyone in his way.”
Meagan Navarro wrote in her Sundance review for Bloody Disgusting, “In a Violent Nature may offer slasher thrills and a delightfully gory rampage across the wilderness, but the approach captures the carnage through ambient realism. It results in a fascinating arthouse horror experiment that plays more like a minimalist slice-of-life feature with a grim twist.”
THE WATCHERS – JUNE 14
M. Night Shyamalan returns with the new thriller Trap this coming August, but the road to that film’s release will be paved by the feature debut of his daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan.
Ishana Night directed The Watchers, in theaters from WB/New Line on June 14.
The film follows Mina, a 28-year-old artist, who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. When Mina finds shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.
Which Spring 2024 horror movies are YOU most looking forward to?
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