One random aside, on Ruvik not "doing anything for three years," how I view it is Mobius has eyes everywhere so Ruvik probably went into hiding. He doesn't want to end up in Mobius hands again. However, in TEW2 Sebastian and the lot destroy Mobius, which is to their own gain but with Mobius out of the picture this also means that Ruvik can roam freely again. Just a thought.
I know this is late but me and my friend just played through this and we had a pretty similar experience as far as buggy enemies and feeling that the story and game play lacked some attention. He however was able to sneak kill the boss guys with flamethrowers, he got in one attack and they went right back to their same routine.
I honestly preferred the first one over this. I'm glad the controls are much more smoother and gameplay in general but I preferred the linear chapter to chapter progression of the first one over this idyllic hub based town just doesn't feel like right for the game. Story I thought was fairly bland with the whole save your daughter arc. I mean the first one was batshit insane and could've been been better, but it all made sense if you collected all the clues and plsyed the dlc (for the most part anyway, big mistake locking major story points behind the dlc). I also must be the only one who missed the matches as well, I loved luring enemies to other dead bodies and blazing it up especially with Laura they were life savers (ew1 veterans you know what I mean). Lastly the atmosphere, first game nailed atmosphere for me. Felt like the saw meets the matrix but with the sequel it just feels like the matrix meets silent hill and that to me reflects in the level of the town you're in. I just didn't like it as much as the first games atmosphere. So basically I really liked the ew2 it definetly stepped it up in terms of gameplay for the most part but just felt plain in atmosphere and story oh and also enemy designs, I felt there were not many monster types compared to the first one or at least not encountered as much like those bloated monsters when unions on fire I completely forgot they were in the game. Yea long comment here so if anyone read it then props to you go get yourself cookie!
The insanity helped so much with the first game. It kept breaking the rules, defying your assumptions that it would set up, when you fall sideways... through the walls, all bets are off nothing's safe not even the ground you're standing on. It was amazing.
the first game is so much better. far more interesting story and way better boss fights. i never had any problem with the controls in the first game. it felt pretty identical to 2 imo, the 2nd was just easier. i think people don't want to admit they like 2 because it's easier, so they say the controls are drastically improved. i just don't see this huge different in controls that many others seem to, in fact i liked them a little better in the first game.
@@Jack_80 I'm not a huge fan of TEW 2 but it's absolutely got better controls than the first. Interactions and animations are way smoother than in TEW and Sebastian feels like he actually controls as a real person, being able to walk away from animations/execute animations with a lot more ease. Most importantly, he actually backpedals when you hit the S key ala RE and Dead Space, as opposed to doing a complete 180, which had been pretty clunky-feeling in practice. I'm not really sure when you last played the TEW games, but I've been playing them back to back and TEW 2 very clearly has better controls right off the bat. TEW 1 wasn't even a difficult game to begin with, but then, I also have seen lots of TEW fanboys deciding anyone who found the game average at best must have found it hard, so that assumption of yours doesn't surprise me.
I figured Tatiana is appearing in Sebastian's mind because he now associates her with a safe haven. I also like to theorize that just like Sebastian's Office replaces the hospital, this Tatiana is a bit sassier and playful than her first incarnation, even throwing in fun minigames for Sebastian to unwind from the stress of his mission
+Dorumon Lives Actually the end of the game in TEW2 tells the player it's the same Tatiana from the first game. And it's an imprinted message in Sebastian's head telling him to overcome his demons.
She's basically burned into his brain, same with Anima's appearance and location. It's heavily hinted Tatiana was at one point, a real person. As there is an identical corpse at the reception desk of Beacon in TEW1. For futher context: She's an imprint that manifests whenever he's hooked up to STEM, as revealed before the final boss of TEW2.
I can't unhear sebastion saying "What the--" or "What the hell?" every 2 minutes. It's so funny seeing as someone who has seen some shit in his day is still saying that shit.
The enemies look the way they do because of the antagonists that created them, specifically their behavior. Disciples and Harbingers are fire foes because of Theodore's "Fire and Brimstone" religious preferences. He's the epitome of the old testament bible, where sins and guilt were punished with extreme measures, seen when he uses Sebastian's guilt against him. Stefano's Guardian and Obscura are both products of the women he killed. There's even a section in one of the art piece quests where you watch a woman being butchered by Stefano, with him telling her that she will be used to form Obscura. The Guardian, similarly, is based not only on Stefano's victims, but his desire to strike at those who don't appreciate his "art." Myra's "white stuff" is either semen or breastmilk, both strongly related to motherhood. Her overprotective motherly instinct leads to her minions literally "dripping" with it. As for Anima, she seems to mean different things for different people in the game, but it strongly relates to paranoia and fear. The priest in the game dies because Anima killed him, due to his overwhelming paranoia of not being forgiven, for example. For Sebastian, she's a manifestation of the part of him that's still trapped within STEM (figuratively). He states many times that he was never sure that he ever left STEM, and everyone telling him that he was crazy made it worse. This is why Anima appears to him; he can't escape the fear he has of being forever lost in Ruvik's STEM nightmare. This is why Anima disappears after Seb kills the paranoid "trapped" part of his mind, as he has certainty that he's not in Beacon anymore and has lost his paranoia.
"I`m more rational than that, I base my values as a human being on more important things. Like the number of youtube subscribers and twitter followers I have" Hehe, that one made me giggle
Story explanation? Is that even necessary? Unlike the first game they treat you like a total moron and explain exactly what's happening constantly. I was hoping maybe something interesting would happen like we side with the insane cult leader but nope 10 minutes later they explain exactly why he's your next villain in this Jojo's-esque enemy of the week format they adopted for the second game. Knife? Useful? Are you insane? Stealth relevant past the first area? Not relevant more like mandatory and also insanely overpowered because you can just turn a corner and queue up instakill moves in a crowd of enemies with no downside. Late into the game I found out you can corner stab BOSSES and I proceeded to not even pull out guns anymore just beating bosses on the hardest difficulty by walking slowly around a pillar while they chase me like they're sleepwalking. In the original game stealth was always an option but it was thematically only used because you had nothing, it was desperate times and thus needed to improvise. Like classical survival horror you start scared and weak and grow and overcome your fears and opposition. Otherwise it's a stale game where nothing changes. If features didn't get dumped to make way for new stuff it would have been torture but they kept raising the stakes in the first game. Meanwhile you get a full-fledged sniper rifle first map in the sequel which is hilarious. You can max out your crossbow bolts within the first few areas making most enemies irrelevant with unlimited ammo from how easy it is to craft default bolts. "Jarring shifts in tone and setting?" Do you realize what the game was set in? Maybe there was a reason for all of that stuff I dunno... The second game literally put me to sleep it was so pointless, there were no questions, no plot I could even slightly care about, the only motivation was a blatant retcon'd character that spat in my face as a fan of the original. Evil Within 2 was an infinitely shittier game than the original which was a masterpiece of not holding the player's hand, keeping the questions flowing, upping the ante all throughout the game with better enemies, set pieces, plot developments, weaponry, fights, puzzles, everything. The worst part of Evil Within 1? The DLC where you play as Kidman which very clearly framed the development team's ideas for the sequel as all the additions from that DLC are put into the second game. At 15:00 when you're complaining about the board covering the gap after you say the map designs much better and the pacing's better... Why would he just rip the board off then stop at the door which is somehow locked by not seeing past events yet? The only logical route would be for him to have a reason to rip the board off like seeing lily run through it. Why is that board even there when Lily ran through it? Why not just lock Sebastian out of the entire building instead of letting him in early? Your criticisms are so lazy idk man. Tripwires during the first bossfight also affect the guardian. You could have infinitely slowed her for the door... or just pop the barrel and not immediately run through it?
what a tragedy this franchise was, the second game flopped bad pretty much killing the franchise in the crib, all because people failed to understand the depth and complexity of the first game, it was pretty advanced for the kind of audience it was advertised to, truly a misunderstood masterpiece, we will probably never see a sequel for this.
"Mobius looks inept by this point" The company was talked up like it's a no-nonsense organization. Even look like you'll betray them, and you're dead. Yet it wasn't until Kidman gets into the area with the bathtubs and starts preparing to ruin STEM that the administrator decides to try and blow up her chip. Also they have like 6 dudes protecting their all important machine for their world domination plan, no remote locks, and it doesn't require a Mobius chip to access unlike that room in the lab.
i think that was not a main guy of mobius :D and its just a start of bossing imho, but yes that defence was too easy for kidman maybe she was a badass ? :D
Yeah, I agree with you the ending of the game felt really rushed and forced tbh. the end of Mobius feels more like a plot hole to me than a conclusion.
Technically it's a better game, but it is MUCH less interesting and that is why I prefer the first game. I was hooked until the very end playing Evil Within, but Evil Within 2 I gave up because I was bored.
It is definitely a different style of play. The story was more accessible,but not as interesting unless you played the first game. I thought that they should have used the moment where Sebastian actually has a moment with Billy early on the games actually get to audience to care about her.
i beat the first game like 7 times, the last couple times on akumu, and just can't seem to get tired of it. after beating the 2nd game once, i never had the desire to play it again. for me the first game is better in every possible way, especially the story, atmoshere, and boss fights. some of the best boss fights i've seen in a game of this type.
