The thing that makes Walrider a lot more forgettable is simply the screen time, yes he follows all the principles of a good villian, great teases and a great introduction, good gameplay, but right after that he gets defeated, right after actually facing off against him.

I think each "bad" villain in Outlast can be summed up to "not enough screen time" or "not living up to their full potential".
Nick and Laird are not included in a whole lot of sections where they are an actual threat and have a very pathetic end to them. We get one section with Val that is not a scripted chase scene, and Martha, while great, is heavily under utilized. While I get that they are supposed to be the main villains of each faction, Martha kinda felt like the Chris Walker of Outlast 2, but despite that, she isn't really used outside of the Village sections. I think there could have been 1 section at the Scalled and at the Heretics around the end to truly make her feel unrelenting in her pursuit to kill Blake.

On the opposite end, what makes Trager great is his theme, the thing that makes him creepy being duality. He talks like a sales man, charming, funny, using a language that clearly makes him seem well educated and one of the sanest compared to everyone else in the asylum, compared to that, he is a naked guy dressed up as a fucked up surgeon who cuts off your fingers and tortures people for fun. His calm and calculated demeanor draws such a contrast to the monster that he might try to hide but can't be hidden anymore, as he has become just as grotesque as what he really is. Serial killers often use charm, or seduction to sedate, kidnap their victims, Trager is very much a similar breed if not the same, which makes him snapping that much more frightening after you escape from the chair. His chase music's intensity is probably thanks to this very same thing, duality, without the charming aspect of Trager, its like a peak behind the curtain where the game lets you witness the pure unfiltered danger that you are in. If you switched up his territory to a house full of victims like in a serial killer story it still wouldn't really make a difference. And this is what makes him brilliant.

Martha, Nick and Laird, have a very similar theme of being enforcers, however, Martha is better executed, as the other villagers who we know are incredibly blood thirsty too don't even dare to end up at her territory that's how afraid they are. Nick and Laird are more goofy honestly then scary. Val is more like a mother figure, but honestly, she's just under utilized as hell, we don't even see her die for some reason. It feels a bit more all over the place.

And that's my two cents, but basically, a good Outlast villain is crafted from 3 components, introduction, execution, and aftermath. The introduction should tease us about what we might face off against and then introduce us to the theme of the character, the execution should have a length section that is the gameplay, that doesn't feel too short, nor too long, introduces fresh gameplay elements that makes them unique and exciting to face off against. The aftermath, in Outlast fashion, should have a satisfying death scene, a satisfying escape sequence, or something that can give you a sigh of relief after beating this challenge, big ehmpahis on that, as these characters would feel challenging to face off against.

And there is a pursuer type, which should be one singular character who shows up all over the game until the end. Unfortunately, Martha, Laird and Nick, and Val are trying to be both without doing any of these too well.

When I played Outlast, I was never scared of The Walrider because an insane human who wants to kill me is more believable and realistic which made me feel as if it's something that could happen to me and hence I am more scared of the average chasing enemy than The Walrider

"Do you know who my father is?!" screams Franco after he sees you drop him down to B tier lol

Marta in A and Goosberry in S - this man knows ball

Love the fact that Marta and the heretics are so damn fast

Also, aint no way you didnt put gluskin in s+

20:38 Papa!! We are the COYLINGS!!

14:43 bro never touched insane mode in his life

Frank Manera UNDERRATED 🗣🗣🗣

The Outlast series is probably the only franchise that has actually scared me.

Fun fact. The guy who licked Waylon was supposed to have a bigger part. Waylon would find him (I assume on the table with the guys) and would have a conversation, where the guy would beg Waylon to help free him, saying he has kids. We’d then get to choose to kill him or not. I really wish they left that in, tbh

24:08 "why are u lickin people?" line delivery was perfect lmao😭

Dissociative dennis ranking higher than the walrider is so valid

Franco is my favorite character, but that gun is infuriating. I wish they’d tweak it to make it more realistic. Rather than letting him snipe us from halfway across the map

4:20 plot device

The big thing with Outlast 2 is Blake’s trauma resurfacing and kind of taking him over. It gets to the point where he has trouble telling the difference between the past and present. He’s trying to save Lynn, but he’s also trying to save Jessica, almost like he can’t tell the difference between them anymore.

Loutermilch is a lot like Knoff (and really Murkoff) too. He’s an evil man who’s warped  Blake’s sense of reality, to the point where he’s repressed what really happened back then. Now, current day reality is getting warped for him, though I don’t think he’ll be able to unravel what’s real and what’s fake this time.

Outlast 2 has a lot of interesting themes of redemption, trauma, and gaslighting. It’s really more about the themes and Blake as a character himself than the actual plot that’s going on. I’d put the Demon Loutermilch a lot higher just because of everything he represents. Plus, he’s easily the scariest enemy in the game. The school sections go hard. Normal Loutermilch definitely belongs in C tier though, yeah.

Chris Walker is A for me. He's big, imposing, scary looking, tearing heads off is a simple but effective gimmick, the chain rattling was a good audio que to know where he is and is just a creepy sound. He's a good villain. Chris makes your cheeks clench when you see him.

