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Dying Light

Immortal

Arcane
In My Safe Space
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Ash What are your hopes for the sequel? What did you think of the itemization/combat in the first. I didn't get much farther than getting my first purple but I found it unbearably anemic. Also, it seemed to be like the zombies would respawn with the same sample size ad nauseum. Even basic loot would respawn the same way. I was so sold on the game until I learned that there's no permanence to the items in the world.

I did find a gun quite early once I switched to Normal, but I didn't get to use it as I turned it in for a sidequest.

The combat is certainly not bad for FP melee. Weapons have a sense of weight and impact to them. Zombie decapitation is of course satisfying. You got dodging, dropkicking, headshots, throwing items, all sorts of crowd control moves, and everything is useful without being overpowered. You get enemy encounters that progressively get tougher and are fun to fight. The worst thing is the exploding zombies that appear late game, as they blend in with the crowd of normal zombies and as a result get you nearly every time, even though the previous Techland zombie games has the same enemy type but with very distinct visual and audio cues. People that suck at the game complain about the Parkour zombies but they're vital, as otherwise any kind of elevated ground would be complete safety from most other zombie types, and they are a test for Crane's god-like agility.

Itemization: yeah the MMO-style loot isn't great. Elements of randomisation, level scaling, loot respawning, but it works for what it is. I would prefer 100% hand-placed items, no respawning, no scaling but these things were obviously implemented with a bunch of goals in mind e.g co-op, casuals, and extended play time so you can mess about in the starting areas and not have to worry about weapons breaking and not being able to fix them, or running out of medkits etc. Doesn't hurt the game too much.

Very good: Parkour/platforming.
Good: combat, world design, challenge isn't non-existent like many AAA.
Meh-but-it-fits: loot, RPG progression, quest design. (hopefully these things will be improved in the sequel).
Story is crap but who cares [insert Carmack story in games is like story in porn quote].

As for DL2, the focus on story seems like a Marketing ploy. They say they're "improving upon all elements of the game"...like sequels used to do. I believe them, since DL was an improvement over the Dead Island games in every way, and they were rewarded for it (DL sold pretty well). To reiterate, I mean the focus is the ploy, to lure in storyfaggots. There will be better story aspects (yet not a great improvement) but it will still be a gameplayfag game at its core, as it should be.
It's a good game, but it gets boring midway through. I couldn't finish it. Just missing something, and I think it's a good story that keeps you motivated to get through. The world just feels so isolated and boring. Companions would've also been a great addition, and I'm so surprised they didn't do that. With the towns, you could've easily had a companion system.

The night/daylight cycle is super awesome and everything. Getting chased by a volatile that first time was fucking panic-inducing. Just again, it's missing a big thing to keep me playing. I hope DL2 improves on everything because this game has a lot of potential to be great. I thought that edgy parkour shit would ruin the game, but it was actually fun.

I did finish the game but certainly the story was a barebones tool to drag you from A to B.
I was somewhat interested in the story hook of exploring that underground lab but generally speaking it was a slog, although the mechanics / parkour elements kept it fun enough for me to finish.

If they can insert a better story I certainly won't complain.
 

Mexi

Dumbfuck!
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Ash What are your hopes for the sequel? What did you think of the itemization/combat in the first. I didn't get much farther than getting my first purple but I found it unbearably anemic. Also, it seemed to be like the zombies would respawn with the same sample size ad nauseum. Even basic loot would respawn the same way. I was so sold on the game until I learned that there's no permanence to the items in the world.

I did find a gun quite early once I switched to Normal, but I didn't get to use it as I turned it in for a sidequest.

The combat is certainly not bad for FP melee. Weapons have a sense of weight and impact to them. Zombie decapitation is of course satisfying. You got dodging, dropkicking, headshots, throwing items, all sorts of crowd control moves, and everything is useful without being overpowered. You get enemy encounters that progressively get tougher and are fun to fight. The worst thing is the exploding zombies that appear late game, as they blend in with the crowd of normal zombies and as a result get you nearly every time, even though the previous Techland zombie games has the same enemy type but with very distinct visual and audio cues. People that suck at the game complain about the Parkour zombies but they're vital, as otherwise any kind of elevated ground would be complete safety from most other zombie types, and they are a test for Crane's god-like agility.

