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The Evil Within 2 is the best survival horror game since Silent Hill 2
- Thread starter BadWolf
- Start date
Autoignition
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The fact that anyone -- literally anyone -- can say that TEW2's story was "great" makes me fall into a really dark pit of despair from which I'm not certain there's an exit.
I need a cigarette.
I need a cigarette.
MiamiWesker
Member
Im up to ch.13 now, the game is fun but it's seems clear that this is a downgrade from the first game. This enemy AI is downright garbage and you can basically bus's the stealth mechanics to basically break the combat. Options in combat is good but once the mystery and fear on how to combat enemies disappears because it's so easy to manipulate the system all encounters start to take a hit. It's not helping that enemy variety is poor in this game.
I am liking the changing setpieces and bosses, the game is really good. But there are some big issues. Oh and the story is bad. These cutscenes in ch.12 have some of the worst writing and logic I have ever seen.
I am liking the changing setpieces and bosses, the game is really good. But there are some big issues. Oh and the story is bad. These cutscenes in ch.12 have some of the worst writing and logic I have ever seen.
Broham, its not that deep. It sure isnt Silent Hill 2 but it doesn't need to be. It gets the job done quite well.
You mean the guy from Deus ex that just uses his normal voice
Lemme get my MGSV menu walkie talkie thingy to track down audiologs. Seems like fun
Autoignition
Member
No, it doesn't.
The dialogue is simplistic and wooden and repetitive, and it feels like the writers (and by proxy the characters) are talking to the audience as if theyre stupid. Everything is told and not shown, and its told an upwards of 3-5 times just because the writers were afraid of people missing things.
All of the relationships were shallow and built on superficial traits without giving the audience any insight as to what makes them relatable and compelling (repeating the words I love you over and over again is not a relationship; it feels very artificial and very forced and says nothing about an actual interpersonal connection between two characters).
The game is heavily sexist in its portrayal of female characters; almost all of them are treated entirely as props, and
three of them get fridged just for the sake of building Sebastians character.
Theres no personal connection to any of the villains the way that we got with Ruvik; were meant to just hate them because theyre villains and they never go any deeper.
All of the characters are very shallow and one-dimensional and all revolve around their job descriptions. Every line of dialogue, every conversation they have with Sebastian centers around their occupation in some way, or at the very least immediately ties back to it. Their relationships with him ultimately amount to nothing in the grander scope of the narrative.
The big bad global evil shadow company that ruined so many characters lives gets taken out in a single cutscene, completely out of the players control,
There's a really bad clash between the personal storyline of Sebastian and the technical storyline of Mobius and STEM. Sebastian as a character does a terrible job of bridging the gap between them, and everything on the Mobius/STEM side of things feels like fluff and filler and a waste of time.
And this is hardly an exhaustive list. This game's story is bad. It is a bad story. It's bad. It's not good. I'm repeating myself to mimic the dialogue in TEW2 so that you understand it.
??????
I'm talking about the Main Story, not the extra stuff. I've been throughly enjoying Sebastian's growth in this one. From completely pissed to distraught to self assured, even though it isnt novel at all, its been a surprisingly entertaining ride. Its not like MGSV where all of the important bits were in the tapes or randomly triggered cutscenes.
Even when you break it down like that, it still doesnt seem that bad. I've experienced far worse actually. When I said that it does what it needs to do quite well, I wasnt nessarily saying the story is all that good. It gives drive and direction, which is better than what the first game had (save Ruvik). When I was playing TEW1 I didnt actually care too much about the story in of itself, I played it to experience the trippiness and the great art design. I went into this game expecting to not really care too much about the characters at all, and it pleasantly surpised me.
I guess you expected more out of this one's story than I did, because it met my low expectations pretty well.
I had the hunch that the your spoiler would happen. from chap 7. And on, There was almost no development on that front at all in game.
Ah yeah I'm focusing on the main story too but I still don't like the whole communicator thing
Autoignition
Member
I don't like to engage in whataboutisms, though. Just because other games have had worse stories doesn't mean that this story is automatically good by default or comparison. It will always be bad just because of the sheer fact that it was written poorly. I mostly left out comparisons to the first game on purpose, because even if TEW1 did not exist, even if TEW2 was the first game in the series or was even a standalone title, TEW2's story would still be bad.
