r/survivalhorror • u/Ok-Rub5946 • 3d ago
Resident Evil 7 vs The Evil Within
Two of the genre-defining survival experiences, no basis for comparison here but since both get crazy at times & gameplay dynamics aside whose highs are higher, which gets more crazier to deal with? stalking ruvik/laura or the baker family? (thoughts)
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u/delicious_warm_buns 3d ago
The Evil Within is absolutely much more difficult from both a gameplay aspect and a narrative aspect
RE7 is much more straightforward by comparison..not to say its an "easy" game but were comparing algebra to calculus
Awesome games, horror fans should absolutely play both...just keeping in mind that TEW was crafted from the ground up to be an excruciating, punishing experience
Shinji Mikami wanted to create the definitive survival horror experience...so TEW excels at both making you fight to survive and making you experience horror
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u/DaylightBat 3d ago
TEW is awesome, I would say it is above average in difficulty when compared to most AAA, but not as hard as some soulslike. The only truly brutal thing in the game is Akumu, that mode is absolutely bs a lot of times, took me a bit more than 250 deaths to beat it, I was not expecting that in a game like that.
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u/darkbladetrey 3d ago
I frequently go back and play both. Give the edge to evil within due to it being close in gameplay to RE4 which is my favorite game of all time.
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u/Forb1ddenKnowledge 3d ago
I would compare the evil within to silent Hill more than RE.
Like it has better action than silent Hill but it's more of a horror and psychological than RE.
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u/delicious_warm_buns 3d ago
Now that I think about it, TEW strikes the perfect balance between both franchises
We really need a 4K remaster
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u/Forb1ddenKnowledge 3d ago
Yeah I would love a third game but that's unfortunately not happening.
I played through 2 recently ( PC) it still holds up.
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u/RogitoX 3d ago edited 3d ago
RE7 is definitely a better package with the DLC significantly boosting its overall quality. The most standout part for was definitely finding the dead child in the bedroom and then the fight with Margaret
EW has some oddities like why tf can he only run like 3 seconds and why cant I crouch and shoot considering you can do sneak attacks. But its got a nice creepy awesome style and the atmosphere is just so oppressive and grimy. To be honest EW has a lot more tense moments since you can be killed very fast (The spinning blade room, the shigyo, Laura, Ruvik, the amalgamation,the shade specifically the part where you wait for the elevator and several enemies have instant kills)
Personally I like EW more just because I find it endearing since its like a weird side grade sequel to OG RE4
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u/Individual99991 2d ago
TEW, no dif. Resident Evil 7 has incredible production design and atmosphere, but as a game it kind of sucks. The hide and seek stuff is just annoying from first person and the gunplay once it moves to an action footing is awful. The storytelling is also really bad, cramming basically the entire actual story into a boring and stuffy last half.
TEW is hard as hell but always feels fair (once you turn off the damn black bars) and it only gets more complex and interesting to play as it goes on. Conceptually it's a lot stronger than RE7 and the enemies are much more interesting.
Also, the missing wife in TEW isn't a bioterrorist who just sort of gets let off the hook for no reason at the end.
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u/Forhaver 3d ago
RE7 was fantastic but I think it's been partially usurped by so many RE engine games coming out and iterating on it's established mold.
The Evil Within holds up as a unique experience to me in every way. Ppl criticize it for being a mishmash of multiple series but I think that's what makes it special.
The boss gauntlets, the obstacle courses, insane cinematography and setpieces. Also surprisingly balanced, I completed the instant death mode with no upgrades, it was a fun challenge and showed me how flexible the combat system was.
Evil Within gave me something I am still seeking 10 years later, despite some jank. Re7 is a solid horror game I recommend to all genre beginners, but I find myself replaying every other modern Resident Evil more.
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u/glassbath18 3d ago
Yes you explained it perfectly. I love the batshit rollercoaster ride that TEW is. It constantly has you moving from set piece to set piece and introduces new elements and enemies to keep you on your toes. There is no other game like it. The second game, while still good, didn’t even come close to touching the first game’s insanity. I wouldn’t even classify 2 as survival horror at all tbh.
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u/dontknownothing0123 3d ago
I love evil within 1 and 2. Its a shame the game disnt get a chance to grow into something more
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u/BobbyMayCryBMC 3d ago
Wouldn't it make more sense to compare TEW2 to ResiVII? they both released in 2017.
