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[Aion002]

TL; DR - The first one is good, the sequel appears to be terrible.


So... I bought The Evil Within at launch on PS4, but since my backlog is terrible, I didn't played it a lot, however, this week The Evil Within 2 is on sale for 13 usd at PSN BR (18 on US) so I said: Fuck it! I am gonna finish the first one and buy the sequel!

I started playing from my save and I was at the chapter 10, my first reimpression was: you know this game is fun, this Laura boss is kinda cheap with the one hit kill move, but let's do it..

And really, the atmosphere of the game is incredible, there is a Wesker wannabe, some stuff from RE4, some stuff from japanese horror movies... this is pretty good!

Spoiler: gifs

So I am impressed! I keep playing and I finished the whole thing! I think: Fun, I am gonna play now the DLC.... But wait! I think I am gonna buy the sequel already! - So I head to the PSN store and I dicovered that there is a demo of TW2. So I decided to try the demo....

Ok.... First of all, what is wrong with the characters now, Seb acts whinny, Kidman is weird and the new dude

Spoiler: k

(Kidman boss)

is probably the final villain, it's written all over his face.

Anyway... let's proceed...1 hour later... Why the art style is way worse than the first one, why the camera is so freaking close to the character, why the character movements feels way worse than before, why the enemies are so less interesting than before... why, why and why everything in the first one is better and this one feels cheap?

So... after all that, I decided that I am not going to buy the sequel. Am I doing a wrong thing? Does the game gets better? The story feels way less interesting than the first one. Does it improve?

If someone has a different opinion about the sequel I do appreciate it.

 

[SEGA_2012]

The first game is one of my favorite games of all time, i've finished multiple times. The second one i lost interest in the middle of the game. They destroyed the characters, they destroyed the world and story, the "open-world" style of gameplay is not interesting.

As far as i know the first game was made by God Shinji Mikami, the second game not.

 

[LaughingStock]

I finished the second but abandoned the first mid playthrough. Can't remember why. I think performance was bad. I should go back someday.

 

[ClanOfNone]

Damn, guess I should.play the 1st one then. I've only played part 2, and while I didn't find it amazing I did enjoy it and finish it.

 

[Aion002]

The first game is one of my favorite games of all time, i've finished multiple times. The second one i lost interest in the middle of the game. They destroyed the characters, they destroyed the world and story, the "open-world" style of gameplay is not interesting.

As far as i know the first game was made by God Shinji Mikami, the second game not.

It sure feels like that. Which is a shame, the first one gives the impression that a sequel would be amazing.

I finished the second but abandoned the first mid playthrough. Can't remember why. I think performance was bad. I should go back someday.

Oh yeah, on lauch the perfomance was kinda bad, I remember that, but now it's fine. At least from chapter 10 and on it's fine.

Damn, guess I should.play the 1st one then. I've only played part 2, and while I didn't find it amazing I did enjoy it and finish it.

I don't know if I was spoiled by the first one or if the differences made me dislike the sequel, but indeed, I think you should give the first one a try.

About the sequel, is the end at lest interesting?

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

I believe I finished the first. I quit a few hours into the second one. Shitty game.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Atmosphere in 1st was better. 2nd was better in everything else.

 

[BacklashWave534]

I know this is probably not the popular opinion but i liked the 2nd game much better.

 

[Strider7]

I know this is probably not the popular opinion but i liked the 2nd game much better.

Agreed. Second game was much better, even if the first was good.

 

[Husky]

You should really play that DLC, it's honestly the height of the series.
Overall, yeah, the sequel's not quite as good. Some of its linear segments are superior to much of the first game, but its open world ruins the atmosphere and pacing, and can provide some repetitive gameplay. I'd also say the story doesn't get at all better—actually, past the first act, it really just continually grows worse. God, some awfully written characters... I think the game was also far easier than the original.
The first game was real flawed, but its DLC was quite striking. I'd hoped the sequel would combine the superior atmosphere and storytelling of the DLC with the action and progression system of the base game, but nah, no luck.

