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LTTP: Evil Within 2, or; Better or worse than the original? SPOILERS

SkylineRKR

Member
I played this a fair bit over the last week. I never played it before, but with all this shit on GP I thought I would give it a try. I was a fan of the original game despite its jank.

I just killed Theodore and that was actually the best fight in the entire game so far. And its because its a huge throwback to TEW1. Those 3 enemies, their design runs circles around anything 2 throws at you. Seeing the Keeper and Laura again cracked me up. The same goes for the nurse and the mirror room. It made more sense in the original Beacon setting. Here its like they lacked some originality.

I enjoy TEW2. But its just missing that touch TEW1 had. TEW1 was sleazy, grindhouse, gory, punishing... it was a masterful game imho. The performance wasn't great and the jank was real, but I sort of saw it as an un focus tested PS2 era horror game. I loved it. I also beat both DLC campaigns. TEW2 has this TLOU inspired gameplay and stealth. But it doesn't work well. The enemies are dumb as shit, and with a few upgrades you can hang around a corner and kill them in succession after you lured them and they run straight at you. I did as much as 3 in a row at times. Their aggro is limited to a few feet basically. Run up to one, kill, and run a few feet behind an object. Repeat. What I miss are the traps, and the fact you hard to burn enemies that didn't lose their head. This could be used tactically; down one and light him up once others run past him. On Normal, I am sure 1 was less liberal with ammo as well and stealth wouldn't kill them completely.

The gunplay is pretty bad but granted it was like that in the original as well. I also have issues with the weapon switching, its slow. The crossbow feels way worse here for some reason. And I swear tons of shots just clip through. The level design is more open, with small sandboxes and a few side quests on each. It doesn't feel threatening, its a basic suburb. There is nothing like these raunchy and wicked areas from 1. Enemy design is seriously lacking, the bulk of them are runners from TLOU, with a few crawlers, fire dudes and bigger enemies inbetween (who are mostly harmless because of the huge ass areas they appear in).

Its good enough to continue, I doubt its still a long ways off from chapter 15, but I feel its kind of overstaying its welcome. Basically, I enjoyed the game until I faced off against Stefano finally. Then it sort of takes a dump with annoying fire enemies, some bad enemy wave set piece and not so good areas. And a lot of linearity. Still, I hope we'll get a third someday. Shock harpoon me for my criticism, or give me some green gel!
 
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I picked it up on the cheap because it got so much good feedback on places like GAF...I really did not like this game. I never played the original so I cant really compare but TEW 2 was not scary and felt like a low budget TLOU (which has way scarier and more intense parts at least up to the point I played).
 

Husky

THE Prey 2 fanatic
I think the open world was a large part of why I wasn't so into the sequel. Not because I dislike open worlds, I'd actually say most of my ideal gameplay experiences are sandboxes, but it felt like it was an "obligatory open world," like how games used to force in an obligatory deathmatch mode, or obligatory co-op.

The first game was like a messy experiment, and I liked it. The second game was generic and mediocre.
 

matty3092

Member
So for me TEW1 is the better game even tho it had alot more problems than TEW2. TEW2 neutered the gunplay and upgrade system which I loved about the 1st also as inconsistent as the matches system was in 1 they shouldn't have took it out completely in 2.
 

Bartski

Gold Member
I got it on release and liked it a lot, more than the 1st which I picked up much later.
Not sure if I would like it as much today tho after getting spoiled by so many games that came after and did what it does just better. I'd love to see what they could do with current-gen for part 3 and I hope Phil would agree.
 

Crocwrangler

Neo Member
First game had its flaws but was a love letter to Resident Evil 4 and kept what made the 4rth canonical game of the RE franchise strong thanks to S. Mikami. Lots of enemies, different locales, weird story, a bunch of bosses and that sense of being unable to expect what to come.

The second episode was a complete disaster to me after the first third of the game ( SPOILERS after you beat the photographer). You'd start recycling environments, have seen almost all enemy types of the game, are left with a few uninteresting bosses and levels lacking any form of originality. Characters are even more useless than in the first game, and while you could be surprised at every corner of the first entry (village turning into asylum turning into cities then back to asylum with all new horrors at every corner and a constant main threat), all the interesting designs and stuff is seen in the first two hours of the game. I absolutely loved the first one and finished 3 times the second for trophies but god, this was a torture...
 

Raphael

Member
Tried the 1st on the Series x recently and the performance is God aweful. Will wait for fps boost patch.

Is it alright to go with 2 before 1? Heard ew2 runs alright.
 

Aion002

Member
I agree with you.

It's worse... Too much filler and the open world aspect is trash.

Still, there are some parts that are quite good.

Hopefully the sequel will be a lot better.
 

