Man, where to start... This will be a doozy, because I am going deep into what makes this game tick here.

You can skip this paragraph for the actual review, this is just me outlining my "credentials" by outlining my time spent in the game. I put just shy of 150 hours into Dying Light 2, and around 250 in the first game on my PC, 100 more on Xbox for DL1. Anyway, review.

The first game was a game I followed VERY closely. I already knew I was going to like it because I played Dead Island in Middle School and Dead Island: Riptide in High School. I also was a HUGE fan of the EA Parkour game "Mirrors Edge." So hearing the two were basically having a baby when Techland was making a new IP, I was in immediately. The first game was everything I wanted and more. Superior physics, good running and flow (if at times somewhat clunky) and a beautiful style and setting. The map was CRISP. I literally cannot praise the first game enough, it's my second favorite game of all time, I will force friends to buy and try it with me to this day. It has flaws, but I dont have time for that in this review.

The sequel, Dying Light 2, was announced and I was so ready to see a sequel to a game I held as dear as the first game, and to see what's happened since the first game ended. Did I get what I wanted though? Did any of us? Yes & no. Let's break it down into two parts so it's easier to follow. Also, I have a character limit so I cant go too in depth.

PART 1 - GAMEPLAY: Dying Light 2 is exceptional. It is, by no means, a bad game to play. They have added some really cool stuff since the first game, in both combat and parkour, and it all went really well with the map they made. Unlimited sprint? Rope swings? Lache/Bar swings!? Proper underbars!? WALL RUNS! It's all great. I have issues though.

They kept the speed but made jumps a bit unrealistic/float-y/slow, the para-glider (It's cool, but it makes the parkour part of the game fairly useless. After you get the glider, you can skip so much stuff), the climbing stamina (Look, I get it, a man can't climb forever, but in the first game I could and I wasn't all powered up like Aiden. That should've honestly just been left out, as it only serves to gatekeep parts of the game and force you into repetitive content. More on that later). They also made certain moves worse with lock in animations (ledge drop kill...).

The combat upgrades towards human enemies is absolutely incredible compared to the first game. Actual melee combat with move-sets and parries, parkour combat, the works. I loved that addition. What I don't love is how OP and over-efficient the dropkick move is compared to the first game. DL1, you stagger the human enemy or just knock the dude on his ass where he stands. DL2 you literally move him to a new area code.

You have all this new stuff to play with, but they made the drop kick almost always an instant kill, it bypasses the need for most combat combos. Why spend several minutes out-playing the AI in combat when I can just drop kick him into a wall, the impact killing him instantaneously? Sure, its satisfying for a while, but if an encounter gets slightly difficult you can escape by just drop kicking and it gets pretty repetitive. Yes, there are a few more moves to use, but the fact that they are bullet sponges due to unnecessary MMO/RPG elements added to the game take away from that, and force you to drop kick, because its the only way to quickly beat the spongy enemies.

Side note: The first game, you got outfits, weapon tiers tied to survivor level, and skill points for combat, parkour, and survivor level. Techland added gear and gear levels, and if I am being honest it feels worse. I don't want the new sword I get taking 5-10 hits to kill. I want to cleave through the horde with my new sword like a human chainsaw like Dying Light 1, not play Tekken against every human and beat every zombie for hours like it's Interactive Buddy on AddictingGames. That's not fun. I dont want damage numbers, I want results.

The combat for zombies was better AND worse, somehow simultaneously. There's new moves, but physics are significantly worse then the first game. In the first game, I got sidetracked just fighting zombies to watch them ragdoll, see how good my weapons were getting, etc. Zombies would stumble over high ledges, benches, they walk off rooftops and fall to their death, I could knock one into a group and make them all stumble and get a breather in a group fight. That doesn't happen in Dying Light 2, they just warp up onto that stuff, no fall.

DL1 you hit a zombie, that momentum carries through. They stumble in the direction your swing was moving. Some swings even bounce off them! The swords dismember with ease and felt great. DL2 has had a LOT of moments where my sweapon felt like Skyrim. Just swinging, no resistance, making a slashing sound over the same combo attack. DL2 lost most the physics charm from DL1 (but I hear its slowly coming back). I dont get lost in DL2 with zombies, I avoid them most of the time. I spent most of my time running & enjoying that, hating combat with bullet sponge zombies. I avoid zombies... in a zombie combat game. Let that sink in.

