The Evil Within 2

[SuperDeadite]

The first game is a personal favorite of mine.
Highly looking forward to this.

My only worry is from the website, it seems there will be side-quests and optional
objectives...

The first game was great because it was basically just a set of insane challenges,
each one with something new to deal with. There were usually multiple ways to deal
with each challenge, but if it felt too hard, it usually meant there was a better way.
It was truly a game that rewarded the player to "git gud."

I really hope it keeps the roller-coaster style pacing of the first game.

[dan76]

I'm looking forward to it as well. I really liked the first game, got a lot of things right. I hope they build on the gameplay as much as they seem to be hyping the story - and fix the performance...

They've been talking up how Seb it more "relatable" in this which sound ridiculous to me. I don't care why he's plugged into the stem again (it's to find his daughter, which means we will automatically "care" more about him...) all I want is great level design and enemy encounters. Why he's there is a mcguffin.

The guy who directed the dlc is directing this, which is a bit if a worry as there was virtually no combat but loads of story. However, he did design the chapter with the mansion in the first game which was a highlight. Mikami is supposed to be heavily involved anyhow, so the pacing should be there.

The snippets of gameplay look really good so far, the side missions could be good depending on how they're implimented. The upgrade system has been revamped a bit - I liked the original so not sure about that. Can't wait to play it.

Btw have you checked out evilwithin.net? It's a pretty good forum, lots of info there.

[evil_ash_xero]

I was talking about this in the PS4 thread. I liked the first one, but I had serious problems with it. I found it to be way too linear.
Now, I hope this game is more "open", but I'm talking like Silent Hill 2 or 3 open. Or like Resident Evil 4.
There were too many parts of EW where you just walked down a hall, with maybe a room or so on the side. It needs to open up a little.

I am very interested, but am worried that it is not directed by Mikami. But I'm cautiously optimistic.

[SuperDeadite]

Some of the "walk and story" corridors were a little much, but I really only got annoyed during the DLC campaigns. I quite liked when you would just round a corner and a hoard would come straight for you. It was fun to just fool around and see what random strategies I could come up with. Especially on a no-upgrade run.

[iconoclast]

There's new details here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1417164

I'm not sure what to think of this yet. The E3 trailers were awesome, but it sounds like they're making big changes to the structure of the game, and Mikami not directing is disappointing. I'll probably get it on release though, the original is still in the top 15 or so games of this gen.

[Obscura]

Oh no, it's being directed by the director of the DLCs?

That deflates my hopes, hard. TEW was great, but its DLCs were laaaaaaaaame.

[SuperDeadite]

That GAF thread is interesting, seems most people there want an easier game with more of a story.
Personally I quite enjoyed Seb's total lack of emotion. He barely even grunts after all the shit he goes through, and I loved it. I didn't need to give a damn about any of the characters because the insane action and giant vats of blood was just too much fun. The whole point was, "damn that was crazy! What the hell is coming next?"
A lot of people there comment that Akumu mode was just a cheap cash in, but to me, everyone should play the game on Akumu, it shows just how well crafted and thought out the first game was.

[evil_ash_xero]

Isn't there a Evil Within 1 thread on here? I Googled it, but could not find it.
I had a couple of things to say about the PC port, and I don't want to clog up this thread with it.

[Imhotep]

Isn't there a Evil Within 1 thread on here? I Googled it, but could not find it.
I had a couple of things to say about the PC port, and I don't want to clog up this thread with it.

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=45492

[dan76]

Leaked footage is up: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5y4sg0

I haven't watched too much but it looks pretty good. A lot like the original with more open areas. Movement of Seb has been updated too - less jank this time around.

[evil_ash_xero]

Leaked footage is up: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5y4sg0

I haven't watched too much but it looks pretty good. A lot like the original with more open areas. Movement of Seb has been updated too - less jank this time around.

It's gone. Is it up anywhere else?

[dan76]

It's gone. Is it up anywhere else?

Can't find it anywhere. Hopefully Bethesda see sense and officially release some gameplay. It's way better than the trailers they keep releasing.

[evil_ash_xero]

It's gone. Is it up anywhere else?

