Fixes some issues, but is less unique, and more outdated. Good game, but not as good or memorable as the first one.
Ironically, now it's available on the European PSN store (and strangely not in the American store), which makes it easier for everyone to buy it... that and a low price point, and thank god for that!
Story
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The game takes place a few years after the original game. Aya Brea is now an FBI agent, working for their MIST (Mitochondrial Investigation and Suppression Team) division. Yes it turns out, that even though Eve is now long dead, and the monsters (or NMC's as their called) have been all but killed in New York, they've scattered throughout America, hence the MIST division. Having received an urgent called from Los Angeles though, Aya goes to investigate, and ends up having to find out the origin of the new NMC's.
The story doesn't require the player to be familiar with the first game, making only short references to it, probably because it weren't released in Europe. However, it would be recommended to play it, so you can wrap your head around what Mitochondria are and how it works (and yes, Mitochondria do indeed exist in real life). That and they'd get the most out of the story. Despite that though, the story isn't as good or memorable as the first game. It fails to get intriguing until halfway through, and even though some might be left disappointed by the Resident Evil like plot progression that the game has embraced. It's still a good story nevertheless, but it's not as interesting or memorable as the first game.
7.0
Gameplay
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Parasite Eve 2 is more Resident Evil, than Final Fantasy (opposed to the original), maybe suspiciously so. It's like someone at Square knew some of the gameplaye designers who worked on RE, and either asked if they could borrow the gameplay, or just stole it... the latter I more or less suspect the most, because it is downright just playing Resident Evil with different monsters, characters and magic. At least you can walk while you aim
Though not being a total RE rip-off, the game does manage to add some things that weren't in the first one. Magic is still in the game (and it's still Parasite Energy), though you'll have to sacrifice your EXP (no leveling up structure like last time) to both upgrade and unlock new magic. More or less the RPG elements have been reduced to the point, where they are almost non-existent, weren't it for the whole magic thing. You earn BP from battles, which can be used for weapons and ammo, though the item stores can be pretty far and between
Puzzles have also been added here, which adds some more variation, unlike in the first one. They're not too difficult, though some of the answers can be a bit difficult to find. I have to admit, even when looking for clues; I had to resort to a walkthrough to get past it. That says more about me, than the game itself, but the game weren't too helpful with one or two puzzles.
The game is also a lot more atmospheric than the first one. While the first one could be scary in some places, PE2 attempts to be a lot more scary, and it kind of succeeds. I say kind of, because I'm not scared by video games, but they did startle me a few times, so that and it's creepy atmosphere can make scary for some people.
While the developers added things that were missing from the first game, there are also a couple of bad things. As said, the game can be a bit unhelpful about the puzzles, but this extends to the battles as well. Enemies can take a good part of your health (despite what armor you might be wearing at the time), and boss fights feels more like endurance rounds, taking a really long time to beat. That and the gameplay just seem a lot more repetitive. You spend an awful lot of time on going back and forth between destinations over and over again, which seems fine if it were released back in 96 or something, but in 2000 (and especially today), it just seems outdated.
It doesn't help, that it's also a short game. Surprisingly, it took me 6 hours to beat the game. Standard length these days apparently (yet it's from 2000, where we complained about games being 10 hours long). It doesn't help that the game takes up two discs, so when I reached disc 1 (after 3 hours), I was really taken by surprise. At least the game has some replay value. When the game is finished, a few modes are unlocked, and there are also different endings, though the conditions for unlocking them isn't easy to figure out.
The gameplay manages to improve a bit on the first game, but by the time it was released, it was just outdated. Running back and forth is something that we were used to do, and didn't mind, but already in 1999, things were different (most notably was RE3). While the gameplay is still unique, it plays it rather safe with sticking to the RE principles a bit too much.
7.0
Graphics
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If you looked at a screenshot in the game, and I didn't tell you where the shot was from, you could swear it looked like it was Resident Evil. The characters have a bit more facial details than RE ever had. The character sign is good, and unlike PE1, doesn't resemble the FF7 cast. There are a lot of CG cut-scenes, which probably explains the need for two discs. At least, they look more cinematic than RE, and it does have some neat CG tricks, mixed into the gameplay (moving camera in the opening for example), which is impressive to see, for a PS1 game.
9.0
Sound
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Given that Square's first game with voice acting was Final Fantasy X (that's roughly said, don't quote me on it), PE2 doesn't have voice acting... yet somehow it does. For some reason, there's voice clips in the game, and while their scattered really far and between, they sometime can say more than a few words, and there's even a cast section in the credits. It's really annoying when you have to read through everything, yet there are a few voice clips that says what the subtitles says at a few spots. At this point, it should have been included.
At least the game has a good atmosphere, and while the music is decent, it's barely noticeable at times.
6.5
Overall
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Parasite Eve 2 manages to fix some errors from its predecessor, but it's also more outdated than the 1st one. It's still a good game, but it's less unique than the 1st one, and less memorable. It is still a good game though, for its problems, just not as good as the previous one. Fans should check it out, especially since it might give a bit of insight into some things, in The 3rd Birthday.