Honestly, this is a great game. I may be an exception but I really liked the first game. At first, however, I hated the first game. But after going back to it a couple of years after it came out I truly came to appreciate the game. Then this one came out. By the time this game released, I was a huge fan of the first game. This one did not disappoint in any way. The is a direct sequel to the events of the first game so you really should play that one as well though this one has new characters and whole new story of it's own. This one introduced a kind of hub world that kept seeing you come back to a common area, which is an element I really liked about it. The graphics and voice acting were honestly all pretty excellent. The story was interesting, if not a bit contrived, after the first one. To me it's almost unbelievable this came out in 2017, it still feels so fresh to me. Keep in mind, the game emphasizes stealth but it's not an entirely stealth game. There are boss encounters, there are hairy situations where stealth doesn't work, there are situations where stealth lets you decide how to begin a situation but then it's all action. If you are in the mood for a reasonably creepy experience in an interesting world built arround pschological horror with a bit of gore throw in for good measure, this is the game for you. Looking at my sTeam page I have 26 hours in the game. I am not a completionist but I do explore my surroundings in a game such as this so I don't know how indicative that is of how much time you'll get out of it, but I also don't think you'll be disappointed. Just righting this review is making me want to play it again.

Evil Within 2 improves on many aspects of the original, including in the gameplay department. In that sense alone it is a very good game that is well worth your time. Where TEW2 differs from the first is its focus on fundamental gameplay mechanics over inventiveness and raw survival horror. TEW liked to challenge the player with all sorts of unusual situations and freaky frights, although in employing these challenges that game presented a number of frustrations and awkwardness that robbed the joy out of many segments. There are only so many invincible monsters you can run away from before it gets old. There was a bit too much hit or miss in TEW. TEW2 eschews much of that and settles on a simpler formula, although in doing so loses a fair bit of its charm. It's still horrific, and you still face off with many ghoulies and sneak by ghosts. So if you're just looking for a solid horror-based TPS that offers a decent run time and a fair bit of replay value, much like a modern Resident Evil game, this game is satisfy. If you're looking for something freakier and weirder like a Silent Hill, you might be disappointed by how much this game differs from the first.

TEW2 fixed many issues that plagued the first game (which I love dearly). The first and biggest problem TEW had was the story. Because you were most of the time basically flung around the mind of the main antagonist, the game was extremely fragmented, set piece heavy and never really managed to make you invested in anything. You might have wanted to see how it ends, but you never cared enough for anyone. The issue was already getting fixed in the amazing DLCs, namely The Assignment and The Consequence, which managed to tell more focused and personal story while also shedding some light at Sebastian, even though you play a different character. So TEW2 focuses solely on Sebastian (and a little bit of Kidman) and tones down the insanity and location hopping of the first game. There are still amazing, bizzare visuals and mind bending world... well... bending. While the story might be clichéd, it is presented in such a sincere manner, without any needless dramatics or melancholy that it manages to work. You care. The game actually retroactively makes the first game matter for Sebastian, who is suffering from some heavy PTSD. The game now has two "HUBs", which in reality are just two chunks of a city floating in darkness. These locations are relatively big (but not too much, you can run from one end to the other in about two minutes tops), with a lot of secrets (statues with keys, hidden objects or files but nothing over the top or annoying as in Ubisoft titles, so do not worry) but I would not call them open world. It has more in common with roaming the streets of Silent Hill. Even Silent Hill Downpour had bigger city, so nothing too radical to see here. You are given more freedom to explore all locations you visit though, whereas the first TEW felt more claustrophobic and corridor-y. So whole TEW2 might have sacrificed some of the first game trippy insanity, it greatly benefits from having a firmer grip on its story and characters.

A very dear friend of mine gifted me this game on Steam a month after it came out back in 2017,I played through it and I absolutely loved it. I never played the original cause it didn't seem very interesting to me,but this game had me hooked. I love the Resident Evil games and I can definitely recommend EW2 to anyone who enjoyed Resident Evil 4,5,6 and the Revelations games,but didn't like RE7. Of course,I had to get the game again on GOG and I can say that it's worth every penny.