At their core Survival Horror games and JRPGs are both about managing your resources and accruing enough advantage that eventually the monsters don’t seem so scary, and the Gods seem killable. There’s so much overlap in their design language it seems strange that this is a well that hasn’t been drawn from more frequently, and Parasite Eve is largely successful in its attempt to marry the two genres. I think the only area it stumbles in is that it’s maybe a bit too cinematic. What it’s able to do in presenting this story is no doubt impressive for the standards of the time, but there is so many big money CG sequences and expository dialogue that it sucks most of the tension out of the room, and slows down the otherwise excellent pace of play.

The combat here is so juicy even if it’s a bit rough at times. Having the Final Fantasy ATB system mixed with realtime dodging and kiting enemies like in a traditional survival horror game is a match made in heaven. You get these short frantic bursts of action at pretty much exactly perfect intervals while exploring, and other than a bit where I got lost in the final dungeon I pretty much never got annoyed by the encounters.