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Evil Within Information Booklet (Japanese) ; Reverse Boxart Contest

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
Edit: New Impressions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL3a7HNmclY

New Interview (with new details): http://mobile.pcauthority.com.au/Article.aspx?CIID=390575&type=Feature

---
Original Post:

Can see the whole thing here.

A booklet was handed out to people at a recent Japanese convention for Evil Within, and this same booklet has been made available publicly online by the booklet publisher.

I can't read Japanese, so if someone who could would be up for helping translate part of it, that'd be fantastic. Includes new screens and art though.

Probably the most interesting thing is the character profiles (and some good profile pic opportunities with these). We have the three main characters of the game, Sebastian Castellanos , Joseph Oda, and Julie Kidman;

character-img01.jpg
character-img02.jpg
character-img03.jpg


But more interesting is that it has four enemies, and notably the three of the four enemies we know of are stalker type enemies that you can't kill. The name of the butcher Chainsaw enemy seen in many early promotions is also given a name, "Sadist." However, there is one other enemy seen, some theories circling around it.

character-keeper.jpg
character-laura.jpg
character-sadist.jpg
character-shigyo.jpg


The first three we've seen multiple times in gameplay and screens and know them to be invincible stalker enemies, the fourth one may or may not have been seen. He looks similar to a boss we have seen in PAX footage...

EvilWithin_5.png


But they also look different and are missing some details from each other, and have differently shaped bodies. Their profiles might reveal more, but some think the enemy may be related to an early leaked rumor from Evil Within that came from 4Chan before Evil Within was fully revealed...

(rumor could very well be fake, but might be related)

Saw this while browsing 4chan randomly but seem,s legit enough.(This is from October 2012),not sure if i post it here.
I don't think he is lying because he stated The Evil Within and the new Wolfenstein were being developed before Bethesda announced them

http://archive.foolz.us/v/thread/159385073/#159391727

Didn't saw a lot, but I'll try to say again some things: won't be out before 2014 or 2015, heavily modified IdTech5 (I don't think iD helped them for that), open world structure (towns, vehicles, etc).
Ambiance is a mix between Castlevania and Resident Evil 4. Thought there was a bit of Steampunk in some designs.
core gameplay is ala RE4 (controls, things like that).
(POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING)
Story is something between Lovecraft (lots of psychological horror, things you can't see etc) and horror mangas ala Junji Ito (hero is infected by one of the zombies/aliens things and has to deal with it, as he's losing his humanity).
The only enemy having an IA (apart from the usual zombies with tentacles coming from their head) was amazing: sort of giant octopus turning invisible and making the presentation particularly scary and/or putting lots of stress over the player (like in RE4 or Dead Space).

That could be a giant octopus, and in a recent interview (which you can see in this interview about 9:49 in) as an enemy example they give point to an enemy that can turn invisible. All the above was revealed before Evil Within was revealed, I should mention, could be false, but this fourth monster may or may not be related to this.

Only other thing I can tell from not translating it is that it announces an official soundtrack, which will both have a physical version in Japan, and be released as DLC.

Anyone who can translate some of this would be appreciated.

---

On a related and unrelated note, Bethesda are also holding a reverse boxart contest, for art to be on the opposite side of the box art which you can flip over. 10 people who vote will also randomly be selected to win a signed copy (by Mikami) of Evil Within.

Contest is here: http://www.bethblog.com/2014/07/30/the-evil-within-your-game-case-you-decide/

Here are the three possible flipped boxart options:

 

Nasser

Member
I'm a huge fan of RE but i'm really not digging the character design in this game at all. too generic, especially the girl!
 

i-Lo

Member
After watching the playthrough demo by pewdiepie, I sincerely hope they fix the frame rate.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
I'm a huge fan of RE but i'm really not digging the character design in this game at all. too generic, especially the girl!

They look like B-horror characters to me, which I think is the point. I kind of preferred glasses being the main character though (there was a misconception from early screens that Joseph was Sebastian and I thought the idea of him being the main star was interesting, but he's a sidekick it turned out and not Sebastian).

After watching the playthrough demo by pewdiepie, I sincerely hope they fix the frame rate.

