(My revised review from Steam) Not a bad game - you should definitely buy and play it! - It just wasn`t was what I expected. EW1 and it`s DLC scared the s@@t out of me. EW2 managed to do so until I got to the `open world part` and then it lost a lot of it`s drive. While the gameplay esp. in 1st P-mode made the game A LOT better, it threw away everything else that made EW1 special. EW 1 was a tasty collection of truly demented and unique horror ideas. EW 2 feel very generic and 2 of the 3 bosses are lame. Esp the encounter with second boss (priest) is drawn out over 3 or 4 chapter (of 17) with basically no tension- or story-building. It just drags on. The first boss (photographer) I did not even consider a boss unitl the boss fight was over. This is the goofiest serial killer-trope you will came across by a long shot. Absolutley cringeworthy! Also there are like 4 basic types of enemies in the ENTIRE game, with the last new one appearing very late ingame and only 3 or 4 of them. The only unique enemies are the sawblade girl and the singing lady. Unfortunately encounters with them are rather short and note enough fleshed out but still easily the most scaring and interesting encounters in the entire game. The story is ok but rather one-dimensional. It also explains a lot where the original was twisted in a intriguing way and intentionally left some blank spaces to to build up the horror even more. EW1 is like a B-Movie cult classic - lots of flaws but made with passion and imagination. EW2 is what happens when the sequel gets the Hollywood-treatment to appeal to a bigger audience. Also EW2 is a downgrade in scope similar like from Dishonored to Dishonerd 2. The Sequels just feel much smaller, even if they have better single features. EW 2 isn`t a bad game in any way but it isn`t what made EW1 special. The change in tone in EW2 is like Resident Evil 5, 6 compared to RE1,

Evil Within 2 is a competent and fun sequel. The 20hr journey is much lighter in tone than the original, easier, and slightly less linear ( 3 instances in the game you can semi-explore the map area; scavenge and do a few side missions ). Nothing too casual thankfully: the monsters are sufficiently grosteque, there isn't enough ammo to go completely rambo, and enemies do quite a bit of damage to you. Stealth is a huge part of the game, and is improved from the first game. Silent kills are rewarding and add to the tension of not alerting groups of enemies that would otherwise kill you -running away in the open areas is a cheap strategy that works wonders and slightly spoiled my fun knowing enemies would give up the chase. Without mentioning spoilers I was disgruntled a certain character is placed aside, and was a bit of an anti-climax. The replacement was pretty boring. And then, the story gets way to sentimental for The Evil Within. Evil Within 2 is a more-than-great 3rd person (or 1st person if you wish!) action/horror title, and has accesible options for casual and hardcore audiences. New game + with unlockable goodies mean you can have a real fun playthrough beyond completion. The game sits nicely with Dead Space and Resident Evil titles if thats your thing. My reason for removing a star is this: I can't help the niggling feeling in my head that Evil Within ( as a franchise ) was created because games like Evil Within 2 were getting a little soft. I definitley missed the sheer hell and evil of the first game.

If you want a good horror game, you can get by with most resident evil entries or dead space as well as other well known titles like these. For my money however, The Evil Within 2 is better than all of these and my favourite, for its fair and well organised horror gameplay, but also its compelling and interesting story and aesthetic. The horror setting forces you to put yourself in Sebastian's shoes, interestingly making the player that much more compelled by Sebastians's primal drive to save his daughter.

The first one is more horror than survival and the second one is more survival than horror. But the secong does give you a coerent story and builds the characters and the world better. The only thing that drags a bit is the stealth sections where you have to follow a specific script to progress. This one is way more cinematic and there where times i wished to participate more in the form of QTE instead of just watching. This one feels morte like a unique game although you can trace the inspirations. It ends on a high note so i suppose shinji can just move on to another project. It still suffers from some of the same troubles of the first one like texture pop ins and some glitches, but nothing that hurts the game for what it is. Played both back to back and can surelly say that both are great, intense, deeply creepy and sometimes horrifying, with great music and sfx overall. Few games make me want to play to the end. This one is a step further and the next step can be what made both games great. 9/10

TEW1 was weird. It has great concept but lots of actual mechanics were full of flaws and game was more annoying then enjoyable. TEW2 however is... Just litterally one of the best games I've ever played in my life and I'm a gamer who plays about 20 years now with hundrets finished titles. Its proportions are literally perfect. At first glance you think its a open world game. Not quite. And this half open world is working great as you don't have to tidiously grind or do hundrets of fedex quests or stupid collectables for tens of hours. The storyline is making actual sense and ending is just so sattisfying. I've spend about 14 hours to finish the game and this time was just perfect. I havent get bored and thanks to the ending I feel accomplished. This is not the case in most titles as usually is one of three - bored, wanting more or finished with no satisfaction. Here is everything on place, everything works as it should, there are no annoying stuff that makes you quit the game. Oh man. I LOVE THIS GAME!