Dying Light 2

[sv3672]

This was announced last E3, but maybe worth a topic as it was not discussed yet, and the release is expected in spring 2020:

PC Gamer's summary of what is known so far, and their E3 2018 demo preview
gamesindustry.biz interview with CCO Adrian Ciszewski
SegmentNext interview with the lead designer
From pen and paper to Dying Light 2 – Chris Avellone wants to flip the RPG script (VG24/7 interview)
GRYOnline.pl article from Gamescom 2018, Google translated
PCGamesN summary, including links to more articles on factions (updated), vehicles, and other topics

Announcement and gameplay trailers:

Spoiler

Digital Foundry interview:

Spoiler

Interview with Tymon Smektała from Gamescom:

Spoiler

Update: GamesRadar has a series of articles on the game in March:

Dying Light 2’s new zombie types explained with official concept art
How Dying Light 2 is inspired by The Witcher 3 and Game of Thrones
Techland confirms the grappling hook is back for Dying Light 2, promises it won’t break the game this time
"Dying Light 2 is the first game of its type" – Techland reveals its plans for the future of open-world gaming
Dying Light 2 has so much content you’ll need to play it multiple times to see everything
Why co-op is going to be one of the coolest parts of Dying Light 2

Wccftech article on May 24 2019: Techland’s Pawel Rohleder on Experimenting with Ray Tracing and NVIDIA DLSS in Dying Light 2, DX12 Implementation & More

 

[pinoko]

Thank you @sv3672 for constant update! Can't wait to play DL2!

 

[Sild]

It's looking great so far!

 

[Mybrokenenglish]

Great animations

World changes according to your decisions (significantly)

Story written by avellone

All the right ingredients for a masterpiece. Let's see if these other polish folks deliver.

Rumor say that they feel the competition with CDPR.

 

[DankTemplar]

I'll be buying it for sure. Loved the 1st one.

 

[Shavod]

I still need to play the first DL, but I liked Dead Island for what it was (First Person Hack'n'Slash with a great trailer that was promising a completely different type of game, which is why many people were probably disappointed by it) and I like Techland games in general (though The Cartel can go and plough itself), so it's definitely something that I will check out. Hopefully with Chris Avellone and some former CDPR writers on board, they will be able to finally deliver a narrative that is better then just "serviceable", because gameplay definitely looks fun.

 

[DankTemplar]

I still need to play the first DL, but I liked Dead Island for what it was (First Person Hack'n'Slash with a great trailer that was promising a completely different type of game, which is why many people were probably disappointed by it) and I like Techland games in general (though The Cartel can go and plough itself), so it's definitely something that I will check out. Hopefully with Chris Avellone and some former CDPR writers on board, they will be able to finally deliver a narrative that is better then just "serviceable", because gameplay definitely looks fun.

It's what Dead Island tried to be. One of my favorite games of all time. Right up there with TW3.

 

[Shavod]

It's what Dead Island tried to be. One of my favorite games of all time. Right up there with TW3.

I was mostly referencing very misguided marketing campaign by Deep Silver, which made an extremely emotional trailer for the game (that Techland had nothing to do with), promising a very somber and emotional journey in zombie populated world, but then you started the game and immediately got "Who do you voodoo, bitch?!" in your face, which is why many people ended up being very disappointed in this game. However by the time I got to play it, I knew exactly what to expect, so of course I enjoyed it, but I can understand why many people at the time felt cheated by the initial marketing campaign.

 

[sv3672]

From another thread, a recent rumor suggests the game will again be shown only to journalists as a private, hands-off demo at E3. If that is true, the release could be quite far away, maybe even next gen. It would explain the lack of information and public gameplay footage, though.

Update: the game is confirmed to be discussed at the E3 Coliseum on June 11 (Tuesday), 12:30 to 13:00 (Pacific time zone):

Techland returns to E3 to showcase what’s new in Dying Light 2, the bold sequel to the award-winning open world first person survival horror action-adventure video game and the studio’s most ambitious project to date. Join Techland’s Lead Designer Tymon Smektała and Narrative Designer Chris Avellone for a look at Dying Light 2’s fresh gameplay and new insights on the game’s story, characters, open world and how player choices can have a huge impact on the game’s narrative and overall experience.

There is a fair chance that a trailer will be shown at the Xbox conference, although I do not know of an official confirmation of that yet. Square Enix was also announced as distributor in America, so their live stream on the 10th is another possible source of new information.

 

[Mybrokenenglish]

Dying Light 2’s Designer Talks Multiple Endings And RPG Mechanics

“There’s a set, countable number of “huge” endings, and an even bigger number of their variations – but again that’s not really what’s important. The important thing here is that you can shape the City to your liking, create your own version of it. This is the real outcome of the game – how the City looks after you went through your adventure. It’s especially important in co-op – when you head out with others, in other people’s worlds, you’ll see you’re playing in a different place.”