Itemization: yeah the MMO-style loot isn't great. Elements of randomisation, level scaling, loot respawning, but it works for what it is. I would prefer 100% hand-placed items, no respawning, no scaling but these things were obviously implemented with a bunch of goals in mind e.g co-op, casuals, and extended play time so you can mess about in the starting areas and not have to worry about weapons breaking and not being able to fix them, or running out of medkits etc. Doesn't hurt the game too much.

Very good: Parkour/platforming.
Good: combat, world design, challenge isn't non-existent like many AAA.
Meh-but-it-fits: loot, RPG progression, quest design. (hopefully these things will be improved in the sequel).
Story is crap but who cares [insert Carmack story in games is like story in porn quote].

As for DL2, the focus on story seems like a Marketing ploy. They say they're "improving upon all elements of the game"...like sequels used to do. I believe them, since DL was an improvement over the Dead Island games in every way, and they were rewarded for it (DL sold pretty well). To reiterate, I mean the focus is the ploy, to lure in storyfaggots. There will be better story aspects (yet not a great improvement) but it will still be a gameplayfag game at its core, as it should be.
It's a good game, but it gets boring midway through. I couldn't finish it. Just missing something, and I think it's a good story that keeps you motivated to get through. The world just feels so isolated and boring. Companions would've also been a great addition, and I'm so surprised they didn't do that. With the towns, you could've easily had a companion system.

The night/daylight cycle is super awesome and everything. Getting chased by a volatile that first time was fucking panic-inducing. Just again, it's missing a big thing to keep me playing. I hope DL2 improves on everything because this game has a lot of potential to be great. I thought that edgy parkour shit would ruin the game, but it was actually fun.

I did finish the game but certainly the story was a barebones tool to drag you from A to B.
I was somewhat interested in the story hook of exploring that underground lab but generally speaking it was a slog, although the mechanics / parkour elements kept it fun enough for me to finish.

If they can insert a better story I certainly won't complain.
They also did a great job on the human fighting. That was the best part of the game. Either going toe-to-toe with them or popping fireworks near them to get the zombies on them. That was my favorite part of the game. Too bad they generally hang around package drops, and I hardly saw any of them in my playthrough. But damn, they really needed a story here to get me into the game or even some companions with storylines would've been great too.
 

JDR13

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I was surprised how good Dying Light was especially since I thought Dead Island was overrated junk. It's hard to believe those games are from the same studio.

I couldn't care less about the story. The atmosphere and exploration was what made the game for me. The combat was good too.
 

Zombra

An iron rock in the river of blood and evil
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the hardest part to swallow of dying light and dead island was the constantly respawning enemies, which destroyed any sense of real immersion that i played a survival zombie game.
having more sensible approach, tying the respawns with certain story events/based on players actions would be much better than having to clear the same area for the nith time.
I haven't played DL, but geez, watch a movie sometime. Everyone knows that zombies are a rapidly renewable resource.
 

RoSoDude

Arcane
Joined
Oct 1, 2016
Messages
727
Yeah, that's a pretty weird thing to get bothered by. It serves an important gameplay function (making areas pose a threat as you go back through them) and is also completely logical in the setting. I can understand doing a double take when a special enemy like a Goon or Demolisher immediately respawns as you exit an area (saw this once), but in general you would expect the horde to wander back in and repopulate any given street corner. Which is actually how it happens sometimes -- you can notice them wandering in during big fights, so I got the sense that this was happening all the time when I wasn't there.
 

Ash

Arcane
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
6,230
Regarding respawning: of course it's important for a open world game, but they could have implemented it better I agree.

It's a good game, but it gets boring midway through. I couldn't finish it. Just missing something, and I think it's a good story that keeps you motivated to get through. The world just feels so isolated and boring. Companions would've also been a great addition, and I'm so surprised they didn't do that. With the towns, you could've easily had a companion system.

:what:
 

Mexi

Dumbfuck!
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Joined
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Messages
6,811
It's a good game, but it gets boring midway through. I couldn't finish it. Just missing something, and I think it's a good story that keeps you motivated to get through. The world just feels so isolated and boring. Companions would've also been a great addition, and I'm so surprised they didn't do that. With the towns, you could've easily had a companion system.

:what:
You know there is a little emoji for that reaction or did you just want attention you diva?
 

