Evil Within 2 Retroperspective

Hi, all. I know it has been a while. I have been struggling with work and school here in the UK, but one more step for me means I am closer to becoming the writer I want to be. Sorry for being silent for so long. From now on, I will focus more on my personal reviews. For this entry, I want to discuss a game I finished recently at my favorite gaming café, Albion Café in Norwich. If you are based in Norwich and love games, this place is worth checking out. Friendly service, lovely drinks, and delicious meals. It is a place where you can meet new people and get inspired. For me, it became a kind of safe house where I worked and played video games at the same time.

If you are familiar with my writings, you already know I am a huge fan of horror: survival, psychological, supernatural. I have played the classics like Silent Hill and Resident Evil so many times that I could almost recite every detail of their plots, characters, and themes. Because of that, I started searching for games I missed when they were first released. That is how I came across The Evil Within 2. What I found was one of the wildest horror games I have ever played. It mixes gore, tragedy, and surprisingly emotional storytelling with a lineup of rich villains who could inspire any concept artist interested in horror and creature design.

Let’s dive in.

Madness Inside Our Head

At the end of the first game, there is a huge twist. Every creature, boss, and conflict Sebastian Castellanos faced was actually part of a simulation inside someone’s brain. A corporation called Mobius (just like every other shady corporation in fiction) carried out illegal experiments by connecting people’s minds to a shared subconscious. In the first game, this core was the mind of a serial killer. Unsurprisingly, things went terribly wrong. The killer reshaped the world according to his sadistic pleasures and found ways to seize new bodies from other hosts.

The second game begins by focusing on Sebastian’s deepest regret. His house burns, collapsing piece by piece, while his daughter hides inside. He tries to save her, but fails… or so he thought. Years later, Kidman approaches him in a bar with an unexpected mission. She tells him his daughter never died. Mobius faked her death and used her as the core for their new project, “Union,” another artificial subconscious world. Of course, things collapse again and Lily vanishes. Sebastian is forced to plug himself into the machine, hoping to save his daughter and perhaps even dismantle Mobius’s plan.

In the first game, this subconscious realm was Beacon, a mental hospital simulation that tortured anyone trapped inside. Sebastian has never recovered from the trauma of Beacon, and his grasp of reality is fractured. The game cleverly shows us how his PTSD affects his personality and decisions, building a cycle of inner conflict → action → change.

As Sebastian journeys through Union, he faces twisted enemies, his broken past, and ultimately the need to reconcile with himself.

Impressive Villain Design and Their Backstory

The horror genre thrives on villains. The Evil Within follows the tradition of Silent Hill and Resident Evil by creating antagonists whose designs and personalities embody their stories.

Sebastian’s safe room is his old police office, a quiet but unsettling place that stores information on each villain. It works like a detective space and an eerie reflection of his own subconscious.

Stefano is the first antagonist. A sadistic photographer, formerly a war photographer, obsessed with capturing gore and corpses. In Union, he kills Blake, the leader of a Mobius rescue team, freezes time at the exact moment of death, and calls it his masterpiece. His environment is filled with grotesque statues, corpses, and his monstrous creation Obscura, a hybrid of human and camera. Obscura manipulates time and stalks Sebastian with its giant lens-eye. Stefano is like a voyeuristic god of his own twisted gallery.

Father Theodore is the second villain. A manipulative figure who feeds on people’s hopes and fears, presenting himself as a spiritual mentor. He asks Sebastian to join him in controlling Union, but of course, it is a trick. Theodore controls fire, perhaps because of his own burns, but more terrifying is his ability to invade minds. Sebastian must relive battles against old horrors like The Keeper and Laura. This sequence shows Sebastian’s growth—he is no longer a confused victim, but a determined hunter.

Myra, Sebastian’s wife, is the final and most emotional antagonist. Believing their daughter was alive, she dug deeper into Mobius’s lies and was eventually trapped in Union. While Sebastian fights for redemption, Myra becomes consumed by maternal instinct. Her powers manifest through snow and ice, a symbolic response to the trauma of fire and loss. Unlike the others, her confrontation is tragic rather than horrific.

Anima is a bonus presence. She cannot be fought directly and appears randomly throughout the game. Anima represents Sebastian’s PTSD, dragging him back into Beacon. Inspired by dementors from Harry Potter, she kills by pulling out the soul. For me, Anima was the hardest part. I am bad at stealth and must have been caught ten times before getting through.

Gameplay and Improvement

The mechanics are simple: aim, shoot, crouch, move. Secondary options include melee attacks and grenades. Combat feels much better than in the first game. The old flame system, where you had to burn enemies with matches after defeating them, was removed. I never liked that mechanic—it felt unnecessary and only made things more frustrating. Without it, combat feels smoother, and Sebastian comes across as more skilled and capable.

That said, normal difficulty felt closer to hard mode. I have beaten Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Outlast, and Fahrenheit on normal difficulty, but here it felt overwhelming. Survival horror should create vulnerability, yes, but in this case, most monsters felt almost undefeatable unless you played stealth perfectly. For those like me who are weak at sneaking, I recommend easy mode.

Union is a semi-open world. You can explore houses and find supplies, listen to frequencies revealing the fate of soldiers, and uncover chilling side stories. However, the game could have added more side missions and characters to deepen the lore. Most exploration ties directly to the main story or Anima.

The upgrade system is nearly identical to the first game, though the returning nurse character adds mystery. She helps with upgrades, but her presence feels symbolic, as though she is connected to the roots of STEM itself. My theory is she was one of the earliest test subjects, now permanently fused with the system.

Final Words

I love going back to older games and seeing how things were done differently. Although The Evil Within 2 came out in 2019, the gaming industry has already changed a lot, and not always for the better. Luckily, horror as a genre is rising again with new projects like Silent Hill F, Resident Evil Requiem, and Cronos.

Sadly, there will be no more Evil Within games since the studio has shut down. After the ending of the second game, perhaps a sequel would feel forced anyway. But I cannot help imagining possible continuations, hoping that one day someone picks up the IP and lets fans like me share ideas. Fingers crossed.

In my next entry, I will analyze the manga Monster from a philosophical and storytelling perspective. For those who still dismiss manga, I hope my piece will inspire you to look again.

Written by
Yavuz Orhun Kilic (YOK)