The Evil Within Series Examined 

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The Evil Within is such a guilty pleasure of mine. It scratches that stealth itch that Resident Evil doesnt really offer but also gives us some unique monster designs that Silent Hill hasn't offered in a while

Man, The Evil Within 1 was scary af when I first booted it. I was absolutely scared shitless when the big guy (in the very first part) chased me, lol.

I really like Evil Within. They felt more like old Resident Evil titles (obviously) but they also create a cool world that I think would make a good setting for other games.

Obscura oughtta be talked about as one of the greatest horror designs in gaming. She nails that noire grindhouse feel that movies like Seven and the first Evil Within have. I wish she was in the first Evil Within than the 2nd.

I had never heard of dsp before I started watching boulderpunch. Now I know everything about him

when Sebby said "but there's EVIL WITHIN, TOO..." then they slowly looked at the camera. man, chills! ...seriously, that made me laugh

The matches were actually cause of plot reasons, since Ruvik became severely scarred by fire which also killed his sister. If you notice the first time he’s harmed at all was when Seb threw his lantern and burned him. This explains why the enemies were so vulnerable to fire, likely cause of his traumatic experience. Wouldn’t make much sense to bring them back without him being the core again. Would’ve been nice to see a replacement though.

Evil within was quite the hidden gem back then. It was there on a very dry season in horror survival games.

Evil Within 1 I like more because of just how many different enemies they throw at you and all the fun weapons. Evil Within 2 has the better story but I really did not enjoy the open world and more grindey feel. Best part of EW2 is the ghost enemy you can completely miss your first run. Both did have great enemy design, the visuals for them was great even if they weren't all scary, I was amazed at what I was looking at.

This my favorite game series. Thank you for the content!! Also, we are definitely getting a third Evil Within, don't give up hope!

I love the Evil Within Series. I think the first one is still my favorite cause it felt like playing a OG Classic of a survival horror game with a pretty great psychological horror factor. I love the 2nd one for it's semi open world structure that made it feel different from the first game but also improved on some aspects that honestly I feel made the second game better from a gameplay point of view from the first.. man I wish we could of gotten The Evil Within 3..

On the topic of Evil Within 2... originally Oda + a Ruvik possessed Leslie were supposed to be a bigger part of the game (with concept art for both existing) but were scrapped during development.

you can understand the story without playing the dlc, so its not a "scummy move to get people to buy the dlc" - you have to read the notes, audio logs in the main story, and just by watching the ghost segments, you can easily piece together what happened - it has a really cool story, I love the idea of being inside a killer's mind by linking everyone's brains together - its a premise that makes you go investigate every piece of environmental storytelling and actually read all collectible text

Wow, I've seen some TEW videos on this scale length-wise, but this one I like the most, as a big fan I can only say thank you. The Evil Within, the first one, was it for me. It was focused more on horror and such, with it's relatively linear world, go from A to B, and it will lead you to C, I've spent a lot of hours on it. TEW2 I haven't played much even tho I was really excited, the open world aspect really took it out for me, but the first game, what a classic.

Evil Within is the second PS4 game I bought, I was so excited for a horror game from the director of Resident Evil, and it really let me down. The amount of insta-kills is such a turn off. RE4, one of my most beloved games, has some insta-kill moments too, but they are few and far between. EW just has too many of them. Plus, I really don’t like stealth in games and EW doesn’t do it very well. And I’m not a fan of EW’s upgrade system either. Great video! I’ve been enjoying your content for a long time and look forward to all your videos. Big Ups man! I wish you the absolute best.

Man, I love both The Evil Within games!!! Big fan!!!!

'Making Your Way Home' from EW2 is such a blissful song.

I only ever play... with the borders turned on!!! 😱

IMHO a all time classic. Probably the most underrated game ever

I absolutely love both games. It's really upsetting that he probably won't get a 3rd game. I'll have to do a new game plus on both games one day

I actually like the slow stealth scene, I wish it were used more or at least made more of a mechanic

I always liked the Evil Within more then RE4 - no Ashley, no stop and go combat where I have to open inventory to switch guns, no shooting while not being able to move. Out of all the Resident Evil games in my opinion RE4 would benefit most from a remake. By the time I'm at the garden with wolves im done with RE4. I do think RE4 is a classic though worthy of the praise, wish they would've done more village and less castle though. I thought the atmosphere of the Evil Within was almost impeccable. Sebastian was a great leading man - no Ethan Winters or Leon S but worthy of the lead role. They should v e cut the entire construction area chapter. Besides that it's just pure horror fun. Didn't really like TEW2 nearly as much as the original, no match mechanic, no arenas filled with traps etc etc. Anyways just my thoughts on RE4 / TEW great video Boulder Punch, your the best at these reviews, keep up the great work.

