This is an appreciation piece. But first, a few disclaimers:
Note 1: Since GAF auto-resize images to fit the screen on most browsers, they’re presented without tags.
Note 2: The following are not my screens. I pulled them from user galleries on Steam.
Note 3: There are images from all throughout the game. No lore spoilers, however!
Note 4: Dimensions vary. Some were taken with black bars, others without.
Now without further ado…
Similar to the image overload in my Bloodborne thread, I wanted to arrange some screens that illustrate the look of another macabre masterpiece, Shinji Mikami’s The Evil Within.
It’s a divisive title on GAF, but it was my Game of the Year 2014, which is remarkable for a Nintendo fan in a year with the best Smash Bros., Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Country, and other goodies like Shovel Knight and Bayonetta 2. Not to mention another stellar horror title in Alien: Isolation.
But I think we can all agree the art direction here is superb. There is such a wide variety of settings and scenarios, each with its own look and feel.
The creature design is equally captivating — terrifying, and often revolting, but with an element of twisted beauty. It makes for potent imagery.
Even something as ordinary as a door can have a lot of character — check out the intricate engraving on each panel:
And the structures themselves aren’t too shabby, either, as we see with the foreboding exterior of Beacon Mental Hospital:
But it’s around the village of Elk River where the gloomy atmosphere really starts to shine. Here, they took the village from RE4 and infused it with the darkness of the Spencer Estate from REmake. This place made me feel chilly (evidence of immersion!) thanks to the numerous fires dotting the shadowy landscape — pinpricks of warmth that contrast with the night. There is also a lighthouse shining in the distance…
Not pictured: The main village. Surprisingly difficult to find good shots of it! A shame, since it’s like RE4’s village made into an entire game… that is just one episode within TEW!
But speaking of RE4, we also have shades of that game’s church and castle, with the cathedral at Cedar Hill. There’s a strong sense of history here — something familiar, but not quite right. Beyond the church walls are a medieval cemetery and marketplace bathed in the golden hues of a setting sun. I like how this place manages to feel haunted even in broad daylight.
Not pictured: The epic view of the ruined abbey on the cliff overlooking the sea. Again, hard to find pics that do it justice!
This game also has a sprawling mansion, which makes sense — this is Mikami’s tribute to himself, after all. The mansion is equal parts decadence and decay. I wish I had more screens to show the variety of lighting and surfaces inside — the gleaming glass on the cabinets, the varnished wood, the crackling fires, etc. I love the fog-wreathed approach, the familiar layout to the foyer, and touches like the vault and mirror — symbols that become layered with meaning as the game goes on:
Not pictured: The gruesome puzzles involving amateur neuroscience. Don’t want anyone to lose their lunch here… At least, not before I get to Laura!
But first, we have an emotional scene… I’ll spoil the setting, but not the scenario — you were warned in the thread title! Here we see a field of sunflowers, stretching into the distance, and a lonely barn at the center of it all. It reminds me of a certain scene at the end of Majora’s Mask. One of the most emotionally charged scenes in TEW, but also soothing — a welcome contrast to the suffocating confines of the mansion. But it -is- a tad disquieting…
And here’s a panorama:
This next one is one of my favorites. Some otherworldly place full of… heads. Mannequin heads. Huge mannequin heads. Mannequins are another key visual in TEW, along with mirrors, safes, barbwire, spikes, brains, etc. Here we have stacks and stacks of heads that look like they were carved from stone long ago. The porcelain — if it is porcelain — has a pockmarked surface that looks weathered by time. This pegs my meter like none other. Probably my favorite imagery in a horror game, straight up:
Next I’d like to take a brief detour from environments and look at one of the game’s many monsters: Laura. She’s a ghastly apparition, naked save for ballet flats, and covered from head to toe in horrific burns. Her face is obscured by the flowing black hair of Japanese ghost stories, and her four arms end in cruel claws. She teleports through pools of blood, and has a bloodcurdling shriek that will have your neighbors calling the cops.
