Gaming Sundays: 3rd Birthday

Aya Brea is one hot protagonist

Introduction

This is another Square Enix game for PSP that I'm looking forward to. The style of characters might look familiar, because they are designed by Tetsuya Nomura, the Character Designer of most recent Final Fantasy such as 13 and 10. 3rd Birthday is the 3rd game in the Parasite Eve but is not a sequel. This is a sort of prelude to Parasite Eve 3 as the board decides whether it is profitable to make a Parasite Eve 3, possibly for PS3. This game is scheduled to be released on 22 December 2010 in Japan, and is slated for a Q1 release for North America.

Aya Brea normal wear

Story

Little to nothing of the plot has been revealed, but it would seem that Square Enix is keeping the trend. As the heroes of Dissidia Duodecim have their memory wiped out, so it would seem is the case with Aya Brea, the main character of 3rd Birthday. Aya looks to be in her 20s, when she is actually in her late 30s. Anyone with prior Parasite Eve gaming experience should know that Aya isn't a normal person. She has advanced mitochondria. Actually, Parasite Eve is based on a novel, go read it.

Monsters called the Twisted appears in Manhattan, and it is up to CTI to tackle the problem. A new system called Overdrive is created to combat this foe, and Aya is the only person able to use it. Overdrive will play a part in the gameplay of the game. Other characters of previous Parasite Eve games also appear, such as Eve Brea and possible Kyle Madigan. 

Gameplay

Aya walking around in casual clothes

This is a 3rd person shooter with the camera following Aya from behind. Aya also gets to wield a large arsenal of weapons including a Satellite Cannon and a Sniper Rifle. *drools* Satellite Cannon sound awesome. Weapons are also upgradeable. As mention before, Aya possess a system known as Overdrive, which allows her to hijack the bodies of fellow CTI members. Sounds similar to Mindjack, another game by Square Enix. The trailer showed her in a near death situation, forcing her to swap places with a nearby CTI agent. I wonder what happens to the poor guy. She also gets some Special Moves and something called Advanced Tactics thingie. The last feature is the Clothing feature. First of all, players are able to choose between a few costumes, such as:

Aya as FFXIII Lightning

Aya as office secretary

How exactly are we able to unlock these costumes has not been really explained. However, it would seemed like Aya is able to change clothes in a Locker Room. I am so gonna play as Lightning Brea the first time I get the costume. Apparently, Aya's voice change with each costume, which the developer said is a sign of Aya's Voice Actor's skills so it's one voice actor, i guess. We all know how talented Japanese VAs can get, I cant wait to see this.

Another part of the clothing feature is the more times you get hit, the clothes get torn apart. And the more torn part your clothes is, the higher the damage you receive. From what little information is available, it would seem like it starts off with a with tears and rips, and ends up turning Aya's jeans into mini-pants. We will also finally get to see Lightning's L'cie mark...that alone can tell you the extend of the ripping..

Graphics

Not much I can say about an unreleased game, but so far, trailers and scans have shown quite nice graphics, although this might mean either a short game, like God of War: Chains of Olympus, or a game with repeated levels, like Crisis Core. Only time will tell.

Conclusion

I will definitely recommend non-Parasite Eve fans out there to get this game, since I'm one of them. It would seem like most Parasite Eve die-hard fans dislike the way Aya is portrayed in this game, since I am new to Parasite Eve, it would not dissuade me from getting this game on 22 December, to test out the game, and in Q1 to actually play it. For the time being, check out the official site.