I finished Parasite Eve for the first time this year. I had played it when it first came out, but I don't think I ever got past Day 5 because I remember getting stuck on the crab boss in the warehouse. Coming back to it I think I understand why, because there are a lot of systems the game doesn't explain to you. Early on Eve has a line about how the more you use your P.E. powers the more you would be like her, so I think I must've also avoided using the special abilities as much as possible.
But I think design wise, this game aged really well. For an RPG it's really short, a playthrough would be about 10 hours or so. And the power curve is pretty consistent and encourages you to keep moving. There aren't many side areas, and none of the dungeons are overly sprawling, so the pace remains pretty brisk the entire way through. There isn't a shop, so enemies just consistently drop ammo or medicine, which also encourages you to just keep pressing forward.
Aside from rocket launchers, all guns use universal ammo, so you don't really get bogged down with micro managing guns, you can just use whatever you pick up and whatever feels best. I don't think guns were exactly balanced the best because handguns and SMGs seem to be the best overall. I never found a shotgun, and rifles and grenade launchers either had drawbacks or just felt generally slow. Most of the combat areas are small enough that even the shorter range guns cover most of the battle arenas.
I think the whole tool system and customizing guns/armor is interesting, but I didn't find too many guns with attributes that I would've wanted to put on other guns.
I kind of wish the spells were a little better overall, or more diverse. Energy recharging as the battle goes on, but slowing down the more you use it, is a pretty cool mechanic. The problem is that other than haste and heal, most of the spells don't see too much use. Energy bullet is great. except that it stuns you afterwards and uses all your energy. And you don't get heat/frost abilities to take care of vulnerable enemies. You also get poison cure, but not paralysis cure, and instead just get various types of "Cure all status" spells after you level up a bit.
The game really should have pointed out the bonus points, and how you can use them. I spent a lot on guns once I found out I even had them, then later figured out you could use them for Aya's stats.
The writing is very B movie dumb, but in a fun way. The plot feels like a throwback to 50's sci-fi B movies played straight. And Aya is actually cool as an active protagonist. I think her being a cop actually works as motivation for trying to go into dangerous situations, aside from her being the only one who can actually oppose Eve.
One thing I appreciated is that while the map is a cost saving measure, I think it actually works better than most games that model themselves off of real cities. It takes place in New York, but you just go to a few locations. But I think a few accurately modeled locations (Not that this is true of PE, but I was thinking about it while playing) probably works for immersion better than most "Hey, this is X city but the scale is all fucked" modern games. Fallout 4's Boston, Seattle from Infamous: Second Son, Chicago in Watch Dogs, etc. all have the issue of "This is LIKE that city, has some of its features, but the scale is all fucked and makes it feel off"
I haven't done any of the super dungeon stuff on New Game +, but I'm actually looking forward to trying it.
Revisiting this in 2023 I'm surprised that more RPGs aren't trying to rip it off more.