Frame Rate was confirmed to be a video recording problem he ran into after he had already recorded the demo. This said, the game is already playable from start to finish right now according to people working at Tango, and the game was delayed a couple months (from August to October) to add extra polish, so likely things will be worked out regardless.

>I'm going PC version so frame rate will likely not be an issue. I expect it might be on 360/PS3, though.
 
The Sebastian character looks like a mash up of Forrest Griffin and Josh Brolin. Still holding out a lot of hope for this game.
 

Navid

Member
Those alternate covers look lovely, especially the first one followed by number two... thrid one looks a bit too plain.
 

i-Lo

Member
Frame Rate was confirmed to be a video recording problem he ran into after he had already recorded the demo. This said, the game is already playable from start to finish right now according to people working at Tango, and the game was delayed a couple months (from August to October) to add extra polish, so likely things will be worked out regardless.

>I'm going PC version so frame rate will likely not be an issue. I expect it might be on 360/PS3, though.

Is it not on PS4/bone and is that reason the game looks like.... you know... poor?
 

Gurish

Member
I liked what I've seen from the game gameplay wise, but it don't like its concept and lore at all, all that supernatural stuff, zombies, ghost etc, doesn't seem cohesive enough and too much nonsensical, i like my horror simple and to the point, make you enjoy the plot much more.

That's why RE123 in terms of plot and atmosphere> RE456

I don't think the concept of TEW is good at all.
 

Breakage

Member
I still feel that this game relies far too much on increasingly grotesque enemies and jump scares in order to unsettle the player. Unfortunately, it just ends up looking predictable and silly.
The game would be a lot more scarier if everything wasn't so obvious.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
I still feel that this game relies far too much on increasingly grotesque enemies and jump scares in order to unsettle the player. Unfortunately, it just ends up looking predictable and silly.
The game would be a lot more scarier if everything wasn't so obvious.

Grotesque is definitely one thing the game goes for. Bu obvious I didn't quite catch what you mean though. The response I want to give is mentioning the game has a lot of randomization elements, there's a random element of where enemies are, what the enemies are, where items are, and random chances for invincible enemy stalkers to appear, among other randomized elements when playing, but I feel that isn't related to what you mean by obvious.
 

Breakage

Member
Grotesque is definitely one thing the game goes for. Bu obvious I didn't quite catch what you mean though. The response I want to give is mentioning the game has a lot of randomization elements, there's a random element of where enemies are, what the enemies are, where items are, and random chances for invincible enemy stalkers to appear, among other randomized elements when playing, but I feel that isn't related to what you mean by obvious.

What I mean is that the horror elements are so overt. The dirty environments, hanging bodies, operating tables and blood on the walls/floor. It's all so obvious that something isn't right. There isn't anything mysterious about it at all. The game is immediately telling you that things are not normal. It doesn't allow the player's mind to wonder as it's always pushing the horror into your face.
I feel it will just desensitize the player much earlier than usual.
I think horror works best when it is subtle and mysterious.
 
I hope this game has some killer boss battles and not just unkillable stalkers.

I'm getting really hyped for this game now, though.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
What I mean is that the horror elements are so overt. The dirty environments, hanging bodies, operating tables and blood on the walls/floor. It's all so obvious that something isn't right. There isn't anything mysterious about it at all. The game is immediately telling you that things are not normal. It doesn't allow the player's mind to wonder as it's always pushing the horror into your face.
I feel it will just desensitize the player much earlier than usual.
I think horror works best when it is subtle and mysterious.

I get what you're saying, but also Mikami in his games usually takes a lot of inspiration from movies and this doesn't seem like the sort of horror games he makes. Resident Evil REmake, Dino Crisis, Resident Evil 4, etc., all get to the point very quickly.

I hope this game has some killed boss battles and not just unkillablel stalkers.

I'm getting really hyped for this game now, though.

We know of at least one boss you fight and kill, but they've been very hush hush on such. I would bet yes, though.

I hope Julie Kidman is a playable character (for a short period).

