Dying Light 2 Stay Human First Impressions

Dying Light 2 Stay Human First Impressions 

By: Evan1Sonic. Dying Light 2 Stay Human is finally here and it's an incredible parkour-focused open-world RPG game. I've played around eight hours, completed seven of the main missions, and checked off three side missions.

Following the events of the first game, the government experimented on the apparently contained zombie virus. Sadly, a virus mutation escaped the lab during the tests. In an event known as The Fall, this mutation quickly spread across the world. Dying Light 2 picks up fifteen years after The Fall with the world in shambles. Only one city and a few human settlements remain. In this world, you play as Aiden Caldwell, a Pilgrim whos trying to find his lost sister Mia, who has gone missing.

The parkour is arguably the biggest part of this game and it feels wonderful even though it took me a while to get used to it. You can grab ledges and climb them, jump from one building to the next, and more. Unfortunately, the combat is the least entertaining aspect of the game so far. Blocking, counterattack, and dodging are all part of the simple melee combat in this game. This combat system is not awful, but it's also not that enjoyable. So far, I'm largely liking the plot, with the dialog wheel being my major complaint. It allows you to choose what Aiden says next, but it feels unnecessary. So far, I've only had to make a few decisions using it, and none of them have had significant consequences. During the day, zombies hide in caves, houses, and other places where the sun doesn't shine. During the night, though, zombies are out in the streets and will chase after you if they spot you. You can always tell how much time you have left before turning into a zombie thanks to your Biomarker. This timer is ticking down during the night and when you are inside a dark building. Finding and being near a UV light is the only way to refill this meter. The night is terrifying yet exhilarating, and it's during this time that I've had the most fun in this game.

You can participate in Side Missions in addition to the main quests. These activities can range from basic fetch quests to longer quests with significant side storylines. The world is big with many optional activities to engage in. The windmills are the only one of these activities that I've tried (aside from side quests). These activities are sprinkled around in the world and will provide a safe zone if completed. Completing these windmills is simple, and you do so by climbing and activating them. You'll find safe zones around/in completed windmills, outposts, and other places around the world. Each safe zone contains a bed to safely sleep through the night, a chest to store items, and a UV light protecting the zone from the infected.  

Since this is an RPG game there's a wide array of upgrades to unlock, most of which are exciting upgrades. Finding inhibitors around the world can allow you to improve your health and stamina. Three inhibitors are required for each of these upgrades. Along with your health and stamina, you can improve your parkour and combat abilities by unlocking new skills. To unlock these skills, you must have enough XP that is earned from parkour and/or combat. There are twenty-four skills each for parkour and combat with forty-eight in total. Each of these skills adds something new to each system, such as the ability to wall-run with one of the parkour skills and the ability to perform a more powerful attack with one of the fighting skills. While none of the combat skills caught my eye, it's likely that's because I'm not enjoying the combat. I dislike the speed at which I get these abilities but this is something that could quicken farther in the game. You also have a player rank that upgrades automatically as you unlock skills in either skill tree. You obtain new armor and weapons as you progress through the game, but I've only unlocked a few so far.

This is my first experience with the Dying Light series, and I'm loving it. While the combat isn’t very enjoyable the parkour and RPG elements make it well worth playing. Dying Light 2 Stay Human launched on February 4th for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC with a Switch version coming soon. Survive and find your lost sister Mia in this open-world RPG survival horror game from Techland.

Thanks for reading and Game On!!