All of that is unsettling enough, but it’s her spider-like movement that gets me. It makes me NOT want to continue when she kills me (which she does, in one hit, and in incredibly brutal fashion). The final showdown with her is the most panic-inducing shit I’ve ever experienced in a game. Makes my blind play-through of Amnesia seem like child’s play.
I mean, just look at her (although bear in mind that stills don’t do her justice):
Really, I could dedicate a writeup to each of the game’s key monsters: The Sadist, Twins, Sentinel, Keeper, Amalgam, Heresy, etc. But Laura is by far and away the most memorable monster for me — in this game or pretty much any horror game.
Next up is one of my favorite settings in the game: The earthquake-ravaged Krimson City, where the environmental artists prove their love for urban decay. Entire city blocks have shifted into new positions on moving tectonic plates — toppling skyscrapers, exposing rebar, and forming sinkholes the size of the Grand Canyon.
Like the village, church and mansion, there is an overwhelming sense of loneliness in Krimson City, despite the many monsters on the prowl. It’s the post-apocalyptic kind of loneliness where you’re surrounded by signs of life in a world devoid of it.
There’s also something refreshing about the bright light, open spaces and towering structures. You feel liberated by the overcast sky, yet trapped in a concrete jungle:
The game also delivers on body horror, in ways both expected and unexpected. Like we’ve all seen the mutilated flesh and fountains of blood in the marketing materials, but once you delve deeper into the game you see surreal nightmare fuel like this:
I also like the glorious tidal wave of viscera that accompanies Ruvik in one scene:
Ruvik, the main villain, is a lovely specimen of body horror. Like Laura, he’s disfigured by burn scars, but half of his skull is a glass case exposing his brain. You soon come to see his hooded silhouette as an unstoppable force of nature, moving forward with Terminator-like determination.
Strong silhouettes and distinctive movement are key to any good creature feature. This game has that in spades, across all of its monsters:
I’ll conclude my ramblings with something easier on the eyes, and the question: What imagery struck a chord with you? If any, of course. Seems like half of you hate this game, so who knows!
Note 1: Since GAF auto-resize images to fit the screen on most browsers, they’re presented without tags.
Note 2: The following are not my screens. I pulled them from user galleries on Steam.
Note 3: There are images from all throughout the game. No lore spoilers, however!
Note 4: Dimensions vary. Some were taken with black bars, others without.
Now without further ado…
Similar to the image overload in my Bloodborne thread, I wanted to arrange some screens that illustrate the look of another macabre masterpiece, Shinji Mikami’s The Evil Within.
It’s a divisive title on GAF, but it was my Game of the Year 2014, which is remarkable for a Nintendo fan in a year with the best Smash Bros., Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Country, and other goodies like Shovel Knight and Bayonetta 2. Not to mention another stellar horror title in Alien: Isolation.
But I think we can all agree the art direction here is superb. There is such a wide variety of settings and scenarios, each with its own look and feel.
The creature design is equally captivating — terrifying, and often revolting, but with an element of twisted beauty. It makes for potent imagery.
Even something as ordinary as a door can have a lot of character — check out the intricate engraving on each panel:
And the structures themselves aren’t too shabby, either, as we see with the foreboding exterior of Beacon Mental Hospital:
But it’s around the village of Elk River where the gloomy atmosphere really starts to shine. Here, they took the village from RE4 and infused it with the darkness of the Spencer Estate from REmake. This place made me feel chilly (evidence of immersion!) thanks to the numerous fires dotting the shadowy landscape — pinpricks of warmth that contrast with the night. There is also a lighthouse shining in the distance…
Not pictured: The main village. Surprisingly difficult to find good shots of it! A shame, since it’s like RE4’s village made into an entire game… that is just one episode within TEW!
But speaking of RE4, we also have shades of that game’s church and castle, with the cathedral at Cedar Hill. There’s a strong sense of history here — something familiar, but not quite right. Beyond the church walls are a medieval cemetery and marketplace bathed in the golden hues of a setting sun. I like how this place manages to feel haunted even in broad daylight.
