According to developer Techland, Dying Light 2 Stay Human will take up to 500 hours to complete 100%. The upcoming horror action title serves as a follow-up to 2015's Dying Light, which combined zombie survival gameplay with a parkour system that allows players to skillfully escape danger. Last year Dying Light 2 was delayed to February 2022, with the apocalyptic action game set to build upon the first game's mechanics.
Like its predecessor, Dying Light 2 will put an emphasis on open-world exploration and close-quarters combat against undead hordes. Set in a massive urban city in Europe, various different factions will give players unique sidequests to carry out which will affect the player's reputation. Technological regression means that there are almost no guns available in Dying Light 2, forcing players to rely on melee weapons or a primitive bow and arrow. Parkour makes a grand return in the sequel too, and new tools like the paraglider will add even more depth to navigation. A Dying Light 2 hands-on preview recently explored these impressive new additions in preparation for the title's upcoming release.
Illustrating the zombie survival title's sheer scale, Dying Light (via Twitter) has revealed that the upcoming sequel will take roughly 500 hours to fully complete. While this makes the sequel seem like an unbelievably enormous experience, the account later clarified that this time frame is strictly needed for 100% completion. Full completion means finishing all quests, getting every available ending and exploring every inch of Dying Light 2's urban playground, and typical playthrough is estimated to take less than 100 hours. 500 hours for total completion is still a massive undertaking, however, with a walk from Warsaw to Madrid taking 534 hours by comparison.
While developing Dying Light 2, Techland was able to maintain the best aspects of the previous installment while improving its weaker mechanics. An interview with Dying Light 2 Lead Designer Tymon Smektała helps shed light on the sequel's new features, including its branching storyline. Dying Light's parkour system let players go anywhere in the game world, but the title's storyline was linear by comparison. In Dying Light 2 gamers' actions will have a tangible effect on the story, resulting in a number of different endings to the game. Smektała also reveals that player choices will affect the physical geometry of the city as they progress through the game.
Update 10/01/2022: Techland has offered additional clarification on exactly how long it takes to beat Dying Light 2:
A focused playthrough of Dying Light 2's main story can be completed in about 20 hours; more for some, less for others.
Completing all the side quests, learning about the world's history, and engaging with all characters can easily take 80 hours or more, depending on playstyle. Dying Light 2 takes place in a complex world filled with content and built both broadly and vertically.
Just for comparison, finishing the main story and side quests in the original Dying Light clocked in around 30 hours, but many players went on to invest hundreds of hours in the game.
According to our internal QA testing, it takes about 500 hours to see everything the game offers—find every collectible, listen to every dialogue, fetch every Easter egg, finish every possible ending, and visit every corner of the world. We are fortunate to have a very passionate community of fans who have been returning to the original Dying Light throughout the last seven years and we know they can't wait to truly lose themselves in our latest work.
With a massive city to explore and endless hordes of undead to fight, Dying Light 2 is shaping up to be a truly massive experience. Techland seems to be embracing this scale, with the game estimated to last for over 20 days of non-stop play. While casual players will be able to reach the game's ending in under 100 hours, dedicated gamers will find themselves lost in the world of Dying Light 2 for up to 500 hours.
Dying Light 2 will release on February 4, 2022 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Source: Dying Light/Twitter