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The Evil Within ruined Resident Evil 4 for me.

Great game. I loved it all, despite some frustration in certain chapters.

Incredible art direction and sound design, great bosses, great music, level design was also varied and never got stale, even when it was a short A-to-B path. Though in that case, I think it's because I was totally engrossed and loved looking at every nook and cranny.

The tension levels were also damn high at parts, goddamn. I was just floored by some encounters like The Keeper. Holy fuuuuck, just remembering it now... so stressful but fun. My hands were shaking at the end of it, both from relief and anxiety, haha. Another obvious good one was
__Laura__
, which was also one of my more frustrating moments in the game, actually (the last time). The DLC also had some great ones with the exclusive monster where I felt the pressure and dread. That thing was awesome and the first time I heard and saw it
say "Leslie,"
, I knew it was gonna be cool. It was also introduced in a pretty cool way.

Anyway, you can definitely tell it's a Mikami game through and through.

It's a shame the characters' personalities are so barren in the main game. Sebastian was just so... stale, I guess? I don't know how to explain it, but he never reacted enough to all this weird shit happening to him, which made him out to have the boring personality of a potato. He was basically all "Not again" and "What's going on?" and it gets old fast. His backstory was interesting and well done, but it's relegated to files. It would have been nice to get something more out of him via spoken dialogue, like vulnerability or something.

Kidman and Joseph were just as boring as he was, but the DLC helps give Sebastian and Kidman a little more oomph. Kidman in the main game was just there and it was really annoying how she'd be there for a second and gone the next. Juxtaposed with what was going on around them, everyone's interactions when they did meet were just so dry. I didn't like that, but it wasn't a deal-breaker.

As for TEW vs RE4, I love both games for different reasons. I also don't get hung up on comparing one game to another to justify my fondness for it, least of all while playing it. I like games for their own merits *shrug*.

For anyone saying TEW feels clunky, I would agree--but only if you play with default settings. I had to up XY sensitivity by 10 to make the game feel smoother on controller (played on PC). After that, the game felt really good to control. I'm used to stamina systems, so I wasn't fazed by TEW's. I actually enjoyed it and thought it added a lot to the game.
 
dragonlife said:
For anyone saying TEW feels clunky, I would agree--but only if you play with default settings. I had to up XY sensitivity by 10 to make the game feel smoother on controller (played on PC). After that, the game felt really good to control.
Click to expand...

Ok I'm going to ask a genuine question here. Did anyone ever say the game feels clunky solely due to the aiming which they could just adjust in a settings menu?

I might as well call Halo clunky off that metric. What universe am I living in?
 
dragonlife said:
Great game. I loved it all, despite some frustration in certain chapters.

Incredible art direction and sound design, great bosses, great music, level design was also varied and never got stale, even when it was a short A-to-B path. Though in that case, I think it's because I was totally engrossed and loved looking at every nook and cranny.

The tension levels were also damn high at parts, goddamn. I was just floored by some encounters like The Keeper. Holy fuuuuck, just remembering it now... so stressful but fun. My hands were shaking at the end of it, both from relief and anxiety, haha. Another obvious good one was
__Laura__
, which was also one of my more frustrating moments in the game, actually (the last time). The DLC also had some great ones with the exclusive monster where I felt the pressure and dread. That thing was awesome and the first time I heard and saw it
say "Leslie,"
, I knew it was gonna be cool. It was also introduced in a pretty cool way.

Anyway, you can definitely tell it's a Mikami game through and through.

It's a shame the characters' personalities are so barren in the main game. Sebastian was just so... stale, I guess? I don't know how to explain it, but he never reacted enough to all this weird shit happening to him, which made him out to have the boring personality of a potato. He was basically all "Not again" and "What's going on?" and it gets old fast. His backstory was interesting and well done, but it's relegated to files. It would have been nice to get something more out of him via spoken dialogue, like vulnerability or something.

Kidman and Joseph were just as boring as he was, but the DLC helps give Sebastian and Kidman a little more oomph. Kidman in the main game was just there and it was really annoying how she'd be there for a second and gone the next. Juxtaposed with what was going on around them, everyone's interactions when they did meet were just so dry. I didn't like that, but it wasn't a deal-breaker.

As for TEW vs RE4, I love both games for different reasons. I also don't get hung up on comparing one game to another to justify my fondness for it, least of all while playing it. I like games for their own merits *shrug*.