The first game had such a complex story with a lot of potential. The second game was nothing but a lame family drama that no one wanted for this series. It’s still sad.
Anybody notice how the outfit Sebastian wears in the bar and the drifter outfit the player unlocks at the end of the game is strikingly similar to James Sunderland's outfit from Silent Hill 2??
Yes! Glad someone else pointed this out! The colors are shifted (different shade of pants and undershirt) and the jacket is sans some patches but it's otherwise the same ensemble. I've been wearing it pretty much exclusively since for that reason. :D With how many other little nods to other gaming series, this has to be intentional.
UltimateCarl you're right, it has to be intentional, the game has many similarities to Silent Hill, from Union to his Sebastian deals with his personal grief, the outfit seems intentionally put there to tribute the inspiration for it.
Carl Brutananadalewski when I drink coffee I only drink 2 big cups at the time and I can say that I never have the problem you have luckily enough I'm usually done with in 3 minutes but good luck with it, and I can't believe I just talk about my bathroom time in a UA-cam comment.
Yo Rags xD good to see you follow this incredible dude. Chris, you've become my 1 source of entertainment while cooking - best "reviews" out there - I love them - they are literally entertainment by themselves!
Storywise, The Evil Within 1 was a lot better than 2. The first game didn’t have the greatest story but it was compelling and felt unique at least. 2’s story felt really generic and I didn’t care about it at all.
I was disappointed with this game. I think the Organization's goals should have been kept secret, with the Administrator having such a macabre and incomprehensible goal that trying to explain it would make a person want to commit suicide. Valentini was supposed to be Lodovic's henchman who helped him enter the new Stem in order to corrupt Lilly's mind in order to turn her into a real psychopath in order to destroy the new Stem and Moebius. Aside from revenge, the reason he wanted to do this was because the Stem was preventing Ludovic from using his new powers (he would be able to manipulate the reality perspective of people in the real world, which, in his theory, could bend reality itself) in full, and that he would have taken a liking to the girl, wanting to corrupt her by believing that the people he cares about must see the true bizarreness of reality. Finally, the Priest should actually be Ludovic's henchman, with a twisted and macabre view of religion and spirituality due to the fact that he discovered the Administrator's plan. He would serve as the villain of the story organized by Valentini. It's like that, I think to corrupt Lilly, Ludovic should want to get closer to her, earning her love and trust, saying that he wanted to release her from Stem, and to help him in that goal, Valentini would create this story in which the Priest was an evil villain who sought kill Lilly, and that his only hope of survival was Ludovic. Valentini would simply want to take pictures of the complete chaos, not directly participating in the story he created. In other words, I think the game should alternate between Sebastian and Lilly, with Priest being the antagonist of Lilly's scenario, while Valentini would be the antagonist of Sebastian's scenario. Perhaps Myra/the Matriarch could be something of a mango letter to Ludovic if the Priest failed in his role. Due to her obsession with protecting her daughter and inability to face the real world again at the risk of losing her again, Ludovic could have corrupted her to the point where his own daughter would become afraid of her mother, and hence of her father out of paranoia, starting to trust Ludovic 100% (this would be the last option, as Ludovic preferred the girl not to lose her original loved ones, as he knows the pain of loss, preferring to corrupt them too so that everyone could be one sick, happy and united family).
I’ve always hated the family dramas, but this game made me hate that type of stories even more. When they focuses on parent-child relationship(well not really in this game because both Sebastian and Lily are so shallow as a character), they forgets everything else and treat every other character like shit. I hate that.
This game’s story was trash. It ignored the first game and heavily focused on the story of Sebastian’s daughter and wife, which nobody was interested in. There was almost no story build-up and all the “emotional” scenes felt empty. It was really disappointing.
Was about to comment about you been so sarcastic about everything to that extra length and you just then said "im sorry im British I can't help it" Me: oh I guess that's quiet a legit reason.
The Evil Within 2 isn't difficult at all. You just need to kill all the lost and conserve ammo. I completed it on Nightmare difficulty on my first playthrough in just 2 hours. You clearly don't understand what the developers were trying to do. They did link the camera and aiming sensitivity on purpose because they only want to appeal to REAL GAMERS. All these entitled modern gamers just need to git gud. TL;DR The Evil Within 2 is the Dark Souls of survival horror and IF YOU DISAGREE U JUST A HATER!!1!!111111!!!111!
NO YOU DON'T GET IT BEING LIKE DARK SOULS ISN'T WHAT DARK SOULS IS ABOUT ITS ABOUT BEING LIKE THE EVIL WITHIN 2 SO THAT'S WHY THE EVIL WITHIN 2 IS DARK SOULS!!!!!!!111!!!11
Is that your opinion? You should make a UA-cam channel and express it there. I don't think anyone will watch it though. Simply because you're a shitty person with no people skills. Have a beautiful day.
The evil within overall is a great game. The clunky controls and 30 fps added to the atmosphere of horror. It felt like playing a old film. The sequel? Its okay. Lol all that made the 1st special was lost in this one.
The predator skill is a bit wonky, however, I had no trouble using it, the main catch is that the red arrow behaves like aiming arc for a crossbow, meaning that it won't be in the center of a screen almost all the time. Also, you have to mash sneak kill button, otherwise Sebastian will just knock into enemies(
I still believe that the first Evil within is better than the second just because of how much terror and there were a lot more jump scares than the second. I like the second it's a good game don't get me wrong but the first will always have my vote
Robert Cross yeah there are a billion better open world stealth action games lol I don’t Play tew for that I play it for stress fear enemy design and environments I was really disappointed by the way this went
Evil Within 2 was a disgrace to the first game in my eyes. I didn’t care about Lily at all, I just miss Joseph and hope he’s having a better life than Sebastian.
Loved both of your critiques. I really did enjoy this game, but as a big original fan of the first game, I enjoyed the first better. I know a lot of people didn't like it, but I loved it. I liked how complex it is was. Made it more interesting. I also felt like the first game was scarier. This one was incredibly easy to get through. Ive played through twice to get all the collectibles, notes, etc. But I'd probably play through the first again before I would the second.
The first one was scarier cause it was a scripted enviroment where in EW2 you can free roam. The free roam obviously takes away the immersive and scary aspects of the game.
Tagic Mrooper - Late reply. But I think unscripted events and random encounters make the game scarier. Let's say you played through the game one time and missed and event. You play through it the second time, and stumble across that event. You're freaking the fuck out cause you've never seen it. It keeps you guessing. There are crazy things in 2 that you can miss just by not walking through a door.
I loved the first game for it's worldbuilding, story with tons of intrigue and the massive slew of nightmarish environments - and the game was pretty scary when it wanted to be with the Laura sections and the parts with the two-headed alter egos. It's combat was fun too even if it has some janky game design and flaws and the story was delivered poorly despite how good it is. I loved the second game for its more personal story that was genuinely emotional at times, it pulled me in with its tighter gameplay and Stefano was a really magnetic villain where I feel his simple desire to make macabre art without any critical eyes made him a really fun character, it's a shame he died off way too early imo. The stealth was tons of fun which is amazing to me since I usually hate stealth games but would use it as an option before mashing everything up. It's just a shame it lost that magic of the first game's story, combat was downplayed dramatically and has some really dull environments until the final portions of the games (the desert is beautiful
I liked it, but I preferred the careful breakneck pace of the first game with the constant fucking with you. Boss fights were better and situations were better. But what I miss the most is the atmosphere. Like you said, Evil Within 2 looks very unpolished and like it was hastily put together. The art direction for both the world and the monsters is not there, and sometimes it looks like it was thrown together in Unity. It can be downright ugly at times. One interesting thing about the art direction - they actually fired the woman who made the most enemy designs. She was chosen by Shinji to direct, but supposedly she was fired. Look it up if you care.
Yeah, again like you said. First one has incredible highs and lows, but this one is just in the middle. Nothing too amazing, nothing too horrible. It's like a Marvel move.
+TadejVig If I gave the first game any praise outside the match and trap system, I also prefer the bosses in the original personally. The two best boss fights in TEW2 get shoe-horned in for a continuing rematch so quickly after the original encounter, and that takes some of that magic away. I know we re-fight two of the best bosses in the original game (three if you count a QTE), but feels more like a rushed greatest hits than a real boss fight. I do prefer the sequel overall, and for the most part enjoyed the atmosphere, yet it clearly does have some dull areas as well.
+Supersonic Knockout While I enjoy the original and it is a game with more challenge; I can't find myself agreeing with the Ubisoft reference. The Evil Within 2 is a sequel taking a lot of the criticism from the original to heart and not all for the better. However I do believe both are enjoyable, though both have positives and negatives.
The Evil Within 2 was both better and worse than its fore bearer. The mechanics were improved and the controls seem better suited, but story-wise and environments I found it to be lacking. Also, I was hoping that Ruvik would re-appear as the enemy once again, but he is MIA in this game and not even mentioned. The whole, "rescue your daughter" scenario was a poor decision, imho.
