The 3rd Birthday features some good ideas, but some glaring flaws keep this game from reaching its full potential.
One thing it does share with it's predecessor, however, is that it's yet another "take it or leave it" kind of game. There's a lot to like here, but there are some big problems (as well as little ones) with the game as well.
Let's start with the good.
The gameplay is actually not bad at all. The whole Overdive concept works well and makes fighting a lot more tactical. You have to jump bodies in order to survive the fights and you can jump out of a body right before the guy dies. It's a cool concept and it works well in making the fights interesting. You can jump into the bodies of enemies as well and the whole thing is integral to combat. I love this idea and I think it's the best part of the entire game.
Weapon customization is solid, and is actually important in the scope of the fight.
There are some great visuals and interesting art design to look at while playing the game. I do like the idea of Aya having multiple outfits and you getting through the game in style (though this is better conceptually than it is in-game and I'll explain why below).
It has a pretty solid soundtrack that'll get you through the game. I think having a solid soundtrack is very important and The 3rd Birthday manages to satisfy my need for that. So it's not a game where I would pick up my I-Pod and start playing my own soundtrack.
Now let's look at the bad.
The game is a blend of third person shooting and action RPG. But both aspects are very watered down. You don't even have to aim when shooting, it auto aims. So there's very little actual aiming involved.
The story...sucks, for lack of a better word. Note, Square-Enix hasn't had a strong penchant for story writing over the past few years. So this shouldn't be a shock. But the story is more profoundly bad than even I expected. The ending of the game is so ridiculous that suspending your disbelief isn't really an option, even in the context of the game.
Aya Brea's character is simply dragged through the mud and honestly, her development makes no sense. She lost her memories so apparently she developed an entirely new personality. She isn't a strong, mature woman. She's a vulnerable little girl. And it's weird because she's a 40 year old woman with the mind of a 40 year old woman and she doesn't act like it. She has the body of 25 year old, but that doesn't explain the drastic change in her personality. This could annoy you even if you're not a Parasite Eve fan. Because her character is just not likeable. Her scantily-clad clothing is supposed to endear you to her character evidently. But that's Square Enix for you.
I have to say something about this as well. They give you a lot of different outfits for Aya. All of them are completely out of place and are more for sex appeal than for actual style. I get it. Sex sells. And it doesn't bother me that much. I just don't like how they replaced Aya's personality with nothing but sex appeal. They centered the character around that. Her clothes rip over time to indicate your health, but it turns out to be another sex driven gimmick because it's next to useless for actually determining how much health you have. Why does she have to have clothes at all? Yeesh.
So, as you can see, there's a lot of good and lot of a bad. If you completely ignore the story, characters, somewhat watered down mechanics it's an enjoyable game. I'm a guy who loves story structure and character development and, to be honest, I was able to look past it's flaws and enjoy the game. But, even looking past the flaws, the game is good, not great. It's a solid PSP game, something that you don't have to invest a lot into and enjoy the mindless fun while waiting for your class to start.