Bethesda The Evil Within 2 by Author’s Name

Better

I spent 24 hours with this game on Nightmare difficulty and it is one of the best games I have played this generation. Up there with Wolfenstein: The New Order, God of War, Alien Isolation, The Witcher 3, Resident Evil 7 (and 2 remakes), and Sunset Overdrive for me personally.

While it lacks some of the grimey and gritty aesthetics that made the first game so visually notable, it really polishes the gameplay, fleshing it out with a cover system akin to Splinter Cell Conviction, and overall it bears a striking resemblance to the Last of Us in terms of how you move through the world. The semi open world/metroidvania elements work wonders for the pacing, though I must note that, at a certain point, the game’s level to level structure falls more in line with the first game, and there are only two small maps which break up the other environments you’ll be visiting. One of the best aspects of these maps is how you can actually spend the time clearing them of enemies to more easily move through them, which gives a greater weight to the experience as opposed to what most games do which is endlessly respawn the enemies. It is a resource drain but you are rewarded with experience points for upgrades and easier access to many of the game’s hidden resources.

Now, this is a very long game, but I found that for as cheesy and overacted as the story can be, it has a very surprising and emotionally satisfying resolution. It does a great job of making you reflect on how much Sebastian has been through and, by extension, pulls you in because you experienced it all with him. Some may find the occasional 10-20 minute cutscenes a bit annoying but I found it to be a great motivator to push through some of the more challenging moments.

If you love Resident Evil’s more recent return to survival horror’s roots, buy Evil Within and Evil Within 2. They are “classic” games in the genre. If you love metroidvanias and survival horror, buy this game. If you love beautiful art direction, buy this game. This is one you really can’t miss if you love horror. I will forever yearn for a final game in the series but chances are slim due to poor sales. At times frightening, genuinely emotional, and always extremely intense, few games give you a greater feeling of accomplishment when you face their greatest challenges and succeed.

Final points:

+Story really sneaks up on you and hits hard by the end
+Stealth-heavy gameplay is really exquisite
+Crafting mechanics are super helpful
+Satisfying upgrade system
+Inspired art direction
+Really gorgeous graphics
+Very long and packed with content for those who really want to take their time

-Maybe a couple levels too long
-Story doesn’t really address certain questions from the end of Evil Within 1 and certain characters never appear.

My game was super fun. I didn’t know it was old until I looked it up online. It’s very interesting and scary. I love it.

Buenísimooo

This is a great game for fans of the series and survival horror in general. It does not quite have the same creepy atmosphere that the Evil Within had, but there are improvements to the gameplay mechanics(more weapons, more use of stealth). The variety of different weapons is nice(4 pistols, 3 shotguns, new crossbow bolts, an AR) and let you approach different encounters a little differently. For example, The Evil Within 2 lets you rely on stealth, at least in my view, a little more than combat than in the first game. You might use a silenced pistol where stealth might be better than going in guns blazing. I think what made the Evil Within what it was was not only the atmosphere/ environment, but the iconic bosses. Yes, Stephano in this game, I think, is the coolest boss fight maybe of the two games, but it was not quite like fighting Laura and the Keeper in the Evil Within. What this game does right is it develops the story behind the characters much better. For me, the green gel improvements may be a toss up between the two games. In the second game, green gel is used to upgrade physical attributes, but you collect weapons parts to upgrade weapons. Maybe it’s just my preference but I like using green gel for upgrading everything because I had every physical attribute and weapon upgraded before the end of my second playthrough of this game and I don’t think I would have after two playthroughs of the first game. So the Evil Within edges out it’s successor, but only by a little bit in my opinion. Still a great game and worth the time to play through and worth the money.