RPG Player Growth

Parasite Eve (or, SquareSoft’s Experimental Cinematic RPG)

Aya Brea’s date night at Carnegie Hall is tragically cut short when the show’s new singer eyes her in the audience, activating an unknown ability deep in her cells that lights everyone in attendance on fire except the stunned NYPD detective who chases the mutated Eve backstage. The theater is a perfect place to start Parasite Eve’s story, as the game, inspired by survival horror games of the time, was SquareSoft’s experiment with cinematic techniques, using digital actors on its virtual stage. Since RPGs are fundamentally about surviving dungeons and harsh environments with the resources you have in your inventory, Parasite Eve was a great opportunity to experiment with new ideas. Directed by Takashi Tokita, veteran of Live A Live and Chrono Trigger, Parasite Eve is a cinematic police procedural that merges game genres to tell of the six day quest to stop Eve’s genetic awakening before it changes humanity forever.

Toy Commercial Meets Cartoon Maker, Transformers: Devastation Brilliantly Combines Genres into a G1 Powerhouse

The first chapter in Transformers: Devastation showcases the game’s strong design, pitting the Autobots led by Optimus Prime against the Constructicons. Transforming between their bot and alt forms, the Decepticon construction crew is deadly individually and tricky when grouped, and both sides unleash melee weapons and guns before transforming again and hitting turbo. These cool-looking cel-shaded animations allow Devastation to provide the tools to create awesome, exhilarating battles. And as the last Constructicon is defeated, they all combine into the mighty Devastator, helping Megatron cyberform Earth into their home planet, Cybertron. With Transformers: Devastation, Platinum Games provides virtual action figures so players can direct a never-aired episode of the legendary brand’s iconic G1 cartoon with heavy metal soundtrack.

Surviving Deadline: An Exposé on Dead Rising’s Absurd Zombie Apocalypse

Survival depends on your ability to properly manage your supplies in a complex world where dangers lurk around every corner. With Dead Rising, Capcom reworked the survival horror concepts of its more famous zombie-fighting series to challenge players to survive three days against an endless mob of monsters and their own hunger. By fighting his way through the Rogue-like structured brawler, photojournalist Frank West will document an absurd horror-comedy about dying and coming back again.

The Cinematic Power of Final Fantasy VII

It’s no exaggeration to say that Final Fantasy VII had a major impact on me. It marked my introduction to JRPG’s and broke me of my N64 stockholm syndrome and its slow trickle of games to embrace the Playstation, the platform I look back on as the defining point of my gaming life. I spent so much time breeding chocobo’s and grinding that goddamn crashed Gelnika ship that I continued to play for months after I’d killed Sephiroth and avenged Aeris’ famous death. I hadn’t experienced anything like it. Then I came to despise it and what it became in the years after its release. I thought back on the tangled weave of Cloud’s angst and Sephiroths madness and the nonsense turns its plot takes. But when you can no longer remember why you dislike something, perhaps it’s time to return and look with fresh eyes.

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