Shmunter

Member
First one was unique and had a foreboding unsettling atmosphere. The second one just felt generic.

First one much better from my perspective.
 

CitizenZ

Banned
I like both, but both have issues. The second, which I recently finished, issue is rehashing the levels for the final 1/3 of the game.
 

01011001

Banned
I to this day can not understand how anyone could like TEW2 better than TEW1... it is worse in literally every single department. from controls, to game mechanics, to AI to enemy design... boss fights, leveldesign, artstyle. it's all so much worse.
I stopped playing on Console after like 5h because the controls are just so fucking bad that I couldn't continue without throwing my controller against the wall.

I literally had to load up the first game again, because in my mind I was like: "wait, the first one didn't control this shitty did it? is my memory tricking me?" and I booted it up, relieved to find my memory was in fact still working and the game just played so much better.
you can tell so much that Mikami was not the director of the second game... it is so blatantly obvious. i didn't even know at the time that he wasn't and looked it up, because I could not believe he would let a game that plays this shitty get released with his name attached as a director

my only theory is that it is more popular because it is homogenized and just copies other games while basically throwing away everything that made the first game special... and therefore feels more familiar
 
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Aldynes

Member
The first Evil Within is one of my most beloved gaming experience, the gameplay is superb and the setting and atmosphere is completely unique it has so many different inspirations if you are an horror movie fan and played survival horror games, you'll find something in that game that echoes some memories.

For me it is on par with RE1 (director's cut) and RE4 as a continuation of the formula, the gameplay is the key here, I put this above everything else when i rate my time with a game, especially with a horror title, due to the inherent flaw of this genre : once you get familiar with the game, it cease to be scary, so you are left with the atmosphere, setting, story, OST and more importantly the gameplay.

RE1 is amazing to this day because it is very precise and running around raising up your shotgun to blow zombie head off never gets old, nor does it fails (a particular flaw of the remake for me) you replay the game many times for this reasons.
RE4 is the similar, don't tell me it's story is what kept you playing it times and times again (for the memes it is) gameplay is king so does the pacing of the game.

The Evil Within is all of that, with added traps you can set, defuse or avoid when used against you and more importantly stealth mechanics (one hit kills ala Tenchu conserves ammo and don't alert all the enemies) a pseudo RPG system for leveling your character (currency found on dead enemies or by exploring that can be spent on either your stats/capabilities or weapons, choices again!) and a reward for each hidden keys you found during the game in the form of a randomized loot (could be ammo, health, currency etc), you can have double HP and more powerful guns to gun everything down or be more agile and have more traps to flee encounters and hide if things didn't go as planned, letting you try again after the enemies ceased to search for you.

This is more freedom given for you as a player to tackle each situation, more control for you to play stealth mostly or gun blazing by leveling up specific stats that emphasize your playstyle, and a huge boost for the feeling of player progression as you complete the game.

They are so many cool ways to kill many enemies all at once by using smart strategies or setting traps it will reward you the more you experiment, say you got 3 guys running to kill you, you can shoot one in the leg (he falls) you can use a match on him to set him on fire and killing him, if timed correctly you have effectively created a fire trap when the others got so close to maul you, you took a risk and now they are all dead, just using one bullet and one match while avoided taking damage, then again you can just shoot them and spent precious scarce ammo and health recovery item for 3 goons.

The whole game is like this, with dozens of enemies thrown at you like (RE4 in the cabin) there is explosive barrels, electrical hazard or traps that can be used in the environment if you find them, superb action moments, memorable boss, classic puzzles, the whole game is full of sandbox type encounters for you to enjoy it's gameplay, it often feel insurmountable but you got so many options that there's never just only one method that work.

Then you got the story and the diversity of locals, periods and enemy types to never let the player feel at ease or accustomed to a situation.

For me personally, it's the only game that merged gameplay, story, horror and depth in its mechanics this well, others got a much better story but flawed/basic gameplay, others would have fun as hell gameplay but a shit setting and a near non existing plot, none of them got the balance quite right as the Evil Within does.
 
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Arsic

Member
I recall on release it was a game where like you said the first half is fresh and good, then the second half just nose dives. I felt cheated we got no Rubick involvement at all, and the open world hurt it the longer the game went on. Great final boss though.

On release saying EW1 was better on here was suicide. EVERY poster would shit on you and call you crazy/a moron.

EW1 is still my favorite horror game. Flaws and all it is so damn good and worth replaying many times.
 

01011001

Banned
The first Evil Within is one of my most beloved gaming experience, the gameplay is superb and the setting and atmosphere is completely unique it has so many different inspirations if you are an horror movie fan and played survival horror games, you'll find something in that game that echoes some memories.

