The story often works so well because it has been broken into digestible chunks of action and exploration for the player to take at their own pace. It shines through superb pacing, impactful cutscenes, and writing and dialogue that far surpass the original. A story of redemption, love, and loss, it’s surprisingly heartfelt for such a grotesquely gory game. All of the pieces fit together in a story that will keep you guessing until its final frame. The Evil Within 2 successfully fleshes out Mobius and makes much better use of the STEM system, removing obtuse elements from the first one. While there are certainly callbacks and references to the first game that will enrich the experience for players that ventured into STEM the first time around, the game itself is coherent and self-contained enough that newcomers won’t be totally lost. Injecting a more personal storyline raises the stakes, and as the game progresses, each death serves a meaningful purpose towards Sebastian’s internal and external struggle. Unlike the first game, Sebastian feels like a full-fledged character in whom you can be personally invested, rather than a generic detective thwarting ambiguous evils. Stefano Valenti, the grotesque photographer, is only the beginning of Sebastian’s problems. “ The Evil Within 2 is a layered, story rich experience that transcends the typical definition of survival horror.”