The Evil Within 2 Impressions

Hey Guys, it's been three since the release of The Evil Within 2. I did get the game on the first day of release, but I didn't get a chance to actually play until Saturday. I still haven't finished the game and as of writing this I'm on Chapter 9. What do I think of the game so far? Remember, this is just my impressions and not a full on review of the game. I may or may not release a review of the game. It all just depends on how much time I have.

This is a screenshot I took from the Xbox One version of the game. I think this is miles more beautiful compared to the first game.

If you've played The Evil Within, you'll notice that there is just an immediate shift in tone when you first start up the game. The first game started you off as a Detective simply working on a case without knowing what he was getting himself into while the second is about the same detective(now an ex) who is on a mission to save his daughter knowing what he's getting into.

The Evil Within is undoubtedly a survival horror video game. Sure, the difficulty of the game will effect your experience, but for the most part you had to be careful about how much ammo you used and what abilities you unlock to help you get through the story. This game is pretty difficult once you start playing on higher difficulties because resources are a lot more scarce and you're pretty much forced to use stealth in this game to conserve whatever supplies you want.

The Evil Within 2 is still a survival horror video game, but it plays differently compared to the first game. What major difference is the semi-open world.

Personally, I feel like the semi-open world is going to be divisive among players. I like it because it pretty much forces you to explore the area to find both supplies and collectibles. In my opinion, it's worthwhile to go for the collectibles because not only do they provide backstories, but some of them actually provide set pieces or more supplies that you need to survive.

However, due to Sebastian's slow movement speed you might be turned off from exploring the open world. I get that you're supposed to be moving slow in survival horror games, but this movement is unnecessarily slow given the size of the environment around you. Remember Resident Evil 4? You moved slow, but you could sprint for faster movement without a stamina bar! I feel like the stamina bar hinders exploration because you could only sprint for so long and it's barely faster than the standard movement.

In all honesty, the controls aren't the best especially when it comes to close quarters combat because the moment you aim down the camera zooms in a bit too close to you for you to miss an enemy that is in your face. Why I can't shoot from the hip is beyond me, but I guess it's done like that for the survival horror feeling.

I'm trying to avoid wording this like a review, so bear with me. All I can say that gameplay wise the game isn't too different from the original The Evil Within. With the implementation of open world elements they did take some risks. I don't really want to talk about side missions because there aren't a whole lot in the game, but just know that it's worthwhile to complete them in order to keep getting supplies.

While I'm playing on medium difficulty at the moment, I can say that The Evil Within 2 is slightly easier than the original because of the crafting system. You can upgrade your weapons, craft ammo, and even craft healing supplies!

So far, I'm liking the game. The story is nothing special, but I still find it to be interesting. Just don't expect to see award winning voice acting or memorable characters. If you played the original game, I say try this game out some time. Maybe I'll give a full fledged review of the game if I either absolutely love the game or just have second thoughts on it.
Till Next Time!!