''Parasite Eve'' is a 1998

action role-playing An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...

horror video game A horror game is a video game genre centered on horror fiction and typically designed to scare the player. Unlike most other video game genres, which are classified by their gameplay, horror games are nearly always based on narrative or visual pr ...

developed and published by

Square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length adj ...

. The game is a sequel to the novel ''

Parasite Eve Parasite Eve may refer to: * ''Parasite Eve'' (novel), a 1995 Japanese science fiction horror novel by Hideaki Sena * ''Parasite Eve'' (film), a 1997 Japanese science fiction film based on the novel * ''Parasite Eve'' (video game), a 1998 action ...

'', written by

Hideaki Sena is a Japanese pharmacologist and novelist. Sena was a graduate student at Tohoku University when he wrote his prizewinning debut novel, ''Parasite Eve''. Writing career His most famous novel, ''Parasite Eve'', was adapted into a film directed ...

; it is also the first game in the ''Parasite Eve'' video game series. The story follows New York City police officer

Aya Brea is a fictional character from the video game adaptations of the 1995 novel ''Parasite Eve'' by Square Enix (formerly Square or SquareSoft). An original character created by producer Hironobu Sakaguchi for the 1998 role-playing video game '' Par ...

over a six-day span in 1997 as she attempts to stop the Eve, a woman who plans to destroy the human race through spontaneous human combustion. Players explore levels set in areas of New York while utilizing a pausable real-time combat system along with several

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

elements. ''Parasite Eve'' was SquareSoft's first M-rated game, and the first major American and Japanese game development collaboration for the company. It was produced by

Hironobu Sakaguchi is a Japanese game designer, director, producer, and writer. Originally working for Square (later Square Enix) from 1983 to 2003, he departed the company and founded independent studio Mistwalker in 2004. He is known as the creator of the ''Fin ...

and directed by

Takashi Tokita (born 24 January 1965) is a Japanese video game developer working for Square Enix. He has worked there since 1985, and has worked as the lead designer for ''Final Fantasy IV'' as well as the director of '' Parasite Eve'' and ''Chrono Trigger''. ...

. Music for the title was composed by

Yoko Shimomura is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. She wrote music for several game ...

who was widely acclaimed for her work to create an "inorganic" and "emotionless" soundtrack that saw two album releases. ''Parasite Eve'' received positive reviews; critics praised the graphics and gameplay, but found the overall game too linear and with little replay potential. The video game adaptation was part of a resurgence of popularity in Japanese horror sparked by the original book, and was released alongside a film adaptation and two manga comics; one based on the book, the other on the video game. The original title was also followed by two video game sequels: ''

Parasite Eve II is an action role-playing survival horror video game released for the PlayStation. The game was developed by Square, published in Japan in 1999 and in both North America and, unlike the previous game, in PAL regions in 2000. It is the sequel to ...

'' in 1999 and ''

The 3rd Birthday is a role-playing shooter co-developed by Square Enix's 1st Production Department and HexaDrive, and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable. It was released in Japan in 2010 and in North America and Europe in 2011. The game is the ...

'' in 2010, and was re-released on the

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

in 2010. The first two games, ''Parasite Eve'' and ''Parasite Eve II'', had shipped over 3 million copies worldwide by 2010.

Gameplay

''Parasite Eve'' is an action role-playing video game with

survival horror Survival horror is a subgenre of survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical ac ...

elements. Movement in the "

world map A world map is a map of most or all of the surface of Earth. World maps, because of their scale, must deal with the problem of map projection, projection. Maps rendered in two dimensions by necessity distort the display of the three-dimensiona ...

" (which is a map of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

) is limited to specific destinations. Upon the player walking over a "hot spot", there's a chance of a

random encounter A random encounter is a feature commonly used in various role-playing games whereby combat encounters with non-player character (NPC) enemies or other dangers occur sporadically and at random, usually without the enemy being physically detected b ...

