LTTP: Parasite Eve II, a enjoyable disappointment [Image heavy + Spoilers]

[jblanco]

So, after having recently fallen in love with Parasite Eve, I craved more PE... so I went straight to ebay and snagged a copy of Parasite Eve II. In my previous LTTP I was warned by some that PE2 was not as good, but I still needed to experience it myself. I just finished the game and while I did enjoy it, imo it is vastly inferior to its predecessor.

Nevertheless, it's not a bad game, just not as good nor memorable. It did have its share of craziness as well, with my favorite being the final boss of disc 1. Look at this fucking disgusting thing!!!

PE2 dials up the horror, which is probably its highlight.

Unfortunately, that meant more atmospheric/background music instead of the fucking top tier music from Yoko in PE1. Music is almost objectively a step down, as is the notably lesser amount of FMVs. Did The Coca Cola Company not provide enough money?

Combat was fun but difficult at times, but the pacing was horrible. At the end I was basically running away from all fights. Each time you had to go through rooms or corridors again enemies would respawn. The NeoArk was particularly bad in this aspect. Also, many of the puzzles...... what?

On the bright side, the NeoArk concept and area design was pretty awesome. Very out there in a good way imo. Speaking of out there, the plot was.... crazy on top of PE1 crazy. It was ok, nothing to write home about, but I did enjoy some of the revelatory moments such as when Aya hacks into a computer and figures out they were using her DNA to create all these monsters! That moment did nail the feeling when you're browsing the web reading creepy stuff lol

Characters, were also a step down, way less memorable. And fuck this annoying guy:

Seriously, what an annoying ass tryhard character. I really dislike that archetype, I find it very unbelievable / overacted. There are plot reasons why he's crazy but still :/

Aaaanyway, speaking of characters... Aya's sex appeal was, ahem, dialed up. She poses like a model when you go idle lol

She takes a shower in a creepy ass monster infested motel for plot reasons...

I'm not surprised. I'm more surprised that this wasn't a thing at all in PE1 tbh.

Now, it did do some things better than PE1. For starters, inventory management is just better. Menus are also smoother, in particular the transitions. Graphics are also better, but unfortunately PE1 still looks better imo because PE2 has inferior art direction and chose less interesting locales compared to NYC. An abandoned desert town with nothing that makes it stand out from any other town... and a secret underground shelter that just looks like a generic underground shelter.

As I had said above, the only highlight location wise this time was the NeoArk. And well, there's also the White House ft. the president of the United States of America in some cutscenes though...

Final boss also felt very uninspired, and Eve was ok... but why was there no FMV to show her in more detail? :(

In conclusion, PE2 is a good survival horror game, but doesn't really stand out. You won't miss much if you never play it imo. My profound newfound love for PE1 carried me all the way to the end of PE2. Next up is 3rd Birthday...

Image by
Demento-Liszt

 

[Roven]

Played part 1 after 2, so never got the disappointment. I immensely loved Parasite Eve 2. It was really special

 

[psynergyadept]

I never beat 2; got real close to the ending and then my data got corrupted and I just lost the will to replay it, I enjoyed it but didn't really like the new combat which was clearly imitating the RE2/3 RE style as I LOVED the first's combat system. Still would kill for a remake!


save yourself the trouble that is 3rd birthday OP....

 

[jblanco]

Played part 1 after 2, so never got the disappointment. I immensely loved Parasite Eve 2. It was really special

Click to shrink...

Heh, well PE1 certainly set the bar pretty high.

This vid highlights a lot better why is it disappointing after PE1 for many. I share a lot of the feelings in this vid (not all tho, she hated the BURNER boss):


Also, I had no idea this game was originally intended to be a PE spinoff focused on survival horror. That explains why is it so different, even stylistically.

 

[Strings]

Give Koudelka a shot if you haven't played it OP. I went through it earlier this year and it compared very favourably to the first Parasite Eve.

 

[asmith906]

Parasite Eve 2 is perhaps my favorite game on the PS1. I seemed to be in the minority regarding Parasite Eve fans but Parasite Eve 1 feels so slow after playing Parasite Eve 2. It helps that I love Resident Evil so this was basically Resident Evil with an RPG battle system.

 

[NovumVeritas]

PE1 is one of my favorite games. I never had huge appreciation for PE2. The monsters just looked goofy and it was not really scary at all. The music was not really good either. The whole desert thing was very uninspired. And the ending oh boy I was just what was that ? The end boss was like what is this ?
The problem was this game came to Europe as well. But PE1 was never released in Europe. And that was and is still a shame. I know they wanted to go more Resident Evil in PE2 but I didn't pay off really.