Richard Traeger is S. He has so little screen time and yet he leaves such a lasting impression. He's very well voice acted. He's a good shift from Chris because while Chris makes noise every time he moves, Traeger only snips his bone shears every once in a while, making him mostly silent. There's a reason Traeger is sometimes seen as the mascot of Outlast over Chris, he's just good.

The Walrider is definitely C, maybe even D. It's not scary, it doesn't really look all that cool. It doesn't really do anything the other pursuers don't already do. I guess it can shift through doors instead of bashing them open. So that's... something. I dunno, it's not very impressive.

Frank Manera is cool, but I can't give him more than B. There's just not much to him that's all that unique besides his cannibalism, which even then isn't very unique. He's decently scary, though, and his buzzsaw can get you properly creeped out.

Dennis is cool, but I'd give him C simply because he doesn't do much. The multiple personality thing is interesting, but so underutilized and honestly just done better by Gooseberry.

Eddie Gluskin is S. This guy is so twisted, creepy, and unsettles you in the best way. He's probably the best villain in the first Outlast, and maybe the series as a whole.

Marta is A. Not much story to her, she's just Knoth's enforcer. But she's very creepy and intimidating. She's like nine feet tall, that giant pickaxe is a unique weapon, her voice is chilling. She's a good villain, shame she's the only one in Outlast 2.

Colton? Cordan? I dunno, the dude who said he'd bleed Blake like a pig. Uh, F. F tier. Why is he a named character when he does absolutely nothing that the nameless grunts don't already do? Nothing. He's nothing. Could've been nameless and nothing would've changed.

Father Loutermilch is B only because of his monster design. The design alone is excellent and he's a one shot, so just touching him means death. He's very scary and imposing, but his story is so generic and overused that it honestly drags him down. Oh, the Catholic teacher is a predator? Who could've guessed that?

Nick and Laird are C. They're just kind of goofy while trying to be played as serious. Laird's bow ranges from inaccurate as hell to an actual laser pointer. His story is weak, Nick really has none. Just a weak duo and they're concept is done better by Otto and Arora.

Val is C. Her story isn't too bad and she's decently creepy, but her presence in-game is not felt at all. She kind of only exists in cutscenes because her encounters are just like any other. There's just nothing really all that special about her. And then yeah, she dies off screen. Just kind of lame.


Mother Gooseberry is A. I'd rank her S if it weren't for a problem that all the Outlast Trials villains have, which I'll get to with Coyle. But Gooseberry is great. She's very intimidating, faster than you'd think, when she starts screaming she sounds genuinely insane, the Futterman puppet is scary, the drill is hair raising, and her story is pretty decent. She's a good villain and a good introduction to Trials.

Leland Coyle is also A. But now, the problem I have. He's funny. Too funny. Gooseberry, Barbi, Otto and Arora, all of the Trials villains are too funny. Coyle is the worst offender because he's not even scary or disgusting or disturbing or even intimidating like the others. He utterly fails at being scary and if he wasn't funny, he'd be down at D. He suffers a similar problem as Loutermilch by just being a stereotype. Oh, the police officer is a power tripping wife beater? Who could've guessed? It's just lazy. Coyle being so funny is his saving grace. I genuinely enjoy every moment he's on screen, but only to laugh at what he says. I feel like that's not the effect he should have.

Franco Barbi is also A. He suffers from the comedy plague a bit, too, but not as bad as Coyle. He's a pretty creative villain, being a baby themed mobster with a shotgun that fires teeth. He's also very gross. You can find him cranking off in the beginning of one of his trials and just the things he says sometimes stray from funny to disturbing. He also brings a good shift in gameplay by being a ranged threat. His maps are typically well lit and open to accommodate this and it makes you play carefully to avoid getting shot. He's good.

Otto and Arora are B. They're not as intimidating as they seem like they should be. Hearing Otto's buzzsaw is decently creepy, but he seems so slow. Arora is deadly accurate with her poison bottles, but you can easily escape before you start puking and before Otto can catch you. Also, Otto doesn't cause bleeding like I thought he would, so getting hit doesn't carry much consequence compared to Gooseberry. They're also just not very scary and not as funny as the others in Trials. If you're not going to be scary, at least be funny. If you're not going to be funny, be scary. This middle ground is not it. The incest element isn't all that bad either when you consider that he can't actually do much to her because she's growing out of his back. I dunno, the incest part loses some punch because of that. (NEVERMIND! I just learned about Otto's neck! Like, you can actually see Arora's snatch on the right side of Otto's neck!) But I love their design and their trials are some of the better ones in my opinion.

Liliya just released, I haven't encountered her yet, so we'll see where she lands. She looks cool, though.

Actually yeah. The va is excellent in these games

BIG val fan here 💔 i do think their backstory is one of the most interesting of all the characters in temple gate, i just do wish they had more involvement in the main story

1:28 subtitles made you dirty 😭

Actually one of the most based tier lists I’ve ever watched! It’s cool to see someone else have most of the opinions I have of these characters.