Yeah, it was very mysterious and vague , I love games that doesn't let you know what exactly is going on until the final hours, I love games that doesn't show you the big picture right away.
Silent Hill 2 was a great example.
Most people find The Evil Within's story ''bad'' because it is so different from what they are used to, people want something easier to digest and understand, they don't want to spend any time and effort piece together the story. Nothing wrong with that.
If you haven't noticed, the in-game files in TEW1 were a lot more interesting to read compare to TEW2, simply because we are all eager to find out what exactly is going on in that game, the more vague the story and world is, the more interesting it is to learn more about it.
There's a difference between ''good story'' and ''story that's interesting to read through'', a lot of old books had really good story, but they aren't always fun to read through, a lot of time they just doesn't grab your curiosity, a lot of times they are just boring.
Story in general is very subjective, some people find ND's storytelling great, some people only find it shallow and generic. Same goes to Souls games, some people find Souls game's storytelling to be like a interesting puzzle, as if it's part of the gameplay, but some people just find it too vague and incomplete.
The Evil Within for me, had a really interesting story that keeps me craving more through out the game, you can say the story isn't great, but it was never ever boring.
glad to be done with ch.3. It was alright and there was some good stuff there but just too many hours for one bland area. Ch.4 backtracking and the forced fps stealth section sucked, but otherwise was fine. I actually liked the boss fight at the start of ch.5, felt like there were some environmental options and combined with explosive/lightning bolts + guns it wasn't bad.
I keep reading by the end of ch.3 people are stockpiled with weapons/ammo but even having scrounged every spot in ch.3 and looted it all, I ended ch.3 with like 4 shotgun shells left and 2 handgun shots and only like 20 gunpowder to make a few more bullets. Was worried about running out of ammo in ch.4. After the ch.5 boss fight picked up all the ammo spread around and now I'm flush with ammo. But definitely wasn't before. There's just so many enemies in ch.3, eats up a lot of handgun ammo and then the annoying fast enemies eat up shotgun ammo.
Anyhow, at this point in ch.5 liking the game a bit more, went from a 7/10 to like an 8/10 at this point for me. I really do miss the interesting art design locals from the first game. Generic silent hill city is a poor replacement. In ch.2 I got my hopes up because it was all psychological arty and weird with great art design and bits in ch.3/4/5 have shown glimpses of that, so hoping the 2nd half is more of that stuff less Downpour city.
For anyone curious, and I forgot to mention this, in the Chapter 5 boss fight at the beginning one strategy is to
run away. If you go to the left side of the building there's a barrel next to a car you can explode to clear the way and then a few bits that lead to a door you can bash through to enter the basement of the Town Hall to escape the battle.
I hadn't seen anyone mention this but it's actually the first thing I did. You can also just go over there and not interact with the door for supplies as there's a decent amount back there. The explodable barrel mysteriously disappears if you didn't use it during the battle after you defeat the boss, though.
For anyone curious, and I forgot to mention this, in the Chapter 5
boss fight at the beginning one strategy is to run away. If you go to the left side of the building there's a barrel next to a car you can explode to clear the way and then a few bits that lead to a door you can bash through to enter the basement of the Town Hall to escape the battle.
I hadn't seen anyone mention this but it's actually the first thing I did. You can also just go over there and not interact with the door for supplies as there's a decent amount back there. The explodable barrel mysteriously disappears if you didn't use it during the battle after you defeat the boss, though.
For anyone curious, and I forgot to mention this, in the Chapter 5 boss fight at the beginning one strategy is to
run away. If you go to the left side of the building there's a barrel next to a car you can explode to clear the way and then a few bits that lead to a door you can bash through to enter the basement of the Town Hall to escape the battle.
I hadn't seen anyone mention this but it's actually the first thing I did. You can also just go over there and not interact with the door for supplies as there's a decent amount back there. The explodable barrel mysteriously disappears if you didn't use it during the battle after you defeat the boss, though.
Can you use the camera tripwires on the boss? I only noticed them in the arena after I beat the boss. I'm guessing you can freeze the boss in time or something if the boss trips the wire?
Can you use the camera tripwires on the boss? I only noticed them in the arena after I beat the boss. I'm guessing you can freeze the boss in time or something if the boss trips the wire?
Yes you can, they seem like traps but the boss seems to go considerably slower than you in them. You can'y step out of them and shoot though since the time barriers stop bullets from entering, but you can shoot things from within them while in them.
I messed around a bit with a few of the bosses and a few of them have a few strategies, not all of which are entirely obvious at first. Most people aren't this far into the game yet, but there was a boss in Chapter 11 that completely ate my ammo up on Nightmare and I only figured out a method for the final hit that would've conserved ammo for example.
