TGS: Square Shows Off Parasite Eve II

TOKYO - One of the few "surprise" titles at TGS this year (though we already saw video snippets of it at E3) was Square's Parasite Eve II. Being called a "Cinematic Adventure," this time, PEII features the same RPG-like gameplay as that of the original game, but according to Square, there will be more adventure elements, making for "a heightened element of mystery and thrilling story development."

PEII takes places three years after the events of the first game. The mitochondria-related incidents that were plaguing the land have finally come to an end. However, on the evening of September 9, 2000, a bunch of mitochondrial creatures suddenly appear in the Akropolis Tower, a modern high-rise in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. In an effort to control the chaos, the FBI sends its newly formed MIST team (Mitochondria Investigation and Suppression Team) in to investigate, and this is where Aya comes in.

As was the case in the first PE, PEII features prerendered backgrounds with polygonal characters, similar to Final Fantasy and Resident Evil. This time the game takes place in several different locales, and the battle system has been improved quite a bit. When Aya gets into a battle, the action begins right on the spot. She can run around freely, and now her attacks involve her targeting her enemies with a special targeting system, rather than having a dome pop up around her whenever she's ready to attack. Weapons can be combined and customized (as in PE), and there are a ton of new parasite-energy spells available, each of which has a different range.

At this point, the game seems like a more polished version of the original (which is good), but we've learned that a second character will join Aya in battle. However, you won't have control over this character during battle, so... make of that what you will.

One last tidbit worth mentioning is that Tetsuya Nomura, character designer for the original Parasite Eve, doesn't seem to be involved with PEII. Additionally, the Osaka-based development team is brand new (this is its first game). Parasite Eve II is due out in Japan in December, with a US release confirmed for late 2000.