Another great video Chris. I think what makes your content great is that its not a product review or an analysis but a longform commentary. It's like someone telling me a bedtime story about a video game I can't be arsed to pay $80 for lol
I just beat the game over the weekend. it took me about 19 hours or so on my first try. The game is not hard. like once you go down the stealth tree you could pretty much duck walk your way to victory. also the boss fights are infuriating. like seriously infuriating. Also a part of the game that boils my blood is the fire war part before the stronghold. but the boss rush of father Theodore is nice. it's seby taking back the power and it is done really well.
I see a lot of comments from fans of the first game who hated the sequel and vice versa. I think they're both pretty shit but I kept playing because when they're at their best, they KINDA resemble Resi 4 (the only good video game in the world). I thought the open areas in the sequel were well put together and I enjoyed searching for scrap, but I prefer the linear level design of the first game. The stealth has improved dramatically but I felt like there was less action overall compared to the first -- I was mostly just cheesing enemies and abusing that corner take down move. One thing I really like is that the shooting gallery minigame in the sequel actually helped me get better at the game. That gallery really highlights how weird the hitboxes are -- especially when enemies are moving -- and after getting the maximum rank on each of the stages, I was pulling off headshots like nobody's business. Good stuff. By the way, I only recently found your channel and have been thoroughly enjoying your content, cheers.
Even though its old you should do a review on Spec Ops: The Line. Its short and really good. Also another short indie game that would warrant a good review would be To The moon.
Thank you for this video. I always thought of the second game as a major improvement on the first gameplay-wise, but somewhat of a downgrade in the story department. (That's not to say I disliked the story of the second game, but it did seem underwhelming compared to that of the first game.) I'm glad to hear I'm not alone in thinking this. Also, thank you for calling out Sebastian's odd confusion at everything that is going on around him. Not only does it not make sense considering what he's already been through and the fact that this time he actually knows he's in STEM, but he voices it so many times that it becomes genuinely distracting. It is a real shame they didn't include Ruvik or Joseph in the sequel and it's also pretty sad that DLC or a third game isn't looking like it's happening at this point. However, I'm glad your two videos exist and that I was able to revisit the games in this unique way. Thank you again and let us hope together we'll get a third game that masterfully combines the story of the first game with the gameplay of the second because if we do, that will be the prizewinner of the series.
31:07 Alright, let's try this template of yours: DARK SOULS isn't difficult at all. You just need to kill all of the HOLLOWS and conserve ESTUS FLASKS. I completed it on KEYBOARD CONTROLS on my first playthrough in just ONE HUNDRED hours. For reference, this is absolutely not true. But I challenge anyone to create a humble-brag more typical that that.
I beat the game on Classic Difficulty (you can't upgrade your weapons or your character) aim assist disabled. Litterally never had a problem with aiming
nukkumatin_vasen_koukku yeah it is, the first Evil within I'd say is something of a cult classic and the The Evil Within 2 is just a mainstream enjoyed game.
Much as I like to joke about a certain antagonist's ambition of creating an entire world of semen, the white goo always struck me as melted candle wax more than anything else.
19:05 - The smoother way is to keep running around the arena. In my play through, I killed it with all the traps and ammo scattered around it. It is actually an awesome sequence: Tense, frantic, and interesting.
All of the scares in the game, are jump scares, no tension, since it's pretty obvious when there will be jump scares. Even the worst silent hill games had more tension
One plot thing I don't like (I'm making too many comments) but when Kidmin activates the kill switch wouldn't that kill Lilly who has the chip, Sykes as well, maybe even Tatiana the nurse?
@29:00 That problem you're talking about is Tango Gameworks fault. There are many games (such as Gears of War games and Assassin's Creed Origins/Odyssey) that's don't have this problem at all. This issue exists with controller on PC as well with Evil Within 2. Steam forums have made many complaints and attempted fixes for it. It's got something to do with how they wired the dead zones (in a plus sign formation). When you spin the reticle in a circle you'll notice it tends to lock towards the cardinal directions on the analog stick. It ends up kind of drawing a box shape instead of a circle (mentally). I hate how they did that with the aiming. My guess is they did this as part of the mandatory aiming upgrades but went to far as the aiming upgrades never fix it.
first game had a mystery element about it which made you want to keep playing to find out whereas the sequel had no mystery we knew what was going on at all times pretty much, and the ending they went with was the most predictable and boring one possible - the good guys won and killed all the baddies, no twist at all. The voice actor for Sebastian was terrible and there was a ton of cringey dialogue and almost all of the bosses were terrible and easy to defeat - there was no need to utilise the environment, all the bosses were Killable with bullets
I love these in-depth critiques; it is like inserting the memory of having played the game without having to spend time playing it. Random thoughts, occasional rants, plot theories - it’s all good. And Father Ted: I am almost certain I would not have spotted that. Fantastic.
Yep, I loved TEW 2 and I think it deserves to do better than the preceding game, but it is lacking the claustrophobia and harshness of the first game. And the second antagonist's two types of fire-aligned minions are lame enemies that offer a frustrating challenge and threat but are not nearly as freaky and scary as they should be.
here is my list for making the 3rd game in the evil within series after watching these video to make it just perfect 1.give us the choice between using matches or stomping on their heads/body for an easy kill 2.make the knife a selectable weapon that just isn't used for stealth kills 3.make stealth a full option all the way through the game instead of just in a few sections 4.make the weapons precise and not bad with the hit boxes 5.explain what happened to joseph and sykes and how they would get out of STEM 6. put every subversive survival horror trope forward for example the girl with the knife that turns around if you try to stealth kill her or recall all the 90's tropes from silent hill resident evil clock tower alone in the dark est. 7. don't be afraid to mix horror and action like something a kin to dead space 2 If they do these things I think the evil within 3 could be something special and perfect horror masterpiece
@@sure1994 that wasn't a corpse his mind is still in stem cause in the second game when you collect all the slides for the projector kidman cleary says Joseph isn't dead
Thank you once again so much for this. I personally liked this one more, but your points are all completely valid and you present your arguments clearly. And yes, self-important humble-braggers are bollock suckers.
Just found your channel. Gone through about 3 of your vids now. Nice work and I like the way you present things. I have subbed as I am interested to see what else you do.
I’m playing this right now on my XboxOneX and I’m still on chapter 3, though all I’ve got left to do is get to Lily’s signal (I’m 6.5 hours in so probably spent the same amount of time as you did there). They apparently never patched that bug with the breakable piece of wood in the garage because I had the exact same problem last night. Pisses me right off, as does the fact I have to stop watching the video 15 minutes in until I beat the game. Thanks for the the rundown of the first game; I never played it so your video was super helpful. Also, I can confirm that the XboxOneX has zero frame rate issues (so far anyway) and even has a setting that allows it to exceed 30 FPS. I’m quite enjoying the game and can’t wait to watch the rest of this when I’m done! EDIT: LMAO it wasn’t a bug, it was just annoying design
Seriously, this game was so boring compared to the first game. To be fair the first one had flaws and it was like 65-85 game, but EW2 just felt like 40-50 game😂
Finally finished playing it myself and I'm eager to hear your thoughts on the game, had to postpone watching when this video first came out because spoilers, I love these long form video game reviews especially when I've played the game myself. I see your game looks very bright in your footage, adjusting the gamma slider so the symbol is barely visible does wonders for the visuals in this game by making dark areas actually dark, far more atmospheric that way.
Agreed with a lot of what you had to say but I do have a question I also played on ps4 day of release and I had no frame drops or shuttering am I the only one?
Chris Davis it was on a regular ps4 an older model too actually lol I just wondered cause I played through 3 times new game plus all that good stuff and never seen frame drops so I just wondered
story is easily the worst part of this game. in TEW1 story wasn't very impressive either, but it was also absent most of the time, so it didn't interfere with my experience. the whole thing felt like dream sequence, which I loved. TEW2 doesn't have this magic, its story just feels contrived and stupid. it's got a lot of plot holes, too.
So are all those people in STEM actual real people from other parts of the world that Mobius recruited or kidnapped and plugged them into different STEMs?
The shooting was so bad that I had to play with aim assist. Also my playthrough had lots of bugs. One time, close to the end of the game, a boss hit me and I fell under the damn map. The game also froze multiple times when I tried to view the photographic slides. Both times I had to load a previous save. Luckily it autosaves or I wouldve been fucked. This game deserved to be crafted better. Im disappointed but I also enjoyed the game. I got almost 20 hours out of my first playthrough.
