Really solid game that’s kind of hard to get into at first due to several mechanics being poorly explained and the game not doing a very good job at guiding you towards the best way to engage with it. Knowing this is a Shinji Mikami game going in I was either expecting it to be an action horror game in the vein of re4 or a classic survival horror experience in the vein of OG resident evil and the remake of RE2. This game doesn’t fit neatly into either of these categories which was confusing at first and led to some early game frustration. If you stick with it and approach the game and its systems on its own terms and without using other games as a reference point it’s a very fun time with a surprisingly deep and flexible combat system.
This is a somewhat difficult but also very rewarding game to master. There are a lot of things in this game that are very disempowering - Sebastian's incredibly low initial stamina, ammo scarcity, how strong enemies hit, etc. In a lot of horror games this sort of disempowerment would necessitate that the player avoid combat whenever possible, but the Evil Within actually encourages you and often requires you to fight. This works because if you get good enough with Sebastian's load-out and are smart with your upgrades you can become very powerful and rise above these handicaps. This makes progression in this game - both in terms of upgrading as well as just getting better at the games systems - incredibly satisfying
An interesting thing to note about this game - and something i feel a bit conflicted about is that it leans very heavily into horror tropes and established imagery for its character designs and settings. This is something that has been proudly stated by the development team who thought horror imagery that people were at least a bit used to would be scarier and more memorable. One of the clearest examples of this is the mascot monster for this game - the keeper - being very similar to Pyramid Head. I think different people will probably have different reactions to this part of the game. I feel rather ambivalent about it. Would have probably preferred more original settings and monsters but this game does a fantastic job with the tropes and imagery it borrows from other horror media.
This game, however, has a really unique visual aesthetic that - like the game itself - is a bit off putting at first due to how unwelcoming it is. Don’t know exactly how to describe the visual style but best comparison I can give is the opening sequence of Mulholland Drive. Light is blindingly bright, which is contrasted with pitch darkness surrounding it. Visuals also have an unnatural and disorienting feel to them because of this, which is compounded by various visual effects and camera angles the game employs. The game's story is nonsense but that’s actually a positive in this case because it allows for unrestrained freedom when it comes to visual design which is an area where this game excels.
There are also several little easter eggs and references for Resident Evil fans that were fun to see. There's a shot for shot remake of the initial zombie reveal from the first Resident Evil / the REmake at the beginning of the game that I enjoyed a lot.
Really enjoyed this one and feel that it’s a super unique and interesting game despite being uninviting and having some jank at points.
This is a somewhat difficult but also very rewarding game to master. There are a lot of things in this game that are very disempowering - Sebastian's incredibly low initial stamina, ammo scarcity, how strong enemies hit, etc. In a lot of horror games this sort of disempowerment would necessitate that the player avoid combat whenever possible, but the Evil Within actually encourages you and often requires you to fight. This works because if you get good enough with Sebastian's load-out and are smart with your upgrades you can become very powerful and rise above these handicaps. This makes progression in this game - both in terms of upgrading as well as just getting better at the games systems - incredibly satisfying
An interesting thing to note about this game - and something i feel a bit conflicted about is that it leans very heavily into horror tropes and established imagery for its character designs and settings. This is something that has been proudly stated by the development team who thought horror imagery that people were at least a bit used to would be scarier and more memorable. One of the clearest examples of this is the mascot monster for this game - the keeper - being very similar to Pyramid Head. I think different people will probably have different reactions to this part of the game. I feel rather ambivalent about it. Would have probably preferred more original settings and monsters but this game does a fantastic job with the tropes and imagery it borrows from other horror media.
This game, however, has a really unique visual aesthetic that - like the game itself - is a bit off putting at first due to how unwelcoming it is. Don’t know exactly how to describe the visual style but best comparison I can give is the opening sequence of Mulholland Drive. Light is blindingly bright, which is contrasted with pitch darkness surrounding it. Visuals also have an unnatural and disorienting feel to them because of this, which is compounded by various visual effects and camera angles the game employs. The game's story is nonsense but that’s actually a positive in this case because it allows for unrestrained freedom when it comes to visual design which is an area where this game excels.
There are also several little easter eggs and references for Resident Evil fans that were fun to see. There's a shot for shot remake of the initial zombie reveal from the first Resident Evil / the REmake at the beginning of the game that I enjoyed a lot.
Really enjoyed this one and feel that it’s a super unique and interesting game despite being uninviting and having some jank at points.