The Evil Within 2 Will Not Be Directed By Resident Evil Creator Shinji Mikami

At E3 2017 Bethesda pulled the bloody curtain back on The Evil Within 2, but survival horror fans' reactions have been somewhat tempered. The Evil Within 2 looks slightly different than its predecessor and there's been some question about how involved series-creator Shinji Mikami is in the sequel. The original The Evil Within was very much a Shinji Mikami joint, featuring tons of references and homages to his other horror creation, Resident Evil. We know Mikami is a producer on The Evil Within 2, but he's definitely less front-and-center this time around.

Well, according to GameRant Shinji Mikami will not be directing The Evil Within 2. There's speculation Mikami may be working on another project within Bethesda, although he could just be taking a bit of a break after nearly 30 years in the video game industry. I certainly wouldn't fault him if that were the case.

The Evil Within 2 will still instead by directed by John Johanas, who was a visual effects designer for the first game, and headed up the game's two expansions, The Assignment and The Consequence. Basically, Johanas helped make the original game's trippy visuals, so expect even more of those this time around.

Could The Evil Within 2 still be a worthwhile game without Shinji Mikami at the helm? Absolutely. Heck, it could end up being a better, more modern game in some respects. That said, the original The Evil Within was largely sold as Shinji Mikami's spiritual successor to Resident Evil. With Mikami no longer as heavily involved and the Resident Evil references seemingly being toned down, the series will have to stand on its own two feet. We'll see if The Evil Within has what it takes to be a series, or if it was just a one-off novelty.

The Evil Within 2 stalks onto the PC, Xbox One, and PS4 on October 13.

[via GameRant]