Once again ! I agree with most of the critic but I probably liked the game less than you ! While playing it I certainly had fun but the obvious flaws I felt while playing only got worse the more i think about the game. To me this one is another 3/5. It's a more consistent game, for better and for worse, but it's consistent in areas that I don't care for and doesn't much refine the elements that were already strong or unique in the first game, in fact it forsakes some of them. I liked the matches ! They're gone. I liked the traps ! They're gone. I liked that weapon upgrade and character upgrade used the same ressource, forcing you to be choosy between offense and defense ! That's irrelevant now (and really, not that big a deal, but still, I don't think the change was for the better). I liked most bosses ! The new ones are pretty boring, you can literally run around them and avoid everything they throw at you and there's less of them. I like the variety in the settings ! That's gone. I liked that the world was based upon people's psyche ! That's much less prevalent. I liked the mind bending transitions (and would have loved if the mind-bending nature of the setting actually bled into gameplay instead of just being window-dressing) ! They're much rarer (and it's still just window dressing, even when there are opportunity to use the setting within the gameplay like giving Stefano's camera as a reward for beating him so that we could use his power to slow down time, the game doesn't capitalize on it cos that would require actual fucking thought to give the player a mechanic that's RIGHT THERE. IT'S RIGHT THERE. WHY. FUCKING WHY. But sure, give me Torres' assault rifle, that's unique !). Also I feel like you're not giving the plot enough curse words, honestly. I think it's just plain mediocre. Not bad enough to be funny, not good enough to be enjoyable, just typical mediocre video-game writing. Even with what is already in the game, there were so many ways to make it better. Theodore and Torres feel completely superfluous and both of them plus Myra (or rather replace Torres' role by Myra and Hoffman so that we actually get more time with these two characters) should have been introduced sooner in different conditions so that their eventual plots actually meant a thing. Theodore betrays the team ? Myra turns crazy ? None of these elements come together in a cohesive manner, instead we need to explain these elements in the desert section at the end clumsily. Desert section that I otherwise liked due to the music and the setting but these memories you see going through it feel completely at odds with whatever feeling the setting is supposed to inspire and could have been actual plotpoint making the narrative flow better while leaving room in this desert for character to reminisce about what this house meant to them. This is what this game is. It's frustrating to think about. If you just consume it and move on, it's fine ! If you stop to think two seconds about anything, it just breaks and so many other game offer similar experiences but-better. I can chase my daughter in a small and nightmarish american town named Silent Hill. I can explore another mindfucked town in Bloodborne and won't be interrupted every two seconds by the game's stupid idea to introduce every monster through cutscenes so that I know I'm safe. I can explore broken minds in Psychonauts where the fact that I'm in a mind and they're unhealthy actually comes into play. I can stealth around better in Splinter Cell. I can pop heads as satisfyingly in Gears Of War. Evil Within wasn't great but it showed promise to me and was a fun enough melting pot that could be great if the good part were expanded, especially since in 2014, a tough 3rd person shooter that had mechanics beyond crouch behind the cover then pop occasionally was special. Rather than work on that promise, EW2 just blandified itself. I can't help but be rather disappointed, even if I genuinely had some fun.
I don't disagree with much of what you said, even if I liked the game more. The story is definitely mediocre, but it's told in a way people can easily follow. The first game's story was good, but badly told. It took more work than it should to understand what was going on. The first game rewarded people who delved into the lore, but let's be honest, it did kind of fall apart as well if you thought about it too much. I still have my fingers crossed for a TEW3 that can combine the best of both games.
I agree that it was too much of a hassle to figure out where all the bricks that made the first game's plot fit it, but I wouldn't mind the complexity had it been in service of characters I wanted to know more about or whatever fascinating ideas the game could have had. If it had an emotional payoff. Which is something the sequel still lacks, so even if I agree that the sequel has a technically better narrative (mostly by virtue of existing), it doesn't really matter to me cos I'm still not invested and it annoys me to notice that. I wanna like it, wanna feel something, but at every turn I (pretentiously) feel like I could have written and directed it all better than the people who worked on it and it's so frustrating. Anyway, if there's a TEW 3, here's the completely random disembodied twist that I thought of in a story that doesn't exist yet and won't actually include it : the protagonist, Sebastian, who spent this third game trying to escape Ruvik's mind again, was in fact the meek Leslie ! Gasp, what a twist. He propped himself up due to his lack of identity and confidence, thus came to assume Sebastian's form since Seb was the only one who exhibited some strength against Ruvik while also trying to selflessly protect Leslie during the first game. Not that it'll happen tho given poor sales. Then again I bought the game digitally and those numbers aren't yet released as far as I know.
It's a shame Mikami didn't direct the sequel. Apparently the director of this game directed the orginal dlc, but never directed a full game before and it shows. It's obvious the developers listened to the wrong criticism because the depth and challenge from the original is gone. But the sequel has new flaws as well, the AI is bad and easy to expose. Control is worse too, sometimes unresponsive (PS4 version at least) and slower movement speed. Even the level design isn't as good and has alot of recycled assets and no traps(except the rare tripwire set piece traps you can't disable for no good reason.) I could go on but overall Evil Within 2 was a dissapointing sequel full of unnecessary downgrades and more generic AAA game design. I'm not surprised it got alot of praise though since most of the praise isn't from fans of the original.
Jman Rising Mikami said The Evil Within is to be the last game he's directing. I'm not sure where I heard this from, but I distinctly remember the sensation of getting disappointed by it. Aside from him, there's only a handful of true survival horror directors that are still active.
Nice video you got there, man. Very informative and insightful. I just want this thrown out there: I particularly loved the fire walk sequence. I think it the idea behind it was effectively translated into that section. I loved every moment of it.
One random aside, on Ruvik not "doing anything for three years," how I view it is Mobius has eyes everywhere so Ruvik probably went into hiding. He doesn't want to end up in Mobius hands again. However, in TEW2 Sebastian and the lot destroy Mobius, which is to their own gain but with Mobius out of the picture this also means that Ruvik can roam freely again.
Just a thought.
it's a possibility. Ruvik doesn't really seem like the type to lay low for any reason though
EXACTLEY WHAT I BELIEVE THE EVIL WITHIN 3 WILL BE ABOUT
NIK DA GREEK I pray we get it but I’m not holding my breath 😭 which makes me really really sad to say
@@haydeng3316 after he got beat in the first game i figured hed want to lay low for awhile.
@@haydeng3316 Ay?
I know this is late but me and my friend just played through this and we had a pretty similar experience as far as buggy enemies and feeling that the story and game play lacked some attention. He however was able to sneak kill the boss guys with flamethrowers, he got in one attack and they went right back to their same routine.
I honestly preferred the first one over this. I'm glad the controls are much more smoother and gameplay in general but I preferred the linear chapter to chapter progression of the first one over this idyllic hub based town just doesn't feel like right for the game. Story I thought was fairly bland with the whole save your daughter arc. I mean the first one was batshit insane and could've been been better, but it all made sense if you collected all the clues and plsyed the dlc (for the most part anyway, big mistake locking major story points behind the dlc). I also must be the only one who missed the matches as well, I loved luring enemies to other dead bodies and blazing it up especially with Laura they were life savers (ew1 veterans you know what I mean). Lastly the atmosphere, first game nailed atmosphere for me. Felt like the saw meets the matrix but with the sequel it just feels like the matrix meets silent hill and that to me reflects in the level of the town you're in. I just didn't like it as much as the first games atmosphere. So basically I really liked the ew2 it definetly stepped it up in terms of gameplay for the most part but just felt plain in atmosphere and story oh and also enemy designs, I felt there were not many monster types compared to the first one or at least not encountered as much like those bloated monsters when unions on fire I completely forgot they were in the game. Yea long comment here so if anyone read it then props to you go get yourself cookie!
I agree I like the linear progression from the first, TEW 2 gets a bit more linear in the later half (which is the half that I prefer)
The insanity helped so much with the first game. It kept breaking the rules, defying your assumptions that it would set up, when you fall sideways... through the walls, all bets are off nothing's safe not even the ground you're standing on. It was amazing.
the first game is so much better. far more interesting story and way better boss fights. i never had any problem with the controls in the first game. it felt pretty identical to 2 imo, the 2nd was just easier. i think people don't want to admit they like 2 because it's easier, so they say the controls are drastically improved. i just don't see this huge different in controls that many others seem to, in fact i liked them a little better in the first game.
Nah.
@@Jack_80 I'm not a huge fan of TEW 2 but it's absolutely got better controls than the first. Interactions and animations are way smoother than in TEW and Sebastian feels like he actually controls as a real person, being able to walk away from animations/execute animations with a lot more ease. Most importantly, he actually backpedals when you hit the S key ala RE and Dead Space, as opposed to doing a complete 180, which had been pretty clunky-feeling in practice.
I'm not really sure when you last played the TEW games, but I've been playing them back to back and TEW 2 very clearly has better controls right off the bat. TEW 1 wasn't even a difficult game to begin with, but then, I also have seen lots of TEW fanboys deciding anyone who found the game average at best must have found it hard, so that assumption of yours doesn't surprise me.
I figured Tatiana is appearing in Sebastian's mind because he now associates her with a safe haven. I also like to theorize that just like Sebastian's Office replaces the hospital, this Tatiana is a bit sassier and playful than her first incarnation, even throwing in fun minigames for Sebastian to unwind from the stress of his mission
+Dorumon Lives
Actually the end of the game in TEW2 tells the player it's the same Tatiana from the first game. And it's an imprinted message in Sebastian's head telling him to overcome his demons.
Dorumon Lives This is a cool theory. But yeah, I do believe it's the same woman from the first game.
I agree with this theory. Her words at the end seem to suggest this.
Love her
She's basically burned into his brain, same with Anima's appearance and location. It's heavily hinted Tatiana was at one point, a real person. As there is an identical corpse at the reception desk of Beacon in TEW1.
For futher context: She's an imprint that manifests whenever he's hooked up to STEM, as revealed before the final boss of TEW2.
