How to play The 3rd Birthday on Mac

Game summary

The game is an action role-playing game described by Square Enix as a "cinematic action RPG". Director Hajime Tabata noted that the gameplay and plot are intertwined due to a newly introduced ability called "Overdive," an ability that lets the player switch bodies with one of their team members, allowing them to control friendly NPCs. Teammates can be ordered either to target specific enemies or to defend themselves in combat. The player is able change their controlled character in real-time, intermixed with their combat actions. The game is played over-the-shoulder, comparable to games such as Resident Evil 4, Dead Space and the Mass Effect series. An array of different costumes will be available for Aya to choose from throughout the game, but only after they are unlocked by completing the game in various difficulty modes. Clothing in the game deteriorates due to battle damage, revealing Aya's skin to various degrees.
First released: Dec 2010

Play The 3rd Birthday on Mac with Parallels (virtualized)

The easiest way to play The 3rd Birthday on a Mac is through Parallels, which allows you to virtualize a Windows machine on Macs. The setup is very easy and it works for Apple Silicon Macs as well as for older Intel-based Macs.

Parallels supports the latest version of DirectX and OpenGL, allowing you to play the latest PC games on any Mac. The latest version of DirectX is up to 20% faster.

Our favorite feature of Parallels Desktop is that when you turn off your virtual machine, all the unused disk space gets returned to your main OS, thus minimizing resource waste (which used to be a problem with virtualization).

The 3rd Birthday installation steps for Mac

Step 1
Go to Parallels.com and download the latest version of the software.
Step 2
Follow the installation process and make sure you allow Parallels in your Mac’s security preferences (it will prompt you to do so).
Step 3
When prompted, download and install Windows 10. The download is around 5.7GB. Make sure you give it all the permissions that it asks for.
Step 4
Once Windows is done installing, you are ready to go. All that’s left to do is install The 3rd Birthday like you would on any PC.
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