Dying Light 2 length: How long does it take and how many story missions?

Techland has finally released Dying Light 2, but many are wondering, how long is the game exactly? After the hyp surrounding the size of the title, here’s everything you need to know about the length of the game and how deep you can go. 

The first title in the series clocked in at around 15-20 hours to beat, and everything said prior to release is that this would be much bigger. Techland made some big claims about how long the title actually is, promising a gargantuan experience that spanned over 500 hours. 

To some, that was a big promise of a game they could get lost in for days, even months of hardcore playing. To others, it made the game seem like an enormous behemoth that may be too much to reasonably handle. So, for a “normal playthrough”, how long is the game actually? As ever, the answer is somewhere in the middle. 

How Long is the story of Dying Light 2?

If you want to just play through the story, the main quest of Dying Light 2 clocks in at around 25-35 hours. While not quite the monstrous size as some of the promotional material might have suggested, it’s still fairly sizeable. 

This also makes the game quite a bit bigger than the first in the franchise. There is plenty to sink your teeth into here, especially if you decide to take your time. That being said, while it will take many lengthy sessions, it is not unreasonable at all. 

Of course, all of this can be elongated quite far by engaging in the game's extensive side missions and activities. If you are trying to take things slow and take everything in bit by bit, expect things to balloon past 40, even 50+ hours.  

However, if you want to get a good sense of the length or want to know how far you are from the end yourself, below is a list of all 22 'story quests' in the game:

Story Quests

• Pilgrims Path
• Getting Stronger
• Markers of the Plague
• The Only Way Out
• Unruly Brother
• The Arrival
• The Raid
• Water Tower
• Revolution
• Let’s Waltz!
• A Place To Call Home
• Orders
• Observatory
• Welcome On Board
• Cathedral
• Broadcast
• The Shoe
• Nightrunners
• Veronika
• The Breakthrough
• Now or Never
• X13

Side missions: the lowdown

While the main story of Dying Light 2 is meaty, it's far from the only narrative content you will be engaging in this world. If you are looking to be distracted from the intense gravity of the game's often heavy campaign, there are plenty of other stories to get stuck into. 

The side missions in-game offer a whole host more flavor to the world of Dying Light 2, doing anything from running errands for people or retrieving a mink scarf of a singer who needs it to be able to perform. It can get a bit goofy out there, and it adds some nice shades to the streets of Villedor. 

In terms of how many side quests there are in-game, that's hard to say. They can turn up just about anywhere. It's very hard to put an exact number on just how many there are because they can be hidden in various nooks around Dying Light 2. 

That being said, there are a lot. It doesn't take long when parkouring around to see an exclamation marker appear above an NPC's head. It's safe to say that there are 10s of hours of extra content to get lost in. It'd not be unsurprising if trying to complete every side mission didn't double your entire playtime, at least. This is where claims about massive hour tallies from Techland almost certainly came from. 

What about side activities?

On top of the main story and side missions, there are also countless activities that populate the map of Villedor. The city is bursting with things to do and explore, from surprise events to environments to explore. 

Some of these can be done in no time at all, whereas some can be a heart-pounding exploration of highly infested GRE facilities. There's a ton to do though if you want to clear out the map to get busy with. These activities can also offer incredible rewards, from unique weapons and armor to vast amounts of resources. 

Here's a list of all the events and activities you can find on the map to get moving through: 

• Forsaken Settlement
• Dark Hollow
• Evacuation Convoy
• Military Convoy
• GRE Quarantine
• GRE Anomaly
• Windmill
• Bandit Camp
• Air Drop
• Water Tower
• Electrical Station 
• Radio Tower
• Landmark
• Parkour Challenge 
• Combat Challenge

• Want to know everything you can about Dying Light 2? Here's everything you need to know.