Also the sequel picked up on that "id Tech 5 is in dire need of a sharpening filter" syndrome that most that engine's games carry (and I say that as someone who hates the look of sharpening filters), but unlike Doom and Dishonored 2, it didn't offer the necessary sharpening. So unfortunate.

 

[Aion002]

Atmosphere in 1st was better. 2nd was better in everything else.

I know this is probably not the popular opinion but i liked the 2nd game much better.

Agreed. Second game was much better, even if the first was good.

Does the mid game improves or doesn't change as much as the early? Does it becomes more action oriented or more horror like, most reviews that I am reading says that this game is more action oriented compared to the first one. I am still deciding about buying or not... I know it's cheap right now but, I don't know... My first impression was not good.

You should really play that DLC, it's honestly the height of the series.
Overall, yeah, the sequel's not quite as good. Some of its linear segments are superior to much of the first game, but its open world ruins the atmosphere and pacing, and can provide some repetitive gameplay. I'd also say the story doesn't get at all better—actually, past the first act, it really just continually grows worse. I think the game was also far easier than the original.
The first game was real flawed, but its DLC was quite striking. I'd hoped the sequel would combine the superior atmosphere and storytelling of the DLC with the action and progression system of the base game, but nah, no luck.

Also the sequel picked up on that "id Tech 5 is in dire need of a sharpening filter" syndrome that most that engine's games carry (and I say that as someone who hates the look of sharpening filters), but unlike Doom and Dishonored 2, it didn't offer the necessary sharpening. So unfortunate.

Oh yes, I am gonna start the DLCs today. I am hyped!

Thats a shame to read about the sequel.

 

[Hostile_18]

I Iove them for different reasons.

Part 1 there was alot of mystery, wheres part 2 that mystery was solved (what was happening) so it focused on the characters individual stories. Were so lucky to have got a part 2 but it really does need a part 3 kill he who shall not be named!

One might have the slight edge but both are 5 star games.

 

[BacklashWave534]

Agreed. Second game was much better, even if the first was good.

Does the mid game improves or doesn't change as much as the early? Does it becomes more action oriented or more horror like, most reviews that I am reading says that this game is more action oriented compared to the first one. I am still deciding about buying or not... I know it's cheap right now but, I don't know... My first impression was not good.




Oh yes, I am gonna start the DLCs today. I am hyped!

Thats a shame to read about the sequel.

Honestly the game play just felt smoother and i liked the setting and story a lot more in the second game. I would say that there is a good balance of survival horror (i much prefer survival horror) and action in both games. They are both fantastic games though, if you can you should play both.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Does the mid game improves or doesn't change as much as the early? Does it becomes more action oriented or more horror like, most reviews that I am reading says that this game is more action oriented compared to the first one. I am still deciding about buying or not... I know it's cheap right now but, I don't know... My first impression was not good.

Action more than horror the entire game however it's still highly recommended because it has a great conclusion.

 

[rofif]

The first one starts strongly but it's a miserable slog after few hours...
The 2nd one is amazing and much much more improved

 

[xrnzaaas]

I finished the second but abandoned the first mid playthrough. Can't remember why. I think performance was bad. I should go back someday.

Yes TEW1 performed poorly on the consoles and it happened despite putting black bars on the screen (which were removed in one of the later patches).

 

[Aion002]

Honestly the game play just felt smoother and i liked the setting and story a lot more in the second game. I would say that there is a good balance of survival horror (i much prefer survival horror) and action in both games. They are both fantastic games though, if you can you should play both.

Action more than horror the entire game however it's still highly recommended because it has a great conclusion.

The first one starts strongly but it's a miserable slog after few hours...
The 2nd one is amazing and much much more improved

I will finish the dlcs first.... But I think that I will cave in, just to have all the content and I will try to play under a different perspective. Thanks!

 

[ThatStupidLion]

both titles very different from eachother. very polarizing for the community of fans as well. most love one or the other.

personally i enjoyed each. i didnt love how convoluted the story was in TEW 1, but i did prefer how it was more survival-horror styled in terms of presentation and gameplay. TEW2 opened things up a bit from 1, but went less horror and trap focused and more open world action oriented. so of course it felt like a different game entirely from the first. what i didnt love though is that i felt i still had to be very stealthy around a map that was too big and not intended for stealth. i recall the last 1/3-1/4 of TEW 2 falling off a cliff too - everything from production values, story, gameplay. it just became tiresome and low budge. TEW 1 had stronger monster design too.

imo TEW 1 > TEW 2, but TEW2 is still a solid offering

id gladly play TEW 3 though.

