In its second AMA video on Dying Light 2, developer Techland confirmed quite a few details about the game. However, they also revealed a couple of things that won’t be in the game, and this is one of them. There won’t be any romanceable characters in dying Light 2, though I’m not sure this is a massive loss for any fans. The first game had a romance in it, but there was never really an option to pursue a romance with multiple characters and sort of collect them all. The second game is no different, and that’s because it’s sticking true to Techland’s vision.
Dying Light 2 is a game about a lot of things. It’s got a hardcore focus on parkour movement, verticality in the city, saving the city in multiple ways, and crafting a character through the choices you make. It’s not a driving game, and it’s not an RPG with romance options. Games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age suit romances because a huge portion of your time is dedicated to developing relationships with NPCs. It plays into the gameplay and can make the difference between winning or losing in a fight.
In Dying Light 2, you win or lose on your own merit. If you get into a fight that you can’t handle, you need to escape or die. If you fall from a jump because you misjudged it, that’s all on you. There’s no way that knowing an NPC better could help you in either of these situations. Sure, NPCs could teach you skills to help you out, but that doesn’t fit with the core mechanic of learning to get better at things as you do them. This is how Dying Light’s progression worked, and it’s the same in the sequel.
I’m glad that Techland is sticking to its roots here and will be keeping romance options out of the game. Of course, if there’s a romance as part of the story, that’s still part of their vision and is therefore fine. What no one wants from this game, when it eventually releases, is something that isn’t true to what the developer set out to make. That would be a crying shame.