On chapter 3 still with 9 hours. Think I've exhausted everything in it besides the main mission. Stealthing 90% of the enemies. Feel like I'm progressing slowly. On nightmare btw.
So for the Skills "Firing Stance" 1 & 2. "Less kickback when firing weapons" seems almost useless. Unless I misunderstand what it does. What does sound sweet is the "Bullet Cascade" skill, locked behind those two Firing Stance skills. "Increased damage with each consecutive shot". Anyone tried it out? Worth getting?
Also curious if I should upgrade the crossbow at all, or just focus on the pistol/shotgun/sniper. If anyone got some advice on that, It'd be greatly appreciated. (I remember the harpoons being really great in the first game, but also read somewhere that people found the crossbow upgrades underwhelming in EW2)
edit: I upgraded the Harpoon once to test it out and it's silent and deadly. Doesn't use gunpowder either, so seems like a neat tool in my arsenal.
Meant to play only two hours and played five. I think I'm on Chapter 13.
My problem with Nightmare is that it doesn't gel with boss fights due to lack of ammo (so you have to hunt down spawn points) and, secondly, you get cool guns but no ammo to use them.
My predator move works perfectly. I love the rush take-down.
Now, I noticed someone mention the
flamethrower
enemies and how you can't stealth them. Well, on the
O'Neil
boss, I was able to stealth him like three or four times in the first fight, and then completely unable to in my following three attempts, where I had to completely gun him down. I don't know whether being able to stealth him or not being able to stealth him was the bug.
Maybe it's related to the bug that is keeping everyone from using the rush takedown.
I upped the fov, which upped my shooting game, but the game is less spooky as a result, lol.
Didnt know so many thought so highly of TEW1 but so far for 2 is eon ahead of the first game. Main issue I had with 1 was how fucking long some sections where and the lack of challenge.
Didnt know so many thought so highly of TEW1 but so far for 2 is eon ahead of the first game. Main issue I had with 1 was how fucking long some sections where and the lack of challenge.
On chapter 4, nightmare, almost 10 hours and I'm stuck.
I had to synch audio wavs to open a door and then just a shit ton of enemies bombard me as I'm waiting for the lockdown to stop. I have enough ammo to put up a ok fight but I run out quick.
Yeah, it's a bitch. Leg/knee shots, kick move when they're stunned, and set a couple of traps. You may have to make ammo on the fly. Don't forget to harpoon+stomp.
On chapter 4, nightmare, almost 10 hours and I'm stuck.
I had to synch audio wavs to open a door and then just a shit ton of enemies bombard me as I'm waiting for the lockdown to stop. I have enough ammo to put up a ok fight but I run out quick.
You the platforms in the room and the escape route to your advantage. There's a ladder that leads to a room by the door, a stairway that leads to a elevated platform with a door you can go back the way you came through, and the like.
How I beat it was I got the first trail of enemies to follow me up the stairs and shotgun them from the top of the stairs so my shotgun blast hit multiple of them, and then then for the following
Hysteric
I was on-top of the ladder before she spotted me and sniped her with a headshot.
This has probably been asked a dozen times, but what are you supposed to do in the final ghost lady section? I've died probably a dozen times because I can't figure it out
This has probably been asked a dozen times, but what are you supposed to do in the final ghost lady section? I've died probably a dozen times because I can't figure it out
the obvious part of it is don't get seen by her, but the path you should take and time correctly can be a bit hard to spot. When you are going down the 'right way', she'll block something in your path and then rearrange all the furniture in the room. She'll do this 4-5 times, just pay attention to the room and look for an exit. None of the paths require you to go into the open space with her, it's basically her trap to get you to her since the most obvious path leads directly to her, but there's always a more hidden route somewhere off to the sides of the area.
Got to ch.5, glad to be done with ch.3. It was alright and there was some good stuff there but just too many hours for one bland area. Ch.4 backtracking and the forced fps stealth section sucked, but otherwise was fine. I actually liked the boss fight at the start of ch.5, felt like there were some environmental options and combined with explosive/lightning bolts + guns it wasn't bad.
I keep reading by the end of ch.3 people are stockpiled with weapons/ammo but even having scrounged every spot in ch.3 and looted it all, I ended ch.3 with like 4 shotgun shells left and 2 handgun shots and only like 20 gunpowder to make a few more bullets. Was worried about running out of ammo in ch.4. After the ch.5 boss fight picked up all the ammo spread around and now I'm flush with ammo. But definitely wasn't before. There's just so many enemies in ch.3, eats up a lot of handgun ammo and then the annoying fast enemies eat up shotgun ammo.
