Parasite Eve - Differences between the Japanese and English version + How the Story was Changed

In the previous article, we had a detailed review of the classic horror game "Parasite Eve" for Sony PlayStation 1. If you missed the article, here is the link for you:

>> Review of Parasite Eve <<

Now let's see how the English version of the game differs from the original Japanese version.

Also in this article I will explain how translators partially changed the story of Parasite Eve.

There will be a lot of interesting and rare information that you will not find anywhere else on the Internet.

Differences:

1) Episodes of the game have been renamed. In the Japanese version, the fifth episode was titled "Liberation" and the sixth episode was titled "Evolution". But in the English release, these titles were reversed for some reason.

(japanese version)

(english version)

Why they did this is not really known. Perhaps this is due to the fact that in the fifth episode the famous Statue of Liberty is destroyed. So the name "Liberation" could seem as a mocking to the American audience.

2) Introduction video is slightly different the Japanese version. At the beginning of the Intro we see a quote from the book "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins that genes only care about leaving as many descendants as possible. And then there are various quotes of characters from the game.

(quote from Dawkins)

(Aya's quotes from the game)

In the American version, all these quotes were removed from the Intro video.

3) Characteristics of some weapons were changed. This is especially noticeable on the "AT4" rocket launcher. In the Japanese version, the rocket launcher had an attack power of "80":

And in the English version, it has the power of "120"! So the rocket launcher was strengthened by 50%.

4) The characteristics of the bonus weapons that we can get for completing the "collect 300 Junks" side quest have also changed a lot. In the English version, all these types of weapons were strengthened by 30~60%.

5) In the Japanese version some bosses (Triceratops, T-Rex, Eve, and Ultimate Being) were stronger and had more hit-points.

Here are the characteristics of these bosses in different versions:

Triceratops - 750+900HP (USA) \ 850+1000HP (JP)

T-REX - 2400HP (USA) \ 2600HP (JP)

Eve-Form1 - 1600+1750+1900HP (USA) \ 2300+1700+1900HP (JP)

Eve-Form2 - 2200HP (USA) \ 2300HP (JP)

Ultimate Being-Form1 - 1500HP (USA) \ 1500HP (JP)

Ultimate Being-Form2 - 1500+950HP (USA) \ 1800+1200HP (JP)

Ultimate Being-Form3 - 3500HP (USA) \ 4300HP (JP)

Since the bosses have been nerfed and the weapons have been buffed, the English version has become noticeably easier.

6) In the English version, some important details of the story were messed up due to incorrect translation of the dialogues. Here, in two scenes, it is said that Aya became the "SOLE SURVIVOR" in opera incident:

(Reporter talks about it)

(and even the chief of police)

So in the English version, it looks like all other people in the opera have died. And Aya's boyfriend (who took her on a date) also died.

But in the original Japanese version it was completely different!

The reporter doesn't call Aya a "sole survivor" there. At this moment, he says a different phrase: "Ah, is that you!? The policewoman who is not affected by fire. I would like to talk with you a little..."

(Reporter scene in JP version)

And the chief of police in the Japanese version called Aya simply a "survivor". But he didn't say that she was the only survivor.

("生き残り" - means just a "survivor". Not a "sole survivor".)

And in one of the dialogues, Daniel mentions that Aya's boyfriend managed to survive - and he ran out of the opera house in panic.

So in Japanese version Aya was not a "sole survivor" at all. Her boyfriend managed to escape, and most likely many other visitors to the opera also survived.

7) When we read the diary in the basement of the opera house - in the English version it says that actress named Suzanne was "burned" in a fire. After reading such translation, most people would think that Suzanne is dead.

However, in the Japanese version of the diary, it was said that Suzanne "received serious burns". So it's implied that Suzanne was injured, but she survived.

("大火傷" - means "serious burns")

You can also notice that the entry from December 17 in the diary is slightly different. In the Japanese version, Melissa writes that she needs to take more medication and try hard to play the opera for the sake of Suzanne. In the English version, for some reason, this part of the text about "for the sake of Suzanne" was removed.

("スザンヌの分もがんばらないと" - means "try hard for the sake of Suzanne")

8) Everyone who played the English version of Parasite Eve probably always thought that the final boss (Eve's child - "Ultimate Being") is male. But in the Japanese version, in the middle of the 5th day, Eve explicitly says that she will soon give birth to a "DAUGHTER". So the final boss is actually female. Surprised?

("娘" - means "daughter")

In the American version, the mention of "daughter" have disappeared. Perhaps the translators decided that such plot twist would be too shocking for Western gamers.

9) The final dialogue between Eve and Aya has been slightly changed. In the Japanese version, Aya says that the mitochondria in her body coexist in symbosis with the cell nucleus. And Eve says that such symbiosis imposes great restrictions on the ability to evolve. In the American version, these phrases disappeared from the dialogue, although they were important for understanding the story.

10) Also, the translators removed several small references from the game.

For example, in the Japanese version, one of the dialogues mentioned a certain series called "NEXT-File" - this was a reference to the TV series "X-Files". This reference was cut from the US version.

(X-Files reference)

Aya also said that she learned about the opera from the "New York Times" newspaper. But in the English version, the mention of this newspaper was also removed.

(NY Times mention)

Other interesting articles

about horror games on our website

>> Horror Game Reviews <<

>> Weird & Unique Horror Games <<

>> Articles in English <<

>> Horror Games Museum <<

>> History of Japanese Horror Games <<

Also, you can subscribe to our
YouTube channel and Telegram channel

Author of the article: SilentPyramid

Publication date: 22.04.2023

Русская версия статьи

---

If you like this article,
share the link with your friends:

---