For a game that looks alot like Resident Evil with a few Final Fantasy Elements, it can be a fun game.
For those who know about the series you'll be playing as a female FBI agent from New York called Aya where she gets assigned to the Los Angeles division of MIST the Mitochondrion Investigation and Suppression Tem. Basicly she is a hunter and investagetor taking out on certain monsters/parasite's.
Aya has been having alot of wired dreams of her childhood but I'll spoil the story but through out the game you investaget a buliding to deal with an epidemic that causes people to either die or mutate as the mitochondria in their bloodstreams awaken with chaotic energy. It's very much like Resident Evil if you think about it.
Gameplay: I never played through the first game so I can't compare the differences. But the gameplay for Parasite Eve is alot like Resident Evil either you've played through the second game or the thrid game on PS1. Parasite you'll be walking/runing through areas and yes there are puzzles which can be tricky to do but you'll easily know what you'll need to do.
Like Resident Evil you'll have to hold the R1 to target lock on yor enemies and pressing square to fire, there are more weapons you can use like pistol guns, machine guns and also shotguns as well.
Parasite Eve 2 also has RPG elements where you've got your HP and MP on the top left of the srceen. You can use Parasite Engery on enemies where you can use fire, lighting, or healing on enemies during gameplay.
Graphics and Sound: For game like Parasite Eve 2 the graphics are really impressive it has the sytleish graphics from Final Fantasy 8 and has alot of good graphics from Resident Evil 2 and 3 or locations and enviroments as well making it a well done game.
A bad thing annoying would be the camera controls which can be annoying during certain places through out the game specially when there are enemies in the way.
Most enviroments and areas in the game are impressive as well and try's making it a dark/fantasy survial horror. There's no voicing in the game but yes there are some great sound effects and a decent soundtrack for the game as well.
Overall: May not be the best survial horror but it has it's moments. SquareSoft/Square Enix have done a nice job on making game which has alot of ideas from Capcom but with RPG elements in them. Some of the bosses for Parasite Eve are impressive as well but will take alot of damage to beat them so if you do pick this game make sure you have the right equipment. But beating the game can take you either 20 hours or less pending on if you want to collect everything in the game but may take longer to do. Parasite Eve 2 is a 2 disc game so what ever hours you'll beat it, it's worth re-playing again if you get the chance to that is.