Other than those few things, the gameplay is great. Now, the story...

PART 2 - STORY: Ripping the Band-Aid off, it's terrible. Sorry, I had to say it. It's so much worse than the first and the first one had a meh story already (but at least I was excited to see where it went when DL1 ended). DL2 was a trainwreck in comparison.

It's not the worst story ever, and the first half is pretty solid, but it gets terrible, it's full of plot holes. Example. Aiden doesn't remember his past, yet before he learns his last name, he tells someone his last name in game. The entire story is told, and at the very end they retcon the ENTIRE story, making Aiden a 100% unreliable narrator. They manufactured a twist, not through mystery, absent of breadcrumbs and hints, but by lying to the player the entire game saying "actually THIS is the story" in the final hour or two of the game.

Side quests? There's maybe 4 unique side questlines, the rest are literal lies. Old couple fighting - "Save our marriage, get us herbs for cooking our anniversary dinner!" Just a disguised parkour challenge, you don't even grab anything, just race. THESE ARE ALREADY IN THE GAME AS THEIR OWN THING. There's dozens of these, a fake story but its just a race to pad length.

Last two complaints, super small but pretty annoying. They took a clean UI from DL1, and made it look like caveman drawings. They also have more buildings to enter, but they are all the same interiors.

Anyway, despite all that rambling, I did enjoy the game. So, why not recommend the game? Easy. Techland has, like many others, cashed in their good faith and trust their buyers have for them to add predatory microtransactions to DL2 just shy of 2 years after launch on top of charging for DLC. Like all predators, they have added in game currency, and the currency is designed to make you spend MORE than what they are actually advertising the items for. The lowest tier of "Dying Light Coins" you can buy is 500, but oh look! A lot of stuff is worth 550 coins! There is no 550 option, so you automatically HAVE to spend DOUBLE the amount of money than advertised because there's no option to get the thing without spending double the cost. That's scummy, and I do not support that. Unless that decisions reversed, this review will stay as a negative one.

I'd say go buy the first game because it doesn't have that, but they get paid for that too. So unless they wanna un-ruin DL2, you are better off avoiding it or borrowing DL1 from a friend. Vote with your wallet people.