Her and Joseph we knowwill appear in death traps at some point in the game from trailers, but no word if you will or won't be able too, or maybe can in some extra mode, or anything like that.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
A double post, but a new interview with Mikami that contains a few new details of the game just recently went live this morning:

http://mobile.pcauthority.com.au/Article.aspx?CIID=390575&type=Feature

Keypoints:
-He wants to give gamers a tremendous rush and have moments of both being the hunted and be able to overcome challenges and destroy your enemies.

-Says he was very cautious not to make an action shooter. He thinks one important element is finding the right amount of difficulty. Too easy, and its not a survival-horror game he says.

-Mikami has apparently played Left 4 Dead and Silent Hill, and uses them as examples of a faster-paced game of the genre that feels more action and a slower-paced example of the genre that feels more Adventure. He seems to think survival-horror is in the middle of action and adventure, but a big thing with him is difficulty.

-Names the settings of Shutter Island and Inception to be inspirations for Evil Within.

-Says outside of the weapons we have seen so far, the pistol, crossbow, shotgun and a hatchet; there will also be torches, sniper rifles, and magnums, as well as environmental traps. Says that there will be bigger unlockable guns you can get from completing the game for New Game+.

-Crossbow weapon is special and has many types of ammunition and trap capabilities, such as ice, poison, explosive, fire, and more, and can find supplies to craft ammo with it.

-Says he thinks there are enough puzzles in Evil Within, but clarifies this is not a puzzle game and makes it sound like none of them are overly difficult. He says the puzzles are a bit grotesque though and hopes people look forward to them.

-Talks a bit more about Sebastian's back-story. "Our protagonist is an ordinary detective, no special powers. He has a dark past: he lost his family in an unfortunate accident. But he struggles to make his life right doing good as a detective, despite his drinking habit. With him are his two sidekicks, Joseph, a second generation Japanese detective, and a green female detective who just joined the force, Kidman."

-Talks that for horror he thinks it needs to be challenging and be like a seesaw of sweet and sour, that the player must experience both the highs and lows of success and geared towards and against him. He believes the deeper in you go, the more it should be geared against you, and says the game needs to contentiously throw new situations, monsters, and the like at the player as once things become familiar it's no longer scary. He says the later half of the game is a lot more challenging as he also wants to build and mix on previously introduced elements.
 

Saphirax

Member
A double post, but a new interview with Mikami that contains a few new details of the game just recently went live this morning:

http://mobile.pcauthority.com.au/Article.aspx?CIID=390575&type=Feature

Keypoints:
-He wants to give gamers a tremendous rush and have moments of both being the hunted and be able to overcome challenges and destroy your enemies.

-Says he was very cautious not to make an action shooter. He thinks one important element is finding the right amount of difficulty. Too easy, and its not a survival-horror game he says.

-Mikami has apparently played Left 4 Dead and Silent Hill, and uses them as examples of a faster-paced game of the genre that feels more action and a slower-paced example of the genre that feels more Adventure. He seems to think survival-horror is in the middle of action and adventure, but a big thing with him is difficulty.

-Names the settings of Shutter Island and Inception to be inspirations for Evil Within.

-Says outside of the weapons we have seen so far, the pistol, crossbow, shotgun and a hatchet; there will also be torches, sniper rifles, and magnums, as well as environmental traps. Says that there will be bigger unlockable guns you can get from completing the game for New Game+.

-Crossbow weapon is special and has many types of ammunition and trap capabilities, such as ice, poison, explosive, fire, and more, and can find supplies to craft ammo with it.

-Says he thinks there are enough puzzles in Evil Within, but clarifies this is not a puzzle game and makes it sound like none of them are overly difficult. He says the puzzles are a bit grotesque though and hopes people look forward to them.

-Talks a bit more about Sebastian's back-story. "Our protagonist is an ordinary detective, no special powers. He has a dark past: he lost his family in an unfortunate accident. But he struggles to make his life right doing good as a detective, despite his drinking habit. With him are his two sidekicks, Joseph, a second generation Japanese detective, and a green female detective who just joined the force, Kidman."

-Tals that for horror he thinks it needs to be challenging and be like a seesaw of sweet and sour, that the player must experience both the highs and lows of success and geared towards and against him. He believes the deeper in you go, the more it should be geared against you, and says the game needs to contentiously throw new situations, monsters, and the like at the player as once things become familiar it's no longer scary. He says the later half of the game is a lot more challenging as he also wants to build and mix on previously introduced elements.

