Why did Shinji Mikami recommend that difficulty level?

He has given an interview to Japanese magazine Famitsu (via Siliconera) – he formerly worked on the first few Resident Evil games, and he’s now at Tango Gameworks under Bethesda. He said that Casual, Survival, and Nightmare difficulty levels would all be available from the start, and he recommended to play on Casual. (Perhaps it was mistranslated? Or it was just a tip for beginners?)

Mikami and the game’s director, John Johanas, said that there will be a bigger freedom in the sequel than in the first The Evil Within, as there will be no forced combat and stealth segments. The focus will be on the narrative: the developers wanted to make a scary game with an interesting story, which will pick up the pace in the second half (which is why they say to play the game on Casual…).

The Evil Within 2 is out on October 13 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.