So people seem really split on which Evil Within game is "the better one"

[sn00zer]

EDIT: Turns out it was a weirdly consistent 1/3, 2/3 not halves
I've noticed moreso than any other game that Evil Within seems to be split right down the middle on whether or not the first or second is the better game. Clearly it comes down to preference, but I think it would be a neat discussion.

Personally I prefer the second one far more. I like the more subtle, cleaner art direction and tone that slowly ratchets up over time instead of going straight to the crazy. I like the more straightforward looking town, as it reminded me of Silent Hill, in which monsters seem much more horrifying when juxtaposed against a "normal" setting. The game also stayed pretty damn scary through the entire experience, which is hard as hell fro most action horror games to pull off. The story also had a very clear set goal in mind throughout, and it ended with probably my favorite finale in any game I've played.

In regard to Evil Within 1, I felt the tone was just kind of all over the place. There was a ton of in-your-face screaming and blood and gore that it just kinda turned to white noise by the end, this coupled with the fact you are basically a tank by the end kinda sapped away the horror. I also felt the craziness cards were played a bit too early so when things get "weirder" the inpact wasn't really there. That said I do like how the aesthetic really did feel like you were travelling through a brain and it was a nice addition to the action horror genre.

So which game did you prefer?

EDIT: Also The Evil Within 2 has some cool "The Cell" references which may or may not have influenced my opinion

 

[DGenerator]

The Evil Within 2 improves upon almost every facet of development over the original. I can't believe that it's a split decision.

 

[Cybersai]

The Evil Within 2 is fantastic. It's basically the "Resident Evil 4" of this generation. Not as good as RE4, mind you, but pretty close.

 

[ClickyCal']

The Evil Within 2 improves upon almost every facet of development over the original. I can't believe that it's a split decision.

Click to shrink...

Some peoppe say that about watchdogs 2 also, yet it's pretty even.

 

[Spinky]

The correct answer is 2.

 

[myco666]

TEW1 is so much better. Only thing TEW2 does better is performance.

 

[silva1991]

1 was good with problems, and 2 is shit. Couldn't enjoy it at all before dropping it.

I didn't like the character movements in 2 and atmosphere was a huge downgrade from the first game.

 

[Liam Allen-Miller]

Personally I think I preferred everything aside from the gameplay in the first game. I'm kind of mixed on which is better imo, but one thing I know for sure is that the Excecutioner DLC for the first game is ridiculously good. If you played the shitty Kidman DLC and stopped there you super missed out on one of the best Evil Wihin things ever made.

 

[taco543]

I prefer the second one by quite a lot, they're both good, but the flow and set pieces of the second I thought were better.

 

[Malcolm9]

I actually prefer the first game after finishing the sequel recently. I found Union a bit boring compared to the environments at Beacon Hospital and the whole Mobius big bad company thing was a bit jarring.

 

[MWorldII]

Definitely the first one. Far more gameplay variety, more engaging story, setting, originality and "japanese craziness".
TEW2 far more polish, but in that transition the game lost many of it's charm, story is at best standard Hollywood something.

For me, sequel at it's best depend on the first game: side content with Anima and some Beacon elements.

 

[quotethis]

The atmosphere of the first game is much better and feels a lot more depending survival horror/scary(depending on who you are I guess). The second game does have superior gameplay and visuals, though.

 

[Capndrake]

1 has more memorable scenes but 2 is the better game.

 

[Necromorph]

TEW 2 has better gameplay and performance but the rest is boring.

 

[Joeyro]

The atmosphere in the first one is not even comparable, same can be said about the most satisfying headshots ever.
TEW2 is clunky and uninspired and it's unfortunate that Tango have listened to the wrong people.

 

[Philly Cheesesteak]

Haven't played 2 yet (just bought it from GameStop), but my main issue with TEW1 is that the game was this tense, slow crawl through the game and was great and then halfway through, you become a super tank and the game just turns into RE5. Completely killed my enjoyment for the rest of the game. Hopefully 2 doesn't fall into that same trap.

 

[Astral]

I think 2 is better from a technical side and it has a much better story, but 1 has better environments and MUCH better encounters. The only encounters I even remember from 2 are the one where you're waiting for some door to open and the final one with

Spoiler

Kidman

since it was so different and story wise it was awesome. Oh I guess there was the cabin too. The game just overall really disappointed me. It was a stealth game more than anything. Stealth elements are fine but I wish there was more of a balance between that and the crazy encounters from the first game. I think the game was best when you were in Stefano's fucked up levels.

 

[daniel77733]

Played and completed both games at their respective launches. Both are a great 8.5/10 for me but for different reasons.

