Finished Evil Within....Uh....It's a competent game. I was right on the money with the Silent Hill and Dead Space comparison (with some Resident Evil 4 thrown in), but I jumped the gun when I assumed a Lovecraft theme. Turned out to be something else entirely.
The graphics aren't exactly stellar, but that doesn't count against it very much--with the exception of pop-in textures of course. The white wash visuals give it the right kind of atmospheric varnish that complement its dully horrific atmosphere. The mechanics could be a little dysfunctional in close quarters at times, but aside from that, it was pretty functional.
What's far more questionable is the story. There's a shit ton of things about it that aren't making sense, and the ending barely helped. If they had provided just one or two more clues, the picture would probably be more clear. As it is, there's missing pieces. And the main character didn't even bother trying to connect the dots himself with even the briefest of monologues to help the player figure out what kind of rabbit hole he'd fallen into. At one point, he acknowledged that he was trapped inside an abstract reality dreamed up by a separate entity, but when he gets visual proof of this, he acts all stupid and says, "It can't be," essentially confusing the player all over again with regards to exactly what facts have actually been established.
Leave it to the Japanese to create a mystery thriller that relies solely on a series of inductive details that may or may not lead to a precise conclusion--the Nippon audiences love that kind of vagary for some fucking reason.
All and all, it was worth the $35 I spent on it. However, $65 would be pushing the envelope--especially considering that it's a relatively short game. It took me a couple of days to finish, but I have a feeling that I'd only need an aggregated 10-12 hours if I didn't take my time (and that's a bit of a generous estimate).
Edit: Okay, I just now read that this is apparently the first of an episodic DLC trilogy. I'm not sure if that affects the individual game positively or negatively, but I suppose it explains the lack of explanation.
