The 3rd Birthday is loaded with a large amount of baggage: it was a game released during the later life of the PlayStation Portable, it was the return to a long-neglected franchise, it was released during a time when Square Enix was suffering from a difficult transitional period, and it was helmed by a group of people whose collaborative efforts have received mixed responses from fans and critics alike. But there are some things to enjoy, even though it is generally a disappointing experience.
Let's get to the good stuff first. For one thing, it is a good-looking game. From the cutscenes to the in-game graphics (gloomy setting withstanding), it ranks with the portable God of War games and Final Fantasy Type-0 as one of the best-looking games for the platform. Its gameplay also has interesting mechanics including the body-swapping ability, weapons customization, and Overdive. Square Enix is to be commended for creating a relatively good third-person shooter within the PSP's control and hardware limitations, despite an awkward camera. It also contains some stunning music, with new and reworked compositions by Yoko Shimomura, and new material by Mitsuto Suzuki and Tsuyoshi Sekito. Must listens for me include the remixes of Primal Eyes and Arise Within You, Investigation of the Past, and the soulful Dive Into Myself.
Then there's the bad stuff. The clearest difficulty with the gameplay its lack of polish, with controlling Aya being stiff and jerky, and the feeling like systems such as character growth feel unfinished. Other abilities, such as commanding units, does not evolve and so grows stale very quickly. Her health is also whittled down at a criminally quick rate even on lower difficulties, but that could just be taken as an extra challenge. The biggest problem is with the story. Without going into spoilers, you play as the amnesiac main character as she fights against mysterious creatures called the twisted. The reasonably solid science fiction base of previous games is thrown out the window in favor of a fantasyesque exploration of time travel and personal identity, but without a sense of cause and effect or any deeper exploration, these themes feel facile and under-developed. The episodic style is also undermined by the constant jumping between time periods, and the final plot twist makes your entire quest seem worthless. The characters are also poorly portrayed, and the poor voice acting further magnifies the above story issues. The portrayal of Aya is also something I find insulting, being a fan of her earlier appearances. Of course, this is explained in the story, but either way I feel like my expectations and faith in the character have been betrayed.
All in all, The 3rd Birthday is a bold experiment hampered by poor execution. It speaks of the Square Enix of old, and can be seen as either a forgettable attempt to recapture past glories, or an oddball relic from an age past that might mellow with age. Ultimately, it's all a question of taste.