Late night on Christmas Eve, Aya and the other members of CTI: New York are called into headquarters in response to an outbreak of attacks in Manhattan by a creature called Twisted. These creatures emerged from a mysterious time contortion, details about which will be revealed later.
Aya is the main focus of this game. Due to her special powers, she still has the body of a woman in her 20s, although in terms of age she should actually be 35 years old. Motomu Toriyama, the scenario director, feels that it is rare to be able to focus on a woman in her mid 30s in a game and is taking the opportunity to properly depict the thinking and lifestyle of a cool woman.
Judging by the latest trailer footage, Square Enix's The 3rd Birthday looked like it might be a Kill Bill simulation. Thankfully, the latest issue of Famitsu came through today with hints at the true nature of the title.
According to project director Hajime Tabata, this PSP Parasite Eve sequel is going to be a true 3D gun action game. Noting that it will differ from Final Fantasy VII Dirge of Cerberus, he described it as a "true third person shooter."
Square Enix is working with another development studio on the game, Tabata revealed, without naming names.
Tabata also revealed that wireless play is being considered. He didn't state if this would be 'net based or ad-hoc, although it's worth noting that the aim for Tabata's other directorial project, Final Fantasy Agito XIII, is online-based play.
Finally, Tabata shared a couple of bits about the game's storyline and gameplay systems. These two areas are intertwined thanks to something called "overdrive," an ability that crosses time. Aya, the hero, uses this ability to both look into the mysteries of the game's enemies, the Twisted, and to fight them.
While stopping short of sharing an actual release time frame, Tabata did state that the game's scenario and design are nearing completion.
BMV trailer, was brand new and *bleep*ing -amazing-. The trailer starts off flashing between a present Aya in a city, it's snowing and she's walking in an ally alone. Flashes to the past recalling the previous events with narration.
The quality is amazing, Aya looks gorgeous.
Soon after the snow falling comes to a slow halt and a huge creature erupts from the end of the ally, shredding up snow. The enemy resembled a giant worm but with some kind of mist and tentacles of some kind, I think they looked mechanical.
Aya stands there, pulls out her guns and aims.
Moves into some in game footage and boy, it looks nice. The character models are seemingly leap years ahead of FF7:CC and Agito. There was no battle mechanics shown, just Aya walking around a lab and talking to some people in cutscenes. No voice work besides the narration.
CheatCC.com have previewed the game, including some new story and gameplay info. The bolded paragraphs have the new info ...
quote
NEW Story and Gameplay Details!
It may be hard to believe, but it has been a whole decade since the last Parasite Eve title. The original game could best be described as a sleeper hit on the original PlayStation, and the follow-up, while not as groundbreaking as the original, was also a modest success. Rumors have been swirling ever since the second game was released more than ten years ago about a possible sequel, but with no official word, fans were left to speculate and hope for the franchise's future. However, it seems that fans are finally going to get the sequel they have waited nearly two console generations for. Though you may be surprised to learn what console this title is coming to: the PSP!
Parasite Eve: The 3rd Birthday will take place several years after the events of Parasite Eve 2, and it will find Aya Brea once again in a precarious position. The instances of Neo-Mitochondrial Creatures (NMCs) have been on the decline in recent years, which leaves Aya with some time to herself. However, just as Aya is getting ready to solidify her life as a normal girl and get married, a new foe presents itself and throws her life back into familiar chaos.
This new enemy, known only as The Twisted, is mysterious in origin and seems to have relatively loose ties to the mitochondrial-controlled monsters that have been the focus of previous Parasite Eve games. Instead of taking over the bodies of hapless onlookers, The Twisted appear out of a swirling vortex in the sky. In order to combat these monsters, Aya will have to look within herself to harness a new psychic-type power. This power presents itself as a gift known as Overdrive that only Aya can use to distort time. As her power develops, Aya will be able to look into the origins of The Twisted and discover how to overcome their slowly increasing numbers. However, an early trailer gives the impression that as this power develops; Aya becomes susceptible to wild hallucinations which blur the lines between the world of The Twisted and reality.
The gameplay in the Parasite Eve series has always walked the fine line between survival horror and RPG. This iteration, however, seems to be leaning towards the former, with a third-person shooter approach to the combat. Aya will likely have a large selection of weapons at her disposal, and, in most levels, The Overdrive system looks to be an integral factor in the gameplay. Its time-altering properties will likely add a unique element to the shooting-focused gameplay. However, instead of slowing down enemies or giving the main character added speed, the overdrive system looks like it will open up new dimensions where Aya can view different events from the past to help her with the current battle. This new mechanic seems to be a little bit of a departure in the gameplay, and it is unclear whether this ability will trigger a cutscene animation or a new playable stage area.
In addition to a single-player campaign, project director Hajime Tabata has said that a new wireless play component is being considered as well. Although it is unknown whether this will be an ad-hoc or internet-based mode, or what exactly it might entail, there are several possibilities. Because the game seems to be sticking to a third-person shooter format, it is easy to speculate that there might be a multiplayer mode involving humans vs. Twisted matches, akin to the Chimera vs. human matches that will be featured in Resistance: Retribution, which is also for the PSP. Another possibility for multiplayer gameplay might be a co-op mission mode extraneous to the story. The prospect of multiplayer modes is extremely exciting for longtime Parasite Eve fans because it will be the first time the series has ever ventured past the single-player story mode.
Although a final release date in the US seems to be quite a ways off, just knowing that a new Parasite Eve is in the works is enough to tide over most fans. Even though some were hoping that the Parasite Eve franchise would return to the spotlight with a console release, this PSP exclusive looks to be very promising. With what seems to be an engaging story, rumored multiplayer modes, and all new enemies, this might be one of the best PSP exclusives of all time. Who knows, perhaps this handheld title will foreshadow more Parasite Eve games in the future!
It's still going, but a large number of the core staff have other projects as well. And I doubt it's all that high on Square Enix's priority list at the moment. There's nothing to indicate that it's been dropped over the past 7 months - they spoke about it just back in May - but they've got more important games they're pushing this year.
[size=1][color=#666666]This message was edited by Shuyu on Jul 11 2009.
She couldn't hate him so much if she was about to marry him, could she?
And besides, there is no official statement to show that any of the characters from the pervious games (PE1 and PE2) could be reappearing in this game. No idea what they had in store for Evie either.
The fact that the game's plot location happened to be in Manhattan and on Christmas Eve of all times shows that, maybe SQUARE is remaking the original Parasite Eve (1). At least, that's what I'm thinking.
If this game sells well (most probably will), hopefully they can make one for PS3 or remake the first one
I think 3rd Birthday IS the remake. But that is my guess.
It is possible that 3rd Birthday is beginning of Parasite Eve game for PS3, like Advent Children was for Final Fantasy 7 sagas which already counted at least two games on PS2 (Dirge of Cerebus) and PSP (Crisis Core).
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