Loved the first one but man The Evil Within 2 was horrible sequel and I still hate it passionately.

The thing I remember the most about the Evil Within was a US president made a video compiling video game violence and it used a lot of game over scenes from this game.

Tango Softworks has a tragic history of 'design by committee'. Ghostwire Tokyo suffered from it the most IMO, it's a shame what Nakamura went through with its development. I'm glad they're in a better place now, having formed her own indie studio. If TEW1 is to be played, it should be the Microsoft Store or Game Pass version, as it offers significant improvements. Just wanna randomly throw out there; The Executioner DLC is underrated, having replayed it recently. Extremely flawed to the core but once you understand how it all works, there's something special in there and lots of unrealized potential. I suppose that describes all TEW games, in a way. I personally hate the first game's campaign and enjoyed 2. Have yet to replay the first game since its release however. I remember the biggest problem with the Spencer mansion homage being the pursuer and instant kill zones that get in the way of proper exploration. A bad kind of pursuer. That said, Ruvik reminds me of The Suffering for whatever reason. (Also, hey, modern God of War, while I'm not a fan, does offer lots of gameplay if you seek it via the open world stuff. TLOU2 is a more egregious example, only 4 to 5 hours of enemy encounters in a 25 to 28 hour long game..)

These games were not perfect but this was the first time since Dead Space 1 were I truly felt fear when playing. I remember after playing the first part of Evil within 1 I had to stop playing for a bit because of how anxious it made me I was screaming the whole first chase sequence with the chainsaw guy. These games, Dead Space 1 and 2, RE 4 and Silent hill 2 are the best horror games of all time for me. Each one of these games made me truly terrified for the whole ride these few games are what I measure every horro game to now that's why RE8 felt kinda boring after the first few hours.

Horror & open world don't work. It eliminates all horror from the game. The only legit scary parts in Evil within 2 were the ghost girl parts. That was good atmosphere & eeriness. First one is was more scary & yes i do hope the series continues. No more open world crap though.

This series was amazing. I played them recently and they are good. But man they didn't sold well. Oh well.

Loved these two games so much and your analysis is spot on!

FINALLY!!! I'm so glad your covering this series.

when he says "but there's Evil withing, too" gave me "it's morbin time" vibes

9;00-9:02 literally why i fucking hate this game so much perfect aim with the cursor locked onto its head and you still randomly miss shots even with full upgrades

EW1 is by far the most memorable. The stuff with the save room, the tense horror, and the bosses were far superior to the sequel. EW2 has a more concrete story, but it's not worth remembering. EW1 not having fears and backstories with characters was by far the biggest let down of the whole series. The way it did that, when it did, was totally better than anything in the Silent Hill series.

Great reviews. I loved both of these games. Rest in peace, Tango Gameworks.

Alot of creators are making videos about EW series. I feel this is a game that will gain a jump of popularity right now. I do love this series. Still hoping for an Evil Within 3

Every time I see video games that got cancelled right before the developers figured it out, I always think back to Assassin's Creed 2. Had Ubisoft decided not to pursue a sequel, we would have missed out on one of the best sequels ever made, in my opinion. Lots of game series that have a kernel of a strong idea get snuffed out too soon because the commitment to continue on despite less than ideal reception is too much to bear. Disappointing really.

My wife was the one who first introduced me to this series and I simply fell in love with the evil within. I even made a fan fiction that connected Mobius as a competitor to Umbrella because the idea to make bioweapons through some sort of mind control was always a compelling idea to me and I also believed Sebastian as a protagonist works as the traditional Resident Evil MC.

The game would have been better if it were what it appeared to be. But it went too over the top in the intro section and it was clearly not real.

