-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
The Evil Within 2 |OT| "Something not quite right"
- Thread starter SlasherJPC
- Start date
decisions
Member
Truth. TEW is a good game but it has flaws far
too significant to come anywhere close to RE4, which is a perfect game.
The island? The island isn't the game's best area but it doesn't force the player to deviate from the game's core gamelay systems nearly as much as TEW does. It's still very enjoyable for me.
SlasherJPC
Banned
Well being a "long time horror fan" as you quoted, sorry I just don't agree, playing on nightmare has been one hell of a time for me tension and otherwise.
I guess I just don't have a problem with seeing action happen on screen, as long as I still can get involved in said action or otherwise. I agree in having game play taken way for hours at time isn't preferred or for everyone.Even I myself get irritated at times with that, I don't have an issue with most games that like to show crazy stuff in exposition or setup. I actually really enjoy it.
Lord of Ostia
Member
Because the Island is nowhere near as bad as the last sections of TEW, and honestly isn't even bad at all. Maybe not as strong as other parts of the game, but still better than most 3rd person action games. TEW and RE4 aren't even on the same plane in terms of quality.
Sanctuary
Member
But none of the enemies in this game fit that criteria, especially if you've played anything in the last decade or watched any of the dozen popular Japanese horror films. At least the first game tried. It was mostly derivative, but in this game they don't even care.
Other than Chapter 3, there hasn't even been any environments that could be considered creepy really at all. Well, Chapter 9 actually starts to let the freak flag fly, and then it's over a few minutes later...
Did you simply play TEW before any RE? Because that's patently false. It was closer to Dead Space 2 than anything as well. Regardless, the previous game had way better atmosphere than this one. It was in an entirely different league.
TheSpaceBetween
Member
I'm not sure about that, but I'll tell you one thing... I've never been so exhausted, relieved, and emotionally drained by a video game after completing that chapter. And I mean that in the best way possible.
darkslayer101
Member
I am a little dissapointed by EW2 enemy design. Apart from the two headed crawler, and crying gas chick, nothing really stands out. I thought the sharky enemies from the first was rather good.
One regular enemy in TEW2 still gives me more pause than most enemies in RE4. I'm not swimming in resources like I was in RE4, Seb is not some infallible killing machine, and the enemies here sound way creepier and move much more erratically and unpredictably, not to mention that in the more open levels I'm not alway sure where they're coming from while in RE4 the more linear level design makes it clear. All of that adds up to make the enemy encounters a fair bit more tense in TEW2.
Look, RE4 is my second favorite game of all time after Breath of the Wild, but I'm not sure alarm bells need to be sounded every time a survival horror game possibly does something better, lol.
SlasherJPC
Banned
TEW1's final third had tons of great levels and encounters. The city in Ch. 11 is one clever setpiece after another (the swimming section, the mannequin no-shoot warehouse, etc), and then there are great bosses like the final Laura encounter, the parking garage monster, the subway monster, the Keeper meat locker fight and the dual Keepers.
Soul of the Beast
Member
It's like developers nowadays put way too much thought into mechanics that they completely forgot to tighten up the control and the attack & hit reactions of enemies.
There's a reason why Souls games are so well beloved today, because the gameplay is actually well designed, everything from your weapon's attack animation to enemy's walking speed all feel extremely precise and solid, you character never do something you didn't want him to do.
Here's what great games ALWAYS have in common: Every button sends a solid command, and it always happens instantly no matter in what condition.
Turning around and run away in TEW2 is so slow that after stabbing the firebomb zombie in the back you are better off stand still then try to run away, in TEW1 you can turn and run at the same time, every command was solid and responsive, there's no ''realistic'' momentum whatsoever.
MGSV has one of the best modern TPS control I've seen today, it was so precise and responsive it completely blew me away, I never ever once blame my failure on the control. Why are developers copying games like The Last of Us instead of MGSV? I just don't understand...Gameplay wasn't even The Last of Us' strong-suit...
There's a reason why Souls games are so well beloved today, because the gameplay is actually well designed, everything from your weapon's attack animation to enemy's walking speed all feel extremely precise and solid, you character never do something you didn't want him to do.
Here's what great games ALWAYS have in common: Every button sends a solid command, and it always happens instantly no matter in what condition.
Turning around and run away in TEW2 is so slow that after stabbing the firebomb zombie in the back you are better off stand still then try to run away, in TEW1 you can turn and run at the same time, every command was solid and responsive, there's no ''realistic'' momentum whatsoever.
