I've always felt that the thing the genre needed most was a foothold in reality, more so than is found in other similar titles available. Keys were found hanging from hooks on walls, you needed a wrench to remove bolts, and the code to open the cash register was located in a nearby memo to new employees. While the placement and quality of the hints and clues needed a bit of work, in general they were logical and very reasonable in the context of the game as well as real life. It goes without saying that most of the usual elements are here-such as item boxes and switches to push-though one thing that really struck me about Parasite Eve II is that all of the puzzles were about as reasonable and logical as any game of this sort could hope to have. In general, the title succeeds in every area a game of this sort needs to, and anyone familiar to the genre will feel immediately at home, magic aside. Its a nice feature and adds a bit of reserve firepower in the odd event a player is without ammunition, but it doesn't play a major role. The most obvious divergence from the genre is the magic system present in the form of "Parasite Energy," which the main hero, Aya Brea, can employ to produce various effects such as healing, defensive and offensive spells. Also present are the standard "spooky, off-kilter" camera angles and a menu system extremely similar to other staples in the same category. The game is played in third-person perspective with 3-D characters moving across 2-D backdrops. Parasite Eve II is game developer Square's second attempt to break into the survival horror genre, while trying to maintain the uniqueness of their franchise by keeping a minor RPG slant. When you get right down to it, being mauled by a cybernetically-enhanced mitochondrial monster is every bit as bad as being chewed to shreds by an undead zombie attack dog. While initially it seems that these two diverse vectors for socio-political unrest in isolated small townships would be different enough to be instantly discernable by any masticated bystander, this is actually not the case. ![]() The difference between Parasite Eve II and any of the games in the Resident Evil series can be summed up like an unhip microbiology major's bad joke: "What's the difference between a neo-mitochondrial mutagenic airborne virus and a fluid-transmitted virus which reanimates and increases aggressive tendencies in mutated expired organisms?"
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