3rd Birthday

Im curious who here on Gamespot has played this game? What do you think of it?

Disappointment of the year.

I played it and thought it was a decent shooter. I had never played any of the previous Parasite Eve games before though so I had no expectations going in. The story was a bit tough to grasp at some times with all the time jumps and such.

I didn't enjoy it; the only things I liked about the 3rd Birthday were the DNA customization and the soundtrack.

The gameplay videos looked pretty sweet, but playing it wasn't that fun, imo. It's your standard shooter with the lock-on system, but there are some poor design choices and among other things that made more frustrating than it has to be. First thing was the camera. It's pretty annoying and would sometimes get in your way since it moved by itself at times. Controls were also a little off. It's also very repetitive since there isn't a lot of enemy variety, and you're practically doing the same thing throughout the whole game (shoot and move on into the next corridor).

A few boss battles were tedious and cheap like the queen. Let me explain this fight for you; all you could do in that fight was shoot and dive into different bodies. You couldn't run around, dodge, take cover, etc, so for ten minutes, all you were doing in that fight is holding the R button, slowly chipping away the boss' health. Then in the middle of that fight, he tries to suck you in and one-hit kill you. If you're caught, you have to redo the whole boss again. The majority of the bosses have ridiculous defense and health, so they do take a while to beat. Once you defeat them, you feel relief that you finished a frustrating part rather than feeling satisfaction.

Story was pretty bad too. It's the ending that pretty much destroys the whole story since it creates plot-holes and leaves so many things unanswered. Characters were weak and practically had no development; if you wanted to learn something about a character, you had to read the database.

What was so bad about this game?? Is it really that terrible??

What was so bad about this game?? Is it really that terrible??

Coolyfett

I didn't enjoy it; the only things I liked about the 3rd Birthday were the DNA customization and the soundtrack.

The gameplay videos looked pretty sweet, but playing it wasn't that fun, imo. It's your standard shooter with the lock-on system, but there are some poor design choices and among other things that made more frustrating than it has to be. First thing was the camera. It's pretty annoying and would sometimes get in your way since it moved by itself at times. Controls were also a little off. It's also very repetitive since there isn't a lot of enemy variety, and you're practically doing the same thing throughout the whole game (shoot and move on into the next corridor).

A few boss battles were tedious and cheap like the queen. Let me explain this fight for you; all you could do in that fight was shoot and dive into different bodies. You couldn't run around, dodge, take cover, etc, so for ten minutes, all you were doing in that fight is holding the R button, slowly chipping away the boss' health. Then in the middle of that fight, he tries to suck you in and one-hit kill you. If you're caught, you have to redo the whole boss again. The majority of the bosses have ridiculous defense and health, so they do take a while to beat. Once you defeat them, you feel relief that you finished a frustrating part rather than feeling satisfaction.

Story was pretty bad too. It's the ending that pretty much destroys the whole story since it creates plot-holes and leaves so many things unanswered. Characters were weak and practically had no development; if you wanted to learn something about a character, you had to read the database.

DJChuy

I haven't played it yet, but I'm waiting for a price drop. Heard it wasn't great, but I still want to get it one of these days.

The game isn't that bad. It's not as good as Resistance Retribution or the Syphon Filter games, but Square-Enix has gotten a lot better with shooters since the horrible Dirge of Cerberus. EXEraserVS

Ouch, I never played the first PE's, but I was highly anticipating this game. The production values looked pretty stellar for a PSP game, and since I'm enjoy Dissidia 012 so much, I was hyped for another SE game. After seeing some poor reviews on numerous forums (here and RPGfan), I'll prob wait for a substantial price drop. The premise just looks to cool to pass up entirely, but after seeing your guys opinions, I can assume that paying 30 bucks for this would be a huge mistake.

On a side note I tried to win the free Gamespot 3rd birthday giveaway and ended up winning a Dissidia 012 Prologus thing that I already have, so if anyone wants that code just send me a PM.

For a 3rd person shooter on the PSP it's more than great. The combat can get frustrating due to the nub, but it's better than many other games I've played on the PSP. So if you're buying it for the sake of gameplay go ahead, there's little content to unlock but you can play it over and over again.J ust don't think of it as an RPG, really...