For me it is on par with RE1 (director's cut) and RE4 as a continuation of the formula, the gameplay is the key here, I put this above everything else when i rate my time with a game, especially with a horror title, due to the inherent flaw of this genre : once you get familiar with the game, it cease to be scary, so you are left with the atmosphere, setting, story, OST and more importantly the gameplay.

RE1 is amazing to this day because it is very precise and running around raising up your shotgun to blow zombie head off never gets old, nor does it fails (a particular flaw of the remake for me) you replay the game many times for this reasons.
RE4 is the similar, don't tell me it's story is what kept you playing it times and times again (for the memes it is) gameplay is king so does the pacing of the game.

The Evil Within is all of that, with added traps you can set, defuse or avoid when used against you and more importantly stealth mechanics (one hit kills ala Tenchu conserves ammo and don't alert all the enemies) a pseudo RPG system for leveling your character (currency found on dead enemies or by exploring that can be spent on either your stats/capabilities or weapons, choices again!) and a reward for each hidden keys you found during the game in the form of a randomized loot (could be ammo, health, currency etc), you can have double HP and more powerful guns to gun everything down or be more agile and have more traps to flee encounters and hide if things didn't go as planned, letting you try again after the enemies ceased to search for you.

This is more freedom given for you as a player to tackle each situation, more control for you to play stealth mostly or gun blazing by leveling up specific stats that emphasize your playstyle, and a huge boost for the feeling of player progression as you complete the game.

They are so many cool ways to kill many enemies all at once by using smart strategies or setting traps it will reward you the more you experiment, say you got 3 guys running to kill you, you can shoot one in the leg (he falls) you can use a match on him to set him on fire and killing him, if timed correctly you have effectively created a fire trap when the others got so close to maul you, you took a risk and now they are all dead, just using one bullet and one match while avoided taking damage, then again you can just shoot them and spent precious scare ammo and health recovery item for 3 goons.

The whole game is like this, with dozens of enemies thrown at you like (RE4 in the cabin) there is explosive barrels, electrical hazard or traps that can be used in the environment if you find them, superb action moments, memorable boss, classic puzzles, the whole game is full of sandbox type encounters for you to enjoy it's gameplay, it often feel insurmountable but you got so many options that there's never just only one method that work.

Then you got the story and the diversity of locals, periods and enemy types to never let the player feel at ease or accustomed to a situation.

For me personally, it's the only game that merged gameplay, story, horror and depth in its mechanics this well, others got a much better story but flawed/basic gameplay, others would have fun as hell gameplay but a shit setting and a near non existing plot, none of them got the balance quite right as the Evil Within does.

yeah... and the second one is none of that. it's so fucking sad. TEW2 was legit one of the biggest disappointments of the last 2 consoles gens for me. I wanted TEW1 but more polished... and got shitty bog-standard stealth horror with bad controls instead -_-

but fuck it, currently replaying TEW1 on PC at 120fps...
R.4bc10db1ab8410986cb353cb836c597b
 
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dan76

Member
The first game is better by a mile. It suffers from performance issues, but in terms of enemy encounters, boss fights, weapon feedback, level design and pacing its way above 2. I think it's one of Mikam's best, I just hope he directs another game at some point ( and 1 gets remastered ).
 

01011001

Banned
The first game is better by a mile. It suffers from performance issues, but in terms of enemy encounters, boss fights, weapon feedback, level design and pacing its way above 2. I think it's one of Mikam's best, I just hope he directs another game at some point ( and 1 gets remastered ).

Same. but playing it on PC without performance issues is already like a remaster tbh lol. the difference is stark
 

bender

What time is it?
I spent more time with the original but enjoyed my time with the second more if that makes any sense. I don't think either are very good.
 
The sequel was way less scary than the first one and they should have went with linear instead of boring open areas.
 
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kanjobazooie

Mouse Ball Fetishist
I like them both, but I preferred the setting and atmosphere of the first.

I didn't mind the open-world part of the second at all.
 
I just started a new game plus today. What a coincidence. The game is great on its own. As a sequel, it’s horrible. Everything that made the first game great is gone. The twitchy enemies make the combat a chore with a game-pad. There’s no closure with Ruvik and Leslie’s stories. The person running STEM is an obnoxious, over-the-top edge lord and not the intimidating shadow man.

It’s a shame too, because like I said, on its own it’s great. Launching new game plus over a year after I first beat it is making it vastly more enjoyable. I never minded the open areas either. It’s misleading when people call the game “open world.” The open areas are just hubs between the story missions. They’re fun to explore and loot.
 

mxbison

Member
Didn't like the open world aspect at all. Only played about 4-5 hours of the second.

First one was good.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
The open world aspect is prevalent in 3 chapters or so, and its a really small backyard in fact.