That is all, thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

Man, where to start... This will be a doozy, because I am going deep into what makes this game tick here. You can skip this paragraph for the actual review, this is just me outlining my "credentials" by outlining my time spent in the game. I put just shy of 150 hours into Dying Light 2, and around 250 in the first game on my PC, 100 more on Xbox for DL1. Anyway, review. The first game was a game I followed VERY closely. I already knew I was going to like it because I played Dead Island in Middle School and Dead Island: Riptide in High School. I also was a HUGE fan of the EA Parkour game "Mirrors Edge." So hearing the two were basically having a baby when Techland was making a new IP, I was in immediately. The first game was everything I wanted and more. Superior physics, good running and flow (if at times somewhat clunky) and a beautiful style and setting. The map was CRISP. I literally cannot praise the first game enough, it's my second favorite game of all time, I will force friends to buy and try it with me to this day. It has flaws, but I dont have time for that in this review. The sequel, Dying Light 2, was announced and I was so ready to see a sequel to a game I held as dear as the first game, and to see what's happened since the first game ended. Did I get what I wanted though? Did any of us? Yes & no. Let's break it down into two parts so it's easier to follow. Also, I have a character limit so I cant go too in depth. PART 1 - GAMEPLAY: Dying Light 2 is exceptional. It is, by no means, a bad game to play. They have added some really cool stuff since the first game, in both combat and parkour, and it all went really well with the map they made. Unlimited sprint? Rope swings? Lache/Bar swings!? Proper underbars!? WALL RUNS! It's all great. I have issues though. They kept the speed but made jumps a bit unrealistic/float-y/slow, the para-glider (It's cool, but it makes the parkour part of the game fairly useless. After you get the glider, you can skip so much stuff), the climbing stamina (Look, I get it, a man can't climb forever, but in the first game I could and I wasn't all powered up like Aiden. That should've honestly just been left out, as it only serves to gatekeep parts of the game and force you into repetitive content. More on that later). They also made certain moves worse with lock in animations (ledge drop kill...). The combat upgrades towards human enemies is absolutely incredible compared to the first game. Actual melee combat with move-sets and parries, parkour combat, the works. I loved that addition. What I don't love is how OP and over-efficient the dropkick move is compared to the first game. DL1, you stagger the human enemy or just knock the dude on his ass where he stands. DL2 you literally move him to a new area code. You have all this new stuff to play with, but they made the drop kick almost always an instant kill, it bypasses the need for most combat combos. Why spend several minutes out-playing the AI in combat when I can just drop kick him into a wall, the impact killing him instantaneously? Sure, its satisfying for a while, but if an encounter gets slightly difficult you can escape by just drop kicking and it gets pretty repetitive. Yes, there are a few more moves to use, but the fact that they are bullet sponges due to unnecessary MMO/RPG elements added to the game take away from that, and force you to drop kick, because its the only way to quickly beat the spongy enemies. Side note: The first game, you got outfits, weapon tiers tied to survivor level, and skill points for combat, parkour, and survivor level. Techland added gear and gear levels, and if I am being honest it feels worse. I don't want the new sword I get taking 5-10 hits to kill. I want to cleave through the horde with my new sword like a human chainsaw like Dying Light 1, not play Tekken against every human and beat every zombie for hours like it's Interactive Buddy on AddictingGames. That's not fun. I dont want damage numbers, I want results. The combat for zombies was better AND worse, somehow simultaneously. There's new moves, but physics are significantly worse then the first game. In the first game, I got sidetracked just fighting zombies to watch them ragdoll, see how good my weapons were getting, etc. Zombies would stumble over high ledges, benches, they walk off rooftops and fall to their death, I could knock one into a group and make them all stumble and get a breather in a group fight. That doesn't happen in Dying Light 2, they just warp up onto that stuff, no fall. DL1 you hit a zombie, that momentum carries through. They stumble in the direction your swing was moving. Some swings even bounce off them! The swords dismember with ease and felt great. DL2 has had a LOT of moments where my sweapon felt like Skyrim. Just swinging, no resistance, making a slashing sound over the same combo attack. DL2 lost most the physics charm from DL1 (but I hear its slowly coming back). I dont get lost in DL2 with zombies, I avoid them most of the time. I spent most of my time running & enjoying that, hating combat with bullet sponge zombies. I avoid zombies... in a zombie combat game. Let that sink in. Other than those few things, the gameplay is great. Now, the story... PART 2 - STORY: Ripping the Band-Aid off, it's terrible. Sorry, I had to say it. It's so much worse than the first and the first one had a meh story already (but at least I was excited to see where it went when DL1 ended). DL2 was a trainwreck in comparison. It's not the worst story ever, and the first half is pretty solid, but it gets terrible, it's full of plot holes. Example. Aiden doesn't remember his past, yet before he learns his last name, he tells someone his last name in game. The entire story is told, and at the very end they retcon the ENTIRE story, making Aiden a 100% unreliable narrator. They manufactured a twist, not through mystery, absent of breadcrumbs and hints, but by lying to the player the entire game saying "actually THIS is the story" in the final hour or two of the game. Side quests? There's maybe 4 unique side questlines, the rest are literal lies. Old couple fighting - "Save our marriage, get us herbs for cooking our anniversary dinner!" Just a disguised parkour challenge, you don't even grab anything, just race. THESE ARE ALREADY IN THE GAME AS THEIR OWN THING. There's dozens of these, a fake story but its just a race to pad length. Last two complaints, super small but pretty annoying. They took a clean UI from DL1, and made it look like caveman drawings. They also have more buildings to enter, but they are all the same interiors. Anyway, despite all that rambling, I did enjoy the game. So, why not recommend the game? Easy. Techland has, like many others, cashed in their good faith and trust their buyers have for them to add predatory microtransactions to DL2 just shy of 2 years after launch on top of charging for DLC. Like all predators, they have added in game currency, and the currency is designed to make you spend MORE than what they are actually advertising the items for. The lowest tier of "Dying Light Coins" you can buy is 500, but oh look! A lot of stuff is worth 550 coins! There is no 550 option, so you automatically HAVE to spend DOUBLE the amount of money than advertised because there's no option to get the thing without spending double the cost. That's scummy, and I do not support that. Unless that decisions reversed, this review will stay as a negative one. I'd say go buy the first game because it doesn't have that, but they get paid for that too. So unless they wanna un-ruin DL2, you are better off avoiding it or borrowing DL1 from a friend. Vote with your wallet people. That is all, thanks for coming to my TedTalk.