Can't find it anywhere. Hopefully Bethesda see sense and officially release some gameplay. It's way better than the trailers they keep releasing.

Yeah, I was looking around and couldn't find anything either.
Something should pop up at some point. The trailers are getting dull.

[evil_ash_xero]

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v126383307ZQ4fQ7fE

[evil_ash_xero]

After watching that, there are some things I really like, and some things I don't.

I'm way happier about it being more open.
I am not happy about how you are communicating with someone, and are using that sound sensor to search for somebody. That takes away from the "man on his own" vibe, of the first. But, I guess it does make it like some of the later RE's.
Mobius...Umbrella.

I'm still not a fan of the main villain. I just think it's cheesy. But whatever.

Some of the movements are overdone. And he talks too much. I think this has to do with early articles on the first one talking about how he didn't react to things enough. Which was stupid.

The town also doesn't look very creepy at all.

We'll see. It looks like it could be an improvement, in terms of game design, but a step down in atmosphere and vibe.

[dan76]

Side mission footage. I only had a quick skim through. It's spoilery!

https://youtu.be/IXaX_Tcv2w4

I think this looks pretty good. I like the more realistic setting, hell, I'd prefer it if the game took place in the real world and got rid of all the mind fuckery and warping about.

[evil_ash_xero]

The art design is a huge step backwards.

*sigh*

[dan76]

The art design is a huge step backwards.

*sigh*

Really? They've only shown stuff from the beginning of the game, mainly the town of Union. But I think there will be other open "hub" places. The enemies look the basically the same. The glimpses of bosses all look like they come from the first game.

I think we will be getting another mansion as there's that shot in the trailer that looks like a callback to Remake - where Seb is heading towards some stairs.

[evil_ash_xero]

The art design is a huge step backwards.

*sigh*

Really? They've only shown stuff from the beginning of the game, mainly the town of Union. But I think there will be other open "hub" places. The enemies look the basically the same. The glimpses of bosses all look like they come from the first game.

I think we will be getting another mansion as there's that shot in the trailer that looks like a callback to Remake - where Seb is heading towards some stairs.

The monsters still look great.

[dan76]

Luckily my copy arrived yesterday and I've sunk 4 hours into the game. I'm only on chapter 3 and exploring the town of Union before continuing on with the plot. So far I've got to say this is better than I dared hope for.

The combat is more polished, enemy encounters are still brutal - bullet feedback is fantastic. Headshots are meaty, glad to see they've spent time on this - way better than the recent RE's. The controls are slightly different this time around, way less janky. I basically plays like TLOU but with better combat and stealth.

Could it possibly continue being this good? In Mikami I trust.

[evil_ash_xero]

I think the controls are worse, actually. I think it has to do with the overly busy animations.

[EmperorIng]

Man did this already come out? I still need to beat the first!

[SuperDeadite]

Reviews look good, but don't think my gtx770 is quite up to the task so I'll be waiting for a bit.

However I have a few worries. Mostly the difficulty.
Seems that Nightmare mode is meant to be between Survivor and Nightmare of the first game...
A lot of people found the first game too hard, but I really disagree, the first game just had no
hand-holding at all. You had to experiment and figure out what really worked on your own.
When fought correctly, the dog boss is easy as hell, but there is absolutely no hints on how to do this.

Seems there is no Akumu mode either. The new Classic seems to trade the one-hit deaths for
limited saves. I'd rather have one really hard section to play over and over then having to play
an hour over and over because of one trap room.

Also while story wise it makes sense, it's hard to imagine playing The Evil Within without lighting
everything on fire.

Please tell me it at least contains some of the truly "Japanese" ideas like Joseph's glasses. The glasses
scene is a perfect example of what made the first game so damn unforgettable.

[dan76]

Reviews look good, but don't think my gtx770 is quite up to the task so I'll be waiting for a bit.

However I have a few worries. Mostly the difficulty.
Seems that Nightmare mode is meant to be between Survivor and Nightmare of the first game...
A lot of people found the first game too hard, but I really disagree, the first game just had no
hand-holding at all. You had to experiment and figure out what really worked on your own.
When fought correctly, the dog boss is easy as hell, but there is absolutely no hints on how to do this.

