![]() ![]() Parasite Eve didn’t feel as big as a new Final Fantasy, but it also didn’t feel small and insignificant: it felt like Square was throwing everything at the wall. But so too could a Resident Evil or Silent Hill fan, who in turn might gain a greater appreciation for RPGs. A fan of FF7 could come to this game and see in it a lineage from those creators and that game. The mix of mechanics, ideas, and aesthetics is simply perfectly pitched. It’s this that is Parasite Eve’s magic, its X-Factor. Square Enix expertly traded on its skyrocketing reputation and the success of Final Fantasy 7 at this time, making sure pretty much every PS1 RPG it put out was unique in some way, taking popular elements and ideas from elsewhere and forcing them into some twisted form of their RPG framework. Parasite Eve was as good as an all-new property, as while it is based on a Japanese novel of the same name, the book’s audience was relatively small at the time. Parasite Eve is the perfect exampl released two years after Resident Evil and pitched in Japan as the “Hollywood RPG”, it mingled survival horror action with Square’s RPG chops. When you see people hand-wringing over Final Fantasy 16 being obviously inspired by Western RPGs and jettisoning a bunch of series traditions, remember this: this sort of thing has been Square Enix’s MO forever – even back before Enix was in the picture. And it’s exactly the sort of game Square Enix should be making more of now. It’s a little bit familiar, a little bit weird. It gets one to thinking: this is honestly the quintessential Square game of its era that isn’t a Final Fantasy game. This whole thought process was triggered by a Square Enix anniversary, for today marks 25 years since the release of the original Parasite Eve. ![]() Wonder why Square chose this camera angle? Though, as ever, a new Final Fantasy peeks over the horizon, threatening to change the conversation entirely. A fair amount of critical success, but not really as much commercial success as might be expected or deserved. That much-improved sequel will probably never happen.Īnd thus concludes an analysis of the state of Square Enix: an interesting slate, perhaps poorly scheduled, sometimes under-marketed, and often misunderstood. Not that it matters now, mind: Forspoken developer Luminous Productions is closing, with its workforce absorbed into and scattered across the rest of Square Enix. It’s an uneven, stumbly proof-of-concept with a wildly bloated budget that probably would’ve gotten way better in a sequel. In truth, Forspoken sort of reminded me of the first run-out of a lot of franchises – the first Assassin’s Creed, for instance. Some undeniably cringeworthy and dodgy elements became a lightning rod for the haters, some of whom clearly only disliked the game for its protagonist’s identity. It’s a decent game, you know – better than the internet at large really gave it credit for. As a buddy of mine argued, even if a failure, that line-up was a breath of fresh air.Īnd then, obviously, you’ve got Forspoken. But the quality and breadth is a badge of honor, at least. Some of them launched with little fanfare it was easy to miss that something like Star Ocean: The Divine Force had even released. On the flip side, it seems barely anybody played a lot of these games. When you think about it, there are notable similarites between Forspoken and Parasite Eve, right? ![]()
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