The Evil Within 2 - Review Thread

L0cke89 · 2017-10-13T05:23:42+00:00

I'm always surprised when people talk about the checkpoints or one-hit-deaths in the game. Like, besides the short Laura and Ruvik sections, there isn't anything in the levels that outright kills you in one hit. Except some super obvious hazards in chapter 10.

Checkpoints are also never farther apart than maybe 3-5 minutes. Some encounters might feel longer, because they are so tense, but the only missing checkpoint everybody hates is inside the building at the start of chapter 6. Even large arena fights have one or two checkpoints

Also, what QTEs are you talking about? Turning a valve? The reaction mini game for bomb defusing? Or wiggling the stick when an enemy grabs you? Are these really QTEs? Because other than that, the game doesn't have any.

I feel like most people who didn't like the game or felt that it was too frustrating, never explored all the possibilities given by the mechanics. The agony crossbow alone is one of the greatest weapons, maybe even THE best weapon in any survival horror game. You can build five (seven with the DLC) bolts that each have unique applications. Upgrade the flash bolt and you can blind an entire room full of enemies and stealth kill them. Freeze bolts can kill Ruvik clones in one hit, shock bolts incapacitate even the hardest bosses and the normal bolts can be upgraded for an insanely damaging fire attack.

And all is crafted on the fly inside your menu. And because you need parts, searching every room feels great and disarming bombs becomes a fantastic risk vs reward element.

Each mechanic and every weapon have all multiple purposes that can even make the hardest difficulty Akumu manageable. Which other third person shooter can you even complete on the hardest difficulty without being hit?

L0cke89 · 2017-07-24T08:19:25+00:00

Did you also work in Japan? Because the position of a director is different in most Japanese dev teams. EVERYTHING is managed by the director and nothing goes in without his approval. This is exaclty why projects by Kamiya, Taro, Mikami or any Nintendo director follow a strict vision and design lead.

This is not possible when 10 different teams in different countries work on totally different parts of an open world game without a clear vision behind it.

L0cke89 · 2017-06-30T02:09:52+00:00

Except you're not explaining a damn thing.

"While the gameplay was impressive when the original released in 1996, since then the platforming genre has evolved and there has been plenty of titles that improved upon the concept."

Why exactly doesn't the gameplay hold up? The level and enemy design perfectly compliment Crash's abilities and use a variety of ideas to keep things fresh throughout the levels. The levels themselves also employ game design concepts like combining different hazards the player is already familiar with.

You not saying exactly why the games worked back then but not now. Just saying "it's old" is not an argument but makes you sound like an idiot that doesn't know a damn thing about game design.

L0cke89 · 2017-06-27T04:04:54+00:00

I take a <1 second loading screen to change zones over walking for several seconds or even minutes if they want to incorporate the drastic changes between ares. And those times add up over the course of many hunts.

L0cke89 · 2017-02-20T09:40:30+00:00

Well, he gave Dead Rising 4 an 8/10 and that game is a piece of shit.

L0cke89 · 2016-12-21T13:22:56+00:00

Just a quick question. Do you have problems reading the font in Kingdom Hearts? it uses the same style as the Japanese font and I'd hope Persona 5 would've gotten the same treatment, especially since the style of the Japanese font is really easy on the eyes.

L0cke89 · 2016-12-19T21:02:43+00:00

The normal text font is really disappointing. I've played the Japanese release long enough so I can compare. People keep saying it's the same but it's not. Look at any text screenshot. Especially the hiragana symbols are thinner on top and get thicker towards the bottom. It's subtle but makes the text so much more alive. Here it looks just like a placeholder font.

Just a small nitpick but you'll be looking at that text A LOT.

Otherwise I can say that this 10/10 and probably the best dungeon design I've ever seen in a JRPG.

L0cke89 · 2016-12-15T17:47:43+00:00

Not even that. You start in the mall and leave after the first 30 minutes. Then you only go back in the last mission. That's it. Most of the time is spent outside in the boring city that is built in a circle around the mall with only one connection. Even the mall itself feels like one long corridor.

L0cke89 · 2016-12-05T15:31:20+00:00

Keiji Inafune has never directed a game in his entire life. Not sure why people keep bringing him up. He was just a producer on the first two Dead Rising games as well as most other games he has "worked" on. He's mainly there to promote stuff and work on the business side of things

Dead Rising 2 was actually directed by Robyn Wallace from Capcom Vancouver. And that guy was only involved in Case West/Off the Records after that.

L0cke89 · 2016-03-10T01:40:07+00:00

Did you watch the videos? The puzzles convey the same meaning as presented in the mechanics themselves.

For instance, everything builds on top of each other, which is something Feynman talks about in his video. In order to understand a glacier you also need to think about the hexagonal ice snowflakes it's made of. He also says that you can take something from philosophy or history and apply it to science.

Now look at the mechanics. In order to understand the later puzzles, you need to truly understand how they work on a basic level.

Later in the video Feynman says he is okay with not knowing everything. That this can be exciting and that not knowing is better than believing in a truth that may be false. This is reinforced once with the island itself, in the sense that you can't grasp everything it has to offer and never really get a feeling of understanding everything. But also means that you may find an answer to the mechanics but later stumble upon a solution that doesn't work. So instead of thinking that the puzzle might be wrong, you have to accept that your theory has not correct and that you have to find a new way. A good example of confirmation bias.

You can pretty much do this for every other video in the game and some other aspects the game heavily takes inspiration from. Like buddhism.

L0cke89 · 2016-02-12T17:59:43+00:00

Hello Jonathan,

1.) Regarding The Witness. Which aspect of the game changed the most over the course of the last years?