As for story, some might argue it's good while most (including myself) will say it's an abomination that killed the story of the original 2. It has some plotholes, and you'll feel they're way more if you don't pay extreme attention to every little detail in the story while checking forums for what others have noticed as well. Even if you do that you'll feel that the story is week and that it lacks a lot in the presentation department.

However, overall it's fun. I bought it day 1 from PSN and I don't regret it. I played it a bit, taking a break now but I'll try to beat it few more times soon, and even more later.

I thought it was Really good!revway

The story is okeyrevway

I am currently working on the 3rd Birthday. I find it somewhat difficult to control But I love the game. Kinda reminds me of Ghost in the Shell (One of the same voice actors I'm sure)

I like this well enought but I'm stuck at the second Boss battle. At this moment, The third Birthday is a good game hopefully the series willcontinue on NGP

I am currently working on the 3rd Birthday. I find it somewhat difficult to control But I love the game. Kinda reminds me of Ghost in the Shell (One of the same voice actors I'm sure)

I like this well enought but I'm stuck at the second Boss battle. At this moment, The third Birthday is a good game hopefully the series willcontinue on NGP

Megavideogamer

[QUOTE="EXEraserVS"]The game isn't that bad. It's not as good as Resistance Retribution or the Syphon Filter games, but Square-Enix has gotten a lot better with shooters since the horrible Dirge of Cerberus. pills4louis

[QUOTE="pills4louis"]

But the FFVII storyline is far more interesting that 3rd Birthday, aside from the bad gameplay.EXEraserVS

Really? I thought both had equally bad stories. The only time I ever thought something good came from the Final Fantasy VII franchise (since the seventh game is undeniably its own series) was Crisis Core.

pills4louis

[QUOTE="pills4louis"]Really? I thought both had equally bad stories. The only time I ever thought something good came from the Final Fantasy VII franchise (since the seventh game is undeniably its own series) was Crisis Core.

Granpire

[QUOTE="EXEraserVS"][QUOTE="pills4louis"]

But the FFVII storyline is far more interesting that 3rd Birthday, aside from the bad gameplay.pills4louis

[QUOTE="Granpire"]

[QUOTE="pills4louis"]Really? I thought both had equally bad stories. The only time I ever thought something good came from the Final Fantasy VII franchise (since the seventh game is undeniably its own series) was Crisis Core.

pills4louis

What games would you say have a really good story??

What games would you say have a really good story??

Coolyfett

Phantom Dust
Nier
Chrono Trigger
Knights in the Nightmare
Astro Boy: Omega Factor
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Killer7
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
The Void
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Radiant Silvergun
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy VI
Galerians
Parasite Eve
Silent Hill
Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 3
Vagrant Story
Xenogears
Baroque
Blood Will Tell
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Drakengard
Fatal Frame
Fatal Frame II
Galerians: Ash
Odin Sphere
Okami
Shadow of Destiny
Shadow of the Colossus
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Way of the Samurai
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

...just to name a few.

[QUOTE="Coolyfett"]

What games would you say have a really good story??

pills4louis

Phantom Dust
Nier
Chrono Trigger
Knights in the Nightmare
Astro Boy: Omega Factor
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Killer7
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
The Void
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Radiant Silvergun
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy VI
Galerians
Parasite Eve
Silent Hill
Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 3
Vagrant Story
Xenogears
Baroque
Blood Will Tell
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Drakengard
Fatal Frame
Fatal Frame II
Galerians: Ash
Odin Sphere
Okami
Shadow of Destiny
Shadow of the Colossus
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Way of the Samurai
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

...just to name a few.

Thats an ambitious list.hopefully its not everygame you have played. What are the best PSP stories??...Coolyfett will download Chronno Trigger when PSN comes back. Playing Vagrant Story and having trouble with leveling up and and the gameplay is just too much going on in that game. Many people mention Vagrant Story yet its not pulling me in like the hype.

Thats an ambitious list.hopefully its not everygame you have played. What are the best PSP stories??...Coolyfett will download Chronno Trigger when PSN comes back. Playing Vagrant Story and having trouble with leveling up and and the gameplay is just too much going on in that game. Many people mention Vagrant Story yet its not pulling me in like the hype.

Coolyfett

I honestly thought Crisis Core's story itself was great. Nothing amazing, but the way it was presented made it something special. The emotions seemed much more genuine and "human" than the game it was a prequel to. (If you want genuine, "human" characters with emotions, though, go play Nier.) I own 414 games, and have played hundreds more than that, heh. I was just copy/pasting my list and deleting all but the games I felt had exceptional stories.

