New Details On Dying Light 2's Factions, Open-World Events, And Whether Characters Will Return

Dying Light 2 developer Techland has released another AMA video, answering the most-asked questions about its upcoming game. Today's video doesn't touch on as many gameplay subjects as the last Dying Light 2 AMA, instead focusing on the upcoming game's characters, story, and various factions.

With Dying Light 2 set several years after Dying Light 1 and in a different part of the world, fans of the franchise were eager to learn if any characters would be returning. Dying Light 2 lead game designer Tymon Smektała answered, saying that we wouldn't see any familiar faces from Dying Light 1 return. "So Dying Light 2 takes place in a completely different place and quite a lot of years after the events of the first one," Smektała said. "For that reason, you will not encounter any returning characters from the first game."

That doesn't mean that previous characters or factions will be totally absent though. Kyle Crane, the protagonist of the first game, for instance, won't appear but will be mentioned in Dying Light 2.

Similarly, the Global Relief Effort from Dying Light 1 will also be appearing, albeit mostly in the form of free-roam events. Answering another question on the abundance of free-roam events in Dying Light 2, associate producer Julia Szynkaruk said, "There will be a lot more open-world events in Dying Light 2. Not only will we have the living world with encounters all over, but also you will be able to explore new locations such as GRE Quarantines or Dark Places."

Today's AMA also touched on the game's factions, giving us some specific details on each and how players will interact with them. There are two main factions that players can side with: the Peacekeepers and the Survivors. The former is a militaristic group that wants to kill every infected it can, and was described by Smektała as a "militaristic regime." The Survivors on the other hand are more community-focused and prioritize survival and adaptation to the post-apocalyptic world above everything else. Working with them will earn players additional traversal equipment in Dying Light 2's open world.

A third faction is also present in Dying Light 2: the Renegades. These are the game's "bad guys," a totally irredeemable group that players fight against no matter what. That being said, players will apparently have options for dealing with them, which may be tied to which faction they side with.

The biggest tease in today's AMA came from a question that's been asked since Dying Light 2's announcement. When asked which ending to The Following, a Dying Light 1 DLC, was canon, Smektała simply said, "The events in Dying Light 2 and the events that lead up to Dying Light 2 are very strongly connected to what happened in the first game. So when you play Dying Light 2 you will surely discover the answer to this big question."

Spoilers Ahead For The Following

The Following is a DLC that caps off Dying Light 1 with two possible endings. The first has Crane detonate a nuke, destroying Harran and wiping the virus off the Earth. The second ending instead has Crane fight against The Mother, a cult leader later revealed to be a sentient volatile. This fight ends with Crane killing the mother but becoming infected and escaping from Harran, leading to the spread of the virus across the world. This ending is often seen as canon by fans, but Techland hasn't confirmed that just yet.