The 3rd Birthday
Encyclopedia
is an action role-playing game
develpoed HexaDrive and published by Square Enix
. The game was made for the PlayStation Portable
and marks the third entry in the Parasite Eve series. The game was released on December 22, 2010 in Japan and was released on March 29, 2011 in North America.
Although the game is not called Parasite Eve 3, it takes place in Manhattan
, New York City
ten years after the events of Parasite Eve II
. The player takes on the role of Aya Brea
, and must fight against mysterious "Twisted" creatures threatening the city.
, Resident Evil 5
, Dead Space
and the Mass Effect
series. An array of different costumes will be available for Aya to choose from throughout the game, but only after they are unlocked by completing the game in various difficulty modes. Clothing in the game deteriorates due to battle damage, revealing Aya's skin to various degrees.
, a swarm of hideous organic structures suddenly burst from under the ground, killing several people and destroying many more structures in the process. They are dubbed the "Babels". These plant-like roots bring with them living life-forms, called the "Twisted", that actively attack and seemingly consume humans. Within a year of the attack, an investigatory team known as the CTI (Counter Twisted Investigation) is formed. One of the members of CTI is Aya Brea, who was found lying blood-soaked in a wedding dress outside St. Thomson's Cathedral in 2010 just before the Babels and Twisted began appearing. Dr. Hyde Bohr, Chief of CTI, found Aya stripped of her memories from the years before. After taking Aya in, the CTI discovered that she was capable of transferring her soul from body to body, an ability dubbed "Overdive". Bohr and the others planned to use this unique ability to travel back through time and prevent the disaster. They developed a machine called "Overdive System", which makes use of Aya's ability and can send her in the past to take control of someone else's psyche and therefore their actions. The machine was completed in 2013 and utilized 2 years after the Twisted first appeared.
As she completes her first mission, Aya realizes that she can indeed change the past to affect the future. She wakes up to find that certain key events pre-dive did not occur while new events developed post-dive. For example, Gabrielle, who died in a training incident, was alive due to her efforts in one of the missions. However, this resulted in the death of Thelonius Cray, which sparks off another mission to save him in the past. As she embarks on each mission, she is met by mysterious, more powerful Twisted. Firstly, these twisted mutated from humans, notably humans she had known, like Kyle Madigan. Secondly, these Twisted retained the human intelligence found lacking in the other, less dangerous and more commonly encountered Twisted. As she defeats each of these special Twisted, she regains bits and pieces of her memory, most prominently that she had a sister called Eve Brea and later, that she was engaged to Kyle Madigan. After an incident that saw the CTI HQ and the Overdive device destroyed by Kyle Madigan, Aya reunites with Kunihiko Maeda, who supports her while she continues to battle, this time in the present, to resolve the entire mystery behind the appearance of the Babel, Twisted and the human-mutated Twisted, dubbed by Maeda as The High Ones. Events eventually lead Aya to discover Bohr as the main villain, a High One himself. Bohr had masterminded the death of other High Ones in order to form the Grand Babel, which, through Maeda's investigation, functions like a giant Overdive system. Bohr had wanted to dive back in the past to Time Zero, where all events had happened.
Aya battles Bohr repeatedly and is pulled along by him into the time stream back to Time Zero, which takes her back to her own wedding to Kyle Madigan in 2010. Bohr, who explained that all High-Ones had the ability to dive, had dived into his own body. He further explained that when Aya had been on the verge of death after an attack by a SWAT team that had stormed the church, Eve Brea had tried to "reach" Aya. This resulted in the birth of the "Overdive" ability. The current Aya was actually Eve in Aya's body. Eve, on the other hand, had accidentally shattered Aya's soul when she dived into Aya's body, resulting in the shards being scattered across time and space and giving birth to the Twisted. The High Ones, on the other hand, were formed from the desouled body of Eve, thus transferring her memories and the Overdive ability to them.
After Eve returns to her own body by Bohr's command, Bohr begs Eve to assimilate him into herself to bear the birth of an even more evolved species. Upon Eve's refusal, Bohr tries to force the process, only to be shot repeatedly by Aya, who has somehow returned to her body. Yet the Twisted crisis cannot be averted until the sources are removed. After Aya's expression of her regret at not being able to exchange her vows with the now dead Kyle, she instructs Eve to shoot her in the chest. Eve, in a fit of emotion, does so after switching bodies with Aya. In doing so, both Twisted and the High Ones are not born and Eve also ceases to exist, resulting in the formation of a new timeline.
The ending shows Eve, in Aya's body, agreeing to marry Kyle. But to her surprise, Kyle addresses her not as Aya, but as Eve, and wants her to lead her own life and that he and Aya will always watch over her. Eve is left speechless but eventually smiles as Kyle wishes her "Happy Birthday" before leaving to search for "eternity", meaning that he is going to search for Aya.