For anyone saying TEW feels clunky, I would agree--but only if you play with default settings. I had to up XY sensitivity by 10 to make the game feel smoother on controller (played on PC). After that, the game felt really good to control. I'm used to stamina systems, so I wasn't fazed by TEW's. I actually enjoyed it and thought it added a lot to the game.
Click to expand...

Felt the same way about the Keeper fight. So stressed out the first time I encountered him. Resident Evil 4 never got under my skin quite like the evil within did. The encounters with Laura also shot my anxiety through the roof. Even on replays when I knew what to expect and exactly where they would show up I would still get anxious.
 
I wouldn't put it in the same tier as RE4 but I really liked it. Fun game.

Hope they intend to make a more polished and focused sequel at some point and take it to the next level I think the IP is capable of reaching. I also think it would benefit from a different approach to progression/level design than the linear chapter format they used.
 
GrayChild said:
I always thought that the trial-and-error accusations have been exaggerated. While the game is much more unforgiving compared to RE4, there are very, very few occasions where the game does not define a clear goal for you or decides to throw one-shot killing enemy at you.

Going through the shown examples, the revolving blade can be dodged quite easily (I haven't died a single time at that location during any of my 4 playthroughs), the laser eyeballs have visible light cones which show which part of the are should be skipped, the water monster can be easily detected by the puddles of water it makes and can also be distracted by throwing bottles, you can easily outrun Ruvik thanks to how much room you have to maneuver in addition to him not pursuing you longer than 20-25 seconds etc.

Another one is when you encounter Laura for the first time. The game immediately gives the player a queue that she cannot be killed yet by Sebastian yelling "Shit! I better run." The same goes with the large puddle of oil a bit later in chapter 5.

I would only agree for Amalgam's second form which was indeed a bit frustrating. However, I still remember dying more to failed QTEs and Dr. Salvador's one-shot kill chainsaw attack in RE4. Hell, in TEW you could actually survive a single hit from the Sadist on normal difficulty unlike it.
Click to expand...

You're right that it's possible to tackle those segments flawlessly with a bit of effort, but that still doesn't make them any fun. If the entire game was comprised of nonlinear segments like Chapter 3 and Chapter 9, it would be much closer to living up to its legacy.

I really have to give From Software credit, they knew exactly why people loved Demon's Souls and managed to make 4 sequels that refined the formula without ever straying from the core gameplay.

Meanwhile, neither Capcom nor Mikami himself have come close to replicating RE4 over a decade later. They're too ambitious, too dead set on innovation for the sake of innovation, too eager to overhaul a formula that's perfect as it is. If they had just gone the RE1/RE2/RE3/RE:CV route of "we're going to basically make this game again, but in a new location with new enemies," we'd have at least 3 games of RE4's quality by now.
 
Comfort Jones said:
Ok I'm going to ask a genuine question here. Did anyone ever say the game feels clunky solely due to the aiming which they could just adjust in a settings menu?

I might as well call Halo clunky off that metric. What universe am I living in?
Click to expand...

I sure hope it's not something silly like they forgot to turn sensitivity up, I always mess with optiins first with games.

I will say I don't actually know what people mean when they say the controls are 'clunky' in this context. They seemed pretty normal to me, except Sebastian doesn't turn on a dime and kind of walks in a circle as you turn. But the enemies do it too and the game is designed around it, plus its such a minor thing I can't imagine that's it. I really don't understand some people's complaints on this. I'm curious to hear how others perceived the controls as clunky as they seemed fine when I played.

I should mention I played on keyboard+mouse, since maybe that plays a role here. I also played the game with all the hud turned off, including my reticle so I was blind firing the whole game (got really good at it, too).
 
Comfort Jones said:
Ok I'm going to ask a genuine question here. Did anyone ever say the game feels clunky solely due to the aiming which they could just adjust in a settings menu?
Click to expand...
No idea, but my genuine answer is that I live in a world where people say Monster Hunter, classic RE, and RE6 are clunky or have bad controls. When I first started the game, my first impression was just, "Oh, this doesn't feel good at all." The turning, specifically, felt really awkward. Upping sensitivity helped with that immensely and made it feel like a better game, but the turning still isn't instant. That's just the game.
 
The Evil Within is a more janky, less polished, sloppier, less good version of Resident Evil 4 to me. I still like it, I think it's a good game, but Resident Evil 4 is a genuine masterpiece of game design. I wish I could play a new game and feel about it, the way I do about Resident Evil 4.
 
