Facebook – Top 100 FAVORITE Video Games: 18

18: Parasite Eve (PS1)
Developer: Square
Year: 1998

To understand my love for this game, the first thing you have to realize is that it was my first Playstation purchase. I’d been a Nintendo fanboy up to this point (with the regrettable middle system during which time I had a Sega instead of an SNES… a valiant stand in the console wars but, ultimately, the losing side) and so moving away from the N64 was difficult. I don’t really remember why I wanted a PS1, actually, just that I did. Think I wanted to play the hell out of Resident Evil 2 and 3 (which I of course did do, in the end), so I got one. And, for some reason, I got this game. I couldn’t even begin to explain why I did that. I hadn’t played any of it, had no real idea what the game was about, even. Saw one ad, back in the day, on a tiny, crappy black-and-white TV.

But I did buy Squaresoft’s epic “cinematic RPG” and was blown away. While a ton of the elements found in this game are dated (really fucking dated, even) by today’s standards, back then, when things were still new for 3D gaming of this kind, there was no claiming the controls were clunky at all, because they all were, to an inexperienced game player. Instead, I was presented with a game that enveloped me entirely in its awesome setting and the characters were great people to get to know over the course of the game’s 6-day narrative. The gameplay was different than anything I’d played before, too. While I was slowly getting into the Final Fantasy franchise (a decade late, I might add), the RPG elements in this game were unlike those found in FFVII and the prior games, meaning I was unsure of how to play.

But, with my older brother watching my every move, I trudged through the game with fierce dedication. Every new area, every new upgrade for my weapons, and every new “Parasite power” (more on the mitochondria element of this game’s story in a bit) took me by surprise and I was filled with glee throughout. Doing battle with the T-Rex and the rest of the game’s bosses were a constant treat (up until that blasted end boss, that is!) and this was one of the first games I really remember having to struggle over and over to grind and beat a final boss.

But one of the best parts of this game (aside from one of the coolest Square antagonists ever conceived) was where the story came from, both in its prequel narrative and the basis for the storyline itself. Despite how stupid this is going to sound, the game’s plot being derived from actual science around mitochondria, these tiny organism-things that live in our cells, was astounding and – more importantly – accurate. The fact that I did a paper for a science class based solely on info provided by this game alone means I’ll always have a place for this in my heart (aced that paper too, I might add). But, even more interesting, is the fact that it makes sense, and is based entirely on events that take place in a novel and a film version of said novel. The game is a sequel to that book and features the same thing as the game’s enemy: Eve, a mitochondrial creature. Why? Who cares!

All in all, words alone can’t explain my love for this game. A new sequel is coming out and, while the second game in the series didn’t make my top 100, I did enjoy it for its creative use of the storyline, so I’ll get the third one, just in the hopes of having to do battle with Eve once again. Why a game this crazy is so good, to me, I’ll never really understand. I don’t have a clue why I got the game, and I don’t really have a solid reason to explain why I love the game, either. But it doesn’t matter. Not one bit. Because I do love the game. And can’t wait to replay it in the next few months.

Classic Moment:
Maybe one of the biggest “WHAT THE FUCK!” moments for me in gaming – not because its weird, but because I was so mad – comes right at the end. After you do battle with the end boss and it starts dying, you have to escape the creature by running through a giant boat and blowing it the hell up. But if you take any wrong path, fail to push the button in time, or do anything wrong – period! – the guy kills you. Instantly. This is after having to do some serious grinding, myself, just to get past the four-part boss battle with the fucker. Losing my life because I took one wrong turn was a major dick move for the game, because I really wanted to never play the game again. Thank god I did, though.

PS: I love that opening cinema. For some reason its my favorite cinema in any game, ever. I used to just watch it and, now, with the power of YouTube? I can watch it at any time! Woo!

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Added April 5, 2017
I’ll refrain from talking about how horrid 3rd Birthday is, here, but I’ll just say that this is a series that should have remained a one-and-done. I love this game to death and if the effing PS4 had the ability to buy PS1 games immediately from the store, I’d be on this so fast.