Parasite Eve,
Square's
cinematic rpg was a very good game, it just lacked the publicity of the
Final Fantasy games. The game took up only two discs (small compared to the afforementioned FF series), but also including a demo disc with
Final Fantasy VIII on it. It was rated
Mature.
The game was set in modern day New York City and presented a pretty cool weapon customization system. It also featured an extra play mode once you beat it, which made the game more difficult (except for the fact you kept your best weapon and armor from the previous game) and opened up a new level, the Chrysler Building, which allowed you to get an alternate ending.
It's based on a novel, as is a Japanese movie of the same title. If you're lucky you can find it on DVD at your local Suncoast or Babbages. But beware, it's subtitled.
Main Characters:
Aya Brea (Age 25, 160cm tall, 106 lbs)-The main character of the game, an NYPD officer in the 17th Precinct with special abilities.
Melissa Pearce (Age 32, 180cm tall, 114 lbs)-The woman who becomes Eve, the main enemy of the game.
Daniel Dollis (Age 42, 180cm tall, 209 lbs)-Your partner at the NYPD.
Kunihiko Maeda (Age 35, 170cm, 115 lbs)-A scientist friend from Japan who witness a similar incident back home (basically, the events from the Parasite Eve novel by Hideaki Sena).
Hans Klamp (Age 37, 175cm, 141 lbs)-Mysterious German scientist at the museum.
Minor Characters:
Ben Dollis- Daniel's eight year old son.
Wayne-One of the guys in the NYPD armory. Collects gun trading cards.
Torres-The older of the guys in the armory, doesn't like guns ever since his daughter was shot.
Douglas Baker-Aya's boss.
Maya Brea-Aya's twin sister. She died a long time ago along with Aya's mother.
Mariko Brea-Aya's mother, died with Maya. Was also featured in the novel and the movie adaption of it.
Lorraine Dollis-Daniel's ex-wife.
Parasite Energies (Magic):
Heal 1 (Lv. 1)- Recovers 30 HP
Scan (Lv 4)-Scans enemies HP and weakness
Slow (Lv 7)-Slows down the target
Detox (Lv 9)-Cures poison
Heal 2 (Lv 11)-Recovers 60 HP
Barrier (Lv 13)-Uses PE bar to absorb damage
Energy Shot (Lv 15)-Channels all PE into single shot
Confuse (Lv 17)-Confounds and bewilders foes
Haste (Lv 20)-Increases Aya's speed
Heal 3 (Lv 22)-Recovers 280 HP
Gene Heal (Lv 25)-PE Bar slowly goes down, HP goes up
Medic (Lv 28)-Cures all status effects
Preraise (Lv 30)-Instantly return to life exactly where you were standing if you die
Full Recover (Lv 32)-Recovers all HP and cures all status effects
Liberate (Lv 33)-Aya transforms and goes Dragonball Z on a foe
The game also got a sequel, called Parasite Eve 2, naturally. However, this game was designed by a different team in Squaresoft, and as such is quite a bit different from the original. The only character from the original you even see is Aya herself. It seems the new team wanted to try and make it as much like the Resident Evil games as possible. It is a Survival Horror game instead of a Cinematic RPG.