I approve of all of this, especially the last bit. So long as the game doesn't get repetitive or too action oriented (and it shouldn't be if this interview is anything to go by) it'll be a nice game in my book.
 
A double post, but a new interview with Mikami that contains a few new details of the game just recently went live this morning:

http://mobile.pcauthority.com.au/Article.aspx?CIID=390575&type=Feature

Keypoints:
-He wants to give gamers a tremendous rush and have moments of both being the hunted and be able to overcome challenges and destroy your enemies.

-Says he was very cautious not to make an action shooter. He thinks one important element is finding the right amount of difficulty. Too easy, and its not a survival-horror game he says.

-Mikami has apparently played Left 4 Dead and Silent Hill, and uses them as examples of a faster-paced game of the genre that feels more action and a slower-paced example of the genre that feels more Adventure. He seems to think survival-horror is in the middle of action and adventure, but a big thing with him is difficulty.

-Names the settings of Shutter Island and Inception to be inspirations for Evil Within.

-Says outside of the weapons we have seen so far, the pistol, crossbow, shotgun and a hatchet; there will also be torches, sniper rifles, and magnums, as well as environmental traps. Says that there will be bigger unlockable guns you can get from completing the game for New Game+.

-Crossbow weapon is special and has many types of ammunition and trap capabilities, such as ice, poison, explosive, fire, and more, and can find supplies to craft ammo with it.

-Says he thinks there are enough puzzles in Evil Within, but clarifies this is not a puzzle game and makes it sound like none of them are overly difficult. He says the puzzles are a bit grotesque though and hopes people look forward to them.

-Talks a bit more about Sebastian's back-story. "Our protagonist is an ordinary detective, no special powers. He has a dark past: he lost his family in an unfortunate accident. But he struggles to make his life right doing good as a detective, despite his drinking habit. With him are his two sidekicks, Joseph, a second generation Japanese detective, and a green female detective who just joined the force, Kidman."

-Tals that for horror he thinks it needs to be challenging and be like a seesaw of sweet and sour, that the player must experience both the highs and lows of success and geared towards and against him. He believes the deeper in you go, the more it should be geared against you, and says the game needs to contentiously throw new situations, monsters, and the like at the player as once things become familiar it's no longer scary. He says the later half of the game is a lot more challenging as he also wants to build and mix on previously introduced elements.

Sounds awesome.
 
A double post, but a new interview with Mikami that contains a few new details of the game just recently went live this morning:

http://mobile.pcauthority.com.au/Article.aspx?CIID=390575&type=Feature

Keypoints:
-He wants to give gamers a tremendous rush and have moments of both being the hunted and be able to overcome challenges and destroy your enemies.

-Says he was very cautious not to make an action shooter. He thinks one important element is finding the right amount of difficulty. Too easy, and its not a survival-horror game he says.

-Mikami has apparently played Left 4 Dead and Silent Hill, and uses them as examples of a faster-paced game of the genre that feels more action and a slower-paced example of the genre that feels more Adventure. He seems to think survival-horror is in the middle of action and adventure, but a big thing with him is difficulty.

-Names the settings of Shutter Island and Inception to be inspirations for Evil Within.

-Says outside of the weapons we have seen so far, the pistol, crossbow, shotgun and a hatchet; there will also be torches, sniper rifles, and magnums, as well as environmental traps. Says that there will be bigger unlockable guns you can get from completing the game for New Game+.

-Crossbow weapon is special and has many types of ammunition and trap capabilities, such as ice, poison, explosive, fire, and more, and can find supplies to craft ammo with it.

-Says he thinks there are enough puzzles in Evil Within, but clarifies this is not a puzzle game and makes it sound like none of them are overly difficult. He says the puzzles are a bit grotesque though and hopes people look forward to them.

-Talks a bit more about Sebastian's back-story. "Our protagonist is an ordinary detective, no special powers. He has a dark past: he lost his family in an unfortunate accident. But he struggles to make his life right doing good as a detective, despite his drinking habit. With him are his two sidekicks, Joseph, a second generation Japanese detective, and a green female detective who just joined the force, Kidman."

