Gaming Sunday: The 3rd Birthday (JPN)

the Main Character of T3B

Introduction

This is the latest product of Square Enix and the latest entry in to the Parasite Eve saga. Whether or not this is a spin-off or an actual part of the Parasite Eve series, the developers have either not decided or will not tell us about it. Either way, The 3rd Birthday is an exciting game that can help, however small, regenerate the revenue that Square Enix has lost over Final Fantasy 14. Seriously, Square Enix should stick to making games on the PSP, I mean when was the last time a Square Enix PSP game bombed?

Those interested in a first look at the game and some spoilers can get a copy of the JPN version of the game. For those who rather wait, the US and EUR versions of T3B will be hitting stores Q1 next year.

WARNING! The following contains drastic spoilers. Yea, this is the first game I put up a spoiler tag, because this is the first game whose story actually surprised me...

Aya....Eve....Aya....Eve....I can't tell....           

Story

T3B starts off on December 24th, 2014, yup Christmas Eve. Speaking of which, I started the game on December 24th, 2010. Anyway, Manhattan is attacked by mysterious being known as the Twisted and it's up to the CTI to tackle the problem. Aya being the only person capable of the Overdive system is sent out to battle the Twisted. The game is split into a few episodes, I'm currently at episode 5, which I have a feeling is either the last, or the second last.

Oh, by the way, add time loop to the calculation. Remember me saying the game starts off on December 24th, 2014? Well, the first mission we are sent on, starts at December 24th, 2013. Oh yeah, half way through the game (or early in the game, I cant tell since I havent finish it), all the CTI members sans Aya dies. Aya then switches HQ to Kunihiko Maeda, a veteran of the Parasite Eve series.

Along the way, Aya battles former comrades turned Twisted, such as Gabrielle and Kyle. Their last name are hard to spell, so I'll leave it that way. And the final showdown? Vs your old chief, Hyde Bohr. That one I could see coming since the guy was first revealed. The name screams villain, and the face, well...conflicted villain. I mean, come on, Hyde? Hello? Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? 

The ending however, totally blew me. Yea, I haven't finished the game, but there are spoilers all around the Internet. Yup, the Aya we were playing was actually Eve in Aya's body who loss her memory, and Aya is dead. Pretty darn right? And apparently, the Twisted were somehow caused by Aya......the game was actually nice for God's sake if the ending was like this. Here's hoping there's a secret ending....

UPDATE: Apparently there is a secret ending... Apparently Aya is alive and well, and whispers to Eve/Aya about 4th Birthday, sequel maybe?

UPDATE 2: Just finished the game, guess what was the in-game date? Yup, 24th December 2010.

Aya's cosplay gallery, at least 3 are missing...

Gameplay

One word...awesome. Another word....hard.

At first glance, it's like most of the shooters available to PSP. Cool rifles and guns aside, T3B also offers weapons customization. Players get to increase their damage output by upgrading their rifles. They can also stay in fights longer by upgrading total bullet capacity, or increase magazine size at the expense of total bullet capacity. Players have to choose wisely as some upgrades are meant to be opposites, you upgrade one, and the other's rating falls and vice versa.

Weapon customization aside, OE list is another way to improve your fighting capabilities. As some guy somewhere said, OE list is to T3B as materia is to FFVIICC. OEs can improve healing capabilities, damage output, critical rates or increase antibody. All this is done is a 3x3 grid. This means that you must think what to equip as overlapping OEs can form a new OE, increase the level of a current OE, or do nothing at all. I tend to keep away from this, since I know zilch what the OEs are actually doing....

Enough about the RPG part of the game, let's move on to the Shooters/Action part of it. First off is the Cross Fire feature. When aiming at the Twisted, a Linkage bar will appear, and when it fills, you can order your allies to shoot the Twisted full of lead. Normally, they would just shoot a few burst, then stop, look around, and shoot. During Cross Fire, they actually finish their entire magazine at single Twisted. Sounds cool, except that most Twisted needs around 4-5 magazine full of lead before they die. Also, Cross Fire has quite a high chance of making a Twisted stagger, allowing you to OD strike it.

Next up is the OD(Overdive) part of the game, and is one of the game's main feature. Overdive has three main functions. The first is to dive into the Twisted and deal a lot of damage, and also possible obtain a DNA chip which is used for the OE. That is the second feature. The third feature, one you'll use the most, is to OD into your allies. This allows you to both take control of them and arrange your strategy. Since for whatever reason, the Twisted will chase you whichever body you're in. And allow you to escape certain death. Pretty neat, except that the death count against your score, which is why I never get pass a C-rank.

The last feature is what I like to call the clothes feature. It has two main functions.

She looks like she fell through some thorn barbs or something....

Number 1 - the Clothes Destruction feature. The more damage you received, the more tattered your clothes become. The more tattered your clothes are, the higher the damage you received. These mysteriously stays even if you switch bodies. I have basically identified 3 stages, though I not that sure. You can get them repaired during the pit-stops of the episodes at a cost of 300bp. Seriously, I don't feel much difference, so I usually get them repaired when I'm back at HQ.

Number 2 - the Protective Gear feature. Which is just a nice name for cosplay, really. As seen above, Aya gets to try on different PGs which offer different ratings of "Deffence". A being the best, and C being the worst. In the first play through, you get only two to switch between. White Eider and Black Leather. The others are unlocked by playing through different difficulties. Two, Lightning and OD suit, which I personally think are the best two, are unlocked by registering your T3B at Square Enix and getting stamps. Also, Aya's voice switches with each costume, how much, I can't say. I've heard people saying that Aya shouts Merry Christmas in her Santa outfit when ODing.

Graphics

Stellar. At a glance, I can't really tell the difference between the CG scenes and the in-game engine. Yup, it's that good. Though i think the amount of Twisted suffered because of this. I still see episode 0's Twisted in episode 5, although much stronger than when they were in episode 0. Although I can't really tell, I think some of the areas are repeated. But it is mouth-watering graphics and Square Enix has once again showed that they can push the PSP system even further.

Conclusion

Good buy for all PSP-owners, though personally I would wait for the US or EU version to be released before I get it. Also, Parasite Eve fans might wanna stay away, if you are a fan because of the story. If you are a fan because of some other reason, then by all means, get the game.