Parasite Eve 2 Part #2 - Episode 2: Another Day at the Office

Part 2: Episode 2: Another Day at the Office

Last time, Aya got orders to hurry to Akropolis Tower to deal with some rampaging mutants. People are dying as we speak. But, there's more stuff to see here at HQ, so that can wait.

MIST ~ Headquarters Theme

First, let's chat with Pierce some more.

: I just haven't been sleeping well... I've been having weird dreams.

: Ooh, I like those!

Yeah, that's kinda weird.

Pierce is helpful as always.

That seems like a odd pose for reflecting on childhood trauma.

There's some more flavor text over here! I think MIST HQ has the most Aya commentary of anywhere in the game, if only because everything in here brings up a massive paragraph of backstory.

: 1st Place: Rupert Broderick. He's a Hunter, too. He requested a transfer to MIST from his previous assignment. Everyone says he's here 'cause an NMC killed his daughter. Usually he's pretty quiet, reserved. But get him with an NMC, and he's a wildman. No wonder nobody wants to be his partner.

Rupert is a pretty cool dude, but we won't be seeing much of him, sadly.

: I always hunt alone. I try not to show others. I've seen the fear in their eyes.

As much as I like the writing in this game, this old trope always bugs me. Why doesn't anyone ever get superpowers and think "Hey, this is awesome!" No, it's always "Poor me, I can shoot eye-lasers. Why, God, WHY?!"

Or maybe Aya's just bitter about losing.

I imagine Aya would totally lurk TFR.

: I'm not a big fan of armor-- too bulky. Attaching frequently-used items to your armor is standard practice. Running out of ammo or not being able to switch weapons when you're surrounded by NMCs is very bad. I never forget to use attachments on my leather jacket, either.

I like that they snuck the tutorials into the flavor text in this area. It's there if you need it, but easy enough to skip if you don't.

SHUT UP PIERCE. Gosh!

Okay, yeah, we should get going.

Okay, let's go kill us some NMCs!

Whoa, wait, does that say "Firearms?"

Hell yes, gonna get me all the guns

Oddly enough, nothing in this room has flavor text. Oh well, let's talk to the nice lady here.

And I already hate Jodie.

She's referring to Medicine here, by the way.

Okay, we have a couple of options here, but I'm gonna ask her about BP.

: BP stands for "Bounty Points." They're a kind of bonus Hunters like yourself can earn. You receive credits depending on the type of NMC you hunt.

Basically, every enemy you kill gives you BP. BP is currency you can use to buy guns, ammo, armor, and items. Naturally, we are going to want to get all the BPs.

Here's the shop menu. We only have 200 BP right now, which is basically nothing, so we won't be buying anything, but I'll show you what's available.

First up, the PA3 shotgun. Unlike the first game, this game has really good shotguns. Sadly, this isn't one of them. Shotguns have a bit of an issue with reload times, so a maximum capacity of 3 shells means this gun is essentially useless. Looks neat, though.

The M4A1, on the other hand, is one of the best and more versatile guns in the game. Rifle rounds are fairly powerful, and have good range. The real draw of this gun is its plethora of attachments that show up for it throughout the game. We won't be buying it just yet, but this will be our go-to weapon for most of the game.

Here's some ammo. The Explosion effect on the Buckshot means that it will knock over some enemies. Most importantly, it reduces to enemies to gibs on death. Delightful.

There's also this option which means nothing to us at the moment.

Both of the available armors are better than our current gear, but not really that amazing. We're better off saving our BP for the time being.

There's also a selection of self-explanatory recovery items.

And these completely useless combat items. I'm sure someone will find a use for them, but I prefer to keep my Attachment slots free for healing and ammo.

: That's why the ammo's in different-colored boxes. I mean, like, duh! Right?

: Why the hell did you give Pierce a revolver in the first place?

Okay, let's bail.

Welcome to the MIST Garage. There's lots stuff in here to examine, so buckle up!

Aya's got a pretty sweet car, honestly.

Actually, this means we have to talk to Pierce, who's lurking creepily in the corner, if we want to leave. We don't want to go just yet, so he can just wait in Time-Out.

Eh, I don't think Pierce really gets out that much.

Uh, what?

Uh, free discarded beverage, I guess?

Items marked with a "?" can be examined with the Triangle button to reveal more info about them.

Nice. Also, you may have noticed that our visit to Jodie snuck some basic equipment into our pocket. Let's check it out.

A nice healing item.

Some bullets.

The GPS is a unique item. When attached to our armor, it adds a little radar to the upper right corner during combat. Helpful, but not vital.

And, of course, Aya's trusty nightstick. It's surprisingly fun to use this time around, although it's still weak. They let Aya keep this from her old cop days, but not her gun. Probably because a fully-automatic shotgun that shoots buckshot filled with acid and cyanide is outrageously illegal.

More stuff to look at in this AMAZING garage.

Goddamn.

: The gate's rigged to open only for a set amount of time. I'll get Pierce to open it.

I guess if they get attacked by tanks, all those cars are fucked

Hey, what's that shiny thing?

Oh, a phone! Of course. Phones are still save points. Apparently, New York got all the glowing red light phones, and LA got the blue model. Since this is Parasite Eve 2, even the phones have flavor text.

Oh, haha, sorry about that boss. Forgot about that whole "having a job" thing.

Every time you go to save, you check in with HQ first. Usually, they have stuff to say based on what's going on, but they also have standard "Yeah, whatever you say" quotes when there's nothing new to say.