Square Enix's Parasite Eve series hasn't inspired too many games since it debuted more than two decades ago, which is weird because the way it infused RPG combat with survival horror resourcefulness attracted a very loud cult following, but two exciting indies are looking to change that.
On the surface, Parasite Eve looks like one of those late-90s, fixed camera angle horror games that blatantly aped Resident Evil's frights, but in reality, it set itself apart as a wild genre-blending experiment that stood out even in Square Soft's most experimental era. Having Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and Kingdom Hearts composer Yoko Shimomura on the development team didn't hurt matters either.
Earlier this month, we reported on a Parasite Eve spiritual successor from the creators behind indie hit VA-11 Hall-A because it was so rare to see one in development, and even rarer to see one with a trailer that absolutely slaps. And, now, an even rarer sight: a second sick-looking Parasite Eve-inspired game.
Aether Singularity jumped out on my timeline with the same blocky PSX visuals that made Resident Evil an abstract nightmare, and an unconventional battle system inspired by Parasite Eve 2 specifically. The Steam blurb also shouts out the dormant Dino Crisis series as an influence, but you can see all that DNA on show in the trailer below.
The combat is the biggest draw here. You evade and shoot beasties from fixed angles in much the same way you do in classic horror games, managing each bullet carefully, but there's also an option to pause time and expend mana to use magical abilities, hence the RPG tag. Though the game "supports both modern camera relative controls and classic tank controls" for every type of player.
I'm just as interested in the paranormal setup here, too. Set in 1969, Aether Singularity follows a squad deployed from an FBI offshoot called the Demonic Anomalies Termination Agency, built to fight off demons pouring out of an anomalous rift called the Aethernet. What follows is an undercover mystery with "three different routes and multiple endings," just as Parasite Even had before it.
You can check out even more stunners with our upcoming indie games of 2024 and beyond guide.