MGSV has one of the best modern TPS control I've seen today, it was so precise and responsive it completely blew me away, I never ever once blame my failure on the control. Why are developers copying games like The Last of Us instead of MGSV? I just don't understand...Gameplay wasn't even The Last of Us' strong-suit...
The enemy design itself was fine, the problem was enemy variety or lack thereof. Animating a bunch of different enemies is crazy expensive though, so I usually don't hold this against games too much. It's almost always a function of budget rather than limited creativity.
Question for people who've beaten the game:
someone mentioned this a while back in the thread, not sure if we ever got an answer - who exactly is the ghost girl? She's linked to Sebastian in some way, and you finally get rid of her in the sequence where Sebastian comes to terms with his guilt. Is she a personification of his guilt or something?
Many games both before and after RE4 have done things better than RE4, especially horror-related things. RE4 isn't particularly scary, only tense.
On the other hand, the things that RE4 does well, it does better than any other game I've played, in some cases by leaps and bounds.
It's just frustrating seeing games like the first Evil Within struggle with things that RE4 executed so flawlessly. To me, it's kind of like how Witcher 3 is the standard for writing in WRPGs now. Inevitably, big-budget WRPGs will be compared to W3 moving forward; and if there are years of WRPGs that fail to capture W3's writing quality, then people will naturally continue to talk about new WRPGs in the shadow of the expectations we have from W3.
RE4 is the same way, except it's been more than a decade now and we still have not gotten a horror-themed action game / survival-horror that even approaches RE4's quality in key areas, let alone actually competes with it.
Ml33tninja
Neo Member
TEW series greatest flaw is that it the combat weakens everything about the game in terms of the world and story. In the first game at the start having guns that need ammo makes sense as the main character doesn't understand he is inside a dreamscape. I wish the series wouldn't take so much from RE4 in terms of combat. A don't really have an idea of what could replace it but am I the only one who sees this as an issue?
Shadowhaxor
Member
That ghost girl is his daughter, his guilt in her form. The reason she "disappeared" was that he stopped blaming himself for her going missing/supposedly dead. When he comes to terms, the guilt had no power over him anymore.
I want a Kidman Evil Within where she goes on X-files like Möbius adventures.
TheSpaceBetween
Member
I want this almost as much as I want a Sully Uncharted game.
Equanimity
Member
The weapon reloads sound so bad.
Neff
Member
Just finished it, really enjoyed it.
Almost all of my issues with the early game are negated by the game's final act. The last third is spectacular, with a killer last boss and finale. The moment where
, is one of gaming's greatest FUCK YEAH moments ever, I lost my shit.
TEW2 might not necessarily be the sequel I wanted, at least structurally, but all the pieces of a very competent sequel are in there somewhere nonetheless. It's a game I intend to replay immediately and will possibly enjoy more with foreknowledge. There were probably a bunch of radio broadcasts I missed too. Good shit.
Do I want a TEW3? Hell fucking yes I do.
sucks though.
Almost all of my issues with the early game are negated by the game's final act. The last third is spectacular, with a killer last boss and finale. The moment where
a mutinous Kid goes for her gun, with the game switching over to your control
TEW2 might not necessarily be the sequel I wanted, at least structurally, but all the pieces of a very competent sequel are in there somewhere nonetheless. It's a game I intend to replay immediately and will possibly enjoy more with foreknowledge. There were probably a bunch of radio broadcasts I missed too. Good shit.
Do I want a TEW3? Hell fucking yes I do.
No Magnum except as an unlockable
eXistor
Member
At chapter 6 now. Fun game, but man, this definitely is a different game from TEW1. I can see people preferring 2 over 1, but for me it's the opposite. What I loved about 1 was its diverse locales and the raw creativity of it all; it felt fresh and it was awesome. Flawed and rough, but awesome; you never knew what to expect.
Here I'm traipsing around somewhat bland and predictable places. I'm definitely having fun and I do recommend the game, but I can't help but feel disappointed in the lack of variety in display so far, it just doesn't scratch that itch. It doesn't stop me from enjoying the hell out of it though. For anyone on the fence: just play on Nightmare, it's not that hard and it adds some tension I'm sure the easier settings lack.
