Parasite Eve 2

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Parasite eve 2

Developer - Square

Publisher - Square

Release date - September 12, 2000

Parasite Eve II is an action role-playing survival horror video game released exclusively for the PlayStation. The game was developed by Square and published in Japan in 1999 and in both North America and, unlike the previous game, in PAL regions in 2000. It is the sequel to Parasite Eve and the second game in the series of the same name.


Story

The game opens to reveal Aya Brea, the protagonist of the original Parasite Eve game, who is now an FBI operative in their Mitochondrial Investigation and Suppression Team (MIST) being dispatched on an urgent mission in central Los Angeles, where there have been reports of NMC sightings. The first chapter in the game puts Aya in the position of investigating the Akropolis tower where she finds a slaughtered SWAT team and an NMC infestation. She soon discovers that the NMCs can take on human form, and eventually encounters a different type of creature; a humanoid Artificial Neo-Mitochondrial Creature (ANMC) called Golem No. 9. She encounters this ANMC three times in the game. Golem No. 9. destroys the tower, but Aya along with her colleague Rupert, who has been at the scene before she arrives, escape in a police helicopter.


Gameplay

Parasite Eve II is an action role-playing survival horror video game. Character control is accomplished in a traditional survival horror manner: Aya is able to move forwards, backwards, and pivot left and right. Camera movement is limited, generally being confined to a single view of a room or area, and cannot be altered by the player.

Unlike Parasite Eve, there is no Active Time Bar that governs the order of actions during a battle. Battles take place in real time, so the player is free to act as they see fit. Another contrast is the absence of the 'range dome' seen in the first game, allowing the player to shoot at off-screen targets and engage targets from a safe distance. There are also no random battles; enemies will be found wandering in plain view, hence allowing the player to avoid confrontations and plan strategies. Aiming, as with most other games of this genre, is accomplished by cycling through the various 'lockable' targets within Aya's range.

Equipment can be obtained through various methods, including finding, purchasing and 'creating' items such as body armor, weapons, ammunition and tools. Unlike most other survival horror games, ammunition is almost never in short supply. While Aya can only carry limited amounts of equipment with her, inexhaustible ammunition boxes exist in most areas and can be revisited as often as required for a top-up. This encourages the player to fight rather than run, which is essential to the gameplay as it is the only way to gain experience and thus for Aya to become powerful enough to succeed. While equipment follows the original game's concept of being customizable, in general the weapons and armor are quite limited in the alterations available. Armor, which not only reduces damage but also affects the amount Aya can carry, has the option of adding extra item slots up to a limit of ten. The Parasite Energies are divided into four areas: the offensive Fire and Wind elements and the defensive Water and Earth elements.

Once the game has been completed, bonus items become available for the player should they choose to redo the game in Replay mode. Other modes also become available, such as Bounty Hunter and Scavenger which are more difficult for the player to complete. The most difficult mode "Nightmare" only becomes available after completing the game in Scavenger Mode.

Development

The character of Aya Brea had been designed in the prequel game by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the producer for Parasite Eve, and designed by Tetsuya Nomura. Her design in Parasite Eve II was to have been handled by a different artist, using her original design as a template. While most of the design was finalized, the designer quit halfway through the game's development, and Nomura was called in again. As the in-game model had already been created, he preserved what had already been done while adding touches of his own.


Music

The score for Parasite Eve II was composed by Naoshi Mizuta and arranged by Hiroshi Nakajima. It took Mizuta a year and a half to compose the soundtrack. He states he was given quite of a bit of freedom in his composition, and drew most of his influence from watching the game's already completed scenario. The game's music is depicted as being much more ambient than its predecessor. The sound effects of Parasite Eve II were influenced by futuristic and sci-fi themes. The 66-track two-disc Parasite Eve II Original Soundtrack was released by DigiCube on December 20, 1999 in Japan. The soundtrack was released in North America by Tokyopop on September 12, 2000.