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The Evil Within 2 |OT| "Something not quite right"

Erevador

Member
The Evil Within 2 is a AAA release with no dystopian business practices.

No loot boxes, no pay to win, no digital deluxe edition, no overpriced pewter statue edition, no "games as a service" features, no season pass. Pre-order customers get like one special item that's completely unnecessary. That is as bad as it gets.

The game is full of crafting, but the economy of things to be found in the world is carefully thought out to keep you on your toes. You don't go online to spend real world money to upgrade your guns. Nope, everything in the game is simply designed to make sense within the context of the game environment. No "social" features, no psychological "gamification" designed to rob your pocketbook. It's a one way relationship between you and the experience.

It's a well made, full featured single-player game that provides a great ride and asks nothing more of the player than the initial buy in. In twenty years, when the PSNs and Xbox Lives are offline and irrelevant... this particular game from 2017 will still work and still make sense.
 
I have to agree with others that Nightmare difficulty seems perfectly tuned. I am loving my time with this game so far. I was worried that it would be overly reliant on stealth but somehow they have made it work where enemies' observation and patterns makes it almost a guarantee that shit will hit the fan, so you can use stealth to open up the fight and maybe take out a couple guys but you have to be prepared for a fight and to use your resources. I'm finding I'm having to plan out group fights like which one I want to take down first to get an axe and use on another guy an where to use my few harpoons etc; it's exactly what I want from a survival horror.

I also want to tell people to not disregard the melee if you have the 200% damage upgrade. Even without an axe you can do a lot of damage and even head pop guys. If I have put a couple good shots into an enemy and they are close range I usually finish them with a couple melees because a good hit will stagger them and allow for another one. If it's a finishing blow Seb will do a special animation that gives you i-frames as well.
 

Erevador

Member
I have to agree with others that Nightmare difficulty seems perfectly tuned. I am loving my time with this game so far. I was worried that it would be overly reliant on stealth but somehow they have made it work where enemies' observation and patterns makes it almost a guarantee that shit will hit the fan, so you can use stealth to open up the fight and maybe take out a couple guys but you have to be prepared for a fight and to use your resources. I'm finding I'm having to plan out group fights like which one I want to take down first to get an axe and use on another guy an where to use my few harpoons etc; it's exactly what I want from a survival horror.

I also want to tell people to not disregard the melee if you have the 200% damage upgrade. Even without an axe you can do a lot of damage and even head pop guys. If I have put a couple good shots into an enemy and they are close range I usually finish them with a couple melees because a good hit will stagger them and allow for another one. If it's a finishing blow Seb will do a special animation that gives you i-frames as well.
I'm really glad I'm playing on Nightmare.The text description of the difficulties gave me the strong sense that survivor was going to be easy mode, and that nightmare was the difficulty the devs would prefer players with any experience go for. So far I'm really enjoying the balance the game has on nightmare between a sense of empowerment and a sense of great vulnerability. Difficulty feels just right, very tense.

It just feels good.
 
The Marrow is like STEMs version of backstage Disneyland. Tunnels and underground passages that connect to each twisted section or amusement ride. Ha love it.
 

rtcn63

Member
They really should patch the performance issues and then discount both TEW games during the Steam Halloween sale. (Whenever that is)

As disappointed as I am with a lot of the changes, the gameplay itself still sounds competent (if different). I'd treat TEW2 as a sequel to Tomb Raider 2013, since they share a semi-open world with a lot of picking crap up. Rise of the Tomb Raider has garbage challenge (the hardest difficulty is every other third-person shooter's easy difficulty, say what you will about the Uncharted series but at least you can choose to frustrate yourself with hard/crushing).
 

SomTervo

Member
Bugbears:

- The combat is so fiddly, it's such a bummer (unless you're on KBM)
- There's no Walk toggle or option on PC, so you're stuck running (unless you're on gamepad)

The worst is that this means there's no ideal controller scheme. I want to use gamepad for exploration and mouse for combat... which isn't ideal. Combat is actually manageable on mouse.

On the plus side, it's not that expensive to unlock the Kick move and the Better Aiming skills, so I've already got them a couple of hours in.

