Parasite Eve 2 has all the ingredients I like in a game, but just like Waldorf Salad, somebody had to go and cover everything in mayonnaise and ruin it

I was surprised that I enjoyed the first entry as much as I did, so I was hoping that streak could continue with the sequel. There are plenty of features that I find impressive. PE2 has a very dynamic, cinematic feel to it that sets it apart as a PlayStation 1 game. Awesome FMV sequences, especially towards the end. I do like the variety of enemies, locales, and weapons and I found most of the characters likeable enough.

I hate that this feels like it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a full-on RPG or a survival horror game. I wish they had leaned all the way into one category or another, because all the blend does is hurt. I typically love fixed camera angles, inventory management, and ammo conservation, but the locations aren't static enough to justify such limited inventory space or non-linked item chests. You pick up WAY too many different kinds of ammo or one-time use items to make the shortage of space make sense. The boss fights and quantity of normal enemies are made much harder than they have to be by the camera perspective. And if they were going the other way, into survival horror, then it shouldn't be so easy to be stun-locked by bullet sponge enemies.

I had a reasonable amount of fun, but I do think my frustrations outweighed it. Between my disappointment to not have any side characters return from the first game, too much backtracking, and one constant irritant or another, I doubt I'll return.

Sei que muitos não gostam do segundo por ter largado muito do "RPG raiz" do anterior, mas eu realmente amo esse jogo. A história dele não perde em nada ao primeiro e muitas melhoras são notáveis: Um grande número de inimigos memoráveis, a luta contra o Elefante Incinerador é extremamente apavorante, me caguei todo.

Eles também repaginaram o sistema de RPG e ao invés de uma batalha estática optaram pela movimentação livre, o que desagradou muitos mas pra mim é uma mudança positiva pra dinâmica das batalhas.

Os antagonistas, a trilha sonora e todos os cenários tem muita personalidade, não é só uma copia de Resident Evil como muitos afirmaram na época. O fator replay também é um grande diferencial, a próxima jogada é sempre melhor que a anterior!

Amo de paixão até mais do que o primeiro!

The cover art does something incredible to my brain -- peak PlayOnline era Squaresoft AD.

I think the decision to pivot to a more action-y, tank controlled combat system comes a bit out of left field, but that makes PE 1 and 2 more compelling as a set.

Some striking prerendered BGs.

The original Parasite Eve was a very unique game there is no doubt. It showcased a really interesting mix of sci fi survival horror and RPG elements that was groundbreaking for the time and has seldom been replicated since. Throw in some amazing horror scenes and a fantastic soundtrack and you have yourself a classic. So how does the sequel stack up?
To sum it up, it falls short which is disappointing to see since you can see in the game where they could have changed things for the better.

Probably the biggest change to the game is the combat which is frenetic compared to the first games more calculated combat. This actually didn't bother me that much since as much as I like the first game its pacing was a bit of a slog. The combat in this game leans itself to faster encounters that lessens the horror a little bit but generates a more entertaining experience.

The downside to this change in the gameplay is the removal of the weapon crafting system of the first game. What is the point of making your gameplay more combat focused if you remove one of the most interesting aspects of the first games combat. Gone are the days of building a extremely powerful gun, instead you are stuck with the six or so guns they give which severely limits player expression. To make up for this, Mitochondria powers have been reworked so you can spec how you want. This is a fine addition as it cuts back on grinding a little bit and gives incentive for future playthroughs.

I am going to quickly list some other complaints I had with the game.
The requirements for the good ending were not clear at all and I wish there was better signposting for that stuff.
Key items are rarely highlighted so sometimes you will just be clicking on random objects in the environment until you find what you want.
You spend about half of this game in a lab environment which sucks since I think lived in environments such as Dryfield are vastly more interesting to explore and was ultimately my favorite part of the game

I've mostly been saying negative stuff but I actually did like this game I was just disappointed that it ended up being a slog in parts and that I could where it could have done better. I really enjoyed some of the boss fights, especially the final boss and I still think the soundtrack was pretty good just maybe a little bit of a step down. Keep in mind that I played this on an emulator so I was able to reduce on time wasted from dying or other moments. If I had played this on original hardware I cant confidently say I would have given it the same score.