And I'm not hard to please. I've been a Resident Evil fan for 20 years. You really have to try to make your story shitty enough that even I turn up my nose at it.
Nope. It's a great survival horror game, but not even better than the first one.
Actually if i had to compare from this year's games alone, RE7 is a better game.
Some points:
Combat is better than that of the first game, but the game's over reliance to stealth restrains your options and becomes repetitive.
Sandbox is cool and pretty small so you can navigate effortlessly, but the nature of the sandbox itself is not fit for this kind of game, for me at least. As good as it was, i wanted to go back to linear chapters.
Pacing is fine, goes from action to exploration and back, but the exploration parts were often devoid of anything interesting.
Misses the weirdness of the first game. Everything feels too grounded in comparison. There were enemies, encounters and situations in the first that were never topped in TEW2. Enemies in TEW2 almost feel generic.
Bosses are completely uninteresting. I don't even have to play the Mikami card. John already had 2 much better bosses in the Kidman DLC. There is no excuse.
Especially the mid-game boss fight was pure nonsense and it actually had much potential.
Misses the tactical option of self-made and environmental traps that made the first one so interesting and horrifying. TEW's world was a rigged playground. This one is just an encounter filled space.
Small town American setting is great for a horror game, but I'd choose TEW's setting over the second game's every time.
Story is nothing really. I've been a RE fan since the beginning, so i'm not really bothered with story, but let's not pretend it was anything special. In the contrary, i'd say that the genre is better with Mikami's story through items, environment and files, over NPC's in your face all the time explaining everything.
I found myself wondering what's the point of looking for files, if the next NPC will just tell you everything anyway.
TEW2 is a great survival horror game, with many interesting situations. The gunplay is much fun, with great feedback and excellently animated. Sound direction, as in the first one is great. The pacing is good, giving you moments of tension, followed by calm, and then throws you back in the thick of it again. It's weird, it's nasty, i'm happy it exists, but the best game in genre it is not. Not even this year's. I hope Tango reads feedback, and if Beth is crazy enough to greenlight another one, they'll make a game worthy of the first one next time.
Actually if i had to compare from this year's games alone, RE7 is a better game.
Some points:
Combat is better than that of the first game, but the game's over reliance to stealth restrains your options and becomes repetitive.
Sandbox is cool and pretty small so you can navigate effortlessly, but the nature of the sandbox itself is not fit for this kind of game, for me at least. As good as it was, i wanted to go back to linear chapters.
Pacing is fine, goes from action to exploration and back, but the exploration parts were often devoid of anything interesting.
Misses the weirdness of the first game. Everything feels too grounded in comparison. There were enemies, encounters and situations in the first that were never topped in TEW2. Enemies in TEW2 almost feel generic.
Bosses are completely uninteresting. I don't even have to play the Mikami card. John already had 2 much better bosses in the Kidman DLC. There is no excuse.
Especially the mid-game boss fight was pure nonsense and it actually had much potential.
Misses the tactical option of self-made and environmental traps that made the first one so interesting and horrifying. TEW's world was a rigged playground. This one is just an encounter filled space.
Small town American setting is great for a horror game, but I'd choose TEW's setting over the second game's every time.
Story is nothing really. I've been a RE fan since the beginning, so i'm not really bothered with story, but let's not pretend it was anything special. In the contrary, i'd say that the genre is better with Mikami's story through items, environment and files, over NPC's in your face all the time explaining everything.
I found myself wondering what's the point of looking for files, if the next NPC will just tell you everything anyway.
TEW2 is a great survival horror game, with many interesting situations. The gunplay is much fun, with great feedback and excellently animated. Sound direction, as in the first one is great. The pacing is good, giving you moments of tension, followed by calm, and then throws you back in the thick of it again. It's weird, it's nasty, i'm happy it exists, but the best game in genre it is not. Not even this year's. I hope Tango reads feedback, and if Beth is crazy enough to greenlight another one, they'll make a game worthy of the first one next time.
me0wish
Member
That almost sounds like RE7, but I assure you that it is TEW 2. My brain can't process it, I'm still waiting for The Evil Within 2.
