Aya Brea Sketch (Patreon)

This month's sketch for Mystery Street, this is Aya from an old game series called Parasite Eve. I have fond memories of the PS1 original myself. In an age where pretty much every RPG was a JRPG, and each one featured a fantasy setting and starred an angsty teenage boy with ridiculous hair, the idea of playing as a level-headed, emotionally mature female cop in a modern setting was refreshing. (Hell, even by today's standards that idea is still novel.) 

So anyhow I loved the first game, but don't remember much about the sequel. The biggest thing that stood out to me was the jarring art style change from the original. As in the first game Aya had more of an anime look, with a big head and a spindly little body. But the sequel was an aspiring Resident Evil clone, and thus adjusted Aya's proportions to make her more realistic. The change was so drastic and I'd played the first game so much that the entire time playing the sequel I couldn't shake the feeling that Aya looked husky as a linebacker, even though she would have looked perfectly normal in any other game.

They did do a third game on the PSP, one of those way-too-late sequels attempting to cash in on a name was my understanding. I would have checked it out anyway, but rumor was the story kind of took a piss all over the characters so I passed on that one. After all these years I'm still carrying a torch for a reboot, or better yet a remaster of the original. Stranger things have happened so there's no harm in hoping! :)