I think you don't understand
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The whole "digital influencer" culture exists mostly because corporations foster it. Willingly or no, but big companies cater to the loudest voices and encourage mob movements by submitting to their demands.

Just out of curiosity, which parts of the game bothered you the most? And were there things you liked? I mean, if you bought and played it, there must have been some things which appealed to you.

I finished my playthrough recently, plus its story DLCs, and overall I enjoyed it. It's more of an Action-Horror game, such as Resident Evil 4 and its sequels, not a classic Survival Horror game. There were two primary things I liked about it: 1) It is never boring. If nothing else, it keeps throwing surprises at you -- new areas, new enemies, new traps and boss monsters, new puzzles and mini-games, as well as some crazy visual effects. Overall, I thought it was a rather creative and memorable ride. And 2) It celebrates the Horror genre. They obviously took heavy inspiration from Resident Evil, but also Silent Hill, Outlast, and various movies, such as Saw or Asia Horror.

I think maybe you, and others who didn't like the game, simply have a low threshold for frustration and badly designed gameplay elements. Because the game has many parts which are either: 1. Very challenging 2. Badly designed 3. Both.

Its gameplay design can be very hit or miss. There were some parts which were just incredibly stupid, especially considering they already did a better job at the same things all the way back in Resident Evil 4. Overall I'd still give it a rating of around 80/100, because it delivers a memorable, intense experience, with some creative ideas, despite some of its ( obvious ) flaws.

I'm still playing Evil Within 2, so I can't tell whether I like it more or less, but the gameplay design definitely feels more solid. They improved the stealth mechanics, the RPG elements, it is much less linear, and it feels more like a traditional Survival Horror game. You're generally up against single enemies, or small groups, enemies are fairly tough, and ammo is rare, especially early on. And since the game is less linear, and more open, you also won't be forced into stupid situations quite as often as in the first game. The sequel leaves you more freedom to find your own solutions.

By the way, if you haven't played it yet, Resident Evil 7 is much closer to classic Resident Evil. It's not perfect, and the first few hours feel very linear and scripted, but after that it's largely like the original Resident Evil.

Please, God, make them go bankrupt!

Have THQ Nordic buy all their IPs!

I think at this time there are more ppl sick of the constant monetization and revenue maximization over quality scheming than we think. EA got under so much fire from diverse sides (SW BF debacle; illegal gambling lawsuit, BF5 debacle) that they shares do drop big deal (Laymen Gaming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGOH3ncQvjs); Activision/Blizzards double stock drop when they have trouble with getting ppl to play Destiny 2 or getting Diablo fans embrace the newest Diablo... on mobile.. (Sterling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhLQsegK9AA; YongYea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi9dieP7y2E; TheKnow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjL11TOe9-A). And considering what is heard about Fallout 76 (SidAlpha https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeSiu_MLi80; LaymenGaming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8h5sWB_kvQ) chances are that Bethesda might underperform there as well.

So will they go down because of that? I do not think so. Too big & too rich. But I do like to think right now only the right ones feel the heat and they probably will adapt and continue. For better or worse? We will see. But I'm not sure ppl will buy their stuff (literal and hypothetical) if they double down on monetization because of more shareholder panic. I hope right now they are at the point where they have to adapt by either slowly completely leaving the PC gaming in favor of mobile (like Blizzard; YongYea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PefK3KubKKI) and leaving a spot to fill by new companies (or old; like THQ Nordic. They seem to get it right IMHO) or by going back to putting quality first and leave monetization schemes to casinos.

It has been a very long time so I don't remember all the details. One part that I remember is the.. keeper? I think it was, in this foggy area. You can't kill it, you have to run around to all the valves to turn them off. It's almost impossible not to get lost in there, and if you go the wrong way you end up in a corridor that instant kills you. It took me 2-3 hours just to get through that one spot. Another place I think it stuck me in a tiny room and sent absurd numbers of enemies at me with no ability or room to be tactical, took a few tries until I was lucky enough to get through. There was also a part where I had to hide under a table in a mansion? I barely remember it but I didn't like that.

If I remember correctly, I finally stopped playing when I reached an area with a bunch of traps and cages, it took me a couple of hours to figure out what I was supposed to do, and at the end it puts you in a situation that looks like a continuation of a cutscene but you have control. Because I didn't run right away I died and would have to do it all over again. I don't know how far into the game it was, maybe 2/3 through? I never did find out what was happening or why; frankly I didn't really care.

There were only two good parts that I remember, one near the start where you're sneaking around in a town, and another one that has a bigger arena with multiple levels, and you have to get across a bridge or something. Those were good, but it was a very small part of the game.

I enjoyed resident evil 7 quite a bit, the move to first person didn't bother me in that game because they did a good job of it keeping the resource management and survival horror aspects intact.

Yeah, I'd categorize most of the boss fights in the game as "tough, but pretty fun", on the other hand, there were a few parts which were just downright stupid. There was one particular scene which really stood out to me, in terms of bad game design. There's this part where you cross a bridge and Whatshisname ( Joseph? ) triggers an explosion, separating you from him, and you have to defend him against some bad guys with your rifle. So far so good, except for what comes next. He turns a wooden plank into a make-shift bridge so you can reunite with him, and once you've crossed it, you see a group of enemies chasing after you. So my first thought was, "He's going to knock down the wooden plank, so they can't follow us, right?" ... He didn't. No button prompt to do it manually, either. OK, so I tried to shoot it... Still nothing? All right then, I instead shot at the enemies as they tried to cross the plank, because I figured they'd lose their balance and fall down -- y'know, just like they did back in Resident Evil 4, some 15 years ago or so? Nope, still nothing. At that point I had a hard time trying to process how the devs could miss something so obvious. And the thing is, there are other situations in the game, which feel just as forced and stupid. It's kind of bizarre, because I like the game overall, but occasionally it makes you wonder what the hell the devs were thinking when they designed certain sections.

If you liked that village stealth section in the beginning, you might enjoy Evil Within 2, because it largely consists of similar open areas, with opportunities to sneak around, perform stealth kills etc. I'd say pick it up when it's on a sale, and if you don't like it, just use Steam's refund system.

It's kind of weird how the Evil Within games are among the best modern Horror games, despite their flaws, because there's just not much competition. The Silent Hill series has been dead for many years, Outlast is shallow, linear and overrated, and there just aren't many other "big" new Horror games. The recent Call of Cthulhu is a rather mediocre mess, as well. And that other game... Agony(?), was apparently a stinker too. At least the Resident Evil series seems to be making a comeback, with RE7 and the upcoming remake of RE2.

And SW Battlefront 2.


Yeah, we're screwed.

I see what you're saying, that makes sense. These things that I am talking about are still tools used by these companies, so the root of the problem is still the greedy companies.

Thanks, I never thought about it that way.

Everything that devoras highlighted in his first post is accurate.

The only modification I would make is to his first point: You are entirely right, devoras, but alas, I wonder whether such a move would have the same negative consequences as it would in the auto industry, simply because the nature of the products and the reasons for their purchase are so different. And also because there really isn't an analogous concept of 'competition' in the realm of video games as with automobiles and other products.

I agree with your point about The Evil Within 2--though I did end up purchasing it from Newegg six months ago for $12.99 shipped. The first game was a consolicious mess consisting of both poor fundamental gameplay mechanics (in my opinion from an admittedly short interaction), and such technical issues as a ridiculous locked aspect ratio, extremely low FOV, poor framerate (And was it locked at 30 fps? I don't recall...), and other sundry effects of a typical toss-port.

I agree! +1 ;)