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Game Data -
Publisher: Square Electronic Arts - Developer: Squaresoft - Platform: Sony Playstation - Genre: Action RPG - Players: 1 - Memory Card: 1 block - Released: NA Sep. 12 '00 | EU Aug. 25 '00 | JP Dec. 16 '99
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Parasite Eve II - Receiving very mixed reviews, Square's survival-horror-but-not-really sequel to Parasite Eve is generally considered a misstep. But is it secretly a masterpiece? |
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Story and Setting
Returning from the original Parasite Eve, you play as Aya Brea. She's a professional monster slayer. And she's very good at her job.
Aya gets sent to investigate a possible monster-related incident in New York City and down the rabbit hole she goes. Saying much more about the plot would be a spoiler, so I'll just leave it at this: it's probably the most legitimately unsettling horror story on the Playstation.
The main setting is the tiny town of Dryfield somewhere in the badlands of the Mojave desert, which Square replicated with incredible accuracy.
This isn't some generic desert, no, it's specifically the Mojave down to the smallest detail. Heat from the piercing blue sky practically radiates from the screen. The buildings are realistically dry and weathered. You can almost feel the yellow sand in your teeth.
This might seem silly to get excited about, but the setting really matters in a spooky story like this, and the lonesome, haunting desert makes for a fantastic backdrop. If you think it's an extremely unusual choice, you'd be right, but it's a perfect fit.
Gameplay
Parasite Eve II appears to be a survival horror game at first glance, but it's not. It's actually an action-RPG wearing a survival horror game's skin.
This is why it threw reviewers for a loop back when it was new. They compared it to Resident Evil because of its superficial similarities, but they shouldn't have, because underneath the surface PE II is something profoundly different.
As far as action goes, it's simple but fun. You lock on to an enemy and shoot(or swing a melee weapon, if you're unlucky enough to run out of ammo). When the enemy attacks, you attempt to avoid it.
Now here comes the RPG part. Every time you defeat an enemy, you get Bounty Points and Experience. BP simply functions as money allowing you to buy weapons, ammo, armor, and items. As for Experience, rather than making Aya level up as you might expect, it's actually a currency used to unlock spells. These spells can be unlocked any time, any where, provided you can afford it.
Spells fall under four categories: offense, healing, buffs, and debuffs. Low level spells don't cost much Experience to unlock, but higher level spells cost a fortune.
And although you'll end up with every spell by the end of the game, unlocking them all is a slow process that requires you to make tough decisions about when to unlock what. Do you unlock healing spells in the early game and save offensive spells for the late game? Or vice versa? Your choices radically effect the gameplay, as a healer Aya is extremely different from a fire mage Aya, and so on.
This gives PE II a ton of replay value, because as soon as you finish it, you start to think "Okay, now how would the gameplay change if I chose buff spells at the start? Or debuff spells? Or if I mixed and matched?", and suddenly you're starting a new game before you even realize it.
Of course, spells require MP in order to cast, and there's a neat little mechanic that lets you replenish it even when you're out of restorative items. After every battle, Aya regenerates a little MP. It isn't a lot, but if you can survive a couple of encounters without using spells then it'll quickly add up and replenish Aya's MP completely.
Then there's the armor system. Aya is limited to wearing one piece of armor on her upper body and that's it. This sounds incredibly simple but it's actually more complex than it seems.
Instead of boosting Aya's defense, the armor in PE II gives her more HP and/or MP. Of course, the amount of HP or MP depends on the armor.
Different armor also comes with different perks, like a built-in motion tracker for locating enemies or the ability to protect Aya from ailments like paralysis.
On top of that, armor also plays a crucial role when it comes to using items. You see, in order to use an item during combat(yes, this includes healing items), it must be equipped to an armor's item slot. And, you guessed it, the number of item slots varies from armor to armor.
To sum it up, each armor offers different pros and cons, so one isn't necessarily "better" than another. Choosing one depends on what you want to prioritize. So which matters more to you; HP, MP, perks, or item slots?
Now there's one last thing that needs to be mentioned.
PE II feautures some genuinely hard puzzles. And I mean hard to the point that it makes you wonder, "maybe Square should've toned this down". You'll either love them or hate them. It depends on how much you enjoy your brain getting teased.
Sound
The music of PE II is excellent across the board. Most tracks are slow and brooding, consisting of a simple repeating melody as strings, synths, and eerie noises rumble in the background. When the action picks up so does the tempo, with techno and tribal beats getting added to the mix. Other pieces are more along the lines of ambient soundscapes. It all makes for an atmosphere that's extremely moody, paranoid, and heavy on the bass.
Also worth noting, PE II has over fifty tracks in total. Square wasn't kidding around.
The sound effects are equally good. Some of the enemy noises use distorted samples of real animals, which adds a disturbing touch of corrupted familiarity(you'll never look at ducks the same way again). They're great almost without exception, with everything being crisp and impactful.
On the down side, Aya's footsteps might be a little too loud. She looks small and svelte, but she sounds like a 300 pound man wearing tap shoes. I can only assume she eats bricks for breakfast.
As for the voice acting, there isn't any. This is a double edged sword, because on one hand, the lack of VA defied expectations and made PE II seem outdated when it was released. But on the other hand, bad VA would have dragged the story down.
I love the terrible acting in Resident Evil but that kind of b-movie cheese wouldn't have worked here. It's better this way.
In Conclusion
PE II was released at the worst possible time. Not only was it mistaken for a Resident Evil clone, it had the misfortune to come out when reviewers were turning against the survival horror genre itself, proclaiming it to be "stale" and "outdated". PE II was caught in the crossfire, and undeservedly so.
If it arrived earlier, like in 1997 when survival horror was red hot and Resident Evil comparisons were considered a compliment, then game journalists would have fawned over it.
Bad timing doomed it to mixed reviews and a criminal degree of under-appreciation, however.
But the year 2000 is far behind us now, along with its biases and expectations. These days, PE II's lack of voice acting seems quaint instead of outdated, and the elements it borrows from classic Resident Evil feel refreshing instead of stale.
Now it can finally get some recognition as one of Square's finest works. This is one of the best games to ever grace the Playstation, and as an action-RPG, I'd rank it somewhere up there with Diablo II. Don't believe me? Play it and see for yourself. Do believe me? Play it anyway. In other words, just play it or else a Chaser's going to eat you.
RATING: HIDDEN GEM, THE BEST GAME WITH THE WORST REPUTATION
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On the week Parasite Eve II was released...
The Summer Olympics opened in Sydney, Australia, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon made a splash at the Toronto Film Festival, and Madonna's single Music was so popular you probably heard it whether you wanted to or not. |
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