Short, fun and interesting but could have been better.
Parasite Eve is a strange, slightly innovative game. You can tell playing this game that Square tried to do something without putting too much money on it. First, they took the story of a popular japanese horror novel, inserted it into the game, then mixed a Resident Evil system of weapon management with an rpg leveling system, and finished with a battle system highly influenced by action rpg's. The result is a game that feels like it doesn't know what it is, but is good nonetheless.
Although the gameplay is what most reviewers despise in this game, I have to say that I liked it. I liked it because it was simple and it didn't waste any time to get you in the thick of battles, and the mix of action and rpg sort of fixed some of the problems of both genres, namely the reliance on twitchy fingers for action and the dullness that can pervade in rpg systems. The system does have its flaws, for example it lacks a good amount of strategy since even boss fights require you only to evade its attacks, get in close and attack, run back, evade, get in back close and attack, heal, repeat. It's very simple, and it could have gotten pretty annoying had the game been longer. As far as equipment mechanics go, you find real life weapons and armor suits dispersed in the game, and you can then upgrade those weapons with special tools that you find. Again, it works but the constant finding of better weapons is weird. In a sword and sorcery context, I can accept that some weapons have better characteristics than others, like being sharper, more magical, heavier etc. But in real life firearms, how can the MP5-2 be twice as powerful, have twice was many bullets in a magazine, fire twice as far, thrice as fast etc. On top of that, they ask you to spend valuable tools to upgrade weapons you KNOW are going to be obsolete in one hour. At least you find special Super Tools that allow you to transfer one particular stat category from one weapon to the next, but it is still frustrating. I admit, I would have preferred a system like in Resident Evil; every weapon has its characteristics and that's that. If you like the shotgun more than the machine gun well just upgrade the shotgun all the time and become a shotgun master and if you ever face an enemy who likes to fight long range, good luck. That would have been better than just throwing 20 brands of every type of firearm and basically saying "This last submachine gun is 30 times as powerful as that MP5"...Can it blow up tanks or what?
The graphics haven't aged well, that's for sure. The characters are a messed up mix of polygons and the pre-rendered backgrounds have a slight washed out look to them. The only redeeming factor in this game is that it reminds you that back in the Playstation days FMV's still happened and they rocked.
There is nothing much to say about sound. You have your normal attack sounds, item selection beeps and your classic horror soundtrack. The music is pretty good although more in a background role than something you might hum in the bus.
The game is short, and that's a problem but it does feel like the game was designed to be short, especially as far as the battle system goes. The story would have been necessary to have a good 5 hours more to feel fleshed out, because as of now it feels like an interesting but rushed concept. There is a New Game + option, where you can restart the game with the levels you finished with, and fight harder enemies, have an extra stage (a whole tower) and the possibility of a new ending. But overall, the first time through is pretty short and it feels like it too.
In the end, Parasite Eve is a good game, worth a bargain bin price, but it is pretty short and does feel rushed in places.