As disappointed as I am with a lot of the changes, the gameplay itself still sounds competent (if different). I'd treat TEW2 as a sequel to Tomb Raider 2013, since they share a semi-open world with a lot of picking crap up. Rise of the Tomb Raider has garbage challenge (the hardest difficulty is every other third-person shooter's easy difficulty, say what you will about the Uncharted series but at least you can choose to frustrate yourself with hard/crushing).

This analogy is well intentioned but so far off the mark it's pretty comical.

TEW2 is technically only like 20-30% "open world". Maybe 50% at a stretch. Whereas the majority of TR2013 and RotTR are open areas.

TEW2 also has a fraction of the resources of TR2013 etc and far less to collect.
 

rtcn63

Member
This analogy is well intentioned but so far off the mark it's pretty comical.

TEW2 is technically only like 20-30% "open world". Maybe 50% at a stretch. Whereas the majority of TR2013 and RotTR are open areas.

TEW2 also has a fraction of the resources of TR2013 etc and far less to collect.

You're probably right, but to me TEW2 does look closer to TR2013 in design than it does TEW1.

Also, can you the FOV of the original TEW in TEW2? The camera looks so pulled back.
 

SomTervo

Member
You're probably right, but to me TEW2 does look closer to TR2013 in design than it does TEW1.

Oh yeah, if you were to put them on a spectrum TEW2 would definitely be closer to nu-TR, but it's still not that similar.

TEW2 is an interesting game in that it hovers around the middle of the open/linear spectrum. It switches back and forth for long stretches at a time.

But also the open world feels totally different to nu-TR because it's a survival horror game. It's very low key, you spend a lot of time crouching and assessing threats/risks and avoiding conflict and trying to make it to save points/resources. It's bloody great.
 

rtcn63

Member
And I would guess that the story in TEW2, as generic as it is, is better than TR2013. The story and characters were borderline offensive to the senses IIRC. Even Iron Fist Seb seems more tolerable as a whole. (But I may be wrong)
 

Kazuhira

Member
TEW1 is a state of art in many ways, even the backstory of Sebastian feels very subtle and well written, the fact that he had a daughter that also died in a tragic house fire just like the villain's sister was a great touch to me.

Everytime I find a new mirror and hear that music (Claude Debussy's Clair De Lune) I feel a sadness emitting from the game, everything in that game is just sad, even the villain had a painfully tragic back story, there's something beautiful about that sadness, and even without fancy story writing or any major plot the game still captures that beauty very well.

Seriously, it was a beautiful piece of work by Mikami, welldone.

So far i think both games excel at different things and if you ask me which one is the best,i simply cannot answer that.
But one thing for sure is that i vastly prefer TEW1's way of storytelling,i'm one of the vocal minority who didn't find the story convoluted,boring or non-existent.
Initially i wasn't against the idea of making the story more "in your face" but i think they overdid it,wayy too much exposition.
The game has zero mystery in it and that's essential for me,horror games need to be a little mysterious and sometimes even confusing to keep you intrigued,to keep you going and find out the answers.
The first game did that almost perfectly,it gave you the clues and you just needed to start connecting the dots which also raised more questions,it was marvelous! truly like a detective game tbh.
Who are these missing persons and what does it mean? why am i shifting between all these locations? Is seb actually a psycho/patient? is Tatiana going to stab me in the back while i'm trying to save? i was so scared of her at first,my safe hub didn't feel safe at all tbh.
That feeling kinda died after ch10 though,which is where the game took a moderate decline in quality(ch12 is such a big piece of shit imo).
I'm not saying the story in 2 is worse but i just wish it was presented in a different way,
everything after Theodore's introduction surely has made the plot more interesting for me though,the death of Esmeralda and the fight against O'Neal were the highlights of the game so far.
I also don't like the computer/science stuff because i think it clashes terribly with the paranormal aspect of the game,it was expected but i wish it was done in a more subtle way.
 

rtcn63

Member
Even RE7 took shit for not spelling out the story and emotions for people. Like why isn't Ethan screaming every three seconds at the horror surrounding him and constantly asking where his wife is? Goddamned Poochy. And the narrative in that game was a lot more straight forward than TEW1.
 

