28 Years Later, There’s Still Nothing Quite Like This Resident Evil Meets Final Fantasy JRPG Fever Dream

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1998 is widely considered one of the best years ever for video games. It saw the release of iconic and beloved titles like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid, GoldenEye 007, Half-Life, and Resident Evil 2, just to name a few. The innovative and imaginative game design from that year still stands out today.

SquareSoft (now known as Square Enix) released one of the year’s most original games. Already famous for popular JRPGs, the studio surprised players with Parasite Eve. While it wasn’t as well-known as some of their other franchises at the time, Parasite Eve received rave reviews. Years later, it remains a uniquely fascinating game with a distinct vision that hasn’t been replicated.

Parasite Eve’s Blend of RE’s Horror and FF’s Mechanics Has Yet to Be Replicated

Though it used familiar game mechanics, Parasite Eve was designed to feel like a serious, cinematic experience, as envisioned by director Takashi Tokita. Hironobu Sakaguchi, known for Final Fantasy, produced the game, which also represented SquareSoft’s first large-scale collaboration with an American team. Released in Japan in March and the US in September, Parasite Eve was a bit of a surprise compared to other games at the time. However, it quickly became popular with both players and critics, selling over 950,000 copies in Japan within the first six months of 1998. Today, it’s remembered as one of the most popular games from that period.

The video game Parasite Eve started as a continuation of Hideaki Sena’s novel with the same title. The novel was part of the growing J-Horror wave that became popular around that time.

Parasite Eve Features

  • A modern real-life setting of New York City, instead of the fantasy-flavored or futuristic sci-fi ones that were often seen in similar genre titles
  • A more mature plot (in fact, it was SquareSoft’s first M-rated game at the time), exploring deeper scientific, philosophical, and existential themes
  • Freely explorable semi-open areas with traditional random encounters and setpiece boss battles
  • A hybrid of real-time and turn-based combat built around a variation of the Active Time Bar system

Parasite Eve Combines a Twisted Story With Pitch-Perfect Mechanics and Design

In Parasite Eve, you play as Aya Brea, a new police officer in New York City. During an opera performance on Christmas Eve, a terrifying event unfolds: audience members suddenly burst into flames. After escaping the chaos, Aya investigates Melissa Pearce, the opera’s star, believing she may be connected to the strange and deadly occurrences.

Melissa explains to Aya a theory about “conscious mitochondria,” suggesting it’s a next step in evolution and that they both have unusual abilities linked to their genes. They then fight, and during the battle, Melissa changes into a terrifying, creature-like form—similar to monsters from the Resident Evil games—and proclaims herself “Eve” before fleeing into the city’s sewer system.

During the next week, Aya and Daniel Dollis desperately try to figure out what’s going on and stop Eve. Eve is causing widespread chaos by controlling plants and animals, making them burst into flames or change into something else. While investigating, Aya and Daniel meet two scientists who know a lot about the origins of the crisis, but each scientist has hidden reasons for getting involved.

Despite some outlandish details, Parasite Eve presents them with a serious tone, which keeps the story intense and the plot moving quickly. It all builds to a huge final battle around the ruined Statue of Liberty, where Eve is about to give birth to a powerful being that threatens to take over the world. The ending is somewhat open to interpretation.

There is an alternate ending attainable on New Game Plus that offers more closure.

Battles in Parasite Eve feel smooth and strategic, similar to Final Fantasy, giving players plenty of ways to approach each fight. The game blends the unsettling body horror of Resident Evil with Final Fantasy‘s polished gameplay, adding its own unique elements to create a truly memorable experience. The impressive cutscenes further enhance the overall presentation.

At Least One Modern Game is Attempting to Recapture Parasite Eve’s Magic

Despite its source material remaining popular, Parasite Eve became somewhat of an outlier. While two sequels – Parasite Eve 2 and the spin-off The 3rd Birthday – were released, they didn’t receive the same acclaim as the first game, and the series eventually became less prominent.

A new game called Parasite Mutant is generating buzz on Steam and looks to be carrying on the spirit of the classic Parasite Eve. Its indie developer, IceSitruuna, has directly cited Parasite Eve as a major inspiration, and that influence is clear in the gameplay shown so far. It’s great to see the legacy of Parasite Eve continuing to inspire new games even after all these years.

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2026-02-03 19:06