Not pictured: The epic view of the ruined abbey on the cliff overlooking the sea. Again, hard to find pics that do it justice!
This game also has a sprawling mansion, which makes sense — this is Mikami’s tribute to himself, after all. The mansion is equal parts decadence and decay. I wish I had more screens to show the variety of lighting and surfaces inside — the gleaming glass on the cabinets, the varnished wood, the crackling fires, etc. I love the fog-wreathed approach, the familiar layout to the foyer, and touches like the vault and mirror — symbols that become layered with meaning as the game goes on:
Not pictured: The gruesome puzzles involving amateur neuroscience. Don’t want anyone to lose their lunch here… At least, not before I get to Laura!
But first, we have an emotional scene… I’ll spoil the setting, but not the scenario — you were warned in the thread title! Here we see a field of sunflowers, stretching into the distance, and a lonely barn at the center of it all. It reminds me of a certain scene at the end of Majora’s Mask. One of the most emotionally charged scenes in TEW, but also soothing — a welcome contrast to the suffocating confines of the mansion. But it -is- a tad disquieting…
And here’s a panorama:
This next one is one of my favorites. Some otherworldly place full of… heads. Mannequin heads. Huge mannequin heads. Mannequins are another key visual in TEW, along with mirrors, safes, barbwire, spikes, brains, etc. Here we have stacks and stacks of heads that look like they were carved from stone long ago. The porcelain — if it is porcelain — has a pockmarked surface that looks weathered by time. This pegs my meter like none other. Probably my favorite imagery in a horror game, straight up:
Next I’d like to take a brief detour from environments and look at one of the game’s many monsters: Laura. She’s a ghastly apparition, naked save for ballet flats, and covered from head to toe in horrific burns. Her face is obscured by the flowing black hair of Japanese ghost stories, and her four arms end in cruel claws. She teleports through pools of blood, and has a bloodcurdling shriek that will have your neighbors calling the cops.
All of that is unsettling enough, but it’s her spider-like movement that gets me. It makes me NOT want to continue when she kills me (which she does, in one hit, and in incredibly brutal fashion). The final showdown with her is the most panic-inducing shit I’ve ever experienced in a game. Makes my blind play-through of Amnesia seem like child’s play.
I mean, just look at her (although bear in mind that stills don’t do her justice):
Really, I could dedicate a writeup to each of the game’s key monsters: The Sadist, Twins, Sentinel, Keeper, Amalgam, Heresy, etc. But Laura is by far and away the most memorable monster for me — in this game or pretty much any horror game.
Next up is one of my favorite settings in the game: The earthquake-ravaged Krimson City, where the environmental artists prove their love for urban decay. Entire city blocks have shifted into new positions on moving tectonic plates — toppling skyscrapers, exposing rebar, and forming sinkholes the size of the Grand Canyon.
Like the village, church and mansion, there is an overwhelming sense of loneliness in Krimson City, despite the many monsters on the prowl. It’s the post-apocalyptic kind of loneliness where you’re surrounded by signs of life in a world devoid of it.
There’s also something refreshing about the bright light, open spaces and towering structures. You feel liberated by the overcast sky, yet trapped in a concrete jungle:
The game also delivers on body horror, in ways both expected and unexpected. Like we’ve all seen the mutilated flesh and fountains of blood in the marketing materials, but once you delve deeper into the game you see surreal nightmare fuel like this:
I also like the glorious tidal wave of viscera that accompanies Ruvik in one scene:
Ruvik, the main villain, is a lovely specimen of body horror. Like Laura, he’s disfigured by burn scars, but half of his skull is a glass case exposing his brain. You soon come to see his hooded silhouette as an unstoppable force of nature, moving forward with Terminator-like determination.
Strong silhouettes and distinctive movement are key to any good creature feature. This game has that in spades, across all of its monsters:
I’ll conclude my ramblings with something easier on the eyes, and the question: What imagery struck a chord with you? If any, of course. Seems like half of you hate this game, so who knows!