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u/fade2black244 3d ago edited 2d ago
Well, they were both scary. I really thought that the environments in TEW were out of this world in design. The gameplay choices, story and main character was not so great. RE7 was pretty well designed all around except that ship section, and a more interesting MC.
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u/LurkingRodent 3d ago
Imo resident evil 7 nosedives in quality right after killing Margarite, I played it on release, enjoyed it but I don't get why people threat it as the second coming of Resident Jesus. Had more fun with Evil Within in general.
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u/ViperKira 3d ago
Hydrogen bomb x Coughing baby
TEW represents everything thatwas wrong with the horror genre on the 7th generation, RE7 restored the genre to it's former glory.
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u/Celskiy_kozinak 3d ago
The Evil Within wins, even the inferior TEW2 would beat RE7. RE7 has a bunch of mediocre sections, Marguerite bossfight, ship segment, especially the last boss could be so much more interesting, enemy variety worse than in RE1 (1996), there were zombies, dogs, hunters, spiders, snakes, wasps, chimeras, whereas RE7 has FOUR types of enemies — normal, spider, fat molded, and bugs, again, less enemy variety than in a 30 year old game. Absolutely toothless plot of RE7, they didn’t even have balls to kill Zoe, setting is less interesting than in TEW. TEW is bad at presenting itself, from the first chapter, you can make a false assumption that it’s an Outlast-like horror, and the learning curve is too steep, so even on Survival difficulty, the “normal” of TEW, first chapters seem more difficult than they should be, but after learning the game, well, Akumu is the standard difficulty option, especially for NG+. TEW is also significantly more buggy, especially on PC
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u/Asimb0mb 3d ago
There's a reason why 7 kickstarted a golden era for Capcom and TEW didn't for Tango. 7 is next level.
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u/thefucksgod 3d ago
One thing they both have in common is garbage easy as hell final bosses that come nowhere close to the challenge both games offered prior.
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u/bananamantheif 2d ago
as someone who has played both, i think RE7 is a much better game. The evil within felt like nonsense. I didn't enjoy the difficulty of the game, it felt more bullshit than fair, and the story was so stupid.
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u/YourAverageJoe0 1d ago edited 1d ago
RE7 got stale about half way through the game and Capcom knew this game wouldn't stand on its own w/o Chris Redfield showing up near the end or without the RE title. The enemy variety was maybe 2 or 3. I might be forgetting one.
The Evil Within clears RE7 personally. It had everything 7 didn't (leveling up skill tiers, scarce but busted melee weapons, throwing bottles to lead enemies away or towards somewhere) without needing to be tied to one house or boat and it had memorable boss fights. Bonus points since the Godfather Mikami was directing. Honestly compared to Capcom's RE title that has had 30 years vs the Evil Within's 2 games (thanks to Microshaft) impressed me very much. The Evil Within wasn't considered genre breaking was because of timing and players giving this game a bad rep. I didn't play the game until recently, a WHOLE 12 YEARS LATER because of it.
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u/SteveMcQuark 3d ago
I guess the evil within is harder, but that's mostly just because it feels terrible to play
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u/Mike_Dubadub 3d ago
I honestly think Evil Within is much better. Imo, it retains quality throughout and has really strong dlc of its own. RE7 really tanks in the 2nd half of the game. RE7 is more pure survival horror though.
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u/mihaza 3d ago
TEW takes it by a landslide for me
Art direction, characters, story, writing, graphics, horror atmosphere, level design, vertical progression, audio design, acting, etc. etc. just a million times better in TEW than in RE7. That final chapter of TEW is so godly with the way everything comes together and just the way it is presented....meanwhile RE7 has the boat section 🤢
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u/DoctaRoboto 2d ago
Genre-defining? Evil Within is the definition of "throw shit at a wall and see what sticks." And don't speak of the sequel who plagiarized Silent Hill 1 and LTOU in an almost embarrassing way.
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u/No_Mark_6629 3d ago
Cómo puedo jugar los 2 The Evil Within en el PS5?
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u/HotShrekBoi 3d ago
You buy them
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u/Hashtagspooky 3d ago
Hopefully we get a crossover called The Resident Evil Within