I didn't really see it as sexist, except for
somewhat, who does the "corrupted woman" trope.
All of the supporting women are more helpful than the supporting men, who take the easy way out and are essentially self-serving -- from O'Neil to
and the antagonists. The women are all presented as self-sufficient, except
-- but, more on that later. They do serve as Sebastian's stepping stones, but I don't think it was intended to portray them as such -- they just needed an excuse to have Seb
Kill off the sympathetic, or best, characters: it's horror. In the end, Seb ended up being a stepping stone for
, who ended up being an equal hero of sorts although the relation was symbiotic and her angle was one of deceit and subtleness, as well as victimhood. The description fits
, to a lesser degree. Neither character had male support when it mattered. Seb is the muscle and the weakened heart of the story, and only achieves what he does because of the strong portrayals of the women. Each woman had a corresponding male presence in the story, and each woman performed equal or better than their counterpart. I think there was definitely something psychosexual about the story, considering all of the female roles, Stephano's art and creatures, and the presence of Anima; but, that's something I'd need a little help with. I'm not familiar with Jung. Apparently the game's script was written by Tony Haaga, but the story itself was written in Japanese. And I don't know if the script was written in English first -- it could just be localization.
Maybe a defter hand could have been more aware of the sexist implications and circumvented them, but in the end, the whole story could have used a lot of polish. I enjoyed it though. The best b-movie horror I've seen all year. Like I said in the OT, it really shoots for the moon and tries some high concept stuff.
Although I wouldn't blame you if you just chose to take the finished product's flaws at face value. It's just that in the nature of being a game itself, both men and women will be playing as Sebastian; and, to be honest he has a very neutered male presence due to his lack of autonomy. Not to say that he's female, but he's somewhat gender neutral due to the circumstances. His entire goal is to save, rather than "protect," his daughter, which is fairly gender-neutral; however, it is also the goal of every single female -- even the most emotionally distant. Is that intentional? All of the males objectify Lilly -- even
can only be passively sympathetic through his own self-concern. Every single one. Food for thought! Although the finale to the
arc makes me wonder what the game makers wanted to say about it.
Myra
All of the supporting women are more helpful than the supporting men, who take the easy way out and are essentially self-serving -- from O'Neil to
Sykes
Kidman, who is very much in a similar boat as Seb
alone, tie up loose ends, and have his "team" out of the way.
Kidman
Myra's
Maybe a defter hand could have been more aware of the sexist implications and circumvented them, but in the end, the whole story could have used a lot of polish. I enjoyed it though. The best b-movie horror I've seen all year. Like I said in the OT, it really shoots for the moon and tries some high concept stuff.
Although I wouldn't blame you if you just chose to take the finished product's flaws at face value. It's just that in the nature of being a game itself, both men and women will be playing as Sebastian; and, to be honest he has a very neutered male presence due to his lack of autonomy. Not to say that he's female, but he's somewhat gender neutral due to the circumstances. His entire goal is to save, rather than "protect," his daughter, which is fairly gender-neutral; however, it is also the goal of every single female -- even the most emotionally distant. Is that intentional? All of the males objectify Lilly -- even
Sykes
Anima
Punished_Snake
Member
Played 6 hours straight yesterday, the game is great. Skill tree, crafting, atmosphere are the best in the survival/ horror genre.
Edit: I'm playing on nightmare difficulty, the game is rewarding and intense.
Edit: I'm playing on nightmare difficulty, the game is rewarding and intense.
Followed this closely during launch week, sometimes close to thinking of getting it. (lol)
Having let things settle, the open world part is just there, you don't really know why, you see glimpse of what could have been when there are gas on the floor waiting to be ignited and then there's not much more.
It made the crafted part of the 1 takes a dive too, not like there were great, it was re4 dejavu with worse moves and abusable mechanics with matches and bolt. But here the lesser complexity shows and it even dare to do the cabin battle, again, and in one of its saddest attempt.
So unexploited potential, a wasted serie overall.
Having let things settle, the open world part is just there, you don't really know why, you see glimpse of what could have been when there are gas on the floor waiting to be ignited and then there's not much more.