 

[jblanco]

Give Koudelka a shot if you haven't played it OP. I went through it earlier this year and it compared very favourably to the first Parasite Eve.

Click to shrink...

Thanks for the suggestion! I don't know much about Koudelka, but I've seen the cover and remember Amano was involved, but that's about it lol

Did not know it was a horror game

 

[Garlador]

Next up is 3rd Birthday...

Click to shrink...

Oh GOD....

Edit: Parasite Eve was my first PS1 game ever. I have fond memories of it. While I think PE II was forgettable and 3rd Birthday outright offensive, I still treasure my time with the original and hold out hope that it'll get a proper remaster/remake one day.

 

[Musubi]

Played part 1 after 2, so never got the disappointment. I immensely loved Parasite Eve 2. It was really special

Click to shrink...

Same. Was different but really enjoyed it all the same.

 

[sfortunato]

PE setting was of course memorable but I do think Dryfield was a pretty amazing setting too. After all, back then, there weren't many survival horror games set during daytime.

 

[Deleted member 16876]

Forget Third Birthday OP. Such a trashy game.
It is basically a game that was made to disrespect Aya and the first game at every turn.

Only thing it has going for it is the graphics, music and gameplay. Everything else is trash.

 

[Doomguy Fieri]

I just have way stronger and fonder memories of PE2. Loved the bad guy designs, really enjoyed the combat, can hardly remember a bit of the storyline. I was a big RE guy so maybe that's why.

 

[Bard]

Forget about 3rd Birthday OP, just jump into the Koudelka game and then Shadow Hearts for more horror RPG greatness.

 

[SofNascimento]

It's one of my favorite games from the PSone, right there with Resident Evil 3 and Dino Crisis 2. I was replaying it not that long ago and I was really impressed how well it matched RPG systems with action gameplay. It was ahead of its time.

That said, there are some puzzles is this game that just... technically have a solution.

 

[Urishizu]

It's just such an incredible survival horror + RPG experience. If anyone hasn't played through it, I cannot recommend it enough. We don't get games that feel like this anymore... the right mash of realism and insanity.

 

[NovumVeritas]

Seems I am the only one who found the monsters goofy lol. Oh well. I never understood the appeal to PE2. But probably the RE feeling played a role in this.

 

[Sargerus]

PE2 is the best game of the franchise. Fight me y'all.

 

[FormatCompatible]

Coming from how much I loved PE1 the second one was a disappointment in almost every way for me, from the setting, to the story and the battle system. The only thing I can say that was a actual improvement from the original are the character models.

 

[tommyv2]

PE2 is the best game of the franchise. Fight me y'all.

Click to shrink...

This is trolling. Probably. 3rd Birthday has the best music. I guess? Dammit.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

I hate how I basically got the end of the game on my original PS3 and then the system crashes and I lost all data...

But I do legit like the game.

 

[NovumVeritas]

Coming from how much I loved PE1 the second one was a disappointment in almost every way for me, from the setting, to the story and the battle system. The only thing I can say that was a actual improvement from the original are character models.

Click to shrink...

Glad I wasn't the only one.

 

[SchrodingerC]

Was mostly disappointed in the Resident Evil direction for the sequel. While the gameplay was a great refinement PE1's experimental battle system, the sequel's confined maps, characters, writing, music and enemies were a downgrade imo.

Will say PE2 is one of the more impressive same gen graphical jumps though.

Of course nothing will disappoint me on a massive level like 3rd Birthday.

 

[jblanco]

That said, there are some puzzles is this game that just... technically have a solution.

Click to shrink...

Oh yeah, it had been a while since I had to resort to a GameFAQ to just straight up get a puzzle solution. Some of them were too cryptic.

 

[ThreepQuest64]

I don't own PE1 but the second one and, coincidently, I just started playing it a week ago. Haven't got too far because I'm currently traveling, but so far I was enjoying it. Not sure what I should be thinking of the combat but I get some RE vibes from PE so I probably stick to it for a while.

 

[Cassius Bright]

I seem to be one of the very few people who really enjoyed this game.

I actually received as a gift for a weird reason and knew very little about it but I really enjoyed the RE vibes I got from it, and synthesis of gun and magic based gameplay.

I kinda liked the Dryfield setting too. It actually had a pretty laid-back vibe if you ignore the monsters all over the place.

It looked great for a PSOne game too.

 

[Blade24070]

I remember the music being extremely boring. The Dryfield theme is like three notes. I only remember MIST being good but that's because it's a remix from PE1.

 

[NightmaresHunter]

May I ask you why you bought PS1 verions while you can get on PS3 via PSone classics?

 

[The Praiseworthy]

I prefer PE2 over the first one.

PE2 gameplay and pre rendered backgrounds were and STILL stunning to this day.