Seems there is no Akumu mode either. The new Classic seems to trade the one-hit deaths for
limited saves. I'd rather have one really hard section to play over and over then having to play
an hour over and over because of one trap room.

Also while story wise it makes sense, it's hard to imagine playing The Evil Within without lighting
everything on fire.

Please tell me it at least contains some of the truly "Japanese" ideas like Joseph's glasses. The glasses
scene is a perfect example of what made the first game so damn unforgettable.

I'm only up to chapter 6 and whilst what I've played is great it's quite different from the first game. Thinking back to 1 a lot of the chapters are built around a style of gameplay, forcing you to play a certain way - the Laura fights, the house on fire, sniper towers. So far this game lacks these type of set piece chapters. It's more open, more options in how to get through areas and so far more samey.

Way more western, the new character models aren't a patch on the original and the voice and dialogue is pretty awful. The story is more generic. Mikami's set pieces and pacing are absent but it's still really great. It's a mix of TLOU and TEW1.

I'm playing on Survival difficulty btw. So far I've only died a few times but it is a bit easier than the first game.

[kaicooper]

EW1 has better Bosses and Atmosphere..the rest EV2 better
just beat it 2 hours ago..fantastic creepy ride

9/10

[iconoclast]

I finished this earlier today too. I really liked the first game, I'd probably put it in the top 15-20 of this gen so far. This game is very different. It's definitely really good, maybe even great on its own, so I'm happy with it overall. But I don't like it as much as the original. I would have preferred an iterative "it's just like the last game but better" sequel over this.

Classic mode sounds better than Akumu, at least. I didn't use or craft healing items often and I didn't buy most of the health upgrades, but having limited saves should make them like 10x more important. So that could be interesting. I'll wait until they improve the PC port before trying it though. It crashed on me a little too often (and the Bloodborne-esque frame jitter is annoying).

[evil_ash_xero]

I can't get into this game at all. I don't like the story, I don't like the villain, I don't like the graphics (design), I don't like how he keeps talking about obvious things, I don't like the constant communication with other people, I think the animations are overdone and stupid looking....it's not as fun as the first one either. Also, it doesn't even pretend to be a horror game. You can say the first one wasn't scary, but it was freaky, and had the atmosphere. That's probably one of the biggest issues, is this game has NOTHING on the first one's atmosphere. This is so bland looking. And people that think the control is better...how??? He might of had that kind of "hop" in his step in the first one, but now he has that stupid side shuffle, and feels like he's swimming around.

I just wanted the first one, but with less one hit kills, and a bit more open. This is like a whole other franchise.
First real disappointment of the year for me. The other games I was looking forward to, turned out to be really to my liking.

[iconoclast]

How far in are you? I think there's a slump in the early/middle part of the game, mostly thanks to chapter 3. The largest parts of Union really give the game a "western AAA" feel. It's just a big ol map with a bunch of basic and boring sidequests to complete and upgrades scattered around to collect. It's repetitive, not very interesting, and for some reason it's like 5x longer than any other chapter in the game. And the supporting characters make it even worse since the first few ones you meet are bland and instantly forgettable. I liked Stefano though (and most of the more important characters), and I thought the story was pretty decent by the time it was over.

My biggest problems with the game are the open world design and the stealth/combat ratio (there's way more emphasis on stealth in this compared to the first). And stealth is way too good in general.

[Obscura]

Started this last night. Got a little ways in, started exploring around in chapter 3.

So far, it's not near as good as TEW 1. Waaaaay easier (even comparing TEW 2 Nightmare vs. TEW 1 Survival), and much less tense as a result. Controls feel jankier. Sooooo many axes mean there's no reason to use guns ever. Actually, even without axes, I'm still not sure there's ever a reason to use the pistol instead of the crossbow or shotgun? Headshots are hard as hell on a controller, and the pistol is worthless without them, might as well use anything else (or just run and hide for a few minutes and stealth-kill later, that works too). Something about the art direction just doesn't have the same punch that TEW 1 did.

I wouldn't say it's a bad game, but just a kind of uninspiring one. Mikami should have been director

[Obscura]

Holy crap, TEW 2 has a boss named after me!

Too bad it's a total pushover