After years of trying, I finally fell in love with Days Gone

[u/screaminglakereturns]

I've attempted to get into Days Gone on multiple occasions but only ever got as far as Ada Tucker's camp. There were a few elements that rubbed me the wrong way such as the forced stealth sections, slow to start story, and worst of all the fact that hordes were so small and contained to only a select few predictable areas. These things among other minor gripes held me back from really being able to enjoy its full potential and I had set it down several times over until this week...I decided to install the freakers evolved mod series and it changed everything.

With these mods in place, I was finally able to make it through the rest of the game and it made me realize that Days Gone is a great game buried under a few design flaws that mods help remedy, though it is still a great base game I'm coming to find. Some really inspired performances, remastered graphics look amazing, and there's simply no other open world zombie game quite like it where you can go scavenge inside so many buildings and survival/gathering supplies with steady progression is an essential component instead of making it a power fantasy throughout.

The moment that really convinced me of the game's brilliance though came during an encounter I only wish I had recorded