» Fri Jan 02, 2015 6:01 pm I have just finished the Evil Within on Akumu mode and have realized that the game is really great, but also not well balanced. Here are some possible fixes that Tango should consider when rolling out future patches to make the game more fair. (Some points are exclusive to Akumu mode).
1. Lighting matching or selecting and picking up stuff is difficult as the camera and the character must be in certain spots and can make doing things like disarming traps and burning downed enemies a real challenge and possibly leading to a lot of deaths. To fix this, have actions to be tied to only where the character is. Say he is standing over or near a downed enemy, pressing the match button would automatically just throw it down and burn the body instead of having the player shift the camera and player repetitively to find the right spot. I have died a lot from the game not allowing me to burn a downed enemy.
2. Most downed enemies will start to slash while still downed or while coming up. This is a cheap attack that can hit the player while they are trying to burn the enemy. And they are all different. Some will wave their arms and only attack near the top half of their bodies. Others will shoot up and attack very quickly. The problem with the waving arm attacks is that they can happen while the enemy is faced down and faced up. To fix this, decrease the amount of times enemies will do this and also have it so enemies who are faced down get the arm waving attack exclusively and those faced up will shoot up exclusively to make things more predictable.
3. The addition of a kick is not only useless, but it has gotten me killed so many times. First off, the player has no idea when the character will kick or swing their fist (and additionally their ax/torch). To fix this, when a player has a melee weapon in their hand, they should exclusively hit with the weapon no matter what. Secondly, without the weapon, the brass knuckles become broken with the kicking. The hints say holding Left Trigger will let the character punch. But instead of letting the player use their knuckles, the character pulls out their gun, meaning the player cannot use the brass knuckles. To fix this, even without the brass knuckles, have the player hold Left Trigger to kick instead. That way the player can kick when they want to kick (which is rarely if ever) and punch when they want to punch (which is a lot with the brass knuckles).
4. The first enemies encountered in Chapter 6 during the burning building is incredibly infuriating on Akumu. The fact that the player must survive two incredibly hard, incredibly small rooms in one sitting just ruins the entire experience. Each room is tough as nails and becomes the most difficult encounter since there is no checkpoint in between the two rooms. Since the first room is incredibly hard, and the second room is even harder, and the player will die from just one hit while the enemies can take so many, this sequence is possibly the most unfair sequence of gaming in all of 2014. The fix is simple, add a checkpoint in between the two rooms.
5. Haunted with guns and crossbows in this game on Akumu difficulty are very stupid. The sniper haunted are very good mainly because of where they are placed within the level. The few shotgun haunted are also very good since they attack fairly close and usually miss if the player is moving. But the pistol haunted rarely miss and just ruin a lot of moments. The crossbow haunted spam the explosive bolts and never miss (at least in my experience). The SWAT haunted are incredibly difficult to take down because of their armor and combining that with their automatic rifles that hit the player a lot makes them the worst offender of haunted with guns. To fix it, limit the spawn of pistol and crossbow haunted significantly and make the SWAT haunted appear no more than three times and with no more than one per encounter.
6. After completing the game once, the player gets a few really cool weapons to use. But the RPG and MG have limited ammo and the Magnum doesn't start spawning ammo until Chapter 11. These weapons are really interesting and the magnum is the pistol that should have been. A necessary fix is to have ammo spawn in the first place, and also, since loot drops are random already, add those additional ammo types to the pool of random drops so the player can acquire them from the beginning.
7. I'm fine with the overuse of stamina leaving the player incredibly open for an attack, but why is it that the penalty happens when there is still about 10% of the stamina left. If it is suppose to happen, why not just make the little mark that represents how much stamina is left just mark stamina usage properly. If the character has to stop for a breather, I want to see that marker at the bottom of the stamina bar. To fix it, just adjust the marker to measure properly or don't have the penalty take affect until the marker is at the bottom of the stamina bar.
8. During the first Keeper boss fight, the smoke at the bottom on the newest generation of consoles is very thick, while the last generation has very little if any smoke present on the ground. Please allow for an option to clear up the ground if the player wants to see it.
9. At the end of Chapter 6, while defending Joseph as he cranks the gate open, the cut scene right before combat starts forces the player to run away from the little bridge for that needs defending. Please allow the player to stand still at the small bridge while Joseph runs to the crank at the gate so the player can adequately defend.
10. While aiming a gun, when shooting, the reticle seems more like a suggestion than an actual tool for aiming. Bullets can hit outside the imaginary circle that it produces. I'm fine with it for the shotgun as that is the result of the multiple pellets, but for the pistol, it makes hitting most things at a distance more chance than skill. The swaying of the gun is fine, but the fact that bullets don't land where they should is abysmal. Please either tightened up the cone of fire to match the reticle or expand the reticle to adjust for the larger cone of fire.
11. Bullets seem to have little affect on opponents. Shooting them with the pistol doesn't seem to stun them. Even shooting them in the leg while their running doesn't make them fall flat like the tip suggests. Please allow bullets to have weight when it comes to shooting the basic Haunted so gun play is good.
These are the main fixes and additions I would like to see added to make things more fair, on Akumu. Although some of these things are optional in the grand scheme of things, others are completely necessary (namely points 1,3,4,6). Resident Evil 4 fixed some of these ideas or didn't need to worry about them. In something so mentally taxing as Akumu mode, jankiness is the bane of enjoyment.