TEW 1
+ Traps, puzzles, light match mechanic, molotovs
+ Better atmosphere and immersion
- Last third falls off, bad ending boss fight
- Wide screen/black bars
- Low field of view
- Cross-gen, doesn't play or run as good

TEW 2
+ Excellent visuals and audio
+ Plays and runs better
+ Better story, good ending and final boss fight
+ No wide screen
+ More open areas
- Side Quests
- No traps or puzzles
- No light match mechanic, molotovs
- Some chapters lacked atmosphere that a game like this should have
- The flashback hospital segments
- The enemy that appears at certain times (forgot the name)
- The first person chapter

Overall, I liked and enjoyed both games for what they were. While I doubt that Tango will develop a third game, if they do, I would simply love to see the positive of both games combined into one. That would be fucking awesome!!!

 

[SnatcherHunter]

EW2 has Ordinary World.

It wins by default.

 

[Deleted member 2595]

Yeah it's super divisive

The way I see it:

TEW1:
- tight game design
- very fragmented experience/flow

TEW2:
- slightly worse game design (mainly combat; enemies vs player mobility)
- much tighter flow and sense of pace. Not fragmented at all

So it's basically do you prefer better adventure gameplay or do you prefer better combat/action gameplay

 

[xrnzaaas]

They're different, but I think I liked TEW1 a little bit more despite its technical issues. The open areas in TEW2 felt like a filler for me in order to artificially make the game longer.

 

[sn00zer]

Played and completed both games at their respective launches. Both are a great 8.5/10 for me but for different reasons.

Click to shrink...

It dawned on me in recent years that my favorite games are all 8.5s. Basically they are take some chances and excel in a lot of things, but due to taking chances some other aspects suffer a bit. Or they are game that do a lot of thing great, just nothing "excellent". Darksiders series, Kingdom Hearts, Evil Within....all great 8.5s.

 

[Arsic]

Evil within 1 is masterpiece in the horror genre and my favorite horror game of all time.

Evil within 2 checks more modern day boxes people look at for AAA gaming to be a good game but is an awful horror game. If you want a good game then this will seem the better title but if you prefer actual horror than the first beats this in spades .

 

[Courage]

I love both for different reasons. RE4 is my favorite game of all time so I prefer EW1 due to it being Mikami's take of RE4 on a bad acid trip

EW2 has a more poignant story and meaningful characterization. I also liked its semi-open hub structure and would like more horror games akin to that.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I haven't played the first game in a long time, but my recent experiences with TEW2 were not positive...particularly the boss battles. That flamethrower guy was my fucking nightmare and he made me quit the game.

 

[sn00zer]

Evil within 1 is masterpiece in the horror genre and my favorite horror game of all time.

Evil within 2 checks more modern day boxes people look at for AAA gaming to be a good game but is an awful horror game. If you want a good game then this will seem the better title but if you prefer actual horror than the first beats this in spades .

Click to shrink...

This is funny because I didnt find 1 scary at all since it was so influenced by schlocky 80s horror and SAW which all felt far more tongue-in-cheek than the slower burn horror of the second. I will say the "fire" section of the second was real weak in a number of aspects including horror.

 

[Hellwarden]

I think the enemy designs in TEW 2 are a lot more generic than in 1.

 

[Astral]

I haven't played the first game in a long time, but my recent experiences with TEW2 were not positive...particularly the boss battles. That flamethrower guy was my fucking nightmare and he made me quit the game.

Click to shrink...

I swear that dude had like near infinite HP. Apparently the poison gas upgrade for your crossbow makes the fight go by a hell of a lot faster but I didn't have it at that point so I had to kill him very very slowly.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I swear that dude had like near infinite HP. Apparently the poison gas upgrade for your crossbow makes the fight go by a hell of a lot faster but I didn't have it at that point so I had to kill him very very slowly.

Click to shrink...

Yeah. He takes so many hits and it's just...god, it's bad design. Not to mention he's supernaturally gifted at detecting you even if you're stealthing. I can't count the number of times I perfectly snuck up behind him only for him to turn around the exact same second the stealth attack prompt appeared and backhand me in the face.

 

[sn00zer]

EW2 has Ordinary World.

It wins by default.

Click to shrink...

Legit one of the best CG trailers....nailed the tone of the game perfectly and I felt it was really representative of the game overall.

 

[daniel77733]

It dawned on me in recent years that my favorite games are all 8.5s. Basically they are take some chances and excel in a lot of things, but due to taking chances some other aspects suffer a bit.

Click to shrink...

I had a few other games in 2017 with an 8.5/10 rating, two games at 9.0/10 and two games at 9.5/10. And I still have to play Nier Automata and try out Nioh, The Surge, Yakuza Zero and Kiwami.

I agree that those games in the 80's rating do different things and whatnot but at the same time, they will at times come up short or in the case of TEW 2, removed to many things that I liked in the original and added stuff that I didn't like.