100%TrophyMaster said:
Felt the same way about the Keeper fight. So stressed out the first time I encountered him. Resident Evil 4 never got under my skin quite like the evil within did. The encounters with Laura also shot my anxiety through the roof. Even on replays when I knew what to expect and exactly where they would show up I would still get anxious.
Click to expand...
The Keeper fight is certainly one of my favourite segments in gaming. So damn stressfull in a good way.

Also I adore the match mechanic. Catching multiple enemies with one match is immensely satisfying. And it's why I enjoyed my second play through more then the first as I didn't work out how to use them properly until late in the game.
 
Playing Leon in RE4 feels like playing an actual human being, and a sassy action hero at that. Playing Sebastian in TEW feels like playing a potato in the shape of a human being
 
gelf said:
The Keeper fight is certainly one of my favourite segments in gaming. So damn stressfull in a good way.

Also I adore the match mechanic. Catching multiple enemies with one match is immensely satisfying. And it's why I enjoyed my second play through more then the first as I didn't work out how to use them properly until late in the game.
Click to expand...

The Keeper ripping his own head off so that he would respawn in the room with you is one of the coolest moments of the game.

Also the fight later on with 2 keepers in a small environment was awesome. Especially low on ammo and having to trail them to disassemble their dropped traps to get parts to craft stuff.
 
The Evil Within is a humorless slog while RE4 knows how absurd and silly it is. TEW is dumb ass hell in a totally unselfaware way. And there is just so much there that it feels like 80% of a great game that's kind of ruined by the other 20%.
 
jg4xchamp said:
The Evil Within is a more janky, less polished, sloppier, less good version of Resident Evil 4 to me. I still like it, I think it's a good game, but Resident Evil 4 is a genuine masterpiece of game design. I wish I could play a new game and feel about it, the way I do about Resident Evil 4.
Click to expand...
Play Uncharted 4. All killer, no Island.
 
Gezzzzz...

I started playing last night again. I don't remember being so ugly and blurry.

Guess the 4K TV doesn't go well with this game.

But the atmosphere is amazing, played for one straight hour without blinking.
 
I much prefer RE4 and still play it over 10 years later.

I liked a lot of things about TEW but playing it was not one of them sadly.
 
I guess people in here don't mind the dated controls in RE4. I tried to play it for the first time this year and I absolutely cannot stomach it. The tank turning the slow ass aiming its horrid. After playing modern day third person games like Gears Series, Dead Space Series, and TEW I cant handle the archaic control scheme born from that shitty Gamecube controller. I don't even mind the stationary shooting its the not being able to side step or move and turn at the same time.
 
Neff said:
I love The Evil Within more than most, I think it's a genuinely brilliant -if slightly rough around the edges- game.

RE4 though remains a flawless, polished, monster-sized diamond of software. I bought the PS4 version earlier this year and finished the entire thing in a single 8 hour sitting, without shame. It was glorious.
Click to expand...


That is how I feel. The Evil Within is a legitimately great game, but I still have a few issues with its trial and error styled gameplay. I really want to see Tango Games make a sequel, there is room for improvement over the current game, and I think TEW has potential to spawn into a really cool horror franchise.
 
Those criticizing the pacing in The Evil Within I have no idea what you people are smoking. Sure the story doesn't quite make sense without the DLC, but the gameplay itself is excellently paced between creepy-scary slow stuff, hectic panick-y stuff, enjoying the view stuff and balls out action stuff. A grade A rollercoaster from start to finish.
 
PetriP-TNT said:
Those criticizing the pacing in The Evil Within I have no idea what you people are smoking. Sure the story doesn't quite make sense without the DLC, but the gameplay itself is excellently paced between creepy-scary slow stuff, hectic panick-y stuff, enjoying the view stuff and balls out action stuff. A grade A rollercoaster from start to finish.
Click to expand...
The game's levels feel like they were thought of and then randomized, and the transitions feel like a fourth grade discovering how to use PowerPoint. The pacing suffers immensely as a result; it's easy to see people's issues.
 
The Evil Within was a huge disappointment for me, it is a technical disaster. There were parts when the frame rate dropped so low I ended up dying because of it, even ignoring the janky controls.

And the checkpoints were completely hit and miss, forcing you to go back quite some distance just to return to the same spot.
 
Dusk Golem said:
I sure hope it's not something silly like they forgot to turn sensitivity up, I always mess with optiins first with games.

I will say I don't actually know what people mean when they say the controls are 'clunky' in this context. They seemed pretty normal to me, except Sebastian doesn't turn on a dime and kind of walks in a circle as you turn. But the enemies do it too and the game is designed around it, plus its such a minor thing I can't imagine that's it. I really don't understand some people's complaints on this. I'm curious to hear how others perceived the controls as clunky as they seemed fine when I played.