 

[Dukie85]

2 is my favorite of the "Two Parasite Eve Games", as I said in that other thread. 3rd Birthday is a fucking travesty, and it makes me sad that it all but killed any hope for a comeback, IMO.

 

[DmckPower]

In my mind PE2 is superior without any question or doubt.

But then again I played it before PE1(which was a disappointment to me)

Also PE2 DOES NOT play like a resident evil fame in anyway apart from a similar perspective...

 

[skeezx]

i think i liked the concept behind PE more than the actual games

aside from Grandia 1 they're the only ones from that era i played and finished yet have virtually no recollection of. my impression did trend positive though

 

[jblanco]

May I ask you why you bought PS1 verions while you can get on PS3 via PSone classics?

Click to shrink...

I don't own a PS3. And I like collecting ps1 era games. I also don't have a ps1 (not much space in my apt to collect consoles), but RetroArch emulates PS1 games soooo good on this day and age. You can even upscale them, etc. but I like the jaggies.

PE1 is one of my favorite games. I never had huge appreciation for PE2. The monsters just looked goofy and it was not really scary at all. The music was not really good either. The whole desert thing was very uninspired. And the ending oh boy I was just what was that ? The end boss was like what is this ?
The problem was this game came to Europe as well. But PE1 was never released in Europe. And that was and is still a shame. I know they wanted to go more Resident Evil in PE2 but I didn't pay off really.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, many of monster designs are in a thin line between downright creepy and goofy. The setting and atmosphere does help push them over to the creepy side imo, but I do see what you mean.

 

[Manu]

I still like 2 a bit better, but probably only because I played it first. Both are excellent games still.

 

[TitanicFall]

Square just made their version of Resident Evil.

 

[Doctrine Dark]

Even though I started with PE1 and love that game immensely, PE2 never really felt like a step backwards to me. I can honestly say I prefer PE2.

I enjoyed the combat more. The cool things she could do with her Parasite Energy made things a lot more fun to me. I also loved how Aya can pretty much interact with the whole damn environment. Walk up to a table of food, press x, and watch her speak on it. I loved that about PE2. I'm also a fan of the various stages like the Akropolis Tower, Dryfield, and Neo Ark. I've beaten that game so many times and feel like playing through it again soon.

 

[Strings]

Thanks for the suggestion! I don't know much about Koudelka, but I've seen the cover and remember Amano was involved, but that's about it lol

Did not know it was a horror game

Click to shrink...

I think you're thinking of Kartia: The Word of Fate

This is Koudelka:

 

[NovumVeritas]

I don't own a PS3. And I like collecting ps1 era games. I also don't have a ps1 (not much space in my apt to collect consoles), but RetroArch emulates PS1 games soooo good on this day and age. You can even upscale them, etc. but I like the jaggies.



Yeah, many of monster designs are in a thin line between downright creepy and goofy. The setting and atmosphere does help push them over to the creepy side imo, but I do see what you mean.

Click to shrink...

Thanks. So I am not crazy. I found this monster designs really goofy looking. I am not sure what approach they were following here. The head shape and the eyes do not fit somehow. They probably went for the scary touch but it didn't really work in this case. What part of the game did you like the most ?

 

[jblanco]

I think you're thinking of Kartia: The Word of Fate

This is Koudelka:

Click to shrink...

Oh, I feel like a fool now 🤦🏽‍♂️

Thanks for correcting me. Koudelka looks dope BTW.

*Adds to list of games to hunt down*

Thanks. So I am not crazy. I found this monster designs really goofy looking. I am not sure what approach they were following here. The head shape and the eyes do not fit somehow. They probably went for the scary touch but it didn't really work in this case. What part of the game did you like the most ?

Click to shrink...

Mostly what I described in my original post: the huge final boss of disc 1, Aya hacking a computer to learn information about the origins of these monsters, and the music, concept, and design of NeoArk. But the game play on NeoArk was no bueno, lots of backtracking with enemies respawning, and uncool puzzles.

 

[NovumVeritas]

Oh, I feel like a fool now 🤦🏽‍♂️

Thanks for correcting me. Koudelka looks dope BTW.

*Adds to list of games to hunt down*



Mostly what I described in my original post: the huge final boss of disc 1, Aya hacking a computer to learn information about the origins of these monsters, and the music, concept, and design of NeoArk. But the game play on NeoArk was no bueno, lots of backtracking with enemies respawning, and uncool puzzles.

Click to shrink...

I need to probably re listen to the music. But I think it wasn't so memorable than in PE1. I remember a lot of ambient music in PE2.
i agree. The puzzle with the heads was not fun or the changing of blocks.You got the true ending right ?