It made the crafted part of the 1 takes a dive too, not like there were great, it was re4 dejavu with worse moves and abusable mechanics with matches and bolt. But here the lesser complexity shows and it even dare to do the cabin battle, again, and in one of its saddest attempt.
So unexploited potential, a wasted serie overall.
Sändersson
Member
Relative to resident evil games I would say TEW's story is pretty good.
BanjoLayleeYookaKazooie
Banned
Gr8 b8 m8 i r8 8/8.
But seriously I do like this post, even though I like survival horror games. They are a very samey type of game.
papercan55
Member
Sändersson;252697041 said:
The first evil within yes, it was a great story and actually explained a lot if you listened to all the audio logs and read the files carefully, and then the dlc made the story even better.
The second game, sadly, puts the whole story on a silver plate without much mystery or intrigue, there isn't much to find out for yourself like the first game.
This was sadly due to the backlash about the first games story being hard to understand for a lot of people because it wasn't in your face.
Peroroncino
Member
Sändersson;252697041 said:
Relative to any of the RE game it's a fuckin' masterpiece, and I'm a diehard fan of RE.
Nah, story in first was a mess, it most definitely wasn't great [good at best] and I appreciate the more straightforward approach of the second one. Call me lazy but I like having story served to me on a silver platter with side colletibles expanding it instead of filling the gaps necessary to even comprehend it like it was done in TEW1. I liked TEW1 enough to go out of my way for that story, but I still prefer a plot to be as clear as possible without needing collectible items.
old manatee
Banned
Terareflection
Member
I'd agree with OP if we were talking about TEW1. I really do think it's just below RE4.
TEW2 is just ok to me. Played all the way to the end, but I wouldn't touch it again.
I wished I liked Dead Space as much as everyone here. I thought it was boring. 2 actually looks pretty rad to me though.
TEW2 is just ok to me. Played all the way to the end, but I wouldn't touch it again.
I wished I liked Dead Space as much as everyone here. I thought it was boring. 2 actually looks pretty rad to me though.
HassanJamal
Member
I would say one of the best instead.
Also, man, I must be nuts cause I feel alot of the things, aside from movement and melee, is better than the first one. Exploration and reward finding is just downright addicting in TEW2, stealth works well enough, good pacing and placement of finding weapons(I still remembering getting the cross bow and shotgun so quickly in the first one SMH). The atmosphere plus lighting has also been a lot memorable to me compared to the first one. Although, Im only around 16hours in at chapter 6 so my opinions might change by the end.
One thing I can at least say for sure that TEW2 is better than the the first one, no black bars. It always felt so squeezed up with those black bars in the way.
Also, man, I must be nuts cause I feel alot of the things, aside from movement and melee, is better than the first one. Exploration and reward finding is just downright addicting in TEW2, stealth works well enough, good pacing and placement of finding weapons(I still remembering getting the cross bow and shotgun so quickly in the first one SMH). The atmosphere plus lighting has also been a lot memorable to me compared to the first one. Although, Im only around 16hours in at chapter 6 so my opinions might change by the end.
One thing I can at least say for sure that TEW2 is better than the the first one, no black bars. It always felt so squeezed up with those black bars in the way.
Messofanego
Banned
Didn't know it was possible to make a game worse than the first Evil Within. Damn. Anyone got a video essay about the criticisms?
Autoignition
Member
I highlighted the 45 minute rant that I went on after I finished streaming the game, if that works?
GinoFelino
Member
The fuck is up with all these pretentious, hyperbolic folks ITT who can't handle differing opinions
Someone really likes TEW2, so what
Someone really likes TEW2, so what
me0wish
Member
Exactly my thoughts, DS1 bore me to sleep.
You can play it in 21:9 on PC.
I'm playing or I was playing it on my new project channel and even if people liked what they see at first, in the third stream we were criticizing the game along the way.
To put some example:
Enemy sees me, goes right into me, stops screams to attract others to my position then grabs me.
In all this cycle, you are given many moments to avoid combat or go stealth.
Sounds great right?
The game is that but with open world.
So you are pretty much crouching and running or sneak kill all your way to an area then you are sent to another with easily just one or two side things interesting enough to do.
