Parasite Eve II
PlayStation
Nostalgia Factor:
My memories of this game are hazy. I remember renting it when it first came out. This was back in the year 2000, when I was still a senior in high school. I played the game nonstop for one weekend, but I was never able to finish it. My main memory of the game involves getting stuck on a very difficult boss character, who you fight on a motel balcony. Other than that, I do not have any specific memories about the game. I vaguely recall that it seemed more like a Resident Evil game than the first Parasite Eve.
I haven't played this game since then. 25 years have now passed. Time to cross another one off my backlog! Parasite Eve II. Let's check it out, shall we?
Story:
This game takes place several years after the first game. You'll notice right away that it is a lot more different in tone. It is more action oriented and less about the scares. The setting has shifted from New York to Los Angeles. Aya is an FBI agent now. She works to monitor mitochondrial events and to take care of them when they arise as quickly as possible.
An attack at a shopping mall leads Aya to a remote desert town called Dryfield. It is there that a secret underground laboratory is discovered. Within the laboratory is an evil organization that is looking to manipulate the mitochondria to their will. They've cloned Aya, and named the clone Eve. Aya must rescue this girl, escape, and expose this nefarious plot to the unknowing public.
Gameplay:
You can't help but notice the similarities to Resident Evil when you start playing this. The tank controls, the graphics, the music, the setting, and the overall feel of the game are very RE-miniscent. Sure, the original Parasite Eve also shared some similarities to Resident Evil, but this is a whole different story. If the combat was more like Resident Evil (and less RPG-like), this could have easily passed for a game in the series.
The combat took a while for me to get used to, but once I did, it became second nature. You have a limited number of item slots on your equipped armor. You have to go in and equip these slots before you can use an item in battle. So you may have 5 potions in your inventory when you open the pause menu, but if you don't equip these potions to your armor, you won't be able to use them in battle. Same goes for weapons and ammo.
When a battle starts, you'll see the colors warp and the music change like when you enter a random battle in the first game. But these battles aren't random. You can see the enemies on the screen and try to avoid them if you can. Or you can lock onto them and catch them by surprise. Once the battle begins, you can run around the area and evade the enemy. You can attack when you need to, or use items or spells. There is a timer that makes you wait a tiny little bit, but this is far less turn-based than the original. I had to alter the controller configuration at first because the default button layout is a bit confusing. I made it more like Resident Evil, where the shoulder button draws your weapon and the action button fires. The way they have it set up originally is very weird. Like, the circle button locks onto an enemy and R2 fires. It's backwards from the way I know it. So yeah, I had to change that quick because it was messing me up.
You can run out of ammo in this game, but luckily there are ammo crates located regularly throughout the game where you can refill your inventory. You also encounter vendors that sell you new weapons, items, and ammunition. You can use money to buy new things and upgrade your equipment. I fell in love with the rocket launcher towards the end of the game. Fighting in battle earns you magic points that you can use to upgrade your parasite powers. I put most of my points into healing right away - because this can be a difficult game.
The boss battles are a highlight. I loved observing their patterns and formulating my strategies. They are bullet sponges, though. It happened to me a few times where I would run out of ammunition mid battle, and I'd have to let myself die so I could restart from my last save. I'd make sure to enter the battle with more ammunition and extra guns attached to my armor slots.
While the game is fun, I have to give its puzzles a little grief. I'm surprised I made it as far as I did when I was a kid. Some of these puzzles are so ridiculously obscure. There's an early puzzle where you need to enter a passcode to cross a bridge. I still don't know where I was supposed to find that pass code. I wandered the area for hours before I caved and decided to look for the password online. I don't know how the heck I found it when I was a kid. There's another puzzle later where you have to look at the ages of people in paintings, which are scattered all throughout a motel. You have to write the clues down, and there is also math involved in finding the right combination. Again: I have no idea how I figured this out as a kid. I ran to Google as an adult when it became clear I was stuck. I didn't have that luxury when I was younger.
I was able to beat the game, though, which is something I could never do as a kid. So yay for that.
I had a pretty good time with the game, aside from the puzzles. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the original game held up after all this time, and I am doubly surprised by its sequel. It's really freaking good. Why doesn't this game get more attention?
Graphics:
The game looks great. It looks just like Resident Evil 2 or 3. If you're into that kind of visual style, you'll love this. Even the cutscenes are similar in quality.
Sound:
The game sounds as good as it looks. The music is not quite as catchy as it was in the original game, but it does its job. The enemies give audio clues that allow you to know when there is something in your area, even if you can't see it on screen.
The game is not very scary, but there is one part of the game in particular (in Dryfield) when you hear a woman's scream over and over again in the background as you are looking around. It is a particularly agonizing scream. Definitely added a lot of anxiety to the playthrough as I was looking around and trying to figure out where it was coming from.
Overall:
Like I said before: how does this game not get more attention? I freaking loved it. It liked exploring, I liked the combat, I liked the graphics, I liked the atmosphere. I didn't like the puzzles. But for the most part, I had a great time.
If you like Resident Evil, you should play this. If you liked the original Parasite Eve, you should play this. If you like RPGs or survival horror in general, you should play this. Who am I kidding? You need to play this regardless.
I liked this more than the first Parasite Eve, but I gave that game an A. As much as I'd like to give this a higher score, I don't think it deserves an A+. So even though it is the superior game, it is going to get the same score as the original. That's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
But yeah. Play this. I'm so glad I came back to finish this game off after all these years. In a way, I'm disappointed I didn't come back to it sooner.
THE GRADE:
A
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