ValfarHL

Member
Ok, does the voice acting and writing get any better? I'm just at the beginning of chapter 3, and holy moly is it bad. Really detracting from the experience.
 

rtcn63

Member
Ok, does the voice acting and writing get any better? I'm just at the beginning of chapter 3, and holy moly is it bad. Really detracting from the experience.

I've watched some of the later chapters and
no it doesn't and it actually gets noticeably worse as the story escalates
 

SexyFish

Banned
Ok, does the voice acting and writing get any better? I'm just at the beginning of chapter 3, and holy moly is it bad. Really detracting from the experience.

The voice acting is just fucking terrible. I definitely don't remember it being great in the first game but it was definitely better.

Me and my friend would just mock boss battle lines because they were so trash.

Also the game used the line "Let's get down to business" twice and we responded by screaming TO DEFEAT THE HUNS.

Honestly really good to play drunk.
 
Depends on the Resident Evil. The writing is closer to (but not as bad as) RE6. RE4, 5, 7, and REV2 don't take themselves as serious as TEW2, at least not entirely.

I mean, Seb literally threatens to stab the shit out of a painting. To the painting. I wouldn't say it's being THAT serious. Probably about on the same level as RE5 where.

My biggest complaint so far (in Chapter 11) is just the lack of mystery. Everything just feels very....explained so far. Nature of the beast as far as sequels go, I guess, but the stakes don't feel as high and everyone is just so chatty. I really liked that Ruvik was just sort of this menacing presence in the first game; you learned his backstory and motivation as it went on but he himself never really wasted much time taunting Seb (at least, not with words) or posturing. He just did his spooky shit. I really like Stefano but I admit, I liked him a lot more in his first introductory chapters than the later ones when you really start interacting with him. He loses so much threat and intensity when he opens his mouth and won't shut up about THE ART. Haven't seen much of
Theodore
but he basically got introduced and then completely demystified over the course of a single chapter. Kind of a let down.

Also is it just me or does Stefano remind anyone else of Brayko from Alpha Protocol?
 
My biggest complaint so far (in Chapter 11) is just the lack of mystery. Everything just feels very....explained so far.

This is what happens when reviews and players complained about having to read files and piece the story together themselves from the first game.
Dark souls does this and is lavished with praise but when the evil within did similar it got torn to shreds.
The first game had great mystery and most things were explained if you piece everything together, although truthfully the dlc also helped clear some bits up.
I think most players and reviewers want everything explained to them without having to do any work themselves though, and the harsh criticism of the first games story led them to put everything on a silver plate.
 

myco666

Member
Chapter 12 was damn strong artwise but not so fun to navigate through. Super confusing.

Also yeah, this game has way too much exposition. Should cut over half of the dialogue out of the game.
 

Johndoey

Banned
Just finished the game. Liked it well enough, the storytelling is total clownshoes. I'm usually down for a shit self serious horror/Sci-fi plot but this was bizarrely dull considering the things going on in the story. It's not something I'd recommend at full price but 30-40 would be a no brainer.

My main issue is the difficulty is so front loaded that by mid game I was only dying so I could reset an encounter to optimize or when an insta-kill came round.
 
Marrow segments , forced enemy encounters , Dumb ass story and characters are really annoying me now. Still enjoying it way better than the first game but people should hold out until the game is on sale which judging by the commercial reception shouldn't take long
 

rtcn63

Member
I mean, Seb literally threatens to stab the shit out of a painting. To the painting. I wouldn't say it's being THAT serious. Probably about on the same level as RE5 where.

Hey, even RE6 Leon had a few self-aware quips in him. Although the delivery of those in TEW2 is more miss than hit.
 
Realized that on the bigger maps, you can easily run away from absolutely everything including
chainsaw lady
without even sprinting. Bah god, this game's pseudo-open world design is just piss poor, what were they thinking. Now even the last tiny bit of theoretical tension is gone. The few "normal" areas up until chapter 9 couldn't really reach the few good parts of TEW1 either. The latter weren't plenty, but at least remarkable when they appeared. I can't believe that they adressed what I found wrong with the first game, but still made it so bad that I now look more fondly on 1.
 

