Parasite Eve II

"Parasite Eve 2; mutate your gaming life!"

Parasite Eve 2 marks a departure from Squaresoft line of RPG's.
At its core, Parasite Eve 2 is structured much like an RPG, but the actual gameplay is more of an action game.
Contrary to what many believe Parasite Eve 2 is not a Resident Evil clone, as there are many differences that set it apart from the Resident Evil series.

Parasite Eve 2 continues on from where the original left off, and has you cast as Aya Brea once again. Aya is now a member of an FBI department known as MIST, or Mitochondrion Investigation and Suppression Team. She hunts and kills NMC's, Neo-Mitochondria Creatures. NMC's are deformed creatures caused by mutated mitochondria. Mitochondria are a part of the cell that provides energy for that cell. Within the story of Parasite Eve, this mitochondria mutates, turning the host into a hideously deformed creature intent only on its own survival. Aya hunts these creatures for a living, and also has the responsibility of covering up the truth about NMC's from society, as most do not know they exist.
Aya herself possesses mutated mitochondria, but she is able to control it and channel it to do magical attacks. At the start of the game she only has access to pyrokinesis but she learns more abilities as the game progresses. More on that later.
Implausible as the story may sound, it sets a good backdrop for the action, and as long as you don't take it too seriously it's easy to lose yourself in.

The graphics in Parasite Eve 2 are great. The pre-rendered backgrounds are truly beautiful, even though they are only static. Characters are rendered well, and have fabulous animation. The face on the main character does look rather awful though, and she actually looks a bit like a man facially from some angles. However the texturing otherwise is top notch, and Aya's legs are just too smooth! The magical effects also look great, although some look a little overdone with a little too many flashy colours.
As said before, the animation is great, especially that of the enemies as they recoil realistically when shot or hit with magic.
Aya looks great when reloading her weapons, or just posing, which she does a lot of.
There are also a few full motion videos within the game and all of them are up to Squaresofts usual high standard. The characters are all amazingly realised in 3D, and some of them just look absolutely great, such as Aya.
Some of the bosses you face off against are absolutely massive, yet the game doesn't skip a beat and remains as fast as it usually is.

The sound in Parasite Eve 2 is again, of a very high standard. It builds upon the atmosphere to a great degree. The music suits each section of the game, especially the music for the desert sections, which goes great with the backdrops. Sound effects are good; the sounds for the guns are great, although some of the magic effects don't sound powerful enough for the onscreen effect.
There is unfortunately no voice acting, which is disappointing, as reading the text boxes gets a tad tiresome.

Parasite Eve 2 features a magic system known as 'Parasite Energy.' When you start the game you only have access to pyrokinesis, but as you kill enemies you gain experience points that can then be used to buy better abilities, or upgrade the levels of current ones. There are four main categories for abilities; fire, water, earth and wind. Each category has a maximum of three abilities, making there 12 spells within the game. Fire and wind abilities are offensive, while earth and water spells are defensive abilities and include healing spells.
Different enemies take more or less damage depending on the ability used on them, so using the correct ability is important. You have a maximum amount of MP (magic points), which can only be restored by suing special items. The maximum amount of MP can be increased though, through the use of different armour that offers different bonuses to your HP and MP.
Parasite Eve 2's combat system differs from that of its predecessor. It is now real-time, although when you approach an enemy the screen flashes black and white, and combat does not end till either you leave the room, kill the enemies, or they kill you! Magic is used through a special menu, that when accessed pauses gameplay for you to select the right ability. A targeting sphere then appears for that ability, and when cast gameplay resumes and Aya casts the spell. The magic helps to make the gameplay just that little bit more strategic, instead of just run and gun gameplay.
Another great feature is the BP or bounty points system. Each time Aya kills an enemy she gains EXP to buy more magic with, and BP. BP can be used to buy weapons from certain characters or BP dispensers within the game. You can choose to buy better armour, guns or items.
Speaking of guns, there is a great range of weapons available within the game.
From shotguns to machine guns and melee weapons, there is a great range on offer. One of the most invaluable weapons in the game is the M4A1. It can have different attachments added to it, such as a grenade launcher, electricity rifle, or just an extra clip holder. Only one attachment can be used at a time unfortunately though.
Fans of Final Fantasy VIII will also be happy to see that the Gunblade is an unlockable weapon, although it uses shotgun and not revolver ammo in this game.
Rewards are given for completing the game, and offer plenty of incentive to play again.
When you have completed the game you are given a rank and an item dependant upon the rank. A higher rank means better items. These items can then be bought at the start of the game.
There are also a number of modes, each offering a harder play style. While the game remains the same items, BP and EXP is in shorter supply, and enemies are stronger and harder to kill. The modes include standard replay, bounty, scavenger and nightmare. Each is progressively harder than the last.

Parasite Eve 2 is an innovative game and a break away from the original. It offers huge replay ability although it is rather short. Parasite Eve 2 also features multiple endings, dependent upon some of your actions in the game.
There were only a few problems with Parasite Eve 2, the most obvious of these being its simplistic and clumsy control scheme, and the games highly linear nature. Otherwise Parasite Eve 2 is another quality game from Squaresoft, and sadly the last in the series.

Pros
+ Huge replay value
+ Innovative combat system
+ Intriguing story
+ Great graphics
+ Amazing video clips

Cons
- Highly linear
- Clumsy controls
- Story rather lame in parts

Graphics: 10 Some of the best yet seen on PlayStation
Sound: 9 Great sound effects and music. Pity there is no voiced dialogue.
Replayability: 7 Plenty of reason to play again and again
Longetivity: 5 Just too short sadly
Overall: 8 Great fun, though perhaps too short

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/12/02, Updated 11/12/02