Here I'm traipsing around somewhat bland and predictable places. I'm definitely having fun and I do recommend the game, but I can't help but feel disappointed in the lack of variety in display so far, it just doesn't scratch that itch. It doesn't stop me from enjoying the hell out of it though. For anyone on the fence: just play on Nightmare, it's not that hard and it adds some tension I'm sure the easier settings lack.
Chaos2Frozen
Member
No, the issue is not that they're taking the RE4 combat- it's that they're taking the RE4 combat and intentionally making a weaker version of it to make combat more dangerous to discourage fighting.
In my opinion this is the wrong way to go about it. They should take the RE4 combat, supersize it to RE6 combat, and make more dangerous enemies to match the more powerful characters.
JigglesBunny
Banned
Wait, its just now picking up around Chapter
Finally beginning to feel like The Evil Within again if that makes any sense.
10.
I actually like that TEW2 isn't as soul-crushingly bleak as TEW1. The world of TEW1 was such a miserable hellscape that it was almost too much. It worked well for what it is, but I'm not sure I could've handled that again (although going from that to Mario Odyssey in a couple weeks would've been a fun contrast, lol).
I agree with you.
grandwizard
Member
So I stopped my progress and started over on Nightmare and am liking it even more than before. The difficulty selector tip was right in that Nightmare is more made for fans of the first game and the challenge seems right in line with it. Fights are intense and you barely scrape by, resources are scarce (some places from the normal difficulty that definitely had good items are no longer there) and overall it just rachets the tension up to what I want out of a game like this. I can see why they made the default difficulty less punishing than TEW1 because I know a lot of people had issues with it and how tough it was. It's good they put this in here for people who really liked how the first was balanced though.
Yeah, Nightmare difficulty is perfect for this game.
Chaos2Frozen
Member
Lol seriously? I didn't know that.
I've upgraded all of my stealth abilities without using a red gel.
I've put two into health and Stamina each to get me to 150% for both. One into health recovery for the lolz.
Combat I've only put all into steady aim, was thinking about firing stance but not sure how much improvement it'll be. So you recommend saving up for slow mo instead?
Did you find "Firing Stance", the lessen weapon kickback passive, to have a noticeable improvement?
robotzombie
Member
Any reason not to immediately use the locker keys when you get the chance?
Nope, just use the keys right away. Also, don't worry about which locker you pick, there's no way to guess what's inside.
JigglesBunny
Banned
Not that I know of. Just burn through them and collect your rewards.
Other than the strange satisfaction you get from opening like five lockers at once, no there isn't any reason to wait.
The consensus seems to be that the game has a first half and a second half that are different tonally and in terms of quality. I'm not sure about that though, if you ask me the game has a first third that is very good and tense, a middle third that is underwhelming, and then a final third that is more horror-themed and also good. So there's a slump midway through that it ultimately recovers from. But the worst parts are at the beginning of the second half.
robotzombie
Member
Perfect, thanks guys
I recommend using the keys as soon as you get them. The rewards are random, so you can reload if you don't like what you get. The first time you open a locker, it always contains gunpowder, I think
Hostile_18
Banned
8 hours 53 minutes and just finished chapter 3!
Jimmyfenix
Member
i have played 7 hours or so but my initial impressions are it's a really great game compared to the original since i hated so much about the first game but in general it is just a good game for me.
i am actually having fun so i can't really complain that much something which i didn't feel at all with the first game
i am actually having fun so i can't really complain that much something which i didn't feel at all with the first game
I'm a bit disappointed that Anson Mount didn't voice Sebastian...suited the character better imo
-MD-
Member
That's like the biggest upgrade they made to the game though.
I don't even know who that guy is but I liked him better than the new guy.
TEW3 hopes and spoilers:
Screw DLC, how cool would it be for Joseph to be the main character of TEW3? Have him go after Ruvik or another branch of Mobius.
Man, TEW series could actually have a different protagonist with each game.
Like TEW2 should've been someone totally new dealing with the STEM since it's all mind games anyways.
TEW could set itself up to be a very diverse series with diverse characters. At least here in TEW2 we have diverse characters.
I'm on Chapter 10. Honestly, I just wish this game was better. It has very high production values, I'm often surprised at how good it looks on a technical level, and for that I commend Bethesda for funding a game like this in this day and age.
But why is the aiming so fucking garbage jesuschrist. Handguns are complete shit because of that.
The atmosphere and art design in TEW1 is definitely on another level.
But why is the aiming so fucking garbage jesuschrist. Handguns are complete shit because of that.
