Part 5: Episode 5: People Are Strange

Last time, we met this nice lady:



And then, this happened:



So, now we have to deal with that




Time for our first boss fight!


Well, sort of. The Greater Stranger we're faced with now doesn't actually have any attacks beyond the lunge and bite that the Lesser Stranger we fought previously had. She has more HP, but that's about all there is to say about her.


She's got her very own Boss Music, though. Good for her.


Here's a good example of the new fixed camera angles making combat seem awkward. It's not too bad, though. Aya has auto-aim, and a damage count appears even if the enemy is off screen, so you can still kill the goof-ball even if you can't see 'em.


Here's what happens if you try to bring up the menu in combat. Instead, you can only access items attached to your armor. Every FAQ and Guide says you should organize your attachments so you can access more frequently used items more quickly, but time stops while you have this menu open, so you can mull over your bullets and pills at your leisure.


The Greater Stranger has a LOT of HP, by the way. Or at least it seems that way when all you have to work with is the weakest ammo in the game.


She goes down soon enough, either way.


I guess bullets and fireballs ain't too good for your complexion.


Awww, she's sleepy


Sometimes, enemies drop goodies after the fight! Don't worry, there's no grinding from scrap metal this time around.


The Greater Stranger just drops a mid-tier healing item. Eh.


Examining our fallen foe gives Aya a chance to lament the good ol' days when all she had to worry about were polar bears that shot lightning.



: What's this?


A mysterious device that counts as a Key Item? Probably nothing.


Welp, let's bail.







BLAM


Our new friend's magnum sends that sonofabitch flyin'!




Then he casually ambles over and plugs two more shots into the fucker. I like this dude already.


He even kicks the corpse for good measure.


And then, he just reloads like it ain't no thang. Rupert has had one line so far, and he's already the best.

: I've never seen this kind before. A new species?

: It can mimic human form...





: A wounder SWAT officer asked me to come rescue her.


That seems like an odd thing to say...


Wha?


"Hey, how ya doin'?"

BLAM


"ARGH MY HORRIBLE FACE!"


Really, Rupert? You just one-shotted that little bastard.

: Aya, call MIST for backup, now!

: Betcha fifty bucks Hal says everyone else is busy or some shit.

: I don't think even these monkey-horse things are dumb enough to take that bet.




And, so, Aya is forced out of the cafe by plot. This little section is basically just here for players who never noticed the phones before to teach you how to save.


We can peep our mysterious macguffin, if we want. Plus, there's some stuff next to the window to check out.


gross

: Whoever was eating here, they must have left in a hurry.





: This is a good restaurant; it was packed the last time I came. I guess I won't be needing reservations tonight.


Yeah, it's a damn shame. By the way, the music changed. Youtube continues to amaze with dozens of comments arguing whether Aya is a natural blonde. There's some spoilers in there, too, so that's two reasons not to read the comments.


As we move forward, a pair of Lesser Strangers spot us from the awning.


Oh no! Not TWO incredibly weak foes!


Chumps


We continue along, back to the payphone.


Hey, we should probably let that SWAT dude know we uh..."rescued" that lady. More or less.




Yeah, so the door gets locked offscreen. I was probably just misremembering about it locking before.


Oh well, phone time now. Time for phones.



: I see... I'm sorry, but I can't send support. All our Hunters are in the field.

: Called it.



: but you have clearence to use any discarded weapons you find.

: Uh...I was kinda gonna do that anyway, but okay.







: Oh God, not Pierce. Tell him I'm not here. No, don't give him the phone, don't give him the--



: Hiii, Pierce. Uh, great hearing from you. I'm just in a bit of a hurry, sooooo...



: That implant you picked up might tell us a few things. Be sure to bring it back...



: Yeah, sure, whatever you said. Bye, Pierce.


Okay, back to business. Aside from our new objective, you may notice that certain rooms appear as red on our map. These are Hot Zones, which basically means the enemies there have respawned. Killing enemies gets you Bounty Points, and we want all the BPs, so we will clearly be hunting down and cleaning out every Hot Zone in the game. For your sake, I will not be including all the backtracking and grinding unless something really interesting happens.


Let's take a quick trip down here, because I thought I remembered there being something good over here.


Instead, I find two Lesser Strangers. You can see one on the edge of the screen here. (no I don't know what Aya's doing)


And here's the other one. That glass door behind us is sealed, so we'll need to deal with that later.




Also, a dead guy.

: Such incredible power... There's something next to him.


Okay, so the good thing I thought I remembered was just a shitty status healing item. Oh well.











: Heya, kids! It's yer ol' pal, Rattigan Johansen here! I'm here ta talk to youse all about da ugly mugs dat make up the enemies in Parasite Eve 2! 'Course, I don't know any of 'em poisonally, cuz I wasn't in da sequel. I gave da producers a call as soon as I heard 'bout it, cuz it just ain't Parasite Eve without Rattigan Johansen, right? Dey told me dey was goin' a different direction, sayin' dere was no rats in da sequel. Oh well. I mean, I ain't worked since '98, but no hard feelin's, right?




: Da Strangers have taken ova' my old role o' most common baddie in da game. I mean, dere good kids, did a fine job, I just don't tink dey really captured da menace o' a good game monster, y'know? A weird monkey guy is pretty scary, sure, but a giant rat wit' a messed-up face, leakin' goo errywhere? Dat's scary! But I ain't bitter or nothin'. Da Greater Stranger had a good scene. Dat kid's goin' places, I tells ya.