 

[Blond]

Evil Within 2 is such an interesting game. It's personally, one of my favorites and I thought it improved upon the original in every way imaginable. I feel like it's definitely one of those games where if you didn't like the gameplay changes you didn't like the game.

Give it time, once the world *clicks* you'll realize it's pretty linear.

 

[-Troid-]

Yeah I've played through the first game several times. It's a good game with some flaws but probably one of my favorite games from that cross gen era. I really liked the randomness of it as it really enforced the idea of you being in a dream (or nightmare in this case).

The second game I only played like a quarter of. The open hub-like world areas were super bland and boring. The characters were even less interesting than the previous game, and the one interesting one (the artist guy who antagonizes Sabastian) felt like a discount Coen Sanders (Bioshock).

The lack of randomness also really took away from the charm the first game had. The story changing to yet another "I have to find/save my son/daughter!" trope didn't do much for me either. At least in the first game there was some mystery to it all, even if it was convoluted at times.

Now that I think about it I feel it was probably the most disappointing sequel I played this gen.

Edit: Sander Coen from Bioshock; damn dyslexia.

 

[TheStruggler]

first onne is my fav out of the two, but two is still deff good just not on the same level as 1. The atmosphere is 1 is overall better, I also lvoe how in one when you shoot an enemy you see chunks of their head come off where then you could see parts of their brains etc.

EDIT: Also if they make Evil Within 3, give me the controls from 2, the destructible bodies from 1 and also and atmosphere from 1 as well. To me that would be one hell of a game.

 

[Doom85]

Part 1 was pretty good but it had a lot of flaws. One of them is no longer an issue, but the game was embarrassing on launch in how glitchy it was to the point of even occasionally crashing. Not to mention how garbage the forced widescreen was. Beyond that though, the game is SO uneven. The first 9 acts are generally pretty good (even if the first chapter is just unnecessarily slow-paced and basically Outlast but not as good. Then the rest of the game becomes nothing like the first chapter in gameplay, so weird) but after that, GOD. Some people bitch about the Island in RE 4, I mean I liked the Island even if I admit the Village and Castle were better, but I have barely anything positive to say about the city chapters in EW 1. Just a mess.

The character development is basically non-existent, Ruvik gets fleshed out, but Sebastian's entire backstory is left to notes and not mentioned ONCE in the main game, Joseph has a single plot element and zero characterization, and Kidman is meant to be a certain Resident Evil character clone but done far less effectively. Leslie and the doctor....exist. And the plot mostly boils down to, "we're in someone's mind, and it's pretty fucking obvious whose it is." Thankfully some ambience and some good gameplay elements help, but good lord did this game need more time in the oven.

Evil Within 2 thankfully addressed all these issues. All the characters are fleshed out in-game. There's no dip in quality in the chapters. The game ran fine at launch. The story has a few twists and turns and has a more logical progression whereas 1 was mostly random events/locales under the "justification" of "well, we're in a crazy mind, so fuck it we can just go anywhere!" There's FAR more stuff to do gameplay-wise, if you just run from main objective to main objective you're missing out on some good shit, and the map actually makes it clear what auto-locks you into story (and definitely makes it clear when going to a point will make the map no longer visitable) whereas the first game was basically like, "hey, do you want main path or a side path with some good shit? We're not making it clear at all which is which! Oh, you picked the wrong path and now can't check out the side stuff, well fuck you then!" And anyone who tries, "hey, it makes the game hard!", puh-leeze, fucking Soulsborne doesn't do this shit, it's just bad game design plain and simple.

I'm sure there are those who legit liked the first game more, I don't get it, but you do you. But to me, EW 2 is everything a game sequel should be in fixing all of the issues of the prior entry. I got the platinum last year after several playthroughs and had a blast each time.