In the post-credits ending (which can be obtained by beating the game twice), Eve, in Aya's body, is seen walking the streets of New York during Christmas Eve. She stops for a while and catches a falling snowflake. At the same time, a woman wearing a brown trench coat and the same hairstyle as Aya's, passes by her and wishes her a happy birthday before disappearing into thin air while Eve looks for her. Whether or not the woman is Aya is unknown.
Eve Brea
Kyle Madigan
Kunihiko Maeda
Hyde Bohr
Thelonious Cray
Dr. Blank
Karud "Boss" Owen (Hunter "Boss" Owen in US version)
Gabrielle Monsigny
Emily Jefferson
The game was originally announced as a mobile phone title. However, at the private party, DKΣ3713 in August 2008, it was announced that The 3rd Birthday was being developed for the PSP instead with no mention of the previously-announced mobile phone version. In the Tokyo Game Show
presskits, it was confirmed that the game would be exclusive to the PSP.
Issue 6/5 of Famitsu
has an interview of Tetsuya Nomura where he says that the first few stages of the game are already playable. Japanese recording artist Superfly performs the game's theme song "Eyes On Me
".
Square Enix will release the Twisted Edition of the game exclusively in Europe and PAL territories. This version will include a red PSP game case along with a 48-page hardbook featuring artwork and concept illustrations, two lithograph art prints, and an exclusive code to Aya's costume for Lightning to wear in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
. In North America, the code to unlock the costume for Lightning is included within the first run copies of all the games.
and 7.0 out of 10 at GameStats. Japanese magazine Famitsu
gave the game a 36 out of 40, with the reviewers giving it 10, 9, 8 and 9. It has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide. 250,000 copies sold in Japan alone while 50,000 from US and 40,000 abroad. GameZone
gave the game a 7.5/10, stating "It makes for a funny contrast, really—at times 3rd Birthday seems like it wants to be taken seriously; other times it’s a B-grade midnight movie. Quality issues aside, it’s a fun 3D shoot-‘em-up, and the PSP could use a few more of those."
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
develpoed HexaDrive and published by Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
. The game was made for the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
and marks the third entry in the Parasite Eve series. The game was released on December 22, 2010 in Japan and was released on March 29, 2011 in North America.
Although the game is not called Parasite Eve 3, it takes place in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
ten years after the events of Parasite Eve II
Parasite Eve II
is a horror action role-playing game for the PlayStation. The game was developed by SquareSoft and published in Japan in 1999 and in both North America and, unlike the previous game, in PAL regions in 2000...
. The player takes on the role of Aya Brea
Aya Brea
Aya Brea is a player character in the Parasite Eve video games by Square.-In the Parasite Eve series:Aya Brea was born in Boston, Massachusetts on November 20, 1972. She is of mixed ethnicity: her father , who is a journalist, was of European descent, her mother was Japanese...
, and must fight against mysterious "Twisted" creatures threatening the city.
Gameplay
The game is an action role-playing game described by Square Enix as a "cinematic action RPG". Director Hajime Tabata noted that the gameplay and plot are intertwined due to a newly introduced ability called "Overdive," an ability that lets the player switch bodies with one of their team members, allowing them to control friendly NPCs. Teammates can be ordered either to target specific enemies or to defend themselves in combat. The player is able change their controlled character in real-time, intermixed with their combat actions. The game is played over-the-shoulder, comparable to games such as Resident Evil 4Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4, known in Japan as , is a survival horror third-person shooter video game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by multiple publishers, including Capcom, Ubisoft, Nintendo Australia, Red Ant Enterprises and THQ Asia Pacific...
, Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 5, known in Japan as , is a survival horror third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the seventh installment in the Resident Evil survival horror series, and was released on March 5, 2009 in Japan and on March 13, 2009 in North America and Europe...
, Dead Space
Dead Space (video game)
Dead Space is a survival horror third-person shooter video game, developed by EA Redwood Shores for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was made available on Steam on October 20, 2008...
and the Mass Effect
Mass Effect
Mass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows by Demiurge Studios. The Xbox 360 version was released worldwide in November 2007 published by Microsoft Game Studios...
series. An array of different costumes will be available for Aya to choose from throughout the game, but only after they are unlocked by completing the game in various difficulty modes. Clothing in the game deteriorates due to battle damage, revealing Aya's skin to various degrees.
