I have so much I could say about this game but I will save you all the multi page rant and leave it on two things; one gameplay related and one story related.

On the gameplay side of things this game has far and away the worst boss fight I've ever seen. All of the gameplay mechanics come together in a way that just falls apart when you add an enemy that can only be damaged by a certain weapon type that has extremely nonfunctional aiming system, constantly charges at you as fast as possible, and it just keeps going into a second phase where it does the same thing but faster. The most sensible way I could find to beat this and the most sensible way guides I found showed to beat it were to pause the game when I managed to hit it somehow and just walk away for ten minutes because this game is so broken that if you're doing sustained damaged before pausing it will continue doing it after its paused. This game just, does not play well at all.

On the story side of things, major spoilers ahead, You basically are playing as a child in an adult's body the entire game and this becomes INSANELY uncomfortable considering how hard they sexualized "Aya" the entire game. Ignoring how hard it ruins the characters from the other Parasite Eve games and the story just does not make any sense on its own, this just skeeves me the hell out and I have to wonder what the fuck anyone working on this was thinking.

This may be my least favorite game of all time now.

1/10

The first two missions are amazingly design for a handheld shooter. The combat system is designed around the controls of the PSP to make a fluid, fast-paced cover shooter where you are constantly changing your weapons and vantage point to flank enemies with yourself. The boss battles are straightforward and do an excellent job of showing off the strengths of the combat system and how you should think about encounters. The game basically uses Z-targeting from Metroid Prime, which means you don't have to manually aim, but still feel in control and can run and dodge easily while firing.

And then the third mission introduces the sniper rifle, which you have to manually aim. Using PSP controls. And they expect you to quick scope flying insects which are outside of your FOV. It's miserable to control because obviously this is a huge weakness of the PSP's controls.

In addition, this is an RPG where the only option to grind/practice is to replay story missions that you have already completed. No side quests of any kind as far as I could tell.

This game is made by a lot of Square's heavy hitters and it starts out so strong, so I was extremely disappointed when it then quickly becomes just... very bad.

Holy shit we may have a true contender at worst sequel of all time. Even DMC2 would look down at this game. Its a disgusting franchise killer and an embarrassment. Not only is it a not fun grind but it actively shits on its history and disempowers strong female characters as nothing but sexual objects. I can tolerate sleaziness but this game way crosses the line. Even outside of that the story is laughably bad and down right offensive. Most bad games fail cause lack of budgeting or time or good direction. The third birthday is just bad on concept alone. It even had time budget and talent.

The follow up to the excellent Parasite Eve duology, and the very thing that killed it so badly it'll likely never come back.

Which is a real shame, because the PE games are incredibly fun and unique, and are perhaps one of the earliest, if not THE earliest, official examples of the extremely rare Survival Horror JRPG fusion genre. Worse still is that the gameplay ideas and enemy design is actually not too shabby (I actually really like the design of "the Twisted"), but the story, core gameplay execution, and intentional design of the characters and scenarios tear up what little good will this game has. Especially the story, which is a wet SHART of a time travel mess with an exceptionally insulting ending to boot.

Let's put away the fact the story is terrible for now, and talk about what it was as a game and why it was almost worth trying to enjoy, up until it showed it really wasn't worth the effort. The game more or less does away with the Survival Horror JRPG root the first two games have and opt for a much more third person shooter perspective, with the twist of body hopping to dart around the battlefield and potion for "focus fire" or reach harder to reach locations. This is bad enough, as the survival horror elements with JRPG mechanics really gave the series it's identity (even if the second one is more action oriented), but, It gets worse and more difficult to enjoy when the soldiers you are stuck with tend to die off due to the staggering and ever ascending difficulty spike after the first major time loop. This isn't even getting into the fact that the core gameplay very quickly boils down to keeping as much distance as possible from foes and "focus fire as much as possible" on singular targets and very slowly move forward, with very little desire to engage in larger groups or one-on-one encounters. While I understand the idea of the concept, trying to crate a squad based approach in a psudo-tactical RPG, its execution is nothing more than a repetitive slog with very little room for experimentation.

This game honestly irritates me. Every now and then, I have the very strange desire to give it a go again, because something deep inside keeps saying "No, Parasite Eve was amazing. Just give '3rd' a chance. it may be better than you think", and like having a piece of candy corn once every Halloween, I'm very swiftly reminded that doing THAT was a mistake. I so, SO badly wanted to like this game. Especially since its release prompted me to try and get the first two games (out of a genuine interest and of irritation). Yeah, 3rd Birthday was my first PE game. Laugh all you want, but at least I learned to travel back in time and play something better. Can't wait to play Parasite Eve once again at the end of this year. Maybe I'll make a fresh file this time.

I really wish this was good. It almost threatens to be. But it's just not man... It's just very frustrating. The best I can describe it is the Other M of the series.

In addition to being a totally unnecessary sequel, it doesn't even try to make sense let alone do much with the previous established events.

The combat is almost good but every enemy is literally the worst enemy in the entire game and it all feels so fucking stiff.

The only real positives I've got is it looks fantastic for PSP and I love the tracks that are composed or heavily contributed to by Yoko Shimomura.

Other than that, it reeks of peak millennial angst era Square Enix.

What even is this game?

Not the Parasite Eve sequel we wanted at all.

The gameplay was interesting enough to see me through the horribly convoluted shitty plot.

Conociendo poco o nada de la saga y únicamente terminado el prólogo del primer juego, me aventuré a probar estar entrega y sinceramente, fue una decisión muy acertada. La historia es definitivamente confusa e innecesariamente rebuscada y desconociendo si cierra fielmente los juegos anteriores, realmente eso queda en un segundo plano ante la jugabilidad, que acarrea hermosamente el juego. Todo lo que se puede hacer es un deleite y la manera en la que se hace lo es más, desde disparar y hasta hacer la inmersión, todo los aspectos individuales forman un todo que como conjunto hace que este juego sea realmente bueno, lo que con su dificultad desafiante (algunas veces injusta, pero sin exagerar) y su apartado gráfico que no parece de PSP, lo vuelve un indispensable del catálago y un juego que muy probablemente revisitare en un futuro.