I should mention I played on keyboard+mouse, since maybe that plays a role here. I also played the game with all the hud turned off, including my reticle so I was blind firing the whole game (got really good at it, too).
Click to expand...
I think the fact that the camera zooms in when you you aim(can't change on ps4) is where a lot of the criticism comes from. Also because you have to upgrade accuracy. Seb can't sprint for very long. Those kind of things.

I don't think people liked being under powered. They want to be able to mow enemies down from the get go.
 
I played TEW on PC during previous two months for the first time. I ended up liking it, but some of the sections in that game definitely soured me. I felt it was trial and error, despite the design of the game telegraphing some of those moments. Other moments felt unavoidable in that you would die or take quite a bit of damage. It felt inconsistent in that sense. But the game has some great atmosphere and mood, better than RE4 in some moments.

As far as technical issues, because I played it on my PC, I didn't really run into any major technical issues. I was on max settings, turned off the letterboxing, etc. and I was getting 70+fps easily with few dips below that on a GTX 1080/i7 4790K @ 2560x1440.

Personally, I would give it to RE4 due to the scenarios and encounters being more unique and intense in that game. There was more variety in enemies and encounters in that game I think.

I still need to try out the DLC for TEW, so I'll be back to that in due time.
 
dragonlife said:
Great game. I loved it all, despite some frustration in certain chapters.

Incredible art direction and sound design, great bosses, great music, level design was also varied and never got stale, even when it was a short A-to-B path. Though in that case, I think it's because I was totally engrossed and loved looking at every nook and cranny.

The tension levels were also damn high at parts, goddamn. I was just floored by some encounters like The Keeper. Holy fuuuuck, just remembering it now... so stressful but fun. My hands were shaking at the end of it, both from relief and anxiety, haha. Another obvious good one was
__Laura__
, which was also one of my more frustrating moments in the game, actually (the last time). The DLC also had some great ones with the exclusive monster where I felt the pressure and dread. That thing was awesome and the first time I heard and saw it
say "Leslie,"
, I knew it was gonna be cool. It was also introduced in a pretty cool way.

Anyway, you can definitely tell it's a Mikami game through and through.

It's a shame the characters' personalities are so barren in the main game. Sebastian was just so... stale, I guess? I don't know how to explain it, but he never reacted enough to all this weird shit happening to him, which made him out to have the boring personality of a potato. He was basically all "Not again" and "What's going on?" and it gets old fast. His backstory was interesting and well done, but it's relegated to files. It would have been nice to get something more out of him via spoken dialogue, like vulnerability or something.

Kidman and Joseph were just as boring as he was, but the DLC helps give Sebastian and Kidman a little more oomph. Kidman in the main game was just there and it was really annoying how she'd be there for a second and gone the next. Juxtaposed with what was going on around them, everyone's interactions when they did meet were just so dry. I didn't like that, but it wasn't a deal-breaker.

As for TEW vs RE4, I love both games for different reasons. I also don't get hung up on comparing one game to another to justify my fondness for it, least of all while playing it. I like games for their own merits *shrug*.

For anyone saying TEW feels clunky, I would agree--but only if you play with default settings. I had to up XY sensitivity by 10 to make the game feel smoother on controller (played on PC). After that, the game felt really good to control. I'm used to stamina systems, so I wasn't fazed by TEW's. I actually enjoyed it and thought it added a lot to the game.
Click to expand...

I think this sums up how I feel about TEW. I just cleared chapter 10 after picking the game up on sale a month ago, and I've been really enjoying how well-designed it can be. It's a shame the more frustrating moments mean I'll be less likely to replay it compared with Resi 4, but this has been one ride I'm unlikely to forget years down the line.

And yes, both games do what they set out to do well, TEW being appreciably different to Resi 4 is what makes it so interesting. It will be hard to go back and forth between the two for sure - I'm bound to miss TEW's more nuanced combat where you have to be very careful a lot of the time, and its tense set pieces. But Resi 4 won't be a worse game because those are missing.
 
PetriP-TNT said:
Those criticizing the pacing in The Evil Within I have no idea what you people are smoking. Sure the story doesn't quite make sense without the DLC, but the gameplay itself is excellently paced between creepy-scary slow stuff, hectic panick-y stuff, enjoying the view stuff and balls out action stuff. A grade A rollercoaster from start to finish.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Mikami knows pacing better than any one director out there imo.