. Enemies materialize and attack players on the same screen that they move Aya around on, with no battle mode or screen being used. In battle, the game uses a pausable real-time combat system with an Active Time Bar (ATB) that sets the time that must be waited till the player can take their next action. While waiting for her turn, the

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

Aya can be moved around to dodge enemy attacks. Upon each turn, the player may choose between attacking with their equipped weapon by pressing the attack button, using PE (Parasite Energy) for defense, assistance, or attack, using items, changing a weapon or armor, or escaping the battle. If the player chooses to attack, the battle briefly pauses and a dome/sphere symbolizing the range of the weapon appears, allowing the player to target an enemy within range. Parasite Energy recharges during battle but the more players use it, the slower it refills. When not in battle, the player has the option of altering the weapon and armor attributes and effects with tools and super-tools, which are limited in number. The player selects the "tune-up" option, choosing the weapon that will be altered and the weapon from which the attributes or effect will be taken. Weapons have many different properties, including special effects like "acid", which causes enemies to continuously take damage. One of the principal RPG elements of the game is that experience-based levels are present. Each time the player's level increases, his/her attributes go up and BP (Bonus Points) are given. These points can be distributed to the ATB, item capacity, or attributes of a weapon or armor. Once the game is completed, a

new game plus A New Game Plus, also New Game+ (NG+), is an unlockable video game mode available in some video games that allows the player to start a new game after they finish it at least once, where certain features in NG+ not normally available in a first ...

mode is available called "EX game". It is different from the normal game in various aspects; the player has access to every item stored in the police station, the game begins with the final weapon and armor the player chose before ending the first game but returns to level one experience, and the bonus points (BP) given to the player at the end of the game are now available to use. The items, weapons, power-ups and enemies are more powerful, as are the enemies the player encounters. However, the biggest difference from the normal game is the addition of the

Chrysler Building The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At , it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel fra ...

, a brand-new location with 77 floors (containing mostly randomized content), leading to a final

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

battle with Aya's older sister, Maya.

Plot

The player takes on the role of

, an

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

rookie, attending an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

with a blind date in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...

1997. During the opera, everyone in the building spontaneously combusts, except for Aya, her date, and an actress on stage named Melissa Pearce. Aya confronts Melissa onstage, and Melissa says that Aya's

mitochondria A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the Cell (biology), cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and Fungus, fungi. Mitochondria have a double lipid bilayer, membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosi ...

need more time to develop. She flees backstage, with Aya giving chase. Backstage, Melissa then mutates into a beast and flees into the sewers, declaring that her name is now Eve. The next day, on

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

, Aya and her partner, Daniel Dollis, go to see a scientist at the

Museum of Natural History A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...

named Dr. Hans Klamp. He teaches the protagonists about mitochondria, but they do not find his information useful since it does not explain the previous night's events. Later that day, they hear that Eve is in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

, and to make matters worse, an audience has gathered at the park's theater intending to see a performance that Melissa Pearce was to give. Aya enters Central Park alone as Daniel is unable to pass through the entrance without spontaneously combusting. She makes it to the theater, but is too late to stop Eve, who causes the theater audience's mitochondria to rebel against their hosts and turns the crowd into a slimy orange mass. Aya chases after Eve and is knocked unconscious after a fight with her aboard a horse-drawn carriage. Daniel discovers that his son, Ben, was at the park, but had left the audience at the Central Park theater when he began to feel ill and when his mother began to act strange. He also learns that

is being evacuated due to the threat that Eve poses. While Manhattan is being evacuated, a Japanese scientist named Kunihiko Maeda manages to sneak into the city, witnessing a police officer combust into flames in the process. Aya awakens in an apartment in

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

, with Daniel and Maeda at her side. Maeda reveals the origins of Eve: A scientist tried to culture the cells of his wife after she was involved in a car accident, and the mitochondria in her cells took over her body. Maeda believes that Eve may be trying to give birth to an "Ultimate Being". The next day, the three go to see Dr. Klamp again. After examining cell samples from that of Eve and Aya's, Maeda concludes that based on

selfish gene theory With gene defined as "not just one single physical bit of DNA utall replicas of a particular bit of DNA distributed throughout the world", the gene-centered view of evolution, gene's eye view, gene selection theory, or selfish gene theory hol ...

, Aya and Eve's mitochondria are in an evolutionary race for survival. Dr. Klamp suddenly appears and asks a few questions of Aya in a hostile manner. The three leave and head for the St. Francis Hospital, where Maeda thinks Eve may try to get

sperm Sperm is the male reproductive cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm with a tail known as a flagellum, whi ...

for the Ultimate Being. When they arrive, they find that Eve is already there. Eve takes the sperm and escapes. The next day, Aya sees the orange mass of people from the park enter the city water supply. She goes to Dr. Klamp one more time, and discovers that Dr. Klamp has engineered special sperm for Eve so that she can create the Ultimate Being. He then spontaneously combusts. Aya finds Eve in another part of the museum, where the orange mass has surrounded her, forming an impermeable shield to protect her while the Ultimate Being gestates within her. After several failed attempts to attack Eve, the military asks Aya to attack her from a chopper, as she is the only one who can get close without combusting. The plan works, but Aya has to personally finish the fight on a now-wrecked