I do rank both TEW games over RE7 though. That disappointed me and I prefer third person over first person. For horror games, first person is just so cheap in my eyes due to the perspective. Plus, I didn't like the combat as FP combat is always worse than TP.

 

[lowlifelenny]

What TEW2 gained in storytelling and player agency, it lost in weapon variety, enemy variety, and pacing.

Honestly they're two very different types of game so it's tricky to compare them, but overall I definitely prefer the first one.

 

[onlySpicySalsa]

TEW2 is better than the first one; better art style, sound design, gameplay mechanics, and horror elements (anima & the guardian).
I find TEW1's conclusion better than the sequel's.

 

[psychedelic]

First one had the better combat, superior encounters, and far more tense situations with an emphasis on audio tapes and journals (I personally loved this).

The second one seems tailor-made for what it accomplishes in Chapter 3, and it's brilliant at that, but the linear sections in the game and the encounters aren't that great. Another thing I loved about Evil Within 2 was the Anima side-quest in particular, and that one amazing sequence where you're

Spoiler

trapped in Beacon and have to open multiple doors in the right sequence to escape.

I also loved the whole idea of the game acknowledging Sebastian's experience from the first game and

Spoiler

bringing back the bosses and allowing Sebastian to finally overcome them. I love how the whole thing was put together. I was so elated playing through that section.

Overall, I like the first one better, although I replayed both of them more than twice.

 

[Ducayne]

I finally started TEW1 yesterday and got thru chapter 4 so far. It's showing it's age a bit but excited to get through it so I can checkout the sequel. Heard so many good things

 

[Miamiwesker]

You need to judge by level design, pacing, variety and all those things the first game does much better. It's the closest to RE4 we have come honestly. Nothing in TEW2 is as well designed as the village in TEW1, the church, or any of the bosses. TEW1 was a better game even being uneven.

 

[OnanieBomb]

1 was better. For the most part, 2 diluted what made the original game interesting by adding in some AAA trends.

 

[Kromeo]

The second game was maybe more consistent but my favorite parts of the series were all in the first one. The dialogue was pretty awful in both so I appreciate that the first game had less of it as well

 

[Take5GiantSteps]

The sequel is one of the best games of this generation, honestly. The first one not so much.

 

[Azzanadra]

I preferred The Evil Within's more oppressive atmosphere and tone, Union was a bit too clean IMO.

 

[TheBeardedOne]

The correct answer is The Evil Within 2.

 

[Fiery Phoenix]

I've yet to play 2, but the first one was hugely atmospheric.

 

[sn00zer]

Glad to see this thread has basically confirmed my suspicions

 

[Phil's Empty Chair]

I prefer 2. The oresentation and story were good. The first felt too much like a random generic clone.

 

[Deleted member 19213]

The first one is the better one.

 

[SirKai]

Definitely Evil Within 2. It does have some neat sequences, but most of the boss fights in 1 are just a mess or fight themselves. The performance and hindering field of view are a pain too. There's a few places where TEW1 really hits its stride and feels excellent (namely Chapter 7 with the awesome Keeper boss fight), but those parts are too far and few between. Also the game hijacks some of the worst parts of Resident Evil 6 as inspiration for those god awful turret sections and fights in the city against the armored commando zombies.

Evil Within 2 feels way more thoughtful, runs way better, has consistently excellent boss fights, and doesn't fall into the unforgivable trap of making the player slog through hordes of annoying assault rifle zombies. The more open ended design of some of 2's areas along with surprisingly engaging and rewarding side quests makes TEW2 so much more arresting and fun to play. Nightmare mode is also perfectly tuned and constantly kept me ticking along, but always on my toes and never feeling too empowered. Plus, the two first main villains in TEW2 kick the shit out of Ruvik. Stefano especially was a really fun villain, and the game gave you plenty of interactions with him and tons of insight without it becoming tiring.

Plus, Evil Within 2 ends with an incredibly well realized final section, with a great boss fight, intense ending sequence and very rewarding concluding cut scenes. It was a highly fulfilling game that, once I finished it for the first time on Nightmare mode, I didn't feel like there was much I could have really asked for that it didn't deliver.

 

[Moebius]

I'm still trying to get through the first one. I feel like some of the sections go on for far too long and there are too many boss fights. I'm excited to get into 2.

 

[MarkRJR]

I definitely prefer the second game. Production values and overall quality is so much higher.

 

[headspawn]

Everything the first game does, the second game implements better; it's really polished and I'm looking forward to what the team does next.

Granted, really like the first game as well.

 

[Jawmuncher]

If The Evil Within 1 had the same sort of polish and technical upgrade that TEW 2 had it'd be the better game.
But because it doesn't, it easily loses to TEW2. The PC version can get it close (Thanks to some options to change the game and 60FPS). But the lack of polish is still there, hurting it.