Plot
Christmas Eve, year 2012. In a snowy ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, a swarm of hideous organic structures suddenly burst from under the ground, killing several people and destroying many more structures in the process. They are dubbed the "Babels". These plant-like roots bring with them living life-forms, called the "Twisted", that actively attack and seemingly consume humans. Within a year of the attack, an investigatory team known as the CTI (Counter Twisted Investigation) is formed. One of the members of CTI is Aya Brea, who was found lying blood-soaked in a wedding dress outside St. Thomson's Cathedral in 2010 just before the Babels and Twisted began appearing. Dr. Hyde Bohr, Chief of CTI, found Aya stripped of her memories from the years before. After taking Aya in, the CTI discovered that she was capable of transferring her soul from body to body, an ability dubbed "Overdive". Bohr and the others planned to use this unique ability to travel back through time and prevent the disaster. They developed a machine called "Overdive System", which makes use of Aya's ability and can send her in the past to take control of someone else's psyche and therefore their actions. The machine was completed in 2013 and utilized 2 years after the Twisted first appeared.
As she completes her first mission, Aya realizes that she can indeed change the past to affect the future. She wakes up to find that certain key events pre-dive did not occur while new events developed post-dive. For example, Gabrielle, who died in a training incident, was alive due to her efforts in one of the missions. However, this resulted in the death of Thelonius Cray, which sparks off another mission to save him in the past. As she embarks on each mission, she is met by mysterious, more powerful Twisted. Firstly, these twisted mutated from humans, notably humans she had known, like Kyle Madigan. Secondly, these Twisted retained the human intelligence found lacking in the other, less dangerous and more commonly encountered Twisted. As she defeats each of these special Twisted, she regains bits and pieces of her memory, most prominently that she had a sister called Eve Brea and later, that she was engaged to Kyle Madigan. After an incident that saw the CTI HQ and the Overdive device destroyed by Kyle Madigan, Aya reunites with Kunihiko Maeda, who supports her while she continues to battle, this time in the present, to resolve the entire mystery behind the appearance of the Babel, Twisted and the human-mutated Twisted, dubbed by Maeda as The High Ones. Events eventually lead Aya to discover Bohr as the main villain, a High One himself. Bohr had masterminded the death of other High Ones in order to form the Grand Babel, which, through Maeda's investigation, functions like a giant Overdive system. Bohr had wanted to dive back in the past to Time Zero, where all events had happened.
Aya battles Bohr repeatedly and is pulled along by him into the time stream back to Time Zero, which takes her back to her own wedding to Kyle Madigan in 2010. Bohr, who explained that all High-Ones had the ability to dive, had dived into his own body. He further explained that when Aya had been on the verge of death after an attack by a SWAT team that had stormed the church, Eve Brea had tried to "reach" Aya. This resulted in the birth of the "Overdive" ability. The current Aya was actually Eve in Aya's body. Eve, on the other hand, had accidentally shattered Aya's soul when she dived into Aya's body, resulting in the shards being scattered across time and space and giving birth to the Twisted. The High Ones, on the other hand, were formed from the desouled body of Eve, thus transferring her memories and the Overdive ability to them.
After Eve returns to her own body by Bohr's command, Bohr begs Eve to assimilate him into herself to bear the birth of an even more evolved species. Upon Eve's refusal, Bohr tries to force the process, only to be shot repeatedly by Aya, who has somehow returned to her body. Yet the Twisted crisis cannot be averted until the sources are removed. After Aya's expression of her regret at not being able to exchange her vows with the now dead Kyle, she instructs Eve to shoot her in the chest. Eve, in a fit of emotion, does so after switching bodies with Aya. In doing so, both Twisted and the High Ones are not born and Eve also ceases to exist, resulting in the formation of a new timeline.
The ending shows Eve, in Aya's body, agreeing to marry Kyle. But to her surprise, Kyle addresses her not as Aya, but as Eve, and wants her to lead her own life and that he and Aya will always watch over her. Eve is left speechless but eventually smiles as Kyle wishes her "Happy Birthday" before leaving to search for "eternity", meaning that he is going to search for Aya.
In the post-credits ending (which can be obtained by beating the game twice), Eve, in Aya's body, is seen walking the streets of New York during Christmas Eve. She stops for a while and catches a falling snowflake. At the same time, a woman wearing a brown trench coat and the same hairstyle as Aya's, passes by her and wishes her a happy birthday before disappearing into thin air while Eve looks for her. Whether or not the woman is Aya is unknown.
Characters
Aya Brea- Despite being in her late thirties, Aya appears to be the age of 25 due to her advanced mitochondria. Because of this, she is also the only applicable candidate viable for the Overdive System. She has lost her memories as a result of unknown circumstances, which has led to a drastic change in personality since the first two Parasite Eve games: She is shown to be more vulnerable and fighting for unknown reasons. She has the ability to travel through time via the Overdive system, and also gained the new ability to body swap. She is the secret weapon for the human race in the fight against the Twisted. In certain trailers, she is shown wearing what might be a wedding ring.
