The Evil Within is one of my favourite games. I originally played it in 2015, taking turns with my roommate trying to get through areas. These sessions stretched late into the night. We could never really beat it. Many years later I picked it up for ps4 and set out to finish it on the Survival difficulty. It was so much fun. I had never played many true survival horror games up to that point and this one was my learning curve game.
The story is excellent and the acting is well done. The aesthetics give off this sort painful, sharp psychological dread, where one finds the lines of reality are blurred more and more. Ruvik is an interesting vilain and Umbrella, I mean Moebius, are good as the ice cold, perverse corporation. You can tell that a lot of love and effort went into this game. It's hard not to buy in on that passion alone.
The combat and gameplay is pretty tight. There is a bit of jank here and there, and it doesn't do anything all that revolutionary, but it's fun and solid. The crossbow has some cool utility. Setting up traps to take on a horde rush and watching as it works to fruition is immensely satisfying. Ultimately, I preferred this game to the second because it was more willing to be it's own thing.
If you like Resident Evil, or horror in general, I'd say this one is an unappreciated classic.