The art direction was good but not great imo, sometimes it just looked too clean, sometimes it looked alright. Not saying it's bad, but TEW1's art direction is on a whole different level, despite the ''bad'' dated graphics.
I mean come on, who seriously think TEW2 had art direction and atmosphere THIS good?
these are all just PS4 footage by the way, you don't really need high end PC graphics when the art is this good. Bloodborne is the perfect example.
but still, TEW2 art direction is definitely not bad at all. I agree with you.
The atmosphere and art design in TEW1 is definitely on another level.
I'm a little puzzled by the writing in this.
Again, i'm still only in chapter 3 doing side stuff, but Seb constantly asks himself dumb as shit questions, that made sense in TEW1, but not now.
Stuff like "What the hell is going on? Is this a dream?" every time you shift into another "dimension"... are you taking the piss, man? Did they wipe your memory after the first game? You're aware you're jacked in the Matrix, right?
Same when he talks to
, he asks shit like "What the hell are those things [zombies]?!" Erm... you almost were one, remember? Remember TEW1, Sebastian?
I get that they need to set it up so that even people that never played 1 can have their exposition, but i'm sure there are better ways.
Did that today, i chuckled
Again, i'm still only in chapter 3 doing side stuff, but Seb constantly asks himself dumb as shit questions, that made sense in TEW1, but not now.
Stuff like "What the hell is going on? Is this a dream?" every time you shift into another "dimension"... are you taking the piss, man? Did they wipe your memory after the first game? You're aware you're jacked in the Matrix, right?
Same when he talks to
survivors
I get that they need to set it up so that even people that never played 1 can have their exposition, but i'm sure there are better ways.
Did that today, i chuckled
when i saw the black bars, even though i played the first game without them.
audio_delay
Neo Member
Anyone else tried/managed to save residents from union town?
I managed to save one unnamed character, so now I'm wondering if there are more that can be rescued and if it changes anything during a play-through.
I managed to save one unnamed character, so now I'm wondering if there are more that can be rescued and if it changes anything during a play-through.
Yes, they have the nightmare modifiers. At least that's what I read, and it seems that way based on what I tested in-game too.
If I went through classic mode (probably won't, sounds too tedious if you get killed), I'd prob save at the following points:
1. First save point in O'Neil's safehouse.
2. Right before the Town Hall and circular saw lady boss fight.
3. At the beginning of Chapter 7 (second open-world section).
4. At the end of Chapter 9 (in anticipation of the cabin fight in Chapter 10).
5. Right before the O'Neil boss fight.
6. Right before the "carry the force field through the fire" section, which I think will be the hardest sequence in the game by far on Classic. Too much mandatory combat, same with the cabin fight earlier. That's why I'd plop a save right before both of them.
7. At the beginning of Chapter 15 (immediately after the Theodore fight).
Under this framework, the hardest section will be going from save 6 to save 7. You have to clear the force field fire-walking sequence, the ascent up to Theodore, and the Theodore boss rush all in one go.
2. Right before the Town Hall and circular saw lady boss fight.
3. At the beginning of Chapter 7 (second open-world section).
4. At the end of Chapter 9 (in anticipation of the cabin fight in Chapter 10).
5. Right before the O'Neil boss fight.
6. Right before the "carry the force field through the fire" section, which I think will be the hardest sequence in the game by far on Classic. Too much mandatory combat, same with the cabin fight earlier. That's why I'd plop a save right before both of them.
7. At the beginning of Chapter 15 (immediately after the Theodore fight).
Under this framework, the hardest section will be going from save 6 to save 7. You have to clear the force field fire-walking sequence, the ascent up to Theodore, and the Theodore boss rush all in one go.
It's doable, but I don't have the time. 10 saves would've been better, 7 is ridiculous and draconian as hell.
Thanks, was wondering about that.
d00d3n
Member
Five hours in here, still crawling between single enemy kills and save scumming trips in the lower part of the open world map. Playing with keyboard + mouse controls, I have no reason to play this cowardly, but I really don't want to waste my precious pistol ammo on unnecessary shots!
Just wrapped this up, and really enjoyed myself. I'm not a hardcore fan of the series by any stretch, but I'd easily recommend this to a friend. Plenty of callbacks and reminders of survival horror games of old, with some really fantastic / open level design. Combat is a bit wonky, but it's a solid game. Well done, Tango!