Gerrard

Arcane
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Messages
11,927
By 20 hours you will be sick of the lMUH IMMERSION looting animations and will wish for the sweet release of death you could just loot instantly without them. Also lockpick minigame, I stopped opening anything after a while because of it, it's literally impossible to run out of lockpicks so it exists only to waste your time.
The crafting UI is also a travesty, and something that has not been addressed in all the time the game was out, but instead you got like 40 pieces of DLC.
Only play on difficulty higher than normal if you're a masochist.
 

Machocruz

Arcane
Joined
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Messages
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Hyperborea
One of the best dumb AAA games of the generation. Enjoyed the "platforming" more than any of the "true" 3D platformers . I found myself enjoying just being in the world, tooling around with traversal, combat, exploration, without any game advancing goal in mind. Best of all there is no pretension to be more than it actually is. There is a narrative that has dramatic moments, but this a gamey gameplay-first action romp.

And the presentation is ace. Sound, music, graphics, art direction...all very professional, like Hollywood when it still produced big, dumb but watchable movies.
 

Ash

Arcane
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
6,230
One of the best dumb AAA games of the generation.

If DL is "dumb", what do you consider middling or intelligent? Also why do you like dumb things and all 40 hours + this post or whatever you invested in it? Please don't use that word to describe good things.

Bioshock is a dumb pseudo-intellectual prancing around pretending to be smart. DL isn't [insert your favorite CRPG here] but it's not dumb garbage that doesn't respect your time and has zero integrity like most AAA are. It's for the most part well-designed, therefore well-thought-out; ergo not dumb.
 
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Machocruz

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One of the best dumb AAA games of the generation.

If DL is "dumb", what do you consider middling or intelligent? Also why do you like dumb things and all 40 hours + this post or whatever you invested in it? Please don't use that word to describe good things.

Bioshock is a dumb pseudo-intellectual prancing around pretending to be smart. DL isn't [insert your favorite CRPG here] but it's not dumb garbage that doesn't respect your time and has zero integrity like most AAA are. It's for the most part well-designed, therefore well-thought-out; ergo not dumb.
SMAC and KCD are intelligent, as VGs go . And I like dumb things when they are entertaining. I don't have insecurity about this, do you? Your definition is not one I'm operating under anyway. The subject matter of DL is dumb, it's a mass market product that any nimrod can grasp on a play level, but the mechanics underpinning the whole thing are great. And what really separates it from your general AAA game of today is that there's a feeling that you have to be careful and aware or you will "lose" i.e there is punishment for failure.

Bioshock is a game that people think is smart because of the subject matter, but the subject matter is dumb. AND the mechanics are sloppy in numerous areas. Techland are obviously better technicians. I have high expectations for DL2
 

Metro

Arcane
Beg Auditor
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
27,792
Holy shit, did not realize this game became a microtransaction fest. The Following looks like the only worthwhile DLC but I'll just wait until it's slapped in a bundle when they are trying to market Dying Light 2.
 

deama

Prophet
Joined
May 13, 2013
Messages
4,352
Location
UK
Vanilla dying light was pretty decent, but I didn't like the dlc that came for it, couldn't climb buildings anymore and the landscape was boring; nothing too new gameplay-wise either.
 

JDR13

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You only want 'The Following' expansion. Everything else is just weapon and outfit packs.

The only other DLC that's more than an accessory pack is The Bozak Horde, but don't waste your time with that either unless you're a fan of arena style trials.
 

flyingjohn

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
2,945
You only want 'The Following' expansion. Everything else is just weapon and skin packs that are worthless.

The only other DLC that's more than an accessory pack is The Bozak Horde, but don't waste your time with that either unless you're a fan of arena style trials.
There is also hellraid which is a terrible fantasy conversion of dying light.
 

JDR13

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There is also hellraid which is a terrible fantasy conversion of dying light.

I didn't even know about that. Looks like it was just released in August. I haven't played DL since last year.

The description tells me all I need to know...

No one knows where the strange arcade machine came from. One day the residents of the Tower just found it in the basement after an odd power outage. They took it upstairs unaware that their find is a gateway to another realm. Shake up your Dying Light experience with an entirely new game mode based on Techland’s currently-on-hold first-person fantasy slasher Hellraid.

Yeah... I'll pass.
 

