Should I Play Evil Within 1 or 2 First? A Comprehensive Guide
As a survival horror fan debating diving into Tango Gameworks‘ acclaimed Evil Within series, you likely want to know: should I play the first game before the sequel? As a passionate gamer and gaming industry expert, I strongly recommend playing The Evil Within 1 prior to 2 for maximum enjoyment and understanding.
In this comprehensive, 2300+ word guide for new players, I‘ll analyze why starting with the first Evil Within before its direct narrative follow-up provides the optimal experience for multiple reasons:
Continued Storyline and Characters
As direct sequels, Evil Within 2 picks up the complex story threads and character arcs from the first game. Without immersing yourself in their initial experiences in Evil Within 1, the motivations and trauma driving these characters will feel confusing and disjointed.
Protagonist Sebastian Castellanos endured horrific creatures and shadowy conspiracies across the first 15 chapter journey. Evil Within 2 grapples with the emotional aftermath of these world-altering revelations. Meanwhile the supporting characters, like Sebastian‘s thought-dead daughter Lily, return with deep backstories that deserve full context.
Investing in Evil Within 1‘s complete narrative delivers greater emotional resonance and depth once these characters reemerge on their continued quests. Operating without this foundation diminishes the incredible writing and voice acting of Evil Within 2.
Refined Stealth and Open Level Design
From a gameplay perspective, experiencing the linear survival horror design of Evil Within 1 allows you to better appreciate the massive innovations made in the sequel. Evil Within 2 introduces open neighborhood areas and greatly enhanced stealth systems compared to its more direct action and constant claustrophobic tension predecessor.
Critics praised Evil Within 2‘s expanded playstyles and environments as dramatic leaps over the first title‘s mechanics and level design. Without suffering through and overcoming Evil Within 1‘s meticulously constructed tunnel traps and visceral fights, the freedom and choice introduced in the sequel carries less weight. Appreciating iteration and evolution often requires knowledge of what came before!
Carryover Skill and Weapon Progression
On a progression front, both Evil Within games implement useful character upgrade systems that permit importing past accomplishments into new playthroughs. By beginning your journey as Sebastian Castellanos in the first title, those hard-earned stats, abilities perks, lifetime weapon upgrades and stockpiled supplies will provide a leg up as you continue the nightmare in the sequel.
Since higher difficulties drastically increase the challenge of conquering survival horror titles like Evil Within, leveraging Sebastian‘s accrued talents across episodes provides an incredibly useful boost to overcoming Evil Within 2‘s terrors!
Maximum Fan Service and Nostalgia
While certainly playable on its own merits, The Evil Within 2 offers plenty of nods, Easter Eggs and references designed to delight hardcore fans of the first game. Whether encountering locations and mysteries that hearken back to the iconic village of the original or hearing musical motifs revisited, these clever callbacks help connect the franchise‘s fiction across generations.
By experiencing Sebastian‘s full odyssey in order, you‘ll gain much greater appreciation and joy from these subtle fan service moments crafted specifically to reward invested fans who‘ve stuck by the series from its start back in 2014. Catching a brief glimpse of that familiar safehouse or noticing the same ghostly figure passing by rewards dedicating your psyche to the previous terrors!
Complete Vision as Intended
While open to debate for multimedia properties like TV shows and book series, when it comes to direct video game sequels I firmly believe developers intend for gamers to indulge their creative works in sequential order. Playing Evil Within 1 first delivers the full vision and carefully constructed escalating thrills Tango Gameworks‘ designers laid out for maximum emotional and gameplay impact leading up to the climactic events of the second title.
By rushing into the sequel, resonant themes and award winning artistic set pieces lose context and gravitas when not building off an established foundation. While possible to jump into Evil Within 2 blind, choosing to do so undercuts years of thoughtful creative intent from the artists dedicated to manifesting this fiction into interactive life.
In summary, by first steeling your nerves and nightmares through The Evil Within 1 + DLC before facing off against the terrors of STEM run rampant across Union in Evil Within 2, you unlock the richest accretion of knowledge to fully comprehend character motivations, world mysteries, progressed abilities, rewarding story callbacks and ultimately unbroken immersion across this intense, mature and captivating psychological survival horror franchise.
Related Post: What Resident Evil Should you Play First?
Now grab your green gel, sneak past some Lost Ones and prepare to delve deep into unstable and deadly minds with proper context by beginning at the start of Sebastian‘s journey through doom! What gruesome creatures await within the confines of tortured psyches? Descend and discover…