I can't unhear sebastion saying "What the--" or "What the hell?" every 2 minutes. It's so funny seeing as someone who has seen some shit in his day is still saying that shit.
Ethan winters entered the chat 🤣
The enemies look the way they do because of the antagonists that created them, specifically their behavior.
Disciples and Harbingers are fire foes because of Theodore's "Fire and Brimstone" religious preferences. He's the epitome of the old testament bible, where sins and guilt were punished with extreme measures, seen when he uses Sebastian's guilt against him.
Stefano's Guardian and Obscura are both products of the women he killed. There's even a section in one of the art piece quests where you watch a woman being butchered by Stefano, with him telling her that she will be used to form Obscura. The Guardian, similarly, is based not only on Stefano's victims, but his desire to strike at those who don't appreciate his "art."
Myra's "white stuff" is either semen or breastmilk, both strongly related to motherhood. Her overprotective motherly instinct leads to her minions literally "dripping" with it.
As for Anima, she seems to mean different things for different people in the game, but it strongly relates to paranoia and fear. The priest in the game dies because Anima killed him, due to his overwhelming paranoia of not being forgiven, for example. For Sebastian, she's a manifestation of the part of him that's still trapped within STEM (figuratively). He states many times that he was never sure that he ever left STEM, and everyone telling him that he was crazy made it worse. This is why Anima appears to him; he can't escape the fear he has of being forever lost in Ruvik's STEM nightmare. This is why Anima disappears after Seb kills the paranoid "trapped" part of his mind, as he has certainty that he's not in Beacon anymore and has lost his paranoia.
+
This was pretty obvious
"I`m more rational than that, I base my values as a human being on more important things.
Like the number of youtube subscribers and twitter followers I have"
Hehe, that one made me giggle
"A disturbing scene where she force feeds a boy with British Airways finest chicken tikka masala" hahahahaha unexpected but appreciated :D
Same lol 😂
Yes!! I was so hoping you'd do an analysis of this game following your excellent Evil Within video.
Story explanation? Is that even necessary? Unlike the first game they treat you like a total moron and explain exactly what's happening constantly. I was hoping maybe something interesting would happen like we side with the insane cult leader but nope 10 minutes later they explain exactly why he's your next villain in this Jojo's-esque enemy of the week format they adopted for the second game.
Knife? Useful? Are you insane? Stealth relevant past the first area? Not relevant more like mandatory and also insanely overpowered because you can just turn a corner and queue up instakill moves in a crowd of enemies with no downside. Late into the game I found out you can corner stab BOSSES and I proceeded to not even pull out guns anymore just beating bosses on the hardest difficulty by walking slowly around a pillar while they chase me like they're sleepwalking. In the original game stealth was always an option but it was thematically only used because you had nothing, it was desperate times and thus needed to improvise. Like classical survival horror you start scared and weak and grow and overcome your fears and opposition. Otherwise it's a stale game where nothing changes. If features didn't get dumped to make way for new stuff it would have been torture but they kept raising the stakes in the first game. Meanwhile you get a full-fledged sniper rifle first map in the sequel which is hilarious. You can max out your crossbow bolts within the first few areas making most enemies irrelevant with unlimited ammo from how easy it is to craft default bolts. "Jarring shifts in tone and setting?" Do you realize what the game was set in? Maybe there was a reason for all of that stuff I dunno... The second game literally put me to sleep it was so pointless, there were no questions, no plot I could even slightly care about, the only motivation was a blatant retcon'd character that spat in my face as a fan of the original.
Evil Within 2 was an infinitely shittier game than the original which was a masterpiece of not holding the player's hand, keeping the questions flowing, upping the ante all throughout the game with better enemies, set pieces, plot developments, weaponry, fights, puzzles, everything. The worst part of Evil Within 1? The DLC where you play as Kidman which very clearly framed the development team's ideas for the sequel as all the additions from that DLC are put into the second game.
At 15:00 when you're complaining about the board covering the gap after you say the map designs much better and the pacing's better... Why would he just rip the board off then stop at the door which is somehow locked by not seeing past events yet? The only logical route would be for him to have a reason to rip the board off like seeing lily run through it. Why is that board even there when Lily ran through it? Why not just lock Sebastian out of the entire building instead of letting him in early? Your criticisms are so lazy idk man.
Tripwires during the first bossfight also affect the guardian. You could have infinitely slowed her for the door... or just pop the barrel and not immediately run through it?
what a tragedy this franchise was, the second game flopped bad pretty much killing the franchise in the crib, all because people failed to understand the depth and complexity of the first game, it was pretty advanced for the kind of audience it was advertised to, truly a misunderstood masterpiece, we will probably never see a sequel for this.
“Depth and complexity of the first game” ? I hope you electorate in that because TEW 1 isn’t complex at all in neither it’s story or it’s gameplay
Basically a simplefied silent hill?
Yeah I hate the second game so much, it pretty much killed all the potential that the first game had.
It sold over a million 🤣what are you talking about
2 sold better than 1
This game’s story was so boring, why they abandoned the first game’s storyline???
"Mobius looks inept by this point"
The company was talked up like it's a no-nonsense organization. Even look like you'll betray them, and you're dead. Yet it wasn't until Kidman gets into the area with the bathtubs and starts preparing to ruin STEM that the administrator decides to try and blow up her chip.
Also they have like 6 dudes protecting their all important machine for their world domination plan, no remote locks, and it doesn't require a Mobius chip to access unlike that room in the lab.
i think that was not a main guy of mobius :D and its just a start of bossing imho, but yes that defence was too easy for kidman maybe she was a badass ? :D
Yeah, I agree with you the ending of the game felt really rushed and forced tbh. the end of Mobius feels more like a plot hole to me than a conclusion.
By far my favorite channel to sit/sleep/eat and listen to! I love this channel, it's a hidden Gem!
Technically it's a better game, but it is MUCH less interesting and that is why I prefer the first game. I was hooked until the very end playing Evil Within, but Evil Within 2 I gave up because I was bored.
It is definitely a different style of play. The story was more accessible,but not as interesting unless you played the first game. I thought that they should have used the moment where Sebastian actually has a moment with Billy early on the games actually get to audience to care about her.
i beat the first game like 7 times, the last couple times on akumu, and just can't seem to get tired of it. after beating the 2nd game once, i never had the desire to play it again. for me the first game is better in every possible way, especially the story, atmoshere, and boss fights. some of the best boss fights i've seen in a game of this type.
It’s a better game
@@Jack_80 no
The first game had such a complex story with a lot of potential. The second game was nothing but a lame family drama that no one wanted for this series. It’s still sad.
Wrong
The story wasn’t complex a all
Evil Within was better. The atmosphere of the 1st game was one of the best ever
I liked 2 far better. But both are underrated.
Anybody notice how the outfit Sebastian wears in the bar and the drifter outfit the player unlocks at the end of the game is strikingly similar to James Sunderland's outfit from Silent Hill 2??
Nope, but I do now.
didn't think anything at first, but that is a fair point
Yes! Glad someone else pointed this out! The colors are shifted (different shade of pants and undershirt) and the jacket is sans some patches but it's otherwise the same ensemble. I've been wearing it pretty much exclusively since for that reason. :D
With how many other little nods to other gaming series, this has to be intentional.
UltimateCarl you're right, it has to be intentional, the game has many similarities to Silent Hill, from Union to his Sebastian deals with his personal grief, the outfit seems intentionally put there to tribute the inspiration for it.
Dr Strangelove holy shit i feel so dumb for not noticing
Once again just in time I was just about to make some coffee and now I have something to watch with it.
I went through 8 cups while watching! How long have you been on the toilet... I feel likes it's been years to me.
I just sat down with my morning coffee when I saw this notification.
Hazardous Bill for me here in the Netherlands it's evening I just finished diner when I saw the notification.
Carl Brutananadalewski when I drink coffee I only drink 2 big cups at the time and I can say that I never have the problem you have luckily enough I'm usually done with in 3 minutes but good luck with it, and I can't believe I just talk about my bathroom time in a UA-cam comment.
I specifically time my videos for your coffee time. You're welcome.
Ooof, that console framerate. I dunno how you guys do it.
The first one was even worse.
Yo Rags xD good to see you follow this incredible dude. Chris, you've become my 1 source of entertainment while cooking - best "reviews" out there - I love them - they are literally entertainment by themselves!
Rags it generally hit 60fps on unlocked frame rate mode on PS4 Pro ya know.. :)
Rags nice profile pic
Motion blur pays dividends
Storywise, The Evil Within 1 was a lot better than 2. The first game didn’t have the greatest story but it was compelling and felt unique at least. 2’s story felt really generic and I didn’t care about it at all.
I was disappointed with this game.