As far as RPG mechanics, he shied away from giving specifics, but did say that there would be choice in both gameplay and narrative ways to impact how you play. Perhaps, too, about what ending you will get.

“The ability to see the outcome of your choices on such a grand scale. For us, an RPG is mostly about role-playing, filling the boots of the main character – and you’ll get plenty of opportunities to do just that, be it through narrative or through gameplay.”

Dying Light 2 will release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, and we will see it at Square Enix’s E3 press conference.

https://gamingbolt.com/dying-light-2s-designer-talks-multiple-endings-and-rpg-mechanics

If they deliver, this game will be majestic. Honestly, it sounds more similar to my idea of RPG than TW3: no numbers popping out here and there gating everything, complete freedom and consequences for your choices which you'll be able to see clearly as the world changes radically according to them. The perfect mixture of RPGs and immersive sims.
Will it be 2019 or delayed to next year? That's the only reason to watch squarenix's conference (because no, FF7 remake sold in episodes is not acceptable).

 

[sv3672]

Will it be 2019 or delayed to next year?

It looks more like 2020 with the lack of information and footage, although it could be just how the marketing campaign is planned. In any case, the E3 schedule seems to be fairly similar to Cyberpunk's, 30 minutes interview at the Coliseum, probably trailer at the Xbox conference (not confirmed yet), and hands-off gameplay demo in the meeting rooms.

By the way, there is another new article on GamesRadar with some concept art, and also on Game Informer with a different picture.

Other projects by Techland could also be announced, there are rumors of a Nintendo Switch port of Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, and a new IP that is an open world fantasy action/adventure/RPG has been in pre-production since 2016 by the Warsaw studio. But the latter is probably still a few years away.

 

[Mybrokenenglish]

probably trailer at the Xbox conference

square enix's conference confirmed: last sentence here https://gamingbolt.com/dying-light-2s-designer-talks-multiple-endings-and-rpg-mechanics

DL2 will be published by square enix.

 

[sv3672]

I mentioned that in a previous comment, although as far as I know, Square Enix will be a distributor, rather than publisher. Similarly to how Warner Bros is probably distributing retail copies of Cyberpunk 2077.

Update: more concept art has been released over the last few days here and here, perhaps there will be one picture and article every day until E3.

 

[sv3672]

Spring 2020 planned release (no set date or pre-orders yet)

Edit: more details have been posted on the Steam store page.

 

[Mybrokenenglish]

I think we'll see some gameplay during square enix's conference.

 

[Mybrokenenglish]

 

[CShepard1]

Haven't played the first one but have been sold on this since last E3. Love how they explained how systems and factions work together in the game. Plus the inclusion of Chris Avellone gets me excited!

 

[Mybrokenenglish]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1161638727787175937

Can't wait! The first game was the state of the art for FPP with all those glorious contextual anmations, never feeling like a floating camera pointing and clicking here and there, the most immersive FPP I've ever seen (only surpassed by RDR2 recently).
Now they added multiple choice dialogues, branching story (affecting the world in a significant way, not just "the guy is dead vs the guy is alive) written by his majesty Chris Avellone. And no immersion breaking level system.
Too bad people and media are not giving the proper importance to this game, it's the possible sleeper hit for 2020 and the definitive mixture of aRPGs and immersive sims.

 

[Erect_Cactus]

Haven't played the first one but have been sold on this since last E3. Love how they explained how systems and factions work together in the game. Plus the inclusion of Chris Avellone gets me excited!

The first one was great! With a Chrromatic aberration disabling mod and FOV of at least 100 it was super immersive. The gameplay was stellar and very addictive. I personally have an inkling that DL2 would be more memorable than CP2077 in the long run.

I’ll never forget jumping from car to car on a bridge swarming with zombies only to find myself desperately fighting off zombies on the roof of a bus.

 

[Mybrokenenglish]

OH MY F**KING GOD!

This game looks glorious!

-Repeatable IMMERSIVE contextual animations: CHECK (who dares to say they're making the game slow? ).

-No useless little numbers that gate objects, areas or enemies and break the immersion: CHECK.

-Minimal HUD: check.

-Great FPP melee combat (clearly played at easy in the demo): check (ragdoll is a little bit too much, but not very important).

-Branching story whose decisions REALLY affect the world: CHECK!

-Progression system that affects your active skills (how stamina lets you open doors if you are strong enough, but still need to give the input repeatedly pushing X, not a simple yes/no), no magic DMG added to bullets: CHECK!

-Avellone: check.

-Same demo journalists saw at E3, making us gamers feel as worthy as them: check.

I don't want to get overexcited, but this game looks like everything I want in an RPG. I'll may have a new favourite polish software house in May 2020. 100% will buy the game at full price to support Techland, but no pre-order since I'm firmly against it (you don't buy something just because you trust a company).