Slicing up zombies and salvaging for items hold up well in Dying Light 1 due to the atmospheric setting of Harran, which is so intriguing to explore or look at. The skill tree system also makes character progression feel meaningful, and the cherry on top is the parkour that makes traversal movement even at agility level 1 so fun from start to completing all the base game content.
All of that makes the moment-to-moment gameplay loop of Dying Light 1 very simple but effective. Sometimes, less is more. Gameplay-wise, this is a very outstanding zombie game that knows what it wants to be.
Unfortunately, I don't have the same positive energy for the story. It's very by the books with the usual zombie cliches that you shouldn't bet to drink on what to predict. However, I don't really mind it much because it's so inoffensive and doesn't take an eternity with the pacing to bother me. I think it also helps that the main character being voiced by Sonic the Hedgehog made it slightly amusing and more tolerable. The base game finale fucking blows though.
Even with Dying Light 1's shortcomings, I still think the base game is well put together by Techland and definitely would've been my game of the year back in 2015 if I had played it all the way back. But it is also gratifying to play this for the first time years later and see that it still holds up for the most part. I will hopefully start The Following expansion soon.
All of that makes the moment-to-moment gameplay loop of Dying Light 1 very simple but effective. Sometimes, less is more. Gameplay-wise, this is a very outstanding zombie game that knows what it wants to be.
Unfortunately, I don't have the same positive energy for the story. It's very by the books with the usual zombie cliches that you shouldn't bet to drink on what to predict. However, I don't really mind it much because it's so inoffensive and doesn't take an eternity with the pacing to bother me. I think it also helps that the main character being voiced by Sonic the Hedgehog made it slightly amusing and more tolerable. The base game finale fucking blows though.
Even with Dying Light 1's shortcomings, I still think the base game is well put together by Techland and definitely would've been my game of the year back in 2015 if I had played it all the way back. But it is also gratifying to play this for the first time years later and see that it still holds up for the most part. I will hopefully start The Following expansion soon.