SomTervo

Member
Realized that on the bigger maps, you can easily run away from absolutely everything including
chainsaw lady
without even sprinting. Bah god, this game's pseudo-open world design is just piss poor, what were they thinking. Now even the last tiny bit of theoretical tension is gone. The few "normal" areas up until chapter 9 couldn't really reach the few good parts of TEW1 either. The latter weren't plenty, but at least remarkable when they appeared. I can't believe that they adressed what I found wrong with the first game, but still made it so bad that I now look more fondly on 1.

I've found that as much as you can run away from ambient encounters, the majority of enemies are placed to guard/gate better gear/resources. So if you want to get better shit and stand better chances in forced fights, you have to deal with the enemies in the open world.

I'm loving the design.
 
Bro just because you deleted Chris' campaign from your memory

Resident-evil-6-Chris-resident-evil-30576863-1280-720.jpg


MY MEN
 
Eh, in terms of voice acting the game is pretty bad, and it doesn't have the out of being intentionally hammy/campy like RE4. Kidman's VA is fine, Sykes is good, and I thought Stefano's was ok, if a bit over the top, but Sebastian is like a parody of 'tough grizzled detective' and Torres is the worst voice acting I've ever heard in a AAA game.
 
The writing itself is really bad and the constant babble is annoying (plus it diminishes any of the few moments that show a glimpse of atmosphere), but I can't say that the voice acting itself is a problem.
 
Still on Chapter 3 but I've only been able to put in 5 and a half hours so far. Still haven't touched the main story mission and I just completed the quest line
Rogue Signal"
.

I haven't had too much trouble so far on Nightmare, died a fair number of times mainly due to panicking and damn do the enemies hit fairly hard on Nightmare. I attempted to get the Sniper Rifle last night but came across some freaky looking enemy I haven't seen before and ran away to tackle some other quests.

So far I've been focusing my upgrades on Stealth to increase the crouch walking speed twice and got the bottle break ability. Been pumpin' some upgrades into the weapon sway and power for the pistol/shotgun.

Part of me regrets using The Last Chance pack since it includes a pretty decent amount of gunpowder. My pistol and shotgun and been fairly well supplied so far.
 

polychron

Member
Which one?
flamethrower guy or fat exploding dude?

I found that the
Flamethrower dudes
would quite frequently aggro on me when I was completely stealthed. They're easy enough to run from, but it's still frustrating. I assume that's what they're referring to?
 

Johndoey

Banned
The writing itself is really bad and the constant babble is annoying (plus it diminishes any of the few moments that show a glimpse of atmosphere), but I can't say that the voice acting itself is a problem.
Yeah the voice acting is solid enough. The dude voicing Seb does a great job with some of the quieter moments.
 

tonypark

Member
I found that the
Flamethrower dudes
would quite frequently aggro on me when I was completely stealthed. They're easy enough to run from, but it's still frustrating. I assume that's what they're referring to?

I doubt it is a bug i think you can only do it once so you can't cheese them like that. You have to cheese them with the...
upgraded smoke arrows
 

rtcn63

Member
That's like 1/4 of the game and you still had Finn.

1/4th of something... Jake's was bad too, mostly because it tied into Chris' campaign. At best he was Coldsteel.

Like Chris hates Jake for being Wesker's son, even though he learns Jake has never actually met Wesker. Jake hates Chris for killing Wesker, even though he says he never knew his father other than for being a deadbeat and (eventually) a BOW-engineering megalomaniac.
 
1/4th of something... Jake's was bad too, mostly because it tied into Chris' campaign. At best he was Coldsteel.

Like Chris hates Jake for being Wesker's son, even though he learns Jake has never actually met Wesker. Jake hates Chris for killing Wesker, even though he says he never knew his father other than for being a deadbeat and (eventually) a BOW-engineering megalomaniac.

Chris really didn't feel anything towards Jake. By the time he learned Jake was Wesker's son it was more like "huh..."

But yeah Just because Chris has the only "serious" campaign I hesitate to think the game as a whole takes itself too seriously. Same with TEW2. They have their moments but it doesn't take itself completely or else there wouldn't be a
shooting range
in the middle of the game.
 

Rarius

Member
Why does it feel like they gave up with the upgrade system? Like, two of the categories have abilities, the rest are stat boosts that... I don't feel like I really need. After only a few red gels I now have one sitting in my inventory because I really don't have anything else to unlock that would really have needed a 'lock' to begin with.
 
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