-Talks that for horror he thinks it needs to be challenging and be like a seesaw of sweet and sour, that the player must experience both the highs and lows of success and geared towards and against him. He believes the deeper in you go, the more it should be geared against you, and says the game needs to contentiously throw new situations, monsters, and the like at the player as once things become familiar it's no longer scary. He says the later half of the game is a lot more challenging as he also wants to build and mix on previously introduced elements.

Sounds great. I've steered clear of footage for the most part but this makes me even more excited for the game than I already was. I hope it's a meaty experience!
 
-Talks that for horror he thinks it needs to be challenging and be like a seesaw of sweet and sour, that the player must experience both the highs and lows of success and geared towards and against him. He believes the deeper in you go, the more it should be geared against you, and says the game needs to contentiously throw new situations, monsters, and the like at the player as once things become familiar it's no longer scary. He says the later half of the game is a lot more challenging as he also wants to build and mix on previously introduced elements.

This bit is great. It perfectly captures why REmake and RE4 are such great horror experiences. As soon as you think you are comfortable in a setting, the game throws in some enemies, and as soon as you think you are comfortable with those enemies, the game changes those enemies up. They never let you get too complacent, and things like crimson heads in REmake or the opening village onslaught in RE4 with Dr. Salvador play on the players expectations of what 'should' happen in a game. "Oh, I shot the zombie until it fell down and stopped moving. It must be dead", and "Oh, this is the beginning of the game so its going to gradually throw challenges at me and definitely not throw a one-hit kill chainsaw maniac at me if I seek shelter from a horde of enemies" are things that Mikami knows the player will have in their mind, so he just plays around with that. And that is scary.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
This bit is great. It perfectly captures why REmake and RE4 are such great horror experiences. As soon as you think you are comfortable in a setting, the game throws in some enemies, and as soon as you think you are comfortable with those enemies, the game changes those enemies up. They never let you get too complacent, and things like crimson heads in REmake or the opening village onslaught in RE4 with Dr. Salvador play on the players expectations of what 'should' happen in a game. "Oh, I shot the zombie until it fell down and stopped moving. It must be dead", and "Oh, this is the beginning of the game so its going to gradually throw challenges at me and definitely not throw a one-hit kill chainsaw maniac at me if I seek shelter from a horde of enemies" are things that Mikami knows the player will have in their mind, so he just plays around with that. And that is scary.

Yup, my biggest hope for this game is that it has some excellent pacing and design. I think every horror game that Mikami has been a bigger part of (Resident Evil 1, REmake, Dino Crisis, Resident Evil 4) are good examples of horror games with good pacing, design, and imagination. Hopefully Evil Within continues the trend.
 

Neiteio

Member
Speaking of a "seesaw between sweet and sour," that's what my impressions of this game seem to be -- one day I read previews expressing all kinds of concerns about the game, the next day there are more positive impressions and insights from the dev team. I really hope they deliver in the end.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
So some of this has been translated, some interesting points brought up by the translation:

-Sebastian is 35 years old, investigating apparently a series of mysterious disappearances around the city. However, due to some unstated causes, he recently was terminated from his job, and him coming to the case of Evil Within is his own stubbornness and without a place to go.

-Joseph is 33 years old and is an old partner of Sebastian's. He has a calm personality, and keep level-headed in dangerous situations, including the events transpiring in the game.

-Julie is 27 years old, was recently transferred in from the police department. Some speculation (but not confirmation) that she may have been brought on as Sebastian's replacement.

-Sadist (the chainsaw enemy) apparently will appear multiple times throughout the game. He makes a distinctive chainsaw noise.

-This is the weirdest thing of it all. The water-monster thing, Shigyo, is apparently 'Sebastian's real nemesis.' Apparently it's a giant Jellyfish-like thing, can absorb and draw water from its skin. Personal note here, I don't quite know what it means by true nemesis, maybe its a Lovecraftian-like monster? The idea that a giant water monster is some kind of nemesis to Sebastian is a bit weird to me, but guess we'll see.

These points are thanks from the Evil Within forums.
 
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