
	Platform PSP Genre Action RPG Publisher Square Enix Developer Square Enix ETA TBA
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The 3rd Birthday

One of my favorite Squaresoft RPGs to come out for the original PlayStation was Parasite Eve (as well as its sequel). Between the contemporary setting, unique battle system, and the hordes of hideously deformed monsters all over the place, there was a lot to like about the games. However, since that time we just haven’t seen anything new from the series. Thankfully that is soon going to change, as Square-Enix have finally had the good sense to revive the series, with a new installment making its way to the PSP.

The 3rd Birthday isn’t considered a direct sequel to Parasite Eve 2, but more of a spin-off. It still stars the heroine from the last two games, Aya Brea, though, making it her third appearance in the series, hence the whole “3rd Birthday” thing. At first, the game was announced as a mobile phone title in 2008, but after gamers everywhere let out a collective, “Wait, what?” development of it has shifted to the PSP.

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Taking place several years after the last game, strange creatures called The Twisted are attacking Manhattan. To deal with this threat, a group called CTI has been assembled, and a new weapon has been developed to combat these creatures, the Overdive system. As it turns out, Aya Brea is the only person capable of using it. Despite her now being in her mid

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30s, the mitochondria in Aya’s body that give her special powers appear to also have halted her body’s aging, so she looks as young as ever. The game’s scenario director, Motomu Toriyama, has stated in interviews that he likes the idea of Aya being in her 30s for this game, as older women (well, relative the the tweens running rampant in most other games) are very seldom the focus of a video game’s story, so he sees some interesting possibilities with this.

The Overdive system will play a central role in The 3rd Birthday’s gameplay. With it, Aya can takeover the bodies of CTI soldiers and make them do what she wants (bare in mind that as this happens, the soldiers will look like Aya to the player). As the controlled soldier runs around doing Aya’s bidding, she can jump from one soldier’s body to the next as needed in order to get things done. It’s not clear how one soldier’s abilities will differ from the next, but the developers are trying to set up the gameplay so that it is in players’ best interest to keep these soldiers alive, as opposed to simply using them as cannon fodder, and jumping to a new body as a soldier is about to die.

Despite the fact that gamers have known about this title for almost two years now, we still don’t have a firm release date for it. Nonetheless, it is nice to see Square-Enix blowing the dust off of the Parasite Eve franchise. Hopefully we’ll be seeing The 3rd Birthday getting released sooner rather than later.

Mr. Nash
June 26, 2010