I think the Organization's goals should have been kept secret, with the Administrator having such a macabre and incomprehensible goal that trying to explain it would make a person want to commit suicide. Valentini was supposed to be Lodovic's henchman who helped him enter the new Stem in order to corrupt Lilly's mind in order to turn her into a real psychopath in order to destroy the new Stem and Moebius. Aside from revenge, the reason he wanted to do this was because the Stem was preventing Ludovic from using his new powers (he would be able to manipulate the reality perspective of people in the real world, which, in his theory, could bend reality itself) in full, and that he would have taken a liking to the girl, wanting to corrupt her by believing that the people he cares about must see the true bizarreness of reality. Finally, the Priest should actually be Ludovic's henchman, with a twisted and macabre view of religion and spirituality due to the fact that he discovered the Administrator's plan. He would serve as the villain of the story organized by Valentini. It's like that, I think to corrupt Lilly, Ludovic should want to get closer to her, earning her love and trust, saying that he wanted to release her from Stem, and to help him in that goal, Valentini would create this story in which the Priest was an evil villain who sought kill Lilly, and that his only hope of survival was Ludovic. Valentini would simply want to take pictures of the complete chaos, not directly participating in the story he created.
In other words, I think the game should alternate between Sebastian and Lilly, with Priest being the antagonist of Lilly's scenario, while Valentini would be the antagonist of Sebastian's scenario.
Perhaps Myra/the Matriarch could be something of a mango letter to Ludovic if the Priest failed in his role. Due to her obsession with protecting her daughter and inability to face the real world again at the risk of losing her again, Ludovic could have corrupted her to the point where his own daughter would become afraid of her mother, and hence of her father out of paranoia, starting to trust Ludovic 100% (this would be the last option, as Ludovic preferred the girl not to lose her original loved ones, as he knows the pain of loss, preferring to corrupt them too so that everyone could be one sick, happy and united family).
No
@@Hardcandydandydaddy1 don't worry, I've been improving this summary.
Who are valentini and lodovich
I’ve always hated the family dramas, but this game made me hate that type of stories even more. When they focuses on parent-child relationship(well not really in this game because both Sebastian and Lily are so shallow as a character), they forgets everything else and treat every other character like shit. I hate that.
This game’s story was trash. It ignored the first game and heavily focused on the story of Sebastian’s daughter and wife, which nobody was interested in. There was almost no story build-up and all the “emotional” scenes felt empty. It was really disappointing.
Was about to comment about you been so sarcastic about everything to that extra length and you just then said "im sorry im British I can't help it"
Me: oh I guess that's quiet a legit reason.
The Evil Within 2 isn't difficult at all. You just need to kill all the lost and conserve ammo. I completed it on Nightmare difficulty on my first playthrough in just 2 hours. You clearly don't understand what the developers were trying to do. They did link the camera and aiming sensitivity on purpose because they only want to appeal to REAL GAMERS. All these entitled modern gamers just need to git gud.
TL;DR The Evil Within 2 is the Dark Souls of survival horror and IF YOU DISAGREE U JUST A HATER!!1!!111111!!!111!
+Romulus Numa I'm so glad someone actually went to the effort to do this ;-)
This isn't the dark souls of anything. There is no punishment or risk for making a mistake. Auto saves and coffe to the rescue on nightmare.
Romulus Numa You forgot. ROYSTON!! ROYSTON!! A GAMES CRITIC STRUGGLING MEANS HE JUST DOESN'T THE BEAUTY OF HARDCORE GAMING!PREPARE MY MUSKET, ROYSTON!
NO YOU DON'T GET IT BEING LIKE DARK SOULS ISN'T WHAT DARK SOULS IS ABOUT ITS ABOUT BEING LIKE THE EVIL WITHIN 2 SO THAT'S WHY THE EVIL WITHIN 2 IS DARK SOULS!!!!!!!111!!!11
Is that your opinion? You should make a UA-cam channel and express it there. I don't think anyone will watch it though. Simply because you're a shitty person with no people skills. Have a beautiful day.
Ths Evil Within 2 has nothng on the first game.
The evil within overall is a great game. The clunky controls and 30 fps added to the atmosphere of horror. It felt like playing a old film. The sequel? Its okay. Lol all that made the 1st special was lost in this one.
It’s great
I played this game a few times, but never realized you could just abort the first boss fight like you showed. I always killed it and then moved on.
the second half of the game with Theodore didnt feel like survival horror. it kinda gave me more tomb rader with a little bit horror:/
The predator skill is a bit wonky, however, I had no trouble using it, the main catch is that the red arrow behaves like aiming arc for a crossbow, meaning that it won't be in the center of a screen almost all the time. Also, you have to mash sneak kill button, otherwise Sebastian will just knock into enemies(
I don't understand how people can like this one over the first one.
nomercy8989 I don't get it either. I was surprised how inferior the sequel really was. It really is a downgrade from the original in almost every way.
Cuz its a better game - 1st one just has better atmosphere
Easy. Better gameplay and better story
Reminder that the Classic mode (only 7 save slots for the entire game) STILL crashes regularly, mostly at chapters 5 and 7 iirc
I still believe that the first Evil within is better than the second just because of how much terror and there were a lot more jump scares than the second. I like the second it's a good game don't get me wrong but the first will always have my vote
Robert Cross yeah there are a billion better open world stealth action games lol I don’t
Play tew for that I play it for stress fear enemy design and environments I was really disappointed by the way this went
3 years late, I know.
But I just found your channel and I want to say I love your style of writing and editing. Keep up the good work! :)
Evil Within 2 was a disgrace to the first game in my eyes. I didn’t care about Lily at all, I just miss Joseph and hope he’s having a better life than Sebastian.
No
How tf do you care about Joseph
Loved both of your critiques. I really did enjoy this game, but as a big original fan of the first game, I enjoyed the first better. I know a lot of people didn't like it, but I loved it. I liked how complex it is was. Made it more interesting. I also felt like the first game was scarier. This one was incredibly easy to get through. Ive played through twice to get all the collectibles, notes, etc. But I'd probably play through the first again before I would the second.
Amanda Renea I felt the same way. EV1 felt more immersive maybe b/c of the 2 black bars but EV2 had better gameplay.
The first one was scarier cause it was a scripted enviroment where in EW2 you can free roam. The free roam obviously takes away the immersive and scary aspects of the game.
Tagic Mrooper - Late reply. But I think unscripted events and random encounters make the game scarier. Let's say you played through the game one time and missed and event. You play through it the second time, and stumble across that event. You're freaking the fuck out cause you've never seen it. It keeps you guessing. There are crazy things in 2 that you can miss just by not walking through a door.
I loved the first game for it's worldbuilding, story with tons of intrigue and the massive slew of nightmarish environments - and the game was pretty scary when it wanted to be with the Laura sections and the parts with the two-headed alter egos. It's combat was fun too even if it has some janky game design and flaws and the story was delivered poorly despite how good it is.
I loved the second game for its more personal story that was genuinely emotional at times, it pulled me in with its tighter gameplay and Stefano was a really magnetic villain where I feel his simple desire to make macabre art without any critical eyes made him a really fun character, it's a shame he died off way too early imo. The stealth was tons of fun which is amazing to me since I usually hate stealth games but would use it as an option before mashing everything up. It's just a shame it lost that magic of the first game's story, combat was downplayed dramatically and has some really dull environments until the final portions of the games (the desert is beautiful
I liked it, but I preferred the careful breakneck pace of the first game with the constant fucking with you. Boss fights were better and situations were better.
But what I miss the most is the atmosphere. Like you said, Evil Within 2 looks very unpolished and like it was hastily put together. The art direction for both the world and the monsters is not there, and sometimes it looks like it was thrown together in Unity. It can be downright ugly at times.
One interesting thing about the art direction - they actually fired the woman who made the most enemy designs. She was chosen by Shinji to direct, but supposedly she was fired. Look it up if you care.
I can definitely understand why people would prefer the first game. It's something special, even if I happen to think it's incredibly flawed.
Yeah, again like you said. First one has incredible highs and lows, but this one is just in the middle. Nothing too amazing, nothing too horrible. It's like a Marvel move.
+TadejVig
If I gave the first game any praise outside the match and trap system, I also prefer the bosses in the original personally. The two best boss fights in TEW2 get shoe-horned in for a continuing rematch so quickly after the original encounter, and that takes some of that magic away.
I know we re-fight two of the best bosses in the original game (three if you count a QTE), but feels more like a rushed greatest hits than a real boss fight.
I do prefer the sequel overall, and for the most part enjoyed the atmosphere, yet it clearly does have some dull areas as well.
The Evil Within 1 is a Masterpiece, the second is more casual and dumbed down for a larger audience. TEW 2 is more like a Ubisoft game
+Supersonic Knockout
While I enjoy the original and it is a game with more challenge; I can't find myself agreeing with the Ubisoft reference.
The Evil Within 2 is a sequel taking a lot of the criticism from the original to heart and not all for the better. However I do believe both are enjoyable, though both have positives and negatives.
I hate how they pretty much forgot about Ruvik...
They didn’t
The Evil Within 2 was both better and worse than its fore bearer. The mechanics were improved and the controls seem better suited, but story-wise and environments I found it to be lacking. Also, I was hoping that Ruvik would re-appear as the enemy once again, but he is MIA in this game and not even mentioned. The whole, "rescue your daughter" scenario was a poor decision, imho.
Another great video Chris. I think what makes your content great is that its not a product review or an analysis but a longform commentary. It's like someone telling me a bedtime story about a video game I can't be arsed to pay $80 for lol
Personaly the evil within 2 is a decent game but a terrible sequel
Was it just me but for some reason I thought the white goo was candle wax.
