Story & Playability
= Story Introduction =
The future goes horribly wrong.
Monsters started spawning across the globe and Aya Brea , must once more , take up her gun and utilise the OverDrive
system to travel between the span of time itself , to face her past and her future.
But what awaits her was not what she expected.
The 3rd Birthday is the sequel of the Parasite Eve series of the PS1 era.
= Terms Sypnosis =
= OverDrive =
This is a special system in the game which Aya "possess" a random individual in the game.
It plays a critical role in-game as well as the storyline.
= Main Character Sypnosis =
= Aya Brea =
Aya Brea was a cop in the Parasite Eve series who had found herself mixed up in a supernatural incident years ago when
she was listening to a play along with her boyfriend.
After much hardships and encounters , she mey Kyle , her current lover and a young girl whom she saves...
In The 3rd Birthday , she is supposedly suffering amnesia , but recovers her memories over time.
= Personality =
Aya displays a drastic change in personality from what she was like in Parasite Eve. In Parasite Eve , she was tough ,
strong and firm , not entirely empty of feminity but bearing a great will and mind.
However , she became soft , feminine and well , much less bad ass than what she was before.
However , there is a reason for this change.
= Story Overview =
The 3rd Birthday did not do the original series justice.
Parasite Eve was a game which delivers suspense , a unique plotline and The 3rd Birthday is simly a game that is heavily
reliant on the existing plotline of Parasite Eve and the fan's affection for Aya.
However , The 3rd Birthday would still prove interesting , for new and old fans alike.
One can not expect the same mature themes as they would have expected out of the original game , but this sequel ,
despite it's short storyline , makes up for it's faults just because of one plot-twist.
One , very emotional and shocking plot-twist.
Though this plot-twist in question works only particularly strongly on those who had played the Parasite Eve series ,
newer fans might feel it , but perhaps not as strongly as those who had played the original game itself , due to their
stronger attachment to Aya from the Parasite Eve series.
Rating: 7
Graphics
= Graphics Review =
The 3rd Birthday bears impressive graphics , both in terms of gameplay and the cinematic cutscenes.
Whilst not bearing breath-taking sceneries , seeing that it takes place in an apocalyptic environment , it does provide
one with the sense that this is indeed a future which has been overrun by monsters and human society was at it's
brink of doom.
There are also various combat scenarios , may it be urban , in the rocky mountains or perhaps just in some supernatural
realm , Aya have to fight through hordes of monsters and may end up ripping up her clothes.
Yes , ripping up her clothes. This game is interactive , but pehaps for the wrong reasons.
For most of her costumes , Aya can rip her clothes up to "three states".
CG cinematics could also be more impressive than they are , for they tend to feature scenarios that aren't really
"jaw-dropping" in any sense.
Still , you have to love how they fully animate Aya's minor shakings , breathing and the show of fear she had
displayed in these CGs , the way she shakes her gun and how she resolutes herself by stabilising her grip on the gun.
That is certainly one point that I find pretty impressive.
Rating: 8
Sound
= Music Review =
I can't really say that the music is up to Square Enix's standards , it's not the type of music which you
would want to listen to "outside the game" , but it is certainly something befitting just to be used IN the
game.
Music has played a minimal role in the game for the gameplay and the CG cutscenes themselves are so...
attention-catching that the player would find themself so engrossed on the scene to really care what music is playing in
the back.
Particularly so if it isn't good enough to catch one's attention.
= Voice Acting Review ( JP ) =
Aya's fans may be initially surprised by Aya's voice ( Why is her voice so cute when she's supposed to be
a bad ass cop? ) , but this is explained later on in the plotline.
Generally speaking , I find Aya's Seiyu fairly impressive , the way she breathe when she's afraid , the way
she's adept to using her voice.
Not to mention that when the player changes costume in the game , Aya's voice and "personality" also
changes , so it's pretty impressive to see how the seiyu adapts to the various "personalities" and I
daresay it's pretty jaw-dropping to see how well she adapts to each of these "personality".
Rating: 7
Fun
= This is a Review of The 3rd Birthday =
The 3rd Birthday might not have neccessarily done the original storyline justice , for it had failed to deliver the
similar suspense , the mature themes , the dark , mysterious atmosphere that a fan would have once enjoyed in the older
franchise , Parasite Eve , nor does it offer the RPG elements it had once offered , The 3rd Birthday is still enjoyable
in it's own way , for newer fans to get into the Parasite Eve series and older fans to witness the revival of the
perhaps unknown series , for it is overshadowed by other works of Square like Final Fantasy.
Not to mention , it's strangely addictive gameplay would keep you hooked for months.
= Overall ( Others ) =
= Age Rating : Teen =
= Gameplay =
The 3rd Birthday features a lock-on shooter system similar to Dirge of Cerberus , except without the jumping and all.
However , expect an experience that is totally different from Dirge of Cerberus or other lock-on shooters , just because
of one feature found in this game - The OverDrive system.
You an possess friendly NPCs found in the area to use to your advantage and tactically ensure your victory , whilst
sustaining your own life if you ran out of HP by possessing another NPC.
It may make the game sound easy , but if your playing on a harder difficulty , you would be singing a different tune.
The game's campaign length is also short , but the weapon diversity , difficulty selection and the strange
addictiveness brought about in this game has to offer would keep you hooked on for hours.
= Fan Service =
It seems they have brought back the "showering scene" from the Parasite Eve II game , not to mention the
amount of flesh revealed after Aya's clothes got ripped in combat is pretty... nosebleed-worthy.
However , Square isn't making things easy for perverts. For ripped up clothes reduces Aya's defences , the
showering video log for the Video Section of the game can only be unlocked by playing through the game 50 times and the
Costume Viewer for each costume can only be unlocked by using the costume for an entire playthrough with at least an AAA
rank for one mission.
= Trivia =
- Parasite Eve is the prequel and the origins of the events of The 3rd Birthday.
Rating: 8
Final Verdict
7.5000 (good)
Reviewed by z827, Apr 05, 2011