How Long is Dying Light? A Complete Playtime Guide
Determining the exact playtime for Dying Light can vary greatly depending on your playstyle and completion goals. Simply put, if you stick to the main story objectives, you’re likely looking at around 17½ hours of gameplay. However, for those who want to explore every nook and cranny of Harran and achieve 100% completion, expect to invest approximately 58½ hours. It’s a significant difference that reflects the richness and depth of the game’s open-world experience. This doesn’t even take into account the various side quests, challenges, and exploration aspects that can further extend your time in the game. The experience of playing Dying Light can be tailored to suit a casual player or a hardcore completionist. Let’s dive deeper into this fascinating topic.
Factors Affecting Playtime
The considerable range in playtime for Dying Light is influenced by several factors:
Main Story vs. Completionist
The most significant factor is whether you focus solely on the main storyline or strive for 100% completion. The main storyline offers a focused narrative experience, while achieving complete completion requires engaging with every side quest, challenge, and collectible. If you prioritize the story, you’ll find that 17½ hours is a fair estimate for experiencing the core narrative of Kyle Crane’s time in Harran.
Exploration and Side Quests
Dying Light features a sprawling open world filled with hidden areas, loot, and side quests. Exploring this world and completing side quests dramatically increases the time you spend in the game. Each side quest offers a unique story snippet and rewards, enticing players to delve into the world. If you’re the type to check every corner, you’ll easily spend more than the average playtime completing all the available content.
Co-op Play
Dying Light‘s co-op mode allows you to play the entire game with up to three friends. Playing in co-op can make certain parts of the game easier and more enjoyable, and you might find yourself spending more time in the game because of the group dynamic and the fun of exploring together.
Difficulty Setting
The difficulty setting also impacts playtime. While the Normal mode has specific day and night durations (3840 seconds for daytime and 420 seconds for night time), the Hard and Nightmare modes adjust these times, leading to a different pace. Nightmare mode has double the length of night, which could slow progress if you are struggling. Moreover, the increased difficulty might require you to spend more time on each encounter and task.
Dying Light 2 Playtime Comparison
It’s also worth comparing Dying Light to its sequel, Dying Light 2: Stay Human. Dying Light 2 is indeed a larger game. To complete its main story, you can expect around 20 hours, while 100% completion could take “at least 500 hours,” according to Techland, but it’s more realistically around 80 hours to fully complete all quests. This showcases the substantial increase in scale from the original Dying Light. This highlights the difference between the titles; while the first title provides a more focused narrative experience, the sequel significantly expands on the available content.
The “Time” of Day in Dying Light
The day/night cycle in Dying Light is a core element of gameplay, with daytime and nighttime presenting radically different challenges. On Normal mode, daytime lasts for 3840 seconds and night lasts for 420 seconds. This is approximately 64 minutes of daytime and 7 minutes of night. The nighttime is when the more dangerous and terrifying enemies like Volatiles come out, adding a sense of urgency and tension to the gameplay. Nightmare Mode, however, has a night time duration that is twice the normal length and day time is only 89% of the time. This difference creates a considerable impact on the time you spend in-game and how you play the game.
Dying Light: Definitive Edition
While the original Dying Light is no longer supported with updates, Techland released the Dying Light: Definitive Edition, which includes all of the game’s DLC. This edition can significantly extend your play time further if you want to explore everything that is offered. It’s the best way to experience all the content of the first Dying Light.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some frequently asked questions about the playtime and other aspects of Dying Light:
How Long is Dying Light if you only do the Main Quests?
The main quests alone will take about 17½ hours. This is a streamlined experience that will get you through the narrative quickly, but it will miss out on many exciting parts of the game.
How Long does it take to Complete Dying Light 100%?
To achieve 100% completion, expect to spend around 58½ hours. This includes completing all side quests, challenges, and finding all collectibles.
How Does Co-op Affect Dying Light Playtime?
Playing in co-op can both increase and decrease the playtime, depending on the group’s style. You might spend more time in the game just for the fun of it, but you might also progress through quests more quickly with your friends.
Is Dying Light 2 Longer Than the First Game?
Yes, Dying Light 2 is a much larger game. The main story is slightly longer and completion is significantly longer with it being “at least 500 hours”, but likely around 80 hours to complete all quests.
How Long is a Day/Night Cycle in Dying Light?
In Normal mode, daytime lasts about 64 minutes (3840 seconds), and nighttime is about 7 minutes (420 seconds).
Does Difficulty Affect the Length of Day and Night?
Yes, on Hard and Nightmare modes, the length of day and night is modified. Nightmare Mode doubles the length of night and shortens daytime.
Is Dying Light 1 Worth Playing Today?
Yes, it’s a classic zombie survival game, with engaging gameplay, a compelling story, and excellent co-op mode, making it worth the time if you enjoy the genre.
Do I Need to Play Dying Light 1 Before Dying Light 2?
No, you don’t need to, but it can enhance the experience. Dying Light 2 stands alone, but playing the first game provides background lore that could enhance the second game.
Is Dying Light 2 Repetitive?
Some players find the early parts of Dying Light 2 repetitive, especially in the starting areas and with tutorials. It improves as you progress but can be a factor depending on your tolerance for repetitive gameplay loops.
Are There Guns in Dying Light 1?
Yes, firearms are available in Dying Light 1, but they are more common later in the game.
What is the best Gun in Dying Light 1?
The Volkan Combat Assault Rifle is considered the best gun in Dying Light 1.
What are Volatiles in Dying Light?
Volatiles are extremely dangerous, fast, and aggressive infected that come out at night. They are considered the apex predator in Dying Light.
Can Volatiles be killed?
Yes, Volatiles can be killed, but they are very tough, require high-level weapons, and strategic combat.
Do Volatiles see your Flashlight?
No, Volatiles do not react to your flashlight, however, normal infected will be attracted to it.
What Loot do Volatiles drop?
Volatiles can drop rare resources and Unique Infected Trophies that can be used to buy high-level equipment upgrades.
By understanding these aspects of Dying Light and how they affect your gameplay, you can better tailor your experience and enjoy all the game has to offer. Whether you’re a speedrunner, a completionist, or somewhere in between, Dying Light has something to offer every type of player.