Also, sorry for the "Here we go" nature of the last post. I honestly thought you were asking in a defensive manner due to FF7 fanboyism or something. My bad.

I really didn't think it was that bad. The gameplay can get a bit aggravating for reasons people have already mentioned but I thought that the overdive system is interesting and the graphics are pretty terrific. It's not that bad of a shooter. The storyline was the major let down for me.

I liked while I was playing it but looking back on it, it wasn't that great

it was boring and depressing. the story made no sense and once you completed it, it gave you more of a dissapointment. the protagonist (Aya) sounds weak and is too fragile to fill up the role of a lead action character. She belongs in dead or alive: paradise than this game. you bump her into a wall, she makes a moaning grunt, and anyone who finds that appealing needs to put down their psp and go out more. You want to play a good 3rd person shooter for the psp? pick up resistance retribution instead.jasontdoto

never played the original parasite eve game, but i was always curious about it at that time. i think if they improved the story and made it emotionally charged like ff: CC, and made it a prequel or sequel to the original parasite eve game, it could have been a hit. instead they came up with a story, which at first seems very interesting concept, but fails to deliver at the end, and leaves behind a bitter taste. the story does not build up any of the characters around the main character, and the main character herself is someone that i didn't really connect with. the other thing was the gameplay really got boring after the first hour or so. almost same types of enemies, boring environment, easy enemies, just ruined it for me. the dna mix matching was fun at first, but you don't even need to work on that a lot to finish the game with ease.

I honestly thought the gameplay was pretty good for a third-person shooter on PSP. The controls were solid and the overdive system was kind of fun. The same-ol, same-ol' enemies could have used some more variety, and most of the bosses needed 10x less health, but those aspects didn't bother me nearly as much as the two things I anticipated the most: the story, and how ol' Aya is holding up. Ugh. I realize this is Tetsuya Nomura material but I felt the story and main character were bad even for him. IMO the man shouldn't be given creative control over a project since he is now responsible for ruining both Brave Fencer Musashi and Parasite Eve, among other things. (Advent Children, anyone?) The only nice thing I have to say about T3B is that its opening has the best version of "Primal Eyes" between the three games.

I felt the story was quite solidSelushakai

That is actually exceptionally rude pills. See, story is a very subjective thing. And it all depends on what you put into it. If you read through the actual database entries, and get the full story experience... there's a lot there. A TON of story, and seeing the various phases of the story, and how it changes was actually really well done. If you JUST played through the game once and didn't read anything extra or go out of your way... the story probably wasn't as good. I can't say for sure, but after reading through everything, and watching the full ending... I was very impressed. But, agian, story is HIGHLY subjective, and one person will say something is a good story, and another will hate it - but it's no reason to disregard a person's opinion. In fact, such differences make another person's opinion more valuable to me, because they give me a flipside to what I saw.Selushakai

[QUOTE="Coolyfett"]

Thats an ambitious list.hopefully its not everygame you have played. What are the best PSP stories??...Coolyfett will download Chronno Trigger when PSN comes back. Playing Vagrant Story and having trouble with leveling up and and the gameplay is just too much going on in that game. Many people mention Vagrant Story yet its not pulling me in like the hype.

pills4louis

I honestly thought Crisis Core's story itself was great. Nothing amazing, but the way it was presented made it something special. The emotions seemed much more genuine and "human" than the game it was a prequel to. (If you want genuine, "human" characters with emotions, though, go play Nier.) I own 414 games, and have played hundreds more than that, heh. I was just copy/pasting my list and deleting all but the games I felt had exceptional stories.

Also, sorry for the "Here we go" nature of the last post. I honestly thought you were asking in a defensive manner due to FF7 fanboyism or something. My bad.

oh no...Coolyfett has no issues there...Have you completed VagrantStory?

oh no...Coolyfett has no issues there...Have you completed VagrantStory?

Coolyfett

My second most enjoyable game of the year so far, only behind to tactics ogre. Fantastic gameplay mechanics, love the DNA chips array of possibilities and combinations, love the soundtrack, love the story structure and having to search for every tid bit of information to put the story together,

Its not a parasite eve, but who cares, its a great game and thats all that matters.