Danikas

Arcane
Joined
Jun 15, 2017
Messages
1,605
Based on RoSoDude's glowing recommendation, the idea of picking this up has stuck with me. The various editions and DLCs make it a bit confusing though. Is getting the base game for $11 the right move? Or is there a "you HAVE to buy the Malibu Barbie Dream Car Edition" for it to be worth playing?
Just get the main game and the following dlc the rest is just cosmetic shit, new weapons etc.
 

Zombra

An iron rock in the river of blood and evil
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It's not made abundantly clear whether "Dying Light: The Following: Enhanced Edition" contains the base game, but I guess this is the edition to get?
 

RoSoDude

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Messages
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It's not made abundantly clear whether "Dying Light: The Following: Enhanced Edition" contains the base game, but I guess this is the edition to get.

Yeah, I had some trouble figuring out what version was the best one when I bought it like... three years ago. DL:TF-EE is the one you want. EDIT: I think it's just called Dying Light: Enhanced Edition on Steam now.

The weapon/cosmetic DLCs are annoying. They break the balance and stuff your menus full of crafting recipes and outfits you don't want. There are some DLCs that add some additional challenge areas (quarantine zones), but I only did one such area in my playthrough on a whim (Bright Mountain Tunnel), and I hear the two DLC zones are hit or miss, plus there are plenty in the base game if you're hungry for more zombie killing content.
 
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Zombra

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Good game. I'm enjoying it. I do feel the need to complain about not being able to climb down. It's infuriating. Also maddening that there are so many places where you can't climb that thing because it wasn't blessed by the pope's "you can climb this" brush.

Towers. I'm talking about towers. Towers are terrible. Instead of being a super cool parkour extreme elevation culmination, they're scary and suicidal feeling because your guy doesn't fucking know how to climb down again, and he also doesn't know how to climb up horizontal metal bars unless they're stripey. You have to climb up the one exact scripted way and only that way, and you have to find the one zipline spot to get down again. I actually climbed past an objective and had to break my legs going back down to interact with it. I should have jumped off and climbed all the way back up. In a game that mostly did such a good job with fluid movement, this fuckup really sticks out.
 

RoSoDude

Arcane
Joined
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Messages
727
Good game. I'm enjoying it. I do feel the need to complain about not being able to climb down. It's infuriating. Also maddening that there are so many places where you can't climb that thing because it wasn't blessed by the pope's "you can climb this" brush.

Towers. I'm talking about towers. Towers are terrible. Instead of being a super cool parkour extreme elevation culmination, they're scary and suicidal feeling because your guy doesn't fucking know how to climb down again, and he also doesn't know how to climb up horizontal metal bars unless they're stripey. You have to climb up the one exact scripted way and only that way, and you have to find the one zipline spot to get down again. I actually climbed past an objective and had to break my legs going back down to interact with it. I should have jumped off and climbed all the way back up. In a game that mostly did such a good job with fluid movement, this fuckup really sticks out.

Yeah, I found myself quite bothered by how hard it was to climb down, particularly in towers as you say. You're arguably supposed to jump off onto trash piles/car hoods but that doesn't help with the occasions when you need to go down a couple rungs for some reason.
 

JDR13

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Towers. I'm talking about towers. Towers are terrible. Instead of being a super cool parkour extreme elevation culmination, they're scary and suicidal feeling because your guy doesn't fucking know how to climb down again, and he also doesn't know how to climb up horizontal metal bars unless they're stripey. You have to climb up the one exact scripted way and only that way, and you have to find the one zipline spot to get down again. I actually climbed past an objective and had to break my legs going back down to interact with it. I should have jumped off and climbed all the way back up. In a game that mostly did such a good job with fluid movement, this fuckup really sticks out.

Stop being a pussy and learn how to jump.
 

Zombra

An iron rock in the river of blood and evil
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Stop being a pussy and learn how to jump.
Obviously I'm learning the game, but it's still fucking dumb that a sweet parkour simulator doesn't let you fucking climb down. If a detailed milsim didn't let you reload your gun, people would correctly be like wtf, where is the reload key.
 

JDR13

Arcane
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The Swamp
Stop being a pussy and learn how to jump.
Obviously I'm learning the game, but it's still fucking dumb that a sweet parkour simulator doesn't let you fucking climb down. If a detailed milsim didn't let you reload your gun, people would correctly be like wtf, where is the reload key.

I don't think climbing down something has much to do with parkour. Anyways, it's kind of a weak complaint considering how good everything else is.
 

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