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

, where Eve finally succumbs to

necrosis Necrosis () is a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells in living tissue by autolysis. Necrosis is caused by factors external to the cell or tissue, such as infection, or trauma which result in the unregulated dige ...

due to her unstable cells. As Aya rests on a

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

vessel, the Ultimate Being is born and attacks the surrounding ships. Aya does battle with the Ultimate Being, but its mitochondria causes it to evolve at an alarming rate. Aya sets the vessel's boiler pressure dangerously high, so as to destroy it with the Ultimate Being on board. In the initial ending, Aya, Daniel, his son Ben, and Maeda attend the opera at Carnegie Hall, where Aya's mitochondrial powers allow her to resonate with the audience members, their eyes ominously glowing. After completing the game once, the player can access the

and have access to the true final boss, who takes the form of Aya's sister, Maya. She explains to Aya that Klamp cultivated the liver cells of the original Eve to analyze. When Melissa was giving birth to the Ultimate Being, she created a nest there. In case Melissa and the Ultimate Being failed, the purebred would remain. Aya speaks with her sister, and they engage in battle against the purebred. After the purebred is defeated, the mitochondria inside Aya's body begin to rebel against her. It is explained that Aya's mitochondria have now reached a higher evolutionary stage than Maya's, but Maya's personality has suddenly become dominant and begun to fight off the Eve persona. Maya eventually wins, purging the Eve persona from herself. Somehow, Maya protects Aya by preventing the original Eve from taking over her. Aya leaves the building by herself, although she apparently has gained some sort of connection with her dead sister.

Development

The video game ''Parasite Eve'' is based on the acclaimed Japanese novel ''

'' released in 1995. Plot-wise, the video game serves as a sequel to the book, referencing various events therein while also stating that Mariko Anzai, the girl whom Eve had chosen to become her host in the novel, is Aya's biological mother. The game was produced by

and directed by

. Development lasted roughly two years, including the pre-planning phase. Sakaguchi created the story outline, not watching any movies so he would not be influenced by them. During the first six months of production, the game was to be set in Tokyo and act as a more direct sequel to the novel, but Sakaguchi suggested setting the game in New York City. In contrast to previous Square titles, the development team for ''Parasite Eve'' consisted of both Japanese and American staff members, with a large part of the production taking place in the United States. An additional team of thirty were based in Square's Hawaii studio. Different concepts for the game's opening were considered, including different designs for Aya and Melissa transforming into Eve on stage during the opera. Book author

did not know the title's plot until it was completed, since the game was a collaboration between Square and his publisher. Aya Brea was created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and designed by

Tetsuya Nomura is a Japanese video game artist, designer and director working for Square Enix (formerly Square). He designed characters for the ''Final Fantasy'' series, debuting with ''Final Fantasy VI'' and continuing with various later installments. Addit ...

. Aya was originally being designed by someone else, but the original sketches did not satisfy Sakaguchi, who had wanted a long-haired character like

Aerith Gainsborough , transliterated as Aeris Gainsborough in the English releases of '' Final Fantasy VII'' and ''Final Fantasy Tactics''—is a fictional character in Square's (now Square Enix) role-playing video game ''Final Fantasy VII''. She was designed by Te ...

, a central character from ''

Final Fantasy VII is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation console. It is the seventh main installment in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Published in Japan by Square, it was released in other regions by Sony Computer Entertai ...

''. At the time, he was creating another unspecified character for a different project who sported short hair: he got confused while designing them and accidentally combined the two designs, creating the then-current Aya. The original concept for her was to have her as strong, sexy and "bewitching". Her name was taken from Sakaguchi's daughter Aya. The names "Daniel" and "Maeda" were taken from members of staff.

Release

A video demo of ''Parasite Eve'' was displayed at the September 1997

Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. The ...

, consisting entirely of

full motion video Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games feature FMVs as a way to present information duri ...

with no gameplay footage. ''Parasite Eve'' was released on March 29, 1998 in Japan for the Sony PlayStation. Television ads featuring the

present in the game were aired in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the run-up to the game's 1998 release. In a shipping mixup, over two hundred copies of the game were shipped to

Best Buy Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...

retailers a week before the official release. ''Parasite Eve'' was Square's first game to be rated Mature by the

ESRB The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings to consumer video games in the United States and Canada. The ESRB was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Asso ...

