Parasite Mutant: Parasite Eve Little Sister?!

An upcoming game inspired by Square Enix's infamous sci-fi horror RPG.

Recently, indie developer Icestruuna revealed their next game called Parasite Mutant. From the looks of the debut trailer, this game is heavily inspired by Parasite Eve. Parasite Eve is a beloved Square Enix classic from its golden era, when the company was known as Square Soft.

Parasite Eve is one of my favorite games of all time. Along with Terra Branford and Celes from FFIV, Aya Brea is the reason why I love female main characters in video games. Parasite Eve also has a hauntingly good story, great combat with a good mix of real-time and turn-based elements. Finally, there is Parasite Eve's awesome soundtrack by the incredible Yoko Shimomura.

Seeing this heavily inspired Parasite Eve game surprised me. Like many fans of PE, I have been patiently waiting for something new for PE, but we haven’t heard a peep from Square Enix. The last time Parasite Eve was mentioned was Yoshinori Kitase’s interview with Kenny Omega.

Omega asked Kitase about the potential of another PE game. Kitase responded, “I don’t know of any plans right now. But it would be a waste not to use these characters.” This interview was back in 2020.

While we still wait to see what Square Enix is going to anything with Parasite Eve. Parasite Mutant has gotten me excited about a spiritual successor to Parasite Eve. I’ll be expressing my excitement over this game.

What Is Parasite Eve?

If you’re not familiar with Parasite Eve, I’ll fill you in. Back when it was Square Soft, Square Enix released this beloved sci-fi horror RPG known as Parasite Eve. Parasite Eve starred Aya Brea, a rookie NYPD officer, who is on the case to investigate and defeat Eve, a mitochondria-evolved monster. While Aya tries to stop Eve from enacting her master plan, Aya's mitochondria also evolve.

Aya's evolved mitochondria cause Aya to question her identity along with her new powers. So, Aya is a journey of discovery while stopping Eve. A classic Square game where the protagonist must stop the evil villain while discovering their identity.

The game also acts as a sequel to the novel, Mitochondria Eve. The original game was a massive hit for Square Soft. Parasite Eve would get two more games with its sequel: Parasite Eve 2. A spin-off followed with the 3rd Birthday. After the 3rd Birthday's release, the IP has been dormant.

Aya and Eve's Conflict

About Parasite Mutant

Parasite Mutant is a sci-fi horror game set in the distant future. The game’s heroine, Nova, is a psionic agent sent on a mission to an abandoned island city. The island city is crawling with horrifying creatures, from grotesque mutants to giant insects. Nova discovering what happens in the island city may change her fate completely.

Presentation

For those who have played Parasite Eve or know Aya Brea, you tell that Nova bears a striking resemblance to her predecessor. In another key visual, Nova is even wearing a black dress just like Aya did in the first chapter of Parasite Eve. Nova's dress differs from Aya's with her stockings, while Nova holds her gun as a femme fatale.

The game will also have various outfits for Nova. The 3^rd Birthday had different outfits for Aya to wear. Aya even had a costume resembling Lightning from Final Fantasy 13. Nova could have outfits from Icestrunna's previous game from Frontier Hunter: Erza’s Wheel of Fortune.

Despite Parasite Mutant’s blatant inspirations of PE, the game’s aesthetics are a fusion of a semi-realistic anime art style with modern rendering techniques. The game also has retro and CRT filters. These will bring players back to the late 90s to 2000s vibe. The art style and filter give the game a retro yet contemporary feel, which is pretty cool.

Combat

Parasite Mutant also shares a similar combat system to Parasite Eve. Parasite Eve combat was a mix between command-based, ATB, and real-time elements as such as moving during combat. Players wait until Aya’s ATB fills up and execute various commands such as shooting, melee, and Parasite Energy moves.

When Aya shoots an enemy, a green-lined target dome appears. Enemies inside the target dome can be hit. The size of the dome was dependent on the range of Aya’s current weapon. The more range a weapon has, the larger the targeting dome will be.

Parasite Mutant has a similar system with its Active Time Chain. ATC fills up over time while Nova moves and dodges enemy attacks. Once the bars are filled, Nova will perform various actions, whether they are shooting, melee, or using her powers.

Speaking of powers, Nova has an  EP bar in addition to her HP and ATC bars. The EP bar decreases every time Nova uses one of her special skills. These skills range from an energy beam, an AOE fire attack, or a powerful multi-hit slash attack.

The EP that Nova uses is likely related to her psionic abilities. Nova's other abilities could include healing spells, status attacks, and many others. But we will have to wait and see. So far, I am intrigued by this battle system.

Progression

Even Parasite Mutant’s progression system is inspired by its predecessor. The progression is a classic equipment and module one. Weapons and equipment can be upgraded with Plus Points. Plus Points are earned in battle.

Plus Points were used to increase the specs of Nova’s firearm. You can also carry over Plus Points to New Game+. New Game+ has new locations where you need to upgrade your gear to take on these new areas.

This is similar to Parasite Eve’s progression with Bonus Points. Bonus Points could also be transferred to the EX Game. Aya could take on the Chrysler Building in the EX game.

 To conquer the Chrysler Building, Aya's build and gear need to be maxed out. So these Bonus Points were absolutely necessary to beat the Chrysler Building. I came close but never did conquer this building, unfortunately.

The Mysterious Woman

There is one mystery that intrigues me about Parasite Mutant, it is the mysterious white hair woman. This woman appears on top of a peculiar stage. She also appears to have a prosthetic arm.

My question about her is what connection does she have to Nova? Is she a rival or foe? More importantly, is she the main villainess to Nova as Eve was to Aya? Is it possible that this woman will also play head games with Nova as Eve did with Aya?

Intrigued and Excited

I don’t know if Square Enix will be able to produce a new game or sequel to Parasite Eve since they need the rights from the book’s author. But I do know one thing: I am intrigued and excited about Parasite Mutant. Parasite Eve is one of my favorite games of all time.

So getting a spiritual successor to this beloved is a huge win in my book. While I like how Parasite Mutant strongly displays its heavily inspired Parasite Eve aesthetics and mechanics. I hope the game is unique and different enough to have its own identity. Despite what I've seen so far, I think this game will have that unique identity while paying a respectful homage to Parasite Eve.

Images provided by Gematsu and Google.