When I initially played the demos for The Evil Within, one of my major concerns included the game’s rather stilted and bland dialogue work. While I enjoyed the overall experience of playing The Evil Within, I was disappointed that some extra effort was not put into a more polished script in terms of the story and scenario. Shinji Mikami’s original survival horror masterpiece, Resident Evil, was not an award winner in terms of dialogue either. However, that game came out nearly two decades ago. Maybe part of the problem with dialogue in The Evil Within stems from the fact that it was originally produced in Japan by Tango Gameworks; and perhaps, the style of the story and dialogue gets lost in translation to English.
Characters’ reactions in the game are generally befuddling and make no sense. Early in the game, it appears the apocalypse has come and the world is literally falling apart at the seams. No one seems to question or be concerned that the world is going to hell and that their loved ones at home could be dead. That is especially the case for the main protagonist, Sebastian Castellanos. Castellanos appears so far emotionally removed from the events going on around him that at times, it becomes almost intentionally comedic. Some of his dry one-liners make him sound like a sociopath that would probably be right at home at Beacon Mental Hospital.
The dialogue in Resident Evil was on the rough side, but it was never as rough as The Evil Within. Unfortunately, the story raises too many questions that defy logic. Without getting into spoiler territory, the motivation of the Julie Kidman character is maddening. Why she does what she does in the story and the way she goes about doing it is a tremendous letdown.
I do not think it would have been so bad if the Tango Gameworks team brought in some outside help for the scenario. It is becoming exceedingly frustrating that developers are leaving games half-written with maddening stories and weak dialogue. It is somewhat reminiscent of Destiny, a game with solid mechanics and great atmosphere, but a story that contains weak dialogue and is a letdown. To be completely clear, I really enjoyed the gameplay and style of survival horror for The Evil Within. It definitely brought me back to the days of playing Resident Evil 4. However, even that game had a script that came across a lot better in English and was not riddled with plot holes.
I imagine the goal is to turn The Evil Within into a new franchise. I understand there will be DLC focusing on the Julie Kidman character. However, I am highly disappointed that a complete story with answers to burning questions will not be available without playing DLC content.
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