Evil Within is a series I WANT to love and support but it never quite reaches the same level as series like Dead Space and RE

The evil within 1 is one of the best survivor horror games I’ve played in my life

Twice I've tried to complete TEW2 and twice I dropped it. For me it really suffers from that western influence choking the life out of the original, and it's heavy Japanese development style. Even the first game suffers with this to a point as it was never meant to have stealth, that was forced in due to the success of TLoU. The Evil Within had a lot of potential and while I enjoy the first game, I think its better off dead. At the rate it was going TEW3 probably would have been a Fortnite clone.

I feel exactly as you say it. The first game has better highs but loses in consistency. The second is more consistent but it never reaches the best levels (3,4,7,9) of the first game. Great video.

I damn near threw my ps4 controller through my tv first time i encountered anima as her humming came from the fucking controller.

It's an okay game. I don't recommend it to ANYONE on console though due it being low resolution and a capped 30fps alongside some dated gameplay and mechanics. On PC, it's fine. Edit: alien isolation is what I would rather recommend. Came out around the same time I believe, but it offered a far more unique and greater impact on the industry. Literal documentaries were created because of how advanced and terrifying the xenomorph AI was.

Still play these gems today. Makes me think what we’re lacking today in horror games, I think because Evil Within felt like a throwback to those horror games of RE4 and Silent Hill, even with Dead Space. Just original IP but again, a throwback. Hope to see more with the series in the future.

I think Castellanos being "In the wrong place, at the wrong time" could have worked. Having the player be an outsider to the plot, but still understand the story felt so unique. How you can execute this successfully, I don't know. It's a shame The Evil Within 2 went in a more cliche direction. I wish they fleshed out Stefano more as you never see artists as the main villains of games. As angry and frustrated as I was with The Evil Within 1, there's something about TEW2's more laidback nature that had me appreciating the first game more.

Evil Within is an epic journey through the trauma and torment of a mad man. At the time of it's release there were too few games of it's caliber. I for one am still hoping there will be new life injected into this creative franchise by way of remaster and ofcourse a third title. Excellent story, no doubt.

I really like the first game a lot. The second is pretty good but I feel like the first game is a lot more tense and the level design is a lot better. Also.. with a story like this I feel like it's better when you don't have as many answers... answers that the second game gives you.

The Evil Within series reminds me a lot of The Condemned series. Unique and interesting games, could've used another game or two, but was lacking something.

the first The Evil Within game has a bit of identity crisis it tried to be to many things at once, mainly the trending mechanics like stealth and hide n seek around that time

I played the game first when I was 14 in the Playstation computer place near my house and while everybody was playing COD BO2, Pro evolution soccer or what ever I saw it there just sitting and no one had opened it before, so I got curious and went by myself one time and played it and I was amazed, I kept coming everyday until I beat it, it was literally the best thing I've ever played, well that's besides half life 2

I will defend these games with my life, they are fantastic

A long time ago there was a fantastic series of horror games that had alot of action and shooting in them and then that team and head developer ended up leaving their original parent company, and moving on to make a completely new company so they could follow their dreams. And by follow their dreams I mean their new parent company told them to make the same game they made the last time. So they work really hard on it and it came out to middling reviews, lost focus, unfavorable comparisons to the last game they made and a wide string of technical issues and that game was -Callisto Protocol- EVIL WITHIN Patrick Boivin, 2022

Personally I love this series and how the two games differ so much. I think the way the story unfolds from the main plot of the first game, to the dlc, and then to the second game is pitch perfect. I wouldn't change a thing about it, especially the second game. While I understand why others don't feel that way, I just enjoyed the second one so much I can't bring myself to imagine anything different.

Game started out promising with the whole hospital opening scene and following village section… too bad it quickly went down the familiar RE route of forgoing survival in favour of action as you got further into the game.

I was much more a fan of The Evil Within 2 than 1. I think what made it much better to me is that the story was much more understandable and personal. The characters especially Sebastian had far better a character. It was also less frustrating than 1. I liked you have a lot of room to look and run around though I think it is hard at the start to kill groups of enemies and one needs to run and hide a lot. Enemies can gang up on you. I enjoyed running around though and learning the area. Reminded me a bit of Alan Wake games. I also liked the voices a lot and the look of the game was much better, where for example Kidman looked less defined where here she looks much better. I also liked finding the extra bits all around. Kidman also felt much more personal here and I enjoyed her character interactions with Sebastian and her subsequent plots. Main enemies also tend to be not just monsters but have their own stories going on and the nurse being more personal and speaking to us like a psychologist is very helpful interesting here as well.