I think the white goo stuff is supposed to be candle wax. fire theme i guess?
Mother's milk
You are amazing Chris! Thanks for the most descriptive elaboration of this game. Massive respect!
First game was way better sure there was plot holes but had better bosses more creepy areas and away better antagonist
No
yes
I just beat the game over the weekend. it took me about 19 hours or so on my first try. The game is not hard. like once you go down the stealth tree you could pretty much duck walk your way to victory. also the boss fights are infuriating. like seriously infuriating. Also a part of the game that boils my blood is the fire war part before the stronghold. but the boss rush of father Theodore is nice. it's seby taking back the power and it is done really well.
How are the bosses infuriating? None of them are actually hard unlike the evil within 1. Unless that's what you meant...
Why would the wife of sebastian be working for the bad guys.?
I see a lot of comments from fans of the first game who hated the sequel and vice versa. I think they're both pretty shit but I kept playing because when they're at their best, they KINDA resemble Resi 4 (the only good video game in the world). I thought the open areas in the sequel were well put together and I enjoyed searching for scrap, but I prefer the linear level design of the first game. The stealth has improved dramatically but I felt like there was less action overall compared to the first -- I was mostly just cheesing enemies and abusing that corner take down move.
One thing I really like is that the shooting gallery minigame in the sequel actually helped me get better at the game. That gallery really highlights how weird the hitboxes are -- especially when enemies are moving -- and after getting the maximum rank on each of the stages, I was pulling off headshots like nobody's business. Good stuff.
By the way, I only recently found your channel and have been thoroughly enjoying your content, cheers.
Resi 4 is not the only good video game in a world with where there exist games like Ninja Gaiden 2 and Vanquish
Even though its old you should do a review on Spec Ops: The Line. Its short and really good. Also another short indie game that would warrant a good review would be To The moon.
Thank you for this video. I always thought of the second game as a major improvement on the first gameplay-wise, but somewhat of a downgrade in the story department. (That's not to say I disliked the story of the second game, but it did seem underwhelming compared to that of the first game.) I'm glad to hear I'm not alone in thinking this.
Also, thank you for calling out Sebastian's odd confusion at everything that is going on around him. Not only does it not make sense considering what he's already been through and the fact that this time he actually knows he's in STEM, but he voices it so many times that it becomes genuinely distracting.
It is a real shame they didn't include Ruvik or Joseph in the sequel and it's also pretty sad that DLC or a third game isn't looking like it's happening at this point. However, I'm glad your two videos exist and that I was able to revisit the games in this unique way. Thank you again and let us hope together we'll get a third game that masterfully combines the story of the first game with the gameplay of the second because if we do, that will be the prizewinner of the series.
31:07 Alright, let's try this template of yours:
DARK SOULS isn't difficult at all. You just need to kill all of the HOLLOWS and conserve ESTUS FLASKS. I completed it on KEYBOARD CONTROLS on my first playthrough in just ONE HUNDRED hours.
For reference, this is absolutely not true. But I challenge anyone to create a humble-brag more typical that that.
It’s different
aiming was horrendous, had to grab a couple upgrades hoping to negate some of it.
The sway upgrades helped a bit, but nowhere near enough.
I beat the game on Classic Difficulty (you can't upgrade your weapons or your character) aim assist disabled. Litterally never had a problem with aiming
@@kennethbunton4907 I mean, unupgraded weapon sway can be annoying on classic, but I do agree for the most part
I think that the first game is a lot better
Tom lee same here! this seemed too mainstream and casual
I agree. 2 is a dissapointing sequel with alot of unnecessary downgrades.
nukkumatin_vasen_koukku yeah it is, the first Evil within I'd say is something of a cult classic and the The Evil Within 2 is just a mainstream enjoyed game.
No
@@LAZYB00GiE no
The symbol from the letter at 8:00 looks similar to the one from that cult of resident Evil 4....
Also, what happened to Joseph?
Man, I played the shit out of those shooting range minigames. Just had to get that extra goo and crafting materials!
I cannot disagree enough when you said they dumped stealth after two hours. I used stealth the entire game where applicable.
Much as I like to joke about a certain antagonist's ambition of creating an entire world of semen, the white goo always struck me as melted candle wax more than anything else.
I really enjoy these videos. I can just sit down, relax, eat, and watch a long interesting video.
19:05 - The smoother way is to keep running around the arena. In my play through, I killed it with all the traps and ammo scattered around it. It is actually an awesome sequence: Tense, frantic, and interesting.
lol he did not know he was supposed to kill it...wtf
A recent sub. How do you not have more views? Your content is great. Keep it up!
All of the scares in the game, are jump scares, no tension, since it's pretty obvious when there will be jump scares.
Even the worst silent hill games had more tension
@MIS_behave it's fine you love jump scares but I don't
One plot thing I don't like (I'm making too many comments) but when Kidmin activates the kill switch wouldn't that kill Lilly who has the chip, Sykes as well, maybe even Tatiana the nurse?
Can i run evil within 2 on my pc at least on low-mid settings?(gtx 770 2 gb i5 3570 8 gb ram)
I honestly love your videos m8 and the humblebragging joke was especially funny
That damn piece of wood at around 15:00 aggravated me as well. I thought I'd be the only one haha.
I really love this video , great work
Perhaps the hitboxes aren't broken? Maybe it's supposed to represent a hidden accuracy rating for each weapon?
loved this mate, much love from australia !
Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed it.
Your level of snark and sarcasm have won you another sub, you cheeky lad lol
I appreciate your videos, your voice and format make your critiques so watchable! :)
I feel like a child waking up on Christmas morning when you upload, Chris. Keep it up!
+Dankinss Thanks!
@29:00
That problem you're talking about is Tango Gameworks fault. There are many games (such as Gears of War games and Assassin's Creed Origins/Odyssey) that's don't have this problem at all. This issue exists with controller on PC as well with Evil Within 2. Steam forums have made many complaints and attempted fixes for it. It's got something to do with how they wired the dead zones (in a plus sign formation). When you spin the reticle in a circle you'll notice it tends to lock towards the cardinal directions on the analog stick. It ends up kind of drawing a box shape instead of a circle (mentally). I hate how they did that with the aiming. My guess is they did this as part of the mandatory aiming upgrades but went to far as the aiming upgrades never fix it.
Is this the place where we can give TE2 the real critique it deserves? Reset Era is just full of praise :/
"this was always the plan, that is why I was trying to stop you from getting to the part of the plan you must do"
This game’s story is so poorly written
So is the first games
first game had a mystery element about it which made you want to keep playing to find out
whereas the sequel had no mystery we knew what was going on at all times pretty much, and the ending they went with was the most predictable and boring one possible - the good guys won and killed all the baddies, no twist at all.
The voice actor for Sebastian was terrible and there was a ton of cringey dialogue and almost all of the bosses were terrible and easy to defeat - there was no need to utilise the environment, all the bosses were Killable with bullets
I love these in-depth critiques; it is like inserting the memory of having played the game without having to spend time playing it. Random thoughts, occasional rants, plot theories - it’s all good. And Father Ted: I am almost certain I would not have spotted that. Fantastic.
My feelings in a nutshell: I liked this game but I loved the first, it was no masterpiece but it was a Shinji Mikami game
Yep, I loved TEW 2 and I think it deserves to do better than the preceding game, but it is lacking the claustrophobia and harshness of the first game. And the second antagonist's two types of fire-aligned minions are lame enemies that offer a frustrating challenge and threat but are not nearly as freaky and scary as they should be.
Yeah, fire based enemies are hardly original. It's a simulation--there's no need for such cliche enemy types.
What was in the USB that Kidman put in Sebastian's machine I can't find any info on it
here is my list for making the 3rd game in the evil within series after watching these video to make it just perfect
1.give us the choice between using matches or stomping on their heads/body for an easy kill
2.make the knife a selectable weapon that just isn't used for stealth kills
3.make stealth a full option all the way through the game instead of just in a few sections
4.make the weapons precise and not bad with the hit boxes
5.explain what happened to joseph and sykes and how they would get out of STEM
6. put every subversive survival horror trope forward for example the girl with the knife that turns around if you try to stealth kill her or recall all the 90's tropes from silent hill resident evil clock tower alone in the dark est.
7. don't be afraid to mix horror and action like something a kin to dead space 2
If they do these things I think the evil within 3 could be something special and perfect horror masterpiece
joseph was killed by kidman, in DLC at the ending you can see when kidman turns around her head and mobius guys dragging his corpse
@@sure1994 that wasn't a corpse his mind is still in stem cause in the second game when you collect all the slides for the projector kidman cleary says Joseph isn't dead
@@theguyinthere better wait for 3rd evil within
@@sure1994 yeah I'll wait
Thank you once again so much for this. I personally liked this one more, but your points are all completely valid and you present your arguments clearly. And yes, self-important humble-braggers are bollock suckers.
Just found your channel. Gone through about 3 of your vids now. Nice work and I like the way you present things. I have subbed as I am interested to see what else you do.
