I just finished The Evil Within yesterday. Below are my thoughts:
The Good:
-The setting is constantly changing. One moment you will be walking down a hallway & then out of nowhere, you are transferred to another area. Not only is it another area but one that has no relevance to where you just were. This quick change of location definitely keeps things fresh.
-The Evil Within has two types of gameplay that are balanced throughout. By this, I mean, some parts / chapters are action focused. You fight a bunch of enemies / giant monster in a confined space while running around trying to survive. Other parts of the game are more stealth, & slow paced, where the goal is to sneak around or deactivate traps. This combination sounds similar to RE4 in writing but I personally think it was executed much better in this game.
-Some great ideas for characters. In particular, Ruvik, Leslie, & Safehead. Without giving anything away, Ruvik & Leslie help to give an interesting take on the horror genre. Without the uniqueness they bring, the game wouldn't be the same, can't say that about Sabastion 
All 3 of them made me feel uneasy & excited at the same time, because I knew something was about to go down. (In the case of Safehead, I just liked fighting him, he was cool)
-The hub area. In most games, you go into the menu, you save the game. In this game, you can't just save wherever you want. Yes, the game auto-saves which is very convenient too but to manually save it, you must find a mirror that takes you to another place, a safe zone if you will. This gave a nice break from what was going on while still giving you some weird vibes. Lastly, the music you hear that lets you know when a save area is close by is quite pleasant 
-The upgrade / management system. The game gives you plenty of upgrade options allowing you to play the way you see fit, and from my experience, (watching my bro beat it too) can be beaten in a variety of methods. I appreciate that. I also liked how the game kept going if you went into the inventory, this makes timing more important.
The Bad:
-The game is frustrating as hell. Yeah, it's pretty bad at times. Now, I'm aware this is my casual scrub side talking but I can't help it. I died 431 times, and it took me 31 hours to complete. That's much longer than average according to my sources, I just suck. With that said, multiple times throughout the game, I've stated "I hate this game" "this game is trash" ect. While I don't feel that way now, in the moment, I certainly felt extreme frustration. (which isn't normal for me) Certain areas / boss fights took 2+ hours alone.
-The game made no sense / left unanswered questions. For most of the game, I had no idea what was going on. The only thing I knew was I had to survive. That's it. I figured by the end, you would find out & they would piece it all together but was left with confusion. Nearly nothing got answered. All the little details didn't matter. Throughout the game, you find letters, journals, map pieces, ect. These things typically talk about the backstory of the main character. Most of these things also remained unanswered. Where is his wife? Was the fire an accident? What's the deal with Kidman? Is Joe alive? Did Ruvik escape? Is Leslie dead? Did you escape the dream world? All were left alone.
All in all, The Evil Within is a fun, entertaining, but frustrating game that feels as if it never actually ended. I believe the game does a lot of good tho & think that a possible sequel could be awesome. All the pieces are already placed for one, all the developers have to do is make sure it makes sense because, if it doesn't, this game would feel kind of pointless. Fun, but pointless
As for a score? Well, I've decided not to give one. After all, I'm assuming more is to come 
[] [] [] {} []