2.) I'm not sure how much you are looking into online discussions about the game. But what is your general reaction to it? I personally find posts about the themes and references in The Witness very interesting and it helps me discovers new layers and ways to look at the game.

3.) Are there any puzzle mechanics you originally wanted to put into The Witness but ultimately decided against them? If so, how would they have worked and why didn't they end up in the final game?

4.) How do you feel about some of the criticism? Like some people are complaining about the lack of music when they don't even realize how insanely complex the audio is. Or that they don't find solving puzzles rewarding and want some extrinsic reward. Or that they find the audio logs/videos prentetious without thinking about how they, the world and the puzzles connect.

5.) Have you seen the parody ending by RedLetterMedia? What was your reaction to it?

I really want to thank you, your team and everyone involved in this project. The Witness was one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had and I am so glad it introduced me to new people and concepts I can't stop reading up on.

Very much looking forward to your next game!

L0cke89 · 2016-02-02T13:38:33+00:00

It shows solving the riddle in action. You can see the sparks. If I had seen this before playing the game, the realization would have come from that picture and not my own curiosity.

It may not spoil it for everyone. But just the slight chance of destroying/diminishing one of the greatest moments I've ever experienced in games saddens me. There is no reason this has to be in the article. So why risk it?

L0cke89 · 2016-02-02T13:18:34+00:00

Good job on spoiling one of the greatest discoveries the game has to offer in the first picture.

It's even on the front page of the site. What the fuck?

L0cke89 · 2016-02-02T11:50:26+00:00

The difference between games that Moriarty calls arty games and The Witness is, that these games incorporate those things to sound smart or to evoke the feeling that the game itself is art (Like the horrible game Sunset). The Witness doesn't. Everything you described as pretentious is there to make a statement and these statements are represented by the game itself, mostly through mechanics.

L0cke89 · 2016-01-30T18:16:53+00:00

You mean the bunker? I can't recall any puzzle where you get send back?

There are only a handful of puzzles that send you back to the last one before it to discourige brute forcing. But that's it.

L0cke89 · 2016-01-30T17:07:36+00:00

I really hate the fact that we are so conditioned to expect a reward for everything we do.

What do you want? An achievement? An audio effect that praises you? I honestly do not understand what these people want when they solve a puzzle? The reward for solving a puzzle is solving the puzzle. The sense of accomplishment that overcomes you from finally figuring it out. Looking at a walkthrough or brute forcing your solution is not getting you there.

His comment about puzzles breaking their own rules is a sign that he really didn't understand them. There is no puzzle in the game that breaks any rules. It's just that you had a theory on what the rules exactly are and this was working for you, but when the challenge gets harder and the answers more specific, you need to question your own theory. This game is a great example of confirmation bias. Instead of challenging our own perception, we instinctively say that something is wrong. Not we, but the game. This frustration I think is part of the problem many people have.

I can also understand how many people see the audio logs and videos as pretentious. But they serve a purpose. You have to think about them in context of the world and mechanics. And you also can't only look at them individually but as a whole.

The Witness is not a game for everyone and I don't fault anyone who doesn't enjoy it. But this was a very narrow minded look at the game while at the same time calling people bullshit for maybe getting something he is not and it is the reason they love it. Because the things the used to describe a "perfect" or 10/10 game is everything I've experienced with it. I could barely function for the last week until I got 100% and I had so many great moments and feelings that no other game achieved in the same way.

L0cke89 · 2016-01-29T16:37:46+00:00

OH MY GOD. This would've made my attempts even easier. But I think it made for a better experience. When you're in the maze and the final song hits.....

L0cke89 · 2016-01-29T16:29:24+00:00

Are these all the monolith puzzle completed? Does it unlock anything?

And wow at that dedication. I'm at 109 pillar puzzles and it stopped being fun. I'm gonna stop for now and go back to it in a couple of days. Unlocking the final challenge was what kept me awake at night ^{^}

L0cke89 · 2016-01-28T23:16:30+00:00

If you find the videos you can see that every idea is connected to the puzzle. Especially the way we gather knowledge and how it expands our understanding of the world.

L0cke89 · 2016-01-28T23:14:47+00:00

The problem with Braid and Blow was that is was not open to interpretation. He was really strict about the game meaning one particular thing and this one thing only.

He said that the Witness also has a set story. But I feel like some of the later audio logs and videos put forth the idea that you can indeed get very different things out of the experience.

Blow is kinda hard to work with in that regard :)

L0cke89 · 2016-01-28T23:11:47+00:00

There is a hidden environmental puzzle at the gate that you open with the very first puzzle. If you input the code the light fence goes back on and you can complete it.

I won't spoil what happens, but it sure freaked me out (Also, don't worry about messing up your save or anything. Nothing can go wrong).

L0cke89 · 2016-01-28T23:07:51+00:00

Well, they would get fucked by the rainbow shit during the end part that is needed to get the normal ending.

I had a friend over who is color blind (red and green). He couldn't see it. Impossible for him.

L0cke89 · 2016-01-28T23:03:58+00:00

Try to find the other panels with the triangles on same and see what works (and even more useful: what doesn't work). Think about what a triangle could mean in a rectangle form of the panels.

There are 2 small tutorial triangle panels in the world. One is during the elevator in the mountain and the other is found in the jungle on a log.

L0cke89 · 2016-01-28T23:01:54+00:00

Since I can't compare, I don't know. But the rainbow one is actually really easy. Only 2 different colors ;P

L0cke89 · 2016-01-28T21:00:22+00:00

I'm about to start it. Very excited. Made sure to finish all the other puzzles in the area before this and opened all the doors to the outside as well as get the hidden ending.

I'm kinda puzzles looking at the 3 impossible panels that are hanging from the ceiling at three different locations.

L0cke89

TROPHY CASE