Parasite Eve II

About Parasite Eve II

Parasite Eve II (1999) is Square's survival horror sequel, directed by Resident Evil writer Kenichi Iwao, in which Aya Brea faces a new outbreak of Neo-Mitochondrial creatures in real-time combat.

Parasite Eve II in Depth

Three years after the original, Aya Brea becomes caught up in another outbreak of Neo-Mitochondrial creatures. Play moves away from the first game towards traditional survival horror while keeping some role-playing elements. Aya uses tank controls, moving forwards and backwards and pivoting, and the camera is mostly fixed to a single view of each room. There is no Active Time Bar: battles are in real time, the first game's "range dome" is gone so she can hit off-screen targets from a safe distance, and there are no random battles, so enemies wander in plain view and can be avoided or planned for.

Aya's powers from the first game are locked, and she "rediscovers" her parasite energy abilities by spending experience earned from kills, choosing freely which to prioritise rather than unlocking them at set levels. They fall into four elements, fire for attacks, water for health, wind for status and earth for damage given or taken, with three abilities in each and three tiers per ability; the highest is the most powerful and the cheapest in MP. Its "bounty roster" lists 48 enemy types, each with its own attacks, strengths and weaknesses. Critics praised it but criticised its outdated controls.

Making Parasite Eve II

Square developed and published it for the PlayStation in Japan in 1999. Kenichi Iwao, who had directed and written Resident Evil, directed and wrote it, and Square chose to emulate that popular style. It received "generally favorable" reviews according to Metacritic, Next Generation giving it four stars and saying Square had taken most of the criticism of the original to heart.