I got the platinum trophy on the first game. I played it so much in spite of the really frustrating elements.
I played this one all weekend. I'm only on Chapter 6 since I spent so much time exploring and goofing around in the town. There's been some really creepy moments, things you don't expect to run into when exploring buildings away from the objective, making those experiences more effective. One house I went to left me frozen, too afraid to push on for a while, as I didn't want to face what was in the next room.
I really enjoy the semi open world feel to it. It gives a nice balance between freedom and scavenging and being forced down certain paths and the claustrophobia and dread that comes with them.
You have different options on how to deal with the common enemies in the town to suit your play style. Personally, I like to stealth kill everything I can to collect green gel while saving all my ammo. As I continued to upgrade my stealth skills, Nurse Tatiana warned me to upgrade my combat skills because, sure enough, there are times when you have no choice but to fight.
Overall, it's been a lot of fun. I've hardly felt the frustration I had with the first game. The biggest complaint with the first was the abundance of one hit kills which left you staring at a loading screen far too often. So far in this game, I've not once gotten caught in some unexpected, cheap one hit death.
The movement, especially the melee combat is clunky as ever. I know they don't want us to rely on melee to survive and conserve ammo, but can't there be a better way to accomplish this than making the character throw slow, goofy, wild swings with the knife? My other complaint thus far would be the lack of variety in the basic zombie creatures. There's what, 3 models? And they aren't nearly as creative as the creatures in the first game.
I'm glad I bought and look forward to playing it more but I will continue to savour the experience and explore every moment I can. I think they're on the right track with the Evil Within, making it a more enjoyable experience this time around. I hope the series sees a 3rd game, building on what has worked so far.