. The game was released in North America on September 9, 1998. Before ''

''s release in 2010, both

Yoshinori Kitase is a Japanese game director and producer working for Square Enix. He is known as the director of ''Final Fantasy VI'', ''Chrono Trigger'', ''Final Fantasy VII'', ''Final Fantasy VIII'' and ''Final Fantasy X'', and the producer of the ''Final Fa ...

and Tetsuya Nomura discussed the re-release of ''Parasite Eve'' and ''

''. The release was being held up partly due to the series rights being co-owned with Hideaki Sena. The game was later released in both Japan and North America on the

in 2010 and 2011, respectively. In 2018, the game was included in the Japanese lineup of the

PlayStation Classic The PlayStation Classic is a Dedicated console, dedicated video game console by Sony Interactive Entertainment that emulates games originally released on its 1994 PlayStation (console), PlayStation console. It was announced in September 2018 at ...

Music

composed the game's soundtrack including the main theme, "Primal Eyes". The ending vocal song, "Somnia Memorias", is performed by Shani Rigsbee. The score met with great critical acclaim, using influences from both

and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

. Shimomura stated that she tried to compose "inorganic" music for the game, what she described as "something unique" for the game. A separate ''Parasite Eve Remixes'' album was also released, containing 10 tracks

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed from the original game by various artists. The idea for the work came from a simple suggestion to Shimomura that the game's music be remixed rather than rearranged. "Somnia Memorias" was also included on the '' Square Vocal Collection'' in 2001.

Yoko Shimomura would later become a well-established video game composer through her work on the ''

Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square (video game company), Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya ...

'' series. Additional arrangements were done by Shigeo Tamaru.

. "''Parasite Eve II Original Soundtrack'' liner notes."

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed J ...

. 2000-09-12 TPCD-0200-
Scans
Retrieved on 2016-02-29. Despite her previous work as lead composer on ''

Super Mario RPG ''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'' is a role-playing video game developed by Square (video game company), Square and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1996. It was the final ''Mario (franchise), Ma ...

'', ''Parasite Eve'' became her breakout project and garnered her international fame. During her work on ''Parasite Eve'', Shimomura spent time in America, which was where much of the game's staff came from. Because of this, Shimomura remembered the game as her most challenging project. She wanted the music to be experimental, not falling into ambient or techno classifications. One of her main goals was to create something "inorganic" and recognizable as a product of

. Until ''Parasite Eve'', Shimomura had written music in a straightforward manner that reflected her then-current state of mind, but this time she restrained herself and took a more "emotionless" approach. She felt that this would best represent the game's atmosphere and Aya's stoic attitude. Ultimately, she felt that ''Parasite Eve'' was an experimental work in many ways. Due to its prevalence in the story, Shimomura used opera music, but as typical opera music did not translate well into battle themes, Shimomura added different rhythms: these rhythms were inspired when some of the game's American staff took her to a nightclub and she heard the background music there. The music recording took place at the Andora Studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

. "''Parasite Eve Original Soundtrack'' liner notes." (in Japanese)

DigiCube DigiCube Co., Ltd. (株式会社デジキューブ; ''Kabushiki-gaisha Dejikyūbu'') was a Japanese company established as a subsidiary of software developer Square on February 6, 1996 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The primary purpose of Digi ...

. 1998-05-21 SSCX-1002
Scans
Retrieved on 2016-02-28. ''Parasite Eve'' was the first of her projects to include a vocal theme, the ending theme "Somnia Memorias". This was because the PlayStation system was the first to have sufficient processing power for this to be possible. For the vocalist, Shimomura avoided using someone well known. "Somnia Memorias" was sung by

Shani Rigsbee Shani Rigsbee (born May 1, 1967, Hot Springs, Arkansas) is a singer-songwriter, producer,Dave McNary"Val Kilmer joins ‘Silver Cord’" July 1, 2008, ''Variety''. Retrieved February 28, 2015. "..."Silver Cord" will be produced by Michel Shane, ...

