When I completed The Evil Within several years ago I felt relieved. It was the kind of relief you have after going through a meeting with a dentist or removing a painful thorn. The “oof, I hope I won’t go through this ever again” kind of relief. Which, if you ask me, is a terrible feel for a game to evoke. Evoking the absolute worst features of a game from Shinji Mikami, it focused on punishing the player way too much, while giving back way too little enjoyment in return. It didn’t just make you question the reality of the events in the game, but also yourself and your choice to play this goddamn game in the first place. It had some amazing ideas, however, and its story DLCs were showing clear understanding of mistakes made in the main game.
When it was announced that there will be a sequel, my only question was “But why?” However, when it became clear that it would be developed by the makers of the aforementioned DLCs, I got curious. For a good reason, it turns out.