I love TEW series & honestly I would rate both of this games higher than RE3R & REVIILAGE. It just have a bigger fear factors & arguably a suitable mix of RE x SH horror atmosphere imo. Still hoping Microsoft & Bethesda come to their senses & give another chance for Tango Gameworks to work on TEW3.

I had a better time in EW2 than EW1 in that there were bits I liked in 2 vs bits that were ok in 1. Stealth felt better, the open hubs were legit a lot of fun, the creepy small town America vibe, upgrades were better... overall it was a better, more cohesive experience. If I had to sum up EW1 in one word it would be inconsistent, for example I didn't miss the matches because they didn't do what they were supposed to half the time!

Both of The Evil Within games are intriguing, though they often feel middleware, which is by far the main issue with the series. A third game would be nice, but there's little chance of that.

TEW is a strange but good game. Interesting choice to shift from Silent Hill type horror, to Resident Evil 5 type action in the later chapters. But I like the game's horror atmosphere over all the best over the sequel. In terms of gameplay and mechanics though, TEW 2 is better in that reguard.

Chad Mikami stans unite

There are just too many people who whine about the low stamina without understanding it. It serves the tense atmosphere in that you are able to do something to get away, so you do it, but you're limited just about enough so you're not overpowered. And about the cop-argument, I hope these people realize that this isn't the real world, I sure hope the eyeballs on the walls and the overall supernatural stuff should tip them off somehow that this is more of a dream and even there it's a common trope that you run on the spot or through sirup dreams, I think a number of people can recall such accurances. So it fits both, the gameplay and the setting. So does powering up weapons and everything with brain gel, you are in your own mind, and others, that's the one thing that serves everything, your weapons are imaginary weapons, so calling the thing that runs everything brain gel seems appropriate enough to me...

The first Evil Within was actually very good. Flawed but good. Better than many other horror games of its time. The second was alright, but the open world, the willing entrance into the horror, and the shift between the villains, made it to casual.

Great video. Love the way you describe the games you do your videos on. I really hope you do The Callisto Protocol eventually. Because whoo boy there’s certainly stuff to talk about there. And I’m honestly curious to hear your thoughts on it

I honestly felt the Kidman dlc was the best part of this entire series. The stealth does kinda suck but man it made the first game palatable.

Well Evil Within 3 seems even more unlikely now that Shinji Mikami left Bethesda. Guess Microsoft trying to cancel Hi-Fi Rush told him everything he needed to know about working with them.

I actually really enjoyed this game. The second is not really my jam, but I did finish. I would suggest it to anyone looking for a bit of a retro feel and some endearing jank.

Tatiana was and is the first and only video game crush for me.

no instead they made the very boring ghostwire and now that beat based game hi-fi rush... i hoped for a evil within 3... we still have to save moira... TwT

As long as it's not with Sebastian this time, I'd love a sequel. Not because I dislike him, but because he got a mostly happy ending. It felt complete. Horror stories rarely get happy endings and it can be nice when they actually do. How much more of the horrible things could he actually go through and still be sane? It'd be stretching it for sure. Joseph or Kidman could work, Sebastian could always play a support role.

Evil Within always seemed like a hilarious case of "throw every horror trope we can into a blender and assume something scary will happen." What if a MUMMY covered in CHUCKY DOLLS had sex with YOUR MOM???

With the enemies not catching on fire compliant, if you light a corpse on fire with an enemy is right next to you or over the corpse than it will also light of fire

Evil within 2 was the game that made me stop pre-ordering games for good. I can't put into words how much I disliked it.

The Evil Within 2 is one of the most underrated games imo. It's like a great mashup of RE and Silent Hill. I wish there was a 3rd that expanded on the semi open world horror idea. Bc those were my favorite moments in the game and is a very unique idea. I don't think I've seen another horror game with random events and side stories you can stumble on.