Anyhow, at this point in ch.5 in City Hall liking the game a bit more, went from a 7/10 to like an 8/10 at this point for me. I really do miss the interesting art design locals from the first game. Generic silent hill city is a poor replacement. In ch.2 I got my hopes up because it was all psychological arty and weird with great art design and bits in ch.3/4/5 have shown glimpses of that, so hoping the 2nd half is more of that stuff less Downpour city.
the obvious part of it is don't get seen by her, but the path you should take and time correctly can be a bit hard to spot. When you are going down the 'right way', she'll block something in your path and then rearrange all the furniture in the room. She'll do this 4-5 times, just pay attention to the room and look for an exit. None of the paths require you to go into the open space with her, it's basically her trap to get you to her since the most obvious path leads directly to her, but there's always a more hidden route somewhere off to the sides of the area.
Didn't think anything was particularly spoilery (is saying a chapter has backtracking or a boss fight a spoiler?), but since you felt that was spoilish, I spoiler tagged it. if you want to delete your quoted part so no one else gets spoiled.
Pacing is too almost different to compare imo. TEW1 is a propulsive game that sends the player barreling through different scenarios, one after the other, often built around combat encounters. TEW2 is much slower and methodical, often preferring the to let the player meander for hours on end in large non-linear areas where combat is generally more emergent than scripted. Some sections of TEW2 definitely resemble the first game's design, but those moments are ultimately fleeting and still often choose to trade some of that Mikami setpiece encounter goodness for slower progression and horror sequences.
To be clear: I don't mean to imply that one is better than the other. They're just super different. TEW2 is absolutely not the sequel I wanted. TEW1 is fucked up enough that I really just wanted that design again, but polished to a mirror sheen. Despite that, I'm still having a great time with the sequel.
I just spent 3 hours wandering around the town, luring guys out into the open, then hiding and getting the drop on them. I had a blast doing that while building up my stats.
Well, just beat the game at a little over 15 hours. Hell of a ride. It's funny, considering 7 hours consisted of just chapter 3 lol.
I wish I had used the crossbow more, I didn't touch it (or even find it until 6 hours in) until maye chapter 8? Really fun to use and very effective. Speaking of which, chapter 9 was ace!
Though I didn't find this one as scary as the first, I'm fine with that. It gave me enough spooky vibes that I got enough of what I wanted. I liked the atmosphere of the first game, but I don't think I wanted to go through dirty rusty blood filled hallways for 15 hours like the first game over again, besides there a good bit of variety in the environments after chapter 3.
I never found the last piece of the flamethrower which deeply saddens me
I wouldn't say that. I like the combat of RE4 more, something about the stupid combos and weapons in that game were spot on. TEW's combat is okay, but not as satisfying as RE4s to me. Story wise though, yeah I prefer this, even if it's not super great,
I've spent around 5 hours and I am also still in Chapter 3, though I do feel its about to end. I doubt I will take 8 hours. Nevertheless, it has been pretty enjoyable and thats all that matters.
For anyone worried that they spent too much time in Chapter 3 - that chapter took me 7 hours, and I beat the game in 18. It's by far the longest section of the game.
Some baffling design choices in the last few chapters, but other than that, it ended on a solid note. Liked the final boss.
Overall, I felt that it was less interesting than the first game, but more competent. Almost all of the terrible lows that the first game had have been ironed out, and there's a general level of consistency that's very welcome.
On the other hand, I just didn't find a lot of the sequences or set-piece concepts all that remarkable. Unfortunately even in the second half. Another big thing is that the game is not even close to being scary 95% of the time. I'd honestly say it's a third-person survival-action game with horror elements, not a horror game.
It's a very bizarre game, because I had a sort of expectation that they'd double down on what made the first game good, and just polish it up a bit. Instead, they pretty much went in a different direction altogether, and polished that up instead. So we ended up with this strange game that feels like the polished sequel to a non-existent game, rather than an extension of its predecessor.
I think, if I had to make a gut decision, that I actually liked the first game better. I think EW2 is unquestionably the "better" game if I was asked to be completely objective about it. But the first Evil Within is still unique, there still really isn't anything like it - including EW2.
EW2 seemed to heavily incorporate a variety of influences from other games, resulting in a better product in a logical sense, but also diluting somewhat the core identity it inherited from the first game. It feels like the first EW was just one of its many influences, rather than the big core around which other ideas were added.
Nicest surprise was the quality of the open-world segments. I'm not an open-world fan by any means, but these areas were dense enough that they felt like a broad, massive playground, rather than a big, empty field connecting a bunch of little playgrounds together. These areas compare favorably to the open-world section of Uncharted: TLL, for instance.