Is not only a bad horror game but also a very bad open world game.
I'm not sure how I'd even get hold of the PC version though
The thing Dead Space did so brilliantly was all the ambient sound and lighting tricks that fucked with your head, making you constantly say things like "oh fuck, do i really have to go around that corner towards that noise and what the fucking hell is casting that shadow"
Also, a million ways to get decapitated.
Also, a million ways to get decapitated.
Neff
Member
I agree with pretty much all of this. Still a great game despite some commendably risky choices which don't quite pay off.
Yeah. I'm loving the game so far (chapter 6 on nightmare at the moment), but this is "master of unlocking" camp level here. I laugh every time Sebastian literally speaks his brain farts out loud in the strangest of situations.
Fancy Clown
Member
Its the best survival horror game since the first Evil Within (or Bloodborne, if that counts), anyway. And I dont mean that in a negative way, since both games are excellent. Im only around halfway done I assume and while its not quite as good as the first game its still a top tier horror game.
Astral Dog
Member
I will play MGSV and then Amnesia before this one to compare 
NathanDiego
Member
Never played Silent Hill 2,I know,kinda crazy,but my favorite horror of all time (excluding Resident Evil 4) is Fatal Frame 2 Crimson Butterfly and since I have played nothing has come close
I cant talk lore for hours upon hours with TEW, but I could with RE, even after only two games. I just found it more interesting, which I realize is subjective, but most people would probably feel the same way based on what Ive seen.Sändersson;252697041 said:
RE4 onward, Id give it to TEW though, and by a landslide. They really should have just rebooted it rather than drag things out further...
Silent Hill is where my views really diverge. I disliked the personal struggle themed ones from a story perspective and preferred the evil cultist plot line. SH 1 and 3 were my favourite, narratively speaking. The characters and overall feel of 2 still shined bright enough to be amazing though...
Bloodporne
Member
So I made good on my earlier post here and re-purchased TEW1.
I'm enjoying it probably twice as much as my first time with it despite all the jank and technical issues. The Mikami hype and it not being exactly what I expected, and flawed on top of it, seems to have killed it for me initially, but man...this game is a ton of fun right now.
I have to say the weapon feedback and gore is incredibly juicy and hard-hitting and I also have no clue why I seemingly forgot about that. Landing a critical hit with those head explosions that shower you in gore is so outrageous, it makes me laugh in disbelief every time. Also that harpoon, bottle to the face > stealth kill...so many good moves.
So I somehow don't remember this and I've been burning every body but...what happens when you don't torch them? I'm too afraid to find out and make sure to burn everything, I'm OCD like that in games like this.
After typing all this I remember what left a massively sour taste in my mouth to begin with and it's that insanely obnoxious opening. Forced walking instadeath forced stealth, it's like he had a checklist with the most infuriating shit I don't want to play at all. Almost said fuck it I remember why I disliked this game and took it back again during this part haha
I'm enjoying it probably twice as much as my first time with it despite all the jank and technical issues. The Mikami hype and it not being exactly what I expected, and flawed on top of it, seems to have killed it for me initially, but man...this game is a ton of fun right now.
I have to say the weapon feedback and gore is incredibly juicy and hard-hitting and I also have no clue why I seemingly forgot about that. Landing a critical hit with those head explosions that shower you in gore is so outrageous, it makes me laugh in disbelief every time. Also that harpoon, bottle to the face > stealth kill...so many good moves.
So I somehow don't remember this and I've been burning every body but...what happens when you don't torch them? I'm too afraid to find out and make sure to burn everything, I'm OCD like that in games like this.
After typing all this I remember what left a massively sour taste in my mouth to begin with and it's that insanely obnoxious opening. Forced walking instadeath forced stealth, it's like he had a checklist with the most infuriating shit I don't want to play at all. Almost said fuck it I remember why I disliked this game and took it back again during this part haha
D
Deleted member 325805
Unconfirmed Member
I really enjoyed it, a solid 8/10 from me. I put a couple of hours into the first game years ago but dropped it for one reason or another, I'll definitely be revisiting it at some point once the games start to dry up a bit, this month has been insane and Destiny 2 is out in like 3 hours.