Unfortunately, The 3rd Birthday stumbled in this regard as well. Instead of being another survival horror RPG, it was a third-person shooter from a company unfamiliar with the genre. Some fans might have overlooked this drastic rewrite if the gameplay could distract from it. Related: Pathogen X Is Procedurally Generated Survival Horror Action Gone was the dynamic protagonist from the first two games, replaced with a frightened weakling constantly being talked down to by men. The writing tried to justify this by ostensibly giving her amnesia, but Aya continued acting like a helpless child for the majority of the game instead of gradually rediscovering her agency.

In The 3rd Birthday, Aya was reduced to a submissive, whimpering coward. In contrast to many of Squaresoft's other heroes in the 90s, Aya Brea was a brave and capable woman. She had insecurities, particularly regarding her parasite powers, but was ultimately one of the company's boldest avatars. While the marketing did emphasize her attractiveness, like many games with female leads at the time, she was still defined primarily by her strength and protective instinct. To understand why The 3rd Birthday divided fans, one must first understand why they loved the series' protagonist. Related: It's Time For A Final Fantasy Rhythm Game On The Nintendo Switch However, with stronger storytelling and modernized gameplay, Square Enix could reawaken it by replacing that schismatic sequel with a new third game. Unfortunately, the series was killed by its controversial finale, The 3rd Birthday.ĭespite a modest critical and commercial reception upon release, The 3rd Birthday divided fans with its contentious writing and excessive sexualization. As a result, the Parasite Eve series fell dormant. Parasite Eve was one of Squaresoft's most unique franchises. As survival horror-RPG hybrids with a female lead and an all-star development team of Final Fantasy veterans, the first two games were among the PlayStation's most ground-breaking titles.

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