 

[Gargus]

First one wasn't very good. The story wasn't told or laid out very well, characters weren't very interesting, whole game was just loud and kinetic, and overall it was just a action horror game meant for kids taking ritalin.

2 was better paced, story was more stream lined and laid out better, characters still weren't that much better but overall the game was much improved in part 2.

Although they were both just a bit generic action games. They had a good idea buried in them, the execution was just not that great.

 

[GrayChild]

The first one can be rather... rough around the edges. But when it comes to story, art direction, soundtrack, monsters and level design, it's one of my favorite games of all time.

The sequel is more polished in every way... and also more soulless and generic. The Naughty Dog stench can be felt in all aspects of its design.

 

[kunonabi]

Neither game is very good. TEW2 shows promise early on but never really capitalizes on it. I cant really say it's any better or worse than the first.

 

[dan76]

The first one I see way better from a gameplay perspective. Every chapter plays slightly differently, it really has that key Mikami pacing (which I love, some people don't). Memorable bosses, better gun feedback, stupid story that makes no sense, but who cares, it's just an excuse to get you from one set piece of gameplay to the next. The only issue is performance, it's a bit janky. I think Akumu difficulty is one of the best survival horror gaming experiences I've ever had.

The second one is less glitchy but that's all it has over the first. The open world aspect starts well in the town of union until you realise you can just run away from enemies until they stop chasing you, turn around and stealth kill them. The stealth is way op. Also, because of the open world nature you're not getting the finely crafted enemy encounters of the first. It's all the same. How you play at the start will be how the whole game plays. It like on chapter from the first game but stretched over 12 hours. The story is worse and Seb is the most annoying whiny fuck in a video game. Hardly any bosses either. Still, it's an ok game, but no where near the first.

 

[Elektro Demon]

I liked both but I agree the first one is much better.
It'slower paced, tougher and generally has a more survival horror vibe. The open world in 2 is just really unneccesary.
The only complaint I have with the first one, is that letterboxed screen.

 

[M1chl]

Second one is way better game in my opinion, ten "HUB world" does not take away that much, because particular mission are still linear. Besides second one has good cheats directly from options menu, which makes the game way less annoying, becuase controls aren ot exactly tight.

edit:
ten = "that" in Czech

Sorry my brain is overloaded.

 

[888]

I was going to make a LTTP once I finished the second one. I finished the first and went right into the second. The second excels in fixing some issues of the first, namely better control layout. So far I’ve probably enjoyed the first better. It had that almost silent hill feel to it with a mix of RE and The Suffering atmosphere mixed in.

so far the second is neat but I haven’t hit meat of the story yet. I’ve been too distracted exploring vs having a linear experience which I usually prefer.

What I can say for sure is the second had a badass trailer.

 

[dilbag]

The first game is one of my favorite games of all time, i've finished multiple times. The second one i lost interest in the middle of the game. They destroyed the characters, they destroyed the world and story, the "open-world" style of gameplay is not interesting.

As far as i know the first game was made by God Shinji Mikami, the second game not.

"open world areas" needs to stop, it sucked in evil within 2 and it sucked in gears 5.

 

[GymWolf]

The first one has a soul, the second one is the better game, if you know what i'm saying.

 

[HellforLeather]

I picked up TEW2 on a whim at $10. It was ok at first but there was nothing really in there to keep me going. I got pretty far in the game and lost all desire to play it. It felt like they were trying to make a survival horror TLOU but with much shittier combat....but TLOU has several survival horror bits, all of which are much better experiences than anything I came across in TEW2.

 

[Rien]

The first one has a soul, the second one is the better game, if you know what i'm saying.

Kinda agree with this. The first one was definetly more fucked up on the horror stuff tho. Second one played much better but was more tame on the horror. Only one chapter catches the atmosphere of the first a bit.

 

[CitizenX3639]

When i first played EW i absolutely hated it, mainly because the FR was arse, but then i upgrade and it took a little getting use to with the controls, but really liked it a lot. Even though the story is pretty laughable. Nothing, and i mean nothing bothered this guy.

