The video game adaptation was part of a resurgence of popularity in Japanese horror sparked by the original book, and was released alongside a film adaptation and two manga comics one based on the book, the other on the video game. Parasite Eve received positive reviews critics praised the graphics and gameplay, but found the overall game too linear and with little replay potential. Music for the title was composed by Yoko Shimomura who was widely acclaimed for her work to create an 'inorganic' and 'emotionless' soundtrack that saw two album releases. It was produced by Hironobu Sakaguchi and directed by Takashi Tokita. Parasite Eve was SquareSoft's first M-rated game, and the first major American and Japanese game development collaboration for the company.
Players explore levels set in areas of New York while utilizing a pausable real-time combat system along with several role-playing game elements. The story follows New York City police officer Aya Brea over a six-day span in 1997 as she attempts to stop the Eve, a woman who plans to destroy the human race through spontaneous human combustion. The game is a sequel to the novel Parasite Eve, written by Hideaki Sena it is also the first game in the Parasite Eve video game series. Parasite Eve is a 1998 action role-playing horror video game developed and published by Square.