Oh your first and second favourite game are *_Resident Evil 4_* and *_Deus Ex_* ! Mine are *_Majora's Mask_* , *_Deus Ex_* , then *_Resident Evil 4_* .

SPOILERS: I found the end seeing someone in the real world just being a brain in a jar after all THAT shit he put people through. Stomping that piece of meat is the most satisfying ending ever

Really enjoyed the first title. The GamePass for PC version has an exclusive first person mode. It makes some boss battles a little more challenging but i enjoyed the new perspective. The sequel is a better game mechanically but just didnt stick with me like the first did. Eventually i will finish the sequel but i still hope for a 3rd game

I wanted the third entry to either have Joseph Oda as the main protagonist or Sykes, the side character that you believe made it out. It's been a long time since I've played the game, but I think I remember them hinting at a deeper, darker layer in STEM that he had the potential to be trapped in. I really wanted it as DLC and Joseph being the mc of a third game. Shame we may never see more from this series.

i really like evil within. was weird and wakky alot like dantes inferno

Not only is Evil Within 3 not likely, it's confirmed we won't get a sequel. Ghostwire Tokyo started as TEW3, then development pivoted.

I’ve always wanted to get into Evil Within, for me the gameplay isn’t enjoyable so I can’t bare to play the game.

As someone starved for good Horror games made by big studios, I loved these games, a LOT of issues across them both, but I love them still.

Wow. FPS Doug. I watched him back in high-school. BOOM Headshot!

With Shinji Mikami leaving Tango Gameworks, the likelihood of getting a 3 is pretty much nonexistent.

I really hope a evil within 3 Juli the protagonist or has a big role. Now Microsoft has it the evil within are on Gamepass they can do a third and sell it well. I honestly think it will come as they was working on it until it turned into ghost wire hopefully Juli gets some action she’s like Jill and Ada. Such a cool character

This game is incredible. Blows RE out of the water. They totally need to make a third already.

6:23 Did she just dome the g-man? Is that why he talks all weird now?

The first one was an absolute pants-crapping scarefest masterpiece. The 2nd one felt like it was made by an entirely different company and it kind sucked. The End.

you forgot to mention one of the inspiring game for The Evil Within Series . Shadows of the Damned one of the failed project of shinji mikami which i find one of the bests games i ever played

I played RE4 and TEW 2 for the first time at the same time.

I like your videos man, but I feel like they are quite bland. It's like watching a scientific analysis. I think it's missing the fun aspect of games. Maybe add some humorous insights or profound thoughts? RU-vid is flooded with long boring analysis of games, you gotta differentiate yourself. Just some constructive criticism no offense meant, your vids just always lose me after 10min or so.

I prefer the first evil within,its more fun in my opinion and the art direction is so much better

Confusing STORY!!!!??.A guy wanted to do evil things in revenge,you send to investigate bad things in a mental hospital,you get in his way and he will try to kill you and the rest of the team,what´s so difficult to understand in that?.The only thing i didn´t like about the game is the papers,if you don´t grab them all you won´t understand the story,but as for me,fuck the story,the game was amazing,geez i also didn´t complained about the running thing running out fast,i enjoyed,still,thanks for those stupid complains about story we had dlc´s that also are awesome haha.

GhostWire tokyo is fine, but it does that thing that the EVIL WITHIN 1 did. The story is actually in the free visual novel DLC. If you dont play that, half the motivations of the characters are missing. The biggest flaw in Ghostwire is that if you play the game, it feels like you were put in the MIDDLE-END of the story. Because you are if you dont play the DLC first

Loved both of these games. I thought the first one was something special and I feel Shinji Mikami went out with the ideas in the first game. So many things are done just once in the game like where Ruvik chases you around the mansion for one chapter😂

This video in a nutshell: well, its not resident evil 4

I think the whole match system and burning enemies was a lore thing. Ruvik, the core of the first game, had a traumatic fear of fire, hence the enemies in the first game, especially Laura, were weak to fire. That’s why you don’t see it in the second game.

One of my favorite things about anima is if you play it on ps4 her singing comes through on your controller and is proximity based. The first time I encountered her I didn’t realized it was coming from there and it was one of the few moments in a horror game that actually scared me

I played this game when I was young, it was a whole lot of fun and I want to replay it. After this review I don’t wanna ruin the magic