Eve Brea
- Eve was adopted as Aya's sister after the Neo Ark incident in Parasite Eve 2, though she is actually a clone of Aya herself. Before the events of The 3rd Birthday, it's said that she went missing along with Kyle Madigan, and due to Aya's missing memories it is unknown why. It is implied in the trailers that Eve has some kind of connection to the Twisted incidents.
Kyle Madigan
- The aftermath of the events in Parasite Eve 2 implied that Kyle started a relationship with Aya. He and Aya are shown to be married throughout the trailers. However, he and Eve have gone missing for reasons unknown in The 3rd Birthday. Aya has been shown to see him in recent trailers, but doesn't know who he is. It is implied in the trailers that Kyle has some kind of connection to the Twisted incidents.
Kunihiko Maeda
- Following the events of the New York Blockade Incident from the first Parasite Eve, he returned to Japan, but made the trip back to New York after the Twisted outbreak. In The 3rd Birthday, Maeda has a special shelter that he's converted out of an old storage house. A specialist in Mitochondria research and an old friend from her past, he has earned great trust from Aya.
Hyde Bohr
- Head of CTI's Overdive division. He's a pro when it comes to the technological side of the investigation and will give clear guidance to those he sends out to the battle field. His allies place trust in him, but he is easily misunderstood due to his cold composure and insistence on perfection. He was the main antagonist of the game.
Thelonious Cray
- A former army special forces agent and now a special investigator operating in CTI's Overdive investigation division. When CTI was formed, he was called upon due to his knowledge of combat strategy. He serves as Aya's trainer and will also apparently teach you the game's controls.
Dr. Blank
- A researcher in CTI's Overdive division and head of computer systems for CTI as a whole. His true nature is surrounded in mystery, but he's called Dr. Blank because his computer handle means "empty".
Karud "Boss" Owen (Hunter "Boss" Owen in US version)
- Head of CTI. While he was originally on a path to head up the FBI, he was temporarily placed as CTI's head following the Twisted invasion. In the trailers, he is shown apparently attempting to kill Aya, calling her a monster that can't be trusted.
Gabrielle Monsigny
- A special investigator with CTI's Overdive Division. She's particularly skilled as a sniper, and trains Aya in this area. She is shown in past trailers lending her body to Aya three days prior for an Overdive operation.
Emily Jefferson
- Emily is Eve's best friend. A quirky, friendly and likeable girl, she is encountered by Aya in Episode 1 and gives her a message from Eve before mutating into a Twisted and subsequently being killed by Aya.
Development
Tokyo Game Show
The , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association and the Nikkei Business Publications, Inc...
presskits, it was confirmed that the game would be exclusive to the PSP.
Issue 6/5 of Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
has an interview of Tetsuya Nomura where he says that the first few stages of the game are already playable. Japanese recording artist Superfly performs the game's theme song "Eyes On Me
Eyes on Me (Superfly song)
"Eyes on Me" is the eleventh single by Japanese recording artist Superfly, released on December 15, 2010. The title track, described as a , is used as the theme song for the PlayStation Portable game The 3rd Birthday. The single was released as a standard CD release and a limited edition CD+DVD...
".
Square Enix will release the Twisted Edition of the game exclusively in Europe and PAL territories. This version will include a red PSP game case along with a 48-page hardbook featuring artwork and concept illustrations, two lithograph art prints, and an exclusive code to Aya's costume for Lightning to wear in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
is a 2011 fighting game published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable as part of the Final Fantasy series. It was developed by the company's 1st Production Department...
. In North America, the code to unlock the costume for Lightning is included within the first run copies of all the games.
Reception
The 3rd Birthday garnered a 70 out of 100 on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
and 7.0 out of 10 at GameStats. Japanese magazine Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
gave the game a 36 out of 40, with the reviewers giving it 10, 9, 8 and 9. It has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide. 250,000 copies sold in Japan alone while 50,000 from US and 40,000 abroad. GameZone
GameZone
GameZone is an American multiplatform video game website. GameZone's daily coverage includes reviews, previews, news, hints & cheats, and editorials. Additionally, GameZone offers downloads, a child-targeted website and in association with GameStop, hosts GZGameShop, an online retailer...
gave the game a 7.5/10, stating "It makes for a funny contrast, really—at times 3rd Birthday seems like it wants to be taken seriously; other times it’s a B-grade midnight movie. Quality issues aside, it’s a fun 3D shoot-‘em-up, and the PSP could use a few more of those."