I’m playing this right now on my XboxOneX and I’m still on chapter 3, though all I’ve got left to do is get to Lily’s signal (I’m 6.5 hours in so probably spent the same amount of time as you did there). They apparently never patched that bug with the breakable piece of wood in the garage because I had the exact same problem last night. Pisses me right off, as does the fact I have to stop watching the video 15 minutes in until I beat the game. Thanks for the the rundown of the first game; I never played it so your video was super helpful. Also, I can confirm that the XboxOneX has zero frame rate issues (so far anyway) and even has a setting that allows it to exceed 30 FPS. I’m quite enjoying the game and can’t wait to watch the rest of this when I’m done!
EDIT: LMAO it wasn’t a bug, it was just annoying design
Yessssss, was looking forward to this. Glad you got to it so quick!
Seriously, this game was so boring compared to the first game. To be fair the first one had flaws and it was like 65-85 game, but EW2 just felt like 40-50 game😂
It even has unlockables...on the disc. Great critique! Very thorough 👌🏽 Just beat the game today after about 30 hours.
Finally finished playing it myself and I'm eager to hear your thoughts on the game, had to postpone watching when this video first came out because spoilers, I love these long form video game reviews especially when I've played the game myself. I see your game looks very bright in your footage, adjusting the gamma slider so the symbol is barely visible does wonders for the visuals in this game by making dark areas actually dark, far more atmospheric that way.
Agreed with a lot of what you had to say but I do have a question I also played on ps4 day of release and I had no frame drops or shuttering am I the only one?
+Cody Mendenhall Regular PS4? Or Pro? It's weird how experiences can differ on exactly the same hardware.
Chris Davis it was on a regular ps4 an older model too actually lol I just wondered cause I played through 3 times new game plus all that good stuff and never seen frame drops so I just wondered
Chris Davis also glad you mentioned the controller speaker during the ghost fights that freaked me out the first time it happened lol
Cody Mendenhall I played on Xbox one and I had some significant frame drops, but they weren't to to bad
It's about time someone used that speaker for something good! It's rarely used at all.
story is easily the worst part of this game. in TEW1 story wasn't very impressive either, but it was also absent most of the time, so it didn't interfere with my experience. the whole thing felt like dream sequence, which I loved. TEW2 doesn't have this magic, its story just feels contrived and stupid. it's got a lot of plot holes, too.
Arseniy Yavorśkyi disagree
disagree, first one was better cuz of of more dark horror and for story, but in second one visuals and story was good : )
I believe the term you were looking for was omni-directional for the reticle movement
So are all those people in STEM actual real people from other parts of the world that Mobius recruited or kidnapped and plugged them into different STEMs?
The shooting was so bad that I had to play with aim assist. Also my playthrough had lots of bugs. One time, close to the end of the game, a boss hit me and I fell under the damn map. The game also froze multiple times when I tried to view the photographic slides. Both times I had to load a previous save. Luckily it autosaves or I wouldve been fucked. This game deserved to be crafted better. Im disappointed but I also enjoyed the game. I got almost 20 hours out of my first playthrough.
love these types of videos, keep them up
Will do.
Have you completed the silent hill collection (remake 2 & 3)?
I’ve played the first game of the evil within however yet to play the 2nd!
Love that little rant. :D
Once again ! I agree with most of the critic but I probably liked the game less than you ! While playing it I certainly had fun but the obvious flaws I felt while playing only got worse the more i think about the game. To me this one is another 3/5. It's a more consistent game, for better and for worse, but it's consistent in areas that I don't care for and doesn't much refine the elements that were already strong or unique in the first game, in fact it forsakes some of them.
I liked the matches ! They're gone.
I liked the traps ! They're gone.
I liked that weapon upgrade and character upgrade used the same ressource, forcing you to be choosy between offense and defense ! That's irrelevant now (and really, not that big a deal, but still, I don't think the change was for the better).
I liked most bosses ! The new ones are pretty boring, you can literally run around them and avoid everything they throw at you and there's less of them.
I like the variety in the settings ! That's gone.
I liked that the world was based upon people's psyche ! That's much less prevalent.
I liked the mind bending transitions (and would have loved if the mind-bending nature of the setting actually bled into gameplay instead of just being window-dressing) ! They're much rarer (and it's still just window dressing, even when there are opportunity to use the setting within the gameplay like giving Stefano's camera as a reward for beating him so that we could use his power to slow down time, the game doesn't capitalize on it cos that would require actual fucking thought to give the player a mechanic that's RIGHT THERE. IT'S RIGHT THERE. WHY. FUCKING WHY. But sure, give me Torres' assault rifle, that's unique !).
Also I feel like you're not giving the plot enough curse words, honestly. I think it's just plain mediocre. Not bad enough to be funny, not good enough to be enjoyable, just typical mediocre video-game writing. Even with what is already in the game, there were so many ways to make it better. Theodore and Torres feel completely superfluous and both of them plus Myra (or rather replace Torres' role by Myra and Hoffman so that we actually get more time with these two characters) should have been introduced sooner in different conditions so that their eventual plots actually meant a thing. Theodore betrays the team ? Myra turns crazy ? None of these elements come together in a cohesive manner, instead we need to explain these elements in the desert section at the end clumsily. Desert section that I otherwise liked due to the music and the setting but these memories you see going through it feel completely at odds with whatever feeling the setting is supposed to inspire and could have been actual plotpoint making the narrative flow better while leaving room in this desert for character to reminisce about what this house meant to them.
This is what this game is. It's frustrating to think about. If you just consume it and move on, it's fine ! If you stop to think two seconds about anything, it just breaks and so many other game offer similar experiences but-better. I can chase my daughter in a small and nightmarish american town named Silent Hill. I can explore another mindfucked town in Bloodborne and won't be interrupted every two seconds by the game's stupid idea to introduce every monster through cutscenes so that I know I'm safe. I can explore broken minds in Psychonauts where the fact that I'm in a mind and they're unhealthy actually comes into play. I can stealth around better in Splinter Cell. I can pop heads as satisfyingly in Gears Of War.
Evil Within wasn't great but it showed promise to me and was a fun enough melting pot that could be great if the good part were expanded, especially since in 2014, a tough 3rd person shooter that had mechanics beyond crouch behind the cover then pop occasionally was special. Rather than work on that promise, EW2 just blandified itself. I can't help but be rather disappointed, even if I genuinely had some fun.
I don't disagree with much of what you said, even if I liked the game more. The story is definitely mediocre, but it's told in a way people can easily follow. The first game's story was good, but badly told. It took more work than it should to understand what was going on. The first game rewarded people who delved into the lore, but let's be honest, it did kind of fall apart as well if you thought about it too much. I still have my fingers crossed for a TEW3 that can combine the best of both games.
I agree that it was too much of a hassle to figure out where all the bricks that made the first game's plot fit it, but I wouldn't mind the complexity had it been in service of characters I wanted to know more about or whatever fascinating ideas the game could have had. If it had an emotional payoff. Which is something the sequel still lacks, so even if I agree that the sequel has a technically better narrative (mostly by virtue of existing), it doesn't really matter to me cos I'm still not invested and it annoys me to notice that. I wanna like it, wanna feel something, but at every turn I (pretentiously) feel like I could have written and directed it all better than the people who worked on it and it's so frustrating.
Anyway, if there's a TEW 3, here's the completely random disembodied twist that I thought of in a story that doesn't exist yet and won't actually include it : the protagonist, Sebastian, who spent this third game trying to escape Ruvik's mind again, was in fact the meek Leslie ! Gasp, what a twist. He propped himself up due to his lack of identity and confidence, thus came to assume Sebastian's form since Seb was the only one who exhibited some strength against Ruvik while also trying to selflessly protect Leslie during the first game.
Not that it'll happen tho given poor sales. Then again I bought the game digitally and those numbers aren't yet released as far as I know.
Rod VonBoche You sound like a entitled bitch
It's a shame Mikami didn't direct the sequel. Apparently the director of this game directed the orginal dlc, but never directed a full game before and it shows. It's obvious the developers listened to the wrong criticism because the depth and challenge from the original is gone. But the sequel has new flaws as well, the AI is bad and easy to expose. Control is worse too, sometimes unresponsive (PS4 version at least) and slower movement speed. Even the level design isn't as good and has alot of recycled assets and no traps(except the rare tripwire set piece traps you can't disable for no good reason.) I could go on but overall Evil Within 2 was a dissapointing sequel full of unnecessary downgrades and more generic AAA game design. I'm not surprised it got alot of praise though since most of the praise isn't from fans of the original.
Jman Rising
Mikami said The Evil Within is to be the last game he's directing. I'm not sure where I heard this from, but I distinctly remember the sensation of getting disappointed by it. Aside from him, there's only a handful of true survival horror directors that are still active.
"Now that the nerds are gone the cool kids can talk about the terrible dead zone on analog sticks" this guy is great
Weird i didnt notice this aiming problem on PC using a xbox controller. I did notice the pinpoint accuracy making me waste TONS of handgun bullets.
First game was way better and more difficult.
No.
Nice video you got there, man. Very informative and insightful. I just want this thrown out there: I particularly loved the fire walk sequence. I think it the idea behind it was effectively translated into that section. I loved every moment of it.