For a relatively short game (it's about half the length or RE4 IIRC), there's a ton of variety. Like RE4, I've finished the game over a dozen times, and again like RE4, there are moments where I'll be surprised by a level or room I completely forgot about. That both games are able to feature so much content with so little downtime or repetition is pretty amazing.

SURGEdude said:
The Evil Within is a humorless slog while RE4 knows how absurd and silly it is.
Click to expand...

I don't know about that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbpWLWeeZiI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT0AO8FlruE
 
I'm not sure if TEW being self-serious is such a bad thing. Intentional camp can very easily backfire, so in that regard it's another lightning in a bottle situation for RE4. I'd say the tone in TEW is the right one for the game, the issue is just how nonchalant all the characters act.

"Hey Seb, I just turned into a zombie but it looks like I'm fine again. That's weird. Well, let's go."
 
Also the DLC isn't great because they take out all the weapon upgrading and focus too much on stealth.

Separate Ways is much better.
 
I hail Resident Evil 4 as my favorite game of all time, but the truth of the matter is that I had a REALLY HARD TIME going back to it after playing so much of The Evil Within. TEW just feels better and plays better overall. While I refuse to downplay the effect that RE4 has had on my life (I met so, so many of my best friends because of this game) and on gaming in general, the fact of the matter is that TEW provides a more fun experience in the modern era, mechanically. I completely understand the sentiment behind TEW souring RE4 for someone if that person didn't previously have an attachment to the latter.

I dislike the idea of comparing story and characters between the two games, though. It's definite apples and oranges and reminds me way too much of the old RE vs SH debates from yesteryear -- which were also stupid and served no point. The games are different, the storytelling is different, the horror is different, the themes are different. They're different.
 
I love TEW though it has obvious technical issues.

But it was nasty, difficult and big. TEW has the best headshots in the business, upgrade the handgun crit and accuracy and it stays viable. As for the DLC, well, I loved it too. Its different from the main game which is refreshing. The second part is actually rather good and it has the best boss fight in the game.

I hope we'll get TEW 2.
 
/bait thread title :3

TEW is good, and everyone should play it! I liked it from start to finish and it's one of those games you can beat over the course of two weekends.
 
The pacing in TEW was well done,you're jumping back and forth between the memories and experiences of a psychopath and each location is heavily attached to his life,maybe you weren't paying too much attention to the files,audios and newspapers if you think they are just random cool locations mixed up together.
I think the vague explanation of what was happening in the main game was on purpose so you can feel as confused as Seb,and i'm sure as hell it worked for me because i was really curious to find out the explanation behind all that crazyness.
 
I just transferred all my data from my original PS4 to the PRO and now when I start The evil within anytime I press the options button during the game it freezes. Anyone else encounter this and is there a way to fix this?
 
I finished this over the weekend. Really loved every moment of it - even after the high point of chapters 9 and 10 I enjoyed chapters 11-15 - though the direction taken with the final boss battle was a tad disappointing.

Chapter 10 was really special because it highlighted what the game does best, tremendously nuanced combat mixed in with creative encounter design, all taking place in level design where not a metre of square space is wasted. These locations really feel "designed" in ways that you don't get with bigger, less finely-crafted titles.

Later chapters were a breath of fresh air because of the change in setting and a switch back to more open environments, which weren't just open for the sake of it, but used in more intense fights (the one outside the apartment blocks in chapter 11 was particularly biting, as was a mini-boss battle soon after). Then the game goes and keeps things fresh again in chapter 13 with the little excursion inside one of the apartments with the acid machines.

This gen, I think The Evil Within and ZombiU really stood for survival horror because both games really made it feel like you were surviving. You have to be very careful in both - checkpoint restarts won't go any better otherwise - and the mechanics have a lot of character to them (a lot more in the case of The Evil Within). The Evil Within has tremendous balancing, just consider how you cannot purchase ammo freely with money or by other means, the only way to get it is from the environments or (rarely) from a defeated enemy. You're always kept on your toes, and rarely feel prepared for what's coming next. Heck, the presence of more ammo in the environment is often an indicator of impending doom. I loved that.

It'd be unfair to directly compare Resi 4 to The Evil Within because both games focus on different elements of survival horror (heck, Resi 4 has the briefcase to compensate for a much more loaded weapon/ammo selection which changes a lot on its own). But I can definitely see how it would be difficult moving between the both precisely because they are so different to one another in ways which matter in practise, not on paper.
 
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