 

[Rbz]

I think you're thinking of Kartia: The Word of Fate

This is Koudelka:

Click to shrink...

Shit, I loved Kartia. I realize that's not the point of this thread, but anybody who likes PS1 tactical RPGs should check this one out. They had an interesting system in which you'd summon monsters with a rock-paper-scissors power dynamic, and you'd mix in cards (the titular Kartia I believe) to change their attributes. I think you also used the cards to modify your spells, the terrain and your weapons?

 

[Deleted member 8257]

I remember the Shower scene being SACANDALOUS for its time.

Anyway I did buy the game but never quite finished it. I think there was a massive difficulty spike after the shower scene and the bosses afterward.

 

[Hzsn724]

I saw someone mention Koudelka and yes that is a must play rpg horror game. It is phenomenal. My 2nd favorite horror game ever.

But PE2 was a let down imo. I loooved PE1. I got PE2 when it launched and it just felt really bland in comparison. Like a RE copy more than a horror rpg. I also hated all of the locations. And I missed having Daniel be a central character... This one also really got congested with the story.

Ppl bash The 3rd Birthday but it was a really competent shooter on psp. It's dark and the story is just sheer terror. I love the 3rd Birthday way more than PE2.

 

[NovumVeritas]

I saw someone mention Koudelka and yes that is a must play rpg horror game. It is phenomenal. My 2nd favorite horror game ever.

But PE2 was a let down imo. I loooved PE1. I got PE2 when it launched and it just felt really bland in comparison. Like a RE copy more than a horror rpg. I also hated all of the locations. And I missed having Daniel be a central character... This one also really got congested with the story.

Ppl bash The 3rd Birthday but it was a really competent shooter on psp. It's dark and the story is just sheer terror. I love the 3rd Birthday way more than PE2.

Click to shrink...

One thing I was asking myself what happened to Daniel and his son ? I had no fond memories of the locations either. I liked the 3D models better in PE1 too. Which ending of PE1 as canon? The hidden one or the normal one ?

 

[Deleted member 29660]

Was wondering how you were doing with the sequel OP, a lot of what you touched on is why I didn't bother with the second game myself, it just seemed like a step down in every regard. Even the monster and creature designs seemed to be less horrific than the original and more generic and that basically sums up my view point of the game, everything is generic, nothing really stands out be it the locations, monsters or people. It's just....uninspired.

If you thought that shower scene was something wait until you play 3rd Birthday.

 

[HStallion]

I actually ended up loving both games for different reasons. I think the first is far superior but I enjoy sequels that change things up. I ended up enjoying the combat quite a bit more even if the first games gives you a lot more flexibility though the original has a much better story, characters and atmosphere. The third game is a fucking joke and far beneath both.

Edit: The Neo-Ark was pretty freaky to me once you get there and figure out what's going on. It was selling a future to the rich and powerful as a designer made mutated variant of humanity including walrus monster among others.

 

[Seyavesh]

honestly, i love this game and think it's one of the best in the tank-control weird psuedo survival horror genre (w/ like, galerians and shit)
the pre-rendered bgs in this game really rule, as does the general horror tone - the game makes really good use of sound despite the enemies being such goofy lookin motherfuckers

i actually think the daytime setting of a small desert town is extremely unique and meant to be like a predator-2 style reversal of pe1''s contemporary new york aesthetic but there's definitely an element of 'this boring ass desert town is boring' to it that throws people off.

almost all of the dryfield locations are really cool in the sense of 'what they are' . in some weird backwards twist i actually think everything after dryfield is kind of boring in exchange. the mines are obviously crap, and neo-ark feels like a weird rehash of an RE lab to a degree in tone (though it's obviously more like a zoo) for it's hyper sci-fi setting.

 

[Deleted member 543]

I love it. It's basically Resident Evil 2: The RPG.

It's a huge departure from the first, so it's understandable that some were disappointed. But if you're open to a completely different experience then it's very very rad.

I think it holds up very well too - probably because there's nothing else quite like it.

Square just made their version of Resident Evil.

Click to shrink...

Yup. It was even made by a bunch of RE2 devs that left Capcom for Square at the time, so it's very obvious they were trying cash in on RE's success.

 

[Brickface]

I unlocked the gun blade in 2. Still haven't played the first one

 

[Valkerion]

2 was all over the place and it never felt cohesive nor made sense even to my 12 year old brain. I liked some of the ideas and the magic system was pretty interesting even if not explained at all, like every other mechanic here. Still I enjoyed it but after one play through I was pretty done. Always meant to revisit it someday. PE1 holds up pretty well and I'm sure most of the sequel won't but anything is better than 3.

Also the randomized puzzle in Neo-Ark at the end. What were they thinking.