STORY: It looks like they tried hard to write a proper story, but it just lacks a gripping element to actually make you care about anyone, even the main character. Aiden is a more bland, weaker, temu version of Kyle Crane in pretty much every way, even though they have similarities. Both voice actors have similar voices, Aiden and Kyle use the same vocabulary, same way of threatening, yelling, cursing etc. Physically, they also look very similar, Aiden is like a less bulky, less masculine version of Kyle. Zero originality about Aiden, so much so that a meeting between Kyle and Aiden doesn't sound exciting at all, it's like Naruto from the anime meeting Naruto from the live action movie. Kyle was not an original name, yet they couldn't even give Aiden a more original name than Kyle, Aiden just sounds like a soy-drinking OnlyFans subscriber. Seriously, don't name your kids Aiden. Lawan was supposed to be the new Jade, the female a$$-kicking machine that has a soft spot for the protagonist (and vice versa) yet she simply falls short in achieving "classic" status that Jade has. Corny lines like "Bossy, I like that." in the middle of serious moments simply take away any seriousness about the character that Jade had. Waltz is the only remotely original character and seeing him on screen is the only time you stop yawning during cutscenes. Most missions are your standard Dying Light tasks like enable electricity in this building full of infected, make this guy give you this (he is protected by human thugs so you gotta.. you know), plant explosives on this site etc. Not that I'm complaining as that's pretty much what Dying Light should be, but the writers should still surprise you sometimes with some originality. Important characters barely (if not ever) dying also take away from the excitement that the first game had, Rahim, Jade, Rais, Dr. Zere etc. Just bland. ✖️NOT better than Dying Light. COMBAT: The combat is where this game shines the most, with its unique way of incorporating parkour into combat on a more sophisticated level than the first game, plenty of tools to cause chaos like electric mines, C4s, the parry that throws the infected 20 meters away, jumping over 1 then dropkicking the other enemy etc. Plenty of ways to modify weapons, (in a less fun way than DL1 in my opinion (the collectible weapon modifications were more exciting than simply using craft materials to modify)) plenty of throwable weapons like explosive knives, explosive arrows, mines, firecrackers (they're now called decoys like it's "To Catch a Infected"), gory finishers and so on. The combat is unfortunately not perfect, the main issue is the feeling of impact which is much less than the first game, most of your attacks feel like you're not hurting anybody (dropkick is still fire), the regular kick is completely RUINED as opposed to the first game, it pushes the enemy less and deals less damage, the grappling hook is now more useful in combat than parkour because you just pull enemies into their death, in the first game it was common to chop the enemies heads off in 1 slice, here it's much less common making it less satisfying, the stomp is NOT a one hit KO like in the first game, etc. Overall, it is more difficult than the first game, which I do like. ✅BETTER than Dying Light. PARKOUR: Even though you have more diverse ways of freerunning, the parkour just feels much less responsive, less smooth and less satisfying than the first game. The jump has a delay of half a second after you press the input, thus forcing you to hold space everytime you want to jump, jumping from ledge to ledge is also less satisfying from the first game because of the animations that somehow look cheaper, sliding while running also has a delay, forcing you to hold the input once again, and the same happens with plenty of other inputs. The grappling hook is an absolute abomination "bUt iT tAkeS mOrE sKiLL" to achieve pretty much nothing. If only you were able to climb the rope after throwing the GH it would be a game changer. 99% of the time you will not need to use it as there are other tools like the paraglider which is amazing and the best part about the "parkour" because you can just fly over the map instead of parkouring which doesn't feel satisfying. Using speed boosters is the only thing that makes it more interesting, but then again it was also in the first game. Sorry. ✖️NOT better than Dying Light. OTHER: Since there's a limit, I gotta cut it short, so I'll just name a few other things that we all used in the original game and whether it's improved. -It has TOO MANY BUGS AND GLITCHES. Especially in co-op. People randomly getting disconnected and unable to rejoin until the host restarts the session, everybody stuck on a black screen after completing a mission, either eternally or need to wait 5-10 minutes for it to load, sometimes inputs to complete a mission don't work (Jai mission generators) etc. Oh, and ELEVATORS. Elevators are completely glitched in co-op, and when they work it's literally a miracle. ✖️NOT better -More things to do on the maps, boss fights (GRE anomalies), all sorts of challenges, side missions, Bloody Ties DLC etc. ✅BETTER -The Nightmare difficulty has the same huge flaw like in the first game, and that is survival sense being useless. It doesn't make anything harder or more exciting, just more time-consuming and annoying. Everything else is fine like the damage and you getting smoked in 1 hit. ✖️NOT better -Two handed weapons are now more useful than in the first game where they are not needed at all, since you can upgrade a little hammer to the max and just wave it around sliming anything that moves. ✅BETTER -Outfits are no longer purely visual, as you have 4 different types of clothing that all serve a different purpose (you also have 4 different loadouts that you can switch based on the situation). ✅BETTER -It doesn't have as many goofy blueprints like the first game, air strikes, paper planes, freezing bombs were all things that made Dying Light unforgettable, missing here. ✖️NOT better -Firecracker got nerfed heavily, usually some infected either don't care, or care for 2 seconds then go back to doing what they were doing (yes I upgraded it to the max). ✖️NOT better -Explosives pack a punch in terms of pushing enemies away and the sound they produce, but somehow a regular infected can survive an explosive knife that explodes directly in its chest. Why? ✖️NOT better -The bounty board was the most useless thing ever in the first game that most people didn't touch, in this game it is actually relevant and fun to explore. ✅BETTER Is it worth playing? Yes. Is it better than Dying Light? No. Is it bigger and prettier? Yes. Did it lose the soul the first game has? Yes. Should you name your child Aiden? No. 8.1/10
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