I really hope this franchise sees some sort of revival at some point since it is really fascinating. I really want to try Third Birthday at some point despite it being the reason we may never see this franchise again

This game is boring. Unlike the first game this game does little to try to change itself from the competition. This game is the first one but worse in almost every regard. The battle system is annoying and slow, most of the time you're shooting enemies that are off screen and getting knocked into different camera angles. I guess this one was trying to be scarier than the first one but its hard to find it scary when you have infinite ammo, enemies stay dead permanently, and you can shoot fucking fireballs and wind blams which completely take you out the mood. The mood isnt even really there in the first place, most things arent threatening, and you know full well what the game is throwing at you. Theres no cool battle music, no interesting battle system, characters are somehow worse than the first, and the setting is more stale. The puzzles that you would get from resident evil games are practically non-existent. I tried to force myself to finish this but most of the game is just spent smashing your face against every wall for useful items, shooting offscreen enemies, and boring and dragged out dialogue all of which is lacking any good music. I wish they just expanded on the first games combat system.

Hey, did you like the atmosphere and setting of the first game? Did you like the fusion of RPG and horror mechanics? What about the unique story? Music? If you enjoyed any of that, then go fuck yourself because this game throws all of it away to be yet another shitty reskin of a Resident Evil game.

This game sucks. I am usually able to get over enemies attacking from off-screen but with the tank controls (which I am not a stranger to) and fixed camera angles it's really not fun. The fact that if you forget to put healing/MP items on your jacket, you've boned yourself if you run low on either stat and have to kill yourself to restart, because MP doesn't regenerate like in the last game for whatever reason. You can blow up enemies with a tactical nuke within the first hour of the game but god forbid MP regenerates on its own. Genius move, Square.
Maybe I missed something in the """tutorial""" (if you can call it that) but lord what a dreadful mechanic. The only good thing about this game is Aya's design. What a wet shit of a game, thank god I only paid $10 or so on PS3 and not $100 like some suckers will.

I find myself returning on the series after the fun I had with the first one! This one revised the system a little which certainly causes a mixture of opinions and they rewrite the ending so that Ava is now part of a special task force, running around finding other mitochondrial creatures that were scattered and left after the events of the first game, but some dark forces are once again involved in manipulating these creatures and she's the only one with the power and talents to stop them!

Stream + gameplay

RESIDENT EVIL CON NÚMEROS

Squaresoft dio su propio Resident Evil en el 98 con Parasite Eve, un juego que combinó magistralmente el terror y sensación de supervivencia de la saga de Capcom con su propio toque de JRPG por turnos, creando a un híbrido único.

Pues parece ser que lo que hizo único al primero se le olvidó en este juego.
¿Te acuerdas de los combates por turnos con toques action del juego previo? Pues aquí los omiten, es todo como en Resident Evil, pero con toques RPG.

Ahora ¿Valorándolo como un Survival Horror con toques RPG vale la pena? Sí, sin lugar a dudas es de los mejores de su época, todo lo que hace grandes a los RE está aquí y con identidad propia, más los citados toques RPG que se mezclan bastante correctamente. Por no hablar de que técnicamente es uno de los mejores juegos de la PS1.

No a la altura del primero, pero igualmente notable y disfrutable.

Third GOTM finished for May 2023. It's unfortunate that I played the first game so soon before this one, because it made the faults with this one all the more glaring. This game wanted so hard to be like RE, but missed the mark on nearly every part. The horror element feels lacking, fixed camera angles made it so enemies could attack you off screen, the limited inventory is exacerbated by the high amount of enemy encounters, and the tank controls left movement and dodging attacks a pain. The story was also weaker than the first one, but Flint is great. The EXP system was pretty good though, offering a lot of control over how you built Aya and her mitochondrial abilities. I didn't hate this one, and it probably would've been better received as a standalone game, but as a sequel to one of the better PlayStation games I've played this one felt lacking.