, while the vocals for the orchestrated versions of "Influence of Deep" and "Se il Mio Amore Sta Vincino" were provided by Judith Siirila. "Somnia Memorias" was translated and adapted from Japanese into Latin by Raul Ferrando, while "Se il Mio Amore Sta Vincino" was translated by Daniella Spagnolo. The lyrics for all vocal pieces were written by Shimomura. The track "I Hear a Voice Asking Me to Awaken" was an arrangement of ''Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme'', BWV 140 by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

. The two-disc album ''Parasite Eve Original Soundtrack'' was released through

on May 21, 1998 under the catalog number ''SSCX-10020''. Later, due to popular demand from fans, a reprint was issued through the Square Enix label on January 26, 2011 under the catalog number ''SQEX-10222/3''. The music received generally positive reviews from music critics, and helped establish Shimomura as a popular composer with western video game fans. ''Parasite Eve Remixes'' is a ten-track album, featuring remixed versions of themes from ''Parasite Eve''. The remixes were done by Shimomura, Tamaru, Hidenori Iwasaki and Keichi Takahashi. Multiple DJs also contributed, including Tomo, QUADRA, Dan K, Tribal Masters, Kay Nakayama, and Dummy Run. According to Shimomura, the album came about when someone suggested to her creating full remixes of themes rather than making simple rearrangements. Shimomura was in charge of extending and remixing "Aya's Theme", which was the main theme for ''Parasite Eve''. The album was released through DigiCube on July 30, 1998 under the catalog number ''SSCX-10023''. Reviews of the album were mixed, with critics saying that it would not appeal to many and finding some of the remixes odd, repetitive or overly chaotic.

Reception

According to ''Weekly Famitsu'', 956,461 units of ''Parasite Eve'' were sold in Japan during the first half of 1998, which made it the country's third-best-selling game for the period. The game had shipped 1.94 million copies as of February 2004, with 1.05 million in Japan and 0.89 million in the rest of the world. In Japan, it was the 6th-top-selling game of 1998 with 994,000 copies sold. The game was re-released in North America under Sony's

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

label. ''Parasite Eve'' received "generally favorable" reviews, according to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

praised the game for its beautiful graphics and cinematic sequences, as well as its mature tone, but noted, along with other reviewers, the game's linear plot structure. ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...

'' cited the games "exquisite" backdrops but bemoaned its long load times each time players enter a new environment or engage an enemy. ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'' said the game had a cinematic look, and had an "astounding" level of detail for real-life locations in

. The lack of any

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

or singing, however, hindered dramatic scenes such as the opera and subsequent mass

combustion Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combusti ...

of the entire audience at the game's start. The game was sometimes compared to the ''

Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...

'' series, though ''GamePro'' said that ''Parasite Eve'' had deeper gameplay with multiple weapon upgrades and hidden areas to discover. Reviewers also cited that though the game broke many RPG gaming conventions, it suffered from having little replay value and being a relatively short game. The combat was compared unfavorably to ''

'' by

Game Revolution ''GameRevolution'' (formerly ''Game-Revolution'') is a gaming website created in 1996. Based in Berkeley, California, the site includes reviews, previews, a gaming download area, cheats, and a merchandise store, as well as webcomics, screenshots ...

, which featured a dynamic camera instead of fixed one. The novel's original author

approved of the game, stating that he was "actually impressed how well the game makers translated the novel." In 2000, the game was ranked number 16 by the readers of ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' magazine in its top 100 PlayStation games of all time. In 2010,

GamesRadar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...

chose it as one of the "Top 7... '90s games that need HD

remakes A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...

". In February 2011, ''Parasite Eve'' was announced to arrive on the North American

. It was released on March 15, 2011.

Legacy

The ''Parasite Eve'' video game was inspired by a popular Japanese original book, and was a part of the "J-horror" phenomena along with other fiction such as ''

Ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

'', and led to two video game sequels and a manga adaptation based upon the video game universe called ''Parasite Eve DIVA''. In 2020, British rock band

Bring Me the Horizon Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fis ...

released a song called "

", stating it was directly inspired by the game.

Footnotes

References

External links

* *
Parasite Eve remixes
at

MusicBrainz MusicBrainz is a MetaBrainz project that aims to create a collaborative music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the Compact Disc Database (CDDB), a database for sof ...

(list of releases) {{DEFAULTSORT:Parasite Eve (Video Game) 1998 video games Action role-playing video games Christmas video games Parasite Eve games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation Network games Role-playing video games Square (video game company) games Video games based on novels Video games developed in Japan Video games developed in the United States Video games set in 1997 Video games set in New York City Video games scored by Yoko Shimomura Video games about shapeshifting Video games featuring female protagonists Video games about police officers Spontaneous human combustion in fiction Single-player video games