 

[H4ze]

I played them both too, but I came to the conclusion (for myself) that the second game is waaayyyyy better than the first.
I really liked it and finished it in a few days without playing anything else between, wich is pretty rare for me these days.

But of course, your opinion is perfectly valid too.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I still haven't played 2, but the first game turned into a really terrible budget game like half-way through.

 

[Butz]

In terms of atmosphere and "spookiness" 1st was much better because I wasn't able to finish it, had no problem playing through the 2nd though.

 

[-MD-]

The first one is absolutely the better game, it's one of my favorite games ever.

The sequel was very disappointing.

 

[johntown]

I love the first one and still have yet to play the second one but this thread has me concerned that the second one really is not even worth my time. Is the second one even worth playing?

 

[Space Runaway]

Yeah the first is rough(And has way too many instant deaths for a game with that amount of loading) but ultimately a much better experience and has interesting mechanics that got removed in order to simplify the sequel.

2 isn't bad, in fact it's pretty good and clearly much more polished. Otherwise though, they steered it closer to a "standard videogame" in hope of garnering a wider appeal and really lost the essence of the first (To me anyway). Outside of the couple open world chapters I didn't find it anything special.

 

[SonicVolcano]

Shade (in one of the DLCs) is probably the scariest enemy I every encountered in any game. Wonderful design and that voice...

 

[CitizenX3639]

Shade (in one of the DLCs) is probably the scariest enemy I every encountered in any game. Wonderful design and that voice...

i dont recall that enemy, but know i played all the DLC. One of the few I have completed everything, its a solid title.

 

[GodofWhimsy]

I thought so, yeah.

The first game got a lot of shtick for not being essentially a sequel to re4. People didn't like the stuff it toyed about with (the black bars and such), but I personally thought the games stylistic and thematic choices really gave it an identity. The whole thing driped with atmosphere and I loved the combat system that incorporated matches in a very satisfying way IMO. Plus I'm a sucker for dreamlike/nightmarish settings where things really don't make sense a lot of the time (Bloodborne, Alice Madness etc).

8.5 from me.

 

[Kacho]

I think the second game has better structure and more refined gameplay. The first game was much cooler though, like the Box Head boss which remains the coolest thing about the series.




The singing ghost lady in TEW2 ain't no slouch though and

Spoiler

seeing her show up in the open world is pants shitting worthy

 

[V2Tommy]

The first game is great!

...the second game is one of the best I’ve ever played.

 

[Neff]

First one is a classic. Fantastic gameplay, bags of environmental/situational variety, tons of enemy types and weapon strategies. Not too long, not too short, and never bores due to perfect pacing. As good a spiritual RE4 sequel (by way of REmake) as you could ask for given that it was a new IP.

Second one is merely good, in a generic way. It still has aspects from the first which made it great, but everything apart from the exploration aspect (which isn't terribly well done in its own right) is dumbed down. Combat, characters, level design, and story all suffer. It also aligns itself too closely with contemporary Western game design, and lacks personality as a result. Still worth a play though.

 

[Hostile_18]

It's a bit of an unfair criticism to say the story of the second one isnt as good as the first. At some point in a narrative you have to start giving answers. We couldn't have two full games of "Where am I , why does the world keep changing"

Plus let's give it up to one of the best trailers in recent years (second only to the Witcher 3 Sword of Destiny). The use of a reworked Ordinary World and its changed context within the game is AMAZING.




I was so gutted when Evil Within 3 was cancelled for Ghost Wire.

 

[Bartski]

finished both and enjoyed the sequel WAY more than EW1. Interesting to see so many opposite opinions, but I guess it's ok for us to like different stuff right?

 

[Corpsepyre]

The second is a much, much better game, in my opinion. Better flow, better story, even if it's a lot more simple (thankfully, I might add) this time around. The first I enjoyed, but it lacked cohesion and was more of a 'here's a best of horror hits' compilation.

The only thing missing from 2 were some of the crazier bosses from the first game.

 

[SweetShark]

The 1st one is a big mess.
Unfair combat situations without a lot of flexibility to "solve" them.
The story is pretictable and not something exciting.

However I will admit the DCL were WAY better games, especially with the Slenderman moments.