Biggest disappointment was the combat. I'm sure part of it was due to playing on PS4, but I beat the game and still do not feel like I have a hang of the combat. It felt unpolished across the board, with the one glorious exception being the feedback when your shots connect. Great headshots and a super satisfying shotgun. But aiming the handgun was some of the most frustrating gunplay I've experienced this gen. The context-sensitive combat actions like stomp, kick, and predator/corner kill are also way too unreliable. The kick in particular was like a roulette, I had no clue if the prompt would ever come up, even in the exact positions where it had worked previously.
The story was whatever. I think there were a few plot holes, and a couple times where things just..."happened" with no foreshadowing beforehand or explanation afterwards. But I wasn't expecting too much from the story anyway, so it didn't bother me all that much.
About something that gets unlocked when you beat the game:
tempted to try Classic mode, but 7 saves is bullshit. I don't have time to replay vast swaths of the game when something goes wrong, there were too many instances on my playthrough where either jank or questionable design screwed me over in ways that were largely beyond my control. Losing 1-3 hours of progress every time that happened sounds like torture.
It's just a damn shame because I'm down with everything else in Classic - no autosaves,
no upgrades, etc. But the 7-save limit kills it for me completely.
On my personal scale, I would rate the game a 7 out of 10. Solid genre game, nothing more, nothing less. Worth playing, but it lacks that "spark" that makes something feel like a classic.
Compare this to the first Evil Within, which is arguably a terrible game if you sit down and just parse out its game design chapter by chapter, but the game nevertheless has that "spark" that all classic games do. It's the reason why people like it so much despite recognizing its significant flaws.
Chapter 3: This is some of the dullest shit I've played in quite some time. No atmosphere, no tension, everything feels pointless and like by-the-numbers "AAA" design. Like in the first game, solely keeping the available ammo low isn't enough to create a feeling of urgency - though this time it falls flat for different reasons.
Enjoying my time with the game so far on nightmare difficulty. Currently on Chapter 3 and I've pretty much picked the town clean aside from one location that seems to be saved for a later chapter. Stealth is indeed OP as hell, especially when you can book it and hide in bushes if you get spotted by the haunted. corner kill skill has come in pretty handy, along with increased crouch speed (its base speed was far too slow to play catch up with haunted that were following their patrol route without getting spotted).
Spoiler about enemy on nightmare difficulty -->
Knife lady is easy to cheese when you want to conserve ammo,
just perform a knife kill, immediately run away and hide behind something to reset her passive state, then sneak up again to perform another knife kill.
. I tested how many shotgun shells she could take to the face and she was still swinging after four!
Hope to see more of
ghost lady
in the game. That first encounter gave me PT demo vibes. Good stuff, Tango 👌
Thoughts after beating the game. I wish it relied less on stealth and had more satisfying gunplay with the pistols.
RE4 and its laser pistol combo was way more fun than the pistol in this game. Also, the walking speed is super slow, and the walk animation feels weird, RE4 did this better years ago, c'mon Tango
Something about having a crosshair with your pistol doesn't feel as satisfying, and while there is a laser pistol in the game, the absolutely brutal zoom in while aimed killed using that thing for me. Not to mention I needed more kick combos! Thankfully the all the other weapons felt great, especially the shotugn.
On another note, I really like the design of Sebastian in this game. His outfit reminds me of Nathan Drake in a good way, lookin sharp yo.
I see what people mean when they say this is a downgrade from the first one. Open-world stuff always bogs stuff like pacing down and I think it influenced the design it's way too easy to disengage fights and wear enemies down. The game has its moments though.
I see what people mean when they say this is a downgrade from the first one. Open-world stuff always bogs stuff like pacing down and I think it influenced the design it's way too easy to disengage fights and wear enemies down. The game has its moments though.
I see what people mean when they say this is a downgrade from the first one. Open-world stuff always bogs stuff like pacing down and I think it influenced the design it's way too easy to disengage fights and wear enemies down. The game has its moments though.
My takeaway from this thread is that people who loved the first game dislikes this one. They focus on very different things, so it makes sense that they would appeal to different people.
TEW2 is more of a "horror sandbox", where as TEW was more of a haunted house ride that lasts for 14 hours.
My takeaway from this thread is that people who loved the first game dislikes this one. They focus on very different things, so it makes sense that they would appeal to different people.
TEW2 is more of a "horror sandbox", where as TEW was more of a haunted house ride that lasts for 14 hours.
I loved the first game and am liking this so far. I do like the fact that they are both very different things. TEW1's linearity and focused design is one of it's strengths but this game does the wide-linear setup very well and gives you just enough room to breathe while also hitting you with some good scripted sequences along the way.
I'm liking it enough that I'm about to restart on a harder difficulty because I am finding it a little easy.
