It was 2010. It wasn't my 3rd birthday, and I didn't know this game existed.
Now it's 2023 and I know it does exist. The simpler times are long gone and while no cakes were harmed or birthdays were ruined during the making of this game and the writing of this review (but certainly could be if you gifted this to someone for their birthday), this was overall pretty bad.
To begin with the positives, I like the music and the graphics (compared to most things on the PSP) are among the handheld's best. That's pretty much it.
The story is weird and not in a good way. From what I could gather, you don't need to play Parasite Eve 1 and 2 to understand it, but nevertheless, it's confusing and paced like a Rick and Morty episode. It's all over the place and you never get a good explanation for much of it until the very end of the game.
You can read stuff concerning characters before the beginning of a mission (or as they're called in-game - episode), but it feels lazy that they went with this route rather than incorporating it into the gameplay and cutscenes.
The body switching mechanic (called Overdive) is a cool idea, but everything surrounding it brings it down. Beyond giving the AI orders to focus on one target, you can't really tell them what to do, so a lot of strategy and depth which would've benefitted the game is not there. The friendly AI itself kinda stands there and just shoots. It's not well designed and you have to really try to go out of your way to keep it alive.
The worst thing, however, are the controls. At times they make Shaq Fu look like a masterpiece. There's a clunkiness to them that makes you feel like you're walking on a wet floor. The camera doesn't help, and oftentimes adds to that feeling. At least they added an auto-aim for most weapons, which is nice. Be prepared for a lot of frustration even with that, as enemies even on normal difficulty don't show much mercy and can quickly kill you, on top of also being bullet sponges.
The game would've been fine on the gameplay side of things if it was initially designed for PC/PS3/XBOX360. The PSP was a bad choice for this type of shooter. Considering the first two games of the series, it would've been best if this was an RPG like them.
The story, preferably, also needs an overhaul.
The 3rd Birthday, more like The 3rd Disappointment, am I right? :P
Yeah, in its current state, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
Now it's 2023 and I know it does exist. The simpler times are long gone and while no cakes were harmed or birthdays were ruined during the making of this game and the writing of this review (but certainly could be if you gifted this to someone for their birthday), this was overall pretty bad.
To begin with the positives, I like the music and the graphics (compared to most things on the PSP) are among the handheld's best. That's pretty much it.
The story is weird and not in a good way. From what I could gather, you don't need to play Parasite Eve 1 and 2 to understand it, but nevertheless, it's confusing and paced like a Rick and Morty episode. It's all over the place and you never get a good explanation for much of it until the very end of the game.
You can read stuff concerning characters before the beginning of a mission (or as they're called in-game - episode), but it feels lazy that they went with this route rather than incorporating it into the gameplay and cutscenes.
The body switching mechanic (called Overdive) is a cool idea, but everything surrounding it brings it down. Beyond giving the AI orders to focus on one target, you can't really tell them what to do, so a lot of strategy and depth which would've benefitted the game is not there. The friendly AI itself kinda stands there and just shoots. It's not well designed and you have to really try to go out of your way to keep it alive.
The worst thing, however, are the controls. At times they make Shaq Fu look like a masterpiece. There's a clunkiness to them that makes you feel like you're walking on a wet floor. The camera doesn't help, and oftentimes adds to that feeling. At least they added an auto-aim for most weapons, which is nice. Be prepared for a lot of frustration even with that, as enemies even on normal difficulty don't show much mercy and can quickly kill you, on top of also being bullet sponges.
The game would've been fine on the gameplay side of things if it was initially designed for PC/PS3/XBOX360. The PSP was a bad choice for this type of shooter. Considering the first two games of the series, it would've been best if this was an RPG like them.
The story, preferably, also needs an overhaul.
The 3rd Birthday, more like The 3rd Disappointment, am I right? :P
Yeah, in its current state, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.