But beside those chapters, its incredibly linear. Its more linear than Naughty Dog's games. Its nearly on rails. And this is the issue, its a linear TPS with bad gunplay and annoying, stupid enemies. Compare that hut stand off with Torres to RE4 for example, they're not even in the same league. There isn't much you can do, basic stealth attacks, or just shoot them. I felt the bottles rarely work, and they're a great defense mechanic against grabs (which will happen since shooting is bad, and takes time, and they don't flinch unless its a headshot, not to mention the FOV), I never throw them. That perk is worth gold. The auto climbing, not sold on that either. Its clunky and fucks up shootouts. For running away its good, when you roll over cars.

I like the open areas the most actually. There is a bit of leeway, the sniper is useful for once (I only used it on those goo spewing dudes) and going in houses to loot is just as fun as it is in RE Village. You might even get a flashback with Anima which are honestly pretty good.

After Chapter 8 the game simply goes down the shitter. You get the second hub on repeat, now with annoying fire enemies. Those guys become immune to stealth every 20 seconds or so. I hate them, mostly shot them up with maxed shotgun or pistol.
 
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tassletine

Member
I think the original is a masterpiece and it saddens me that the reception of the games may have led to Mikami never directing another game again.

The second one was pretty good, but lacked the edge of the original. Like they were trying to round the edges off for the mainstream.
 

Dirk Benedict

Gold Member
TEW2 starts off AWESOME. the Atmosphere nearly matches the first, then... falls fucking flat and then goes into action territory. You mfers know that Mikami produced and supervised the 2nd, right? *BIG Middle finger*
Still a decent game and the graphics were great. Game is easy AF tho. No matter the difficulty.
 

mekes

Member
I really like both games, but the original is my pick. Sure it had the letterbox on launch and some frame rate issues. But the variety of locations, enemy design and general mood of the game were top notch.

I really enjoyed the starting point of the second game and appreciate that it tried something a little different for the sequel. Just happy to have played these games. I definitely include them as examples of why I preferred last gen to the gen before.
 
The first one is brutal. It sets a dark tone and just gets more crushing as you go. Few games do that. It really feels like an assault on your senses after a while. It’s a piece of art… ugly and brutal, even janky and weird at times, but the atmosphere and dread really get cranked up by the end.
 
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Werewolf Jones

Gold Member
Playing through the second one right now and enjoying a lot more, I find you get rewarded for your struggles in a positive way, still a bit janky but A LOT better than the first game so far.

I thought the first game was convoluted and trash and as Mikami's final directed game what an L. Should have stopped with Vanquish.
 
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ssringo

Member
I like the sequel more simply because it didn't make me nauseous within 2 minutes of starting. In fairness I've not tried the first one since they patched away the borders and whatnot but I've long since moved on. 2 is good but it does fall apart the further you get.

However, the shooting mini game in 2 is one of my favorite mini games ever.
 

Georome

Member
I picked it up on the cheap because it got so much good feedback on places like GAF...I really did not like this game. I never played the original so I cant really compare but TEW 2 was not scary and felt like a low budget TLOU (which has way scarier and more intense parts at least up to the point I played).

I had the exact opposite experience. I avoided it for years because I saw terrible feedback for it here on GAF. I finally got it cheap and I freaking loved it. TEW1 is one of my favorite games of that generation.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
I just beat TEW2 and its forgettable to me. It feels polished but it isn't, lots of clipping and clunky mechanics like the awful cover system. The boss fight was decent, but the final chapters leading up to it were terrible.

The Kidman part was lame. She shoots like a pro in the cutscenes and then when you have to control her, in pure shooting segments where you can't move, she aims for shit. You can take lots of hits though but it pissed me off still. The ending was decent.

For like 70% of the time this game is a TLOU knockoff with much worse and limited mechanics. Its not half as good as the first imo. Its baffling Mikami ended with such a janky game though, after the perfection that was Vanquish.
 

kunonabi

Member
Playing through the second one right now and enjoying a lot more, I find you get rewarded for your struggles in a positive way, still a bit janky but A LOT better than the first game so far.

I thought the first game was convoluted and trash and as Mikami's final directed game what an L. Should have stopped with Vanquish.
The first TEW is a perfect example of more not always being better. The poor pacing and excessive length almost rival Okami in bloat.
 
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1 had like trudges into the city in the later chapters that was fucking awful and I never want to replay the game. 2 was so good and might even do a 60 fps replay
 

plushyp

Member
TEW1 was pretty unbalanced and annoying in parts which made replays a huge chore so much so that I haven't bothered touching it in years now. TEW2 wasn't able to hit all the highs of TEW1 but I found it to be the better game overall in terms of gameplay, level design, sound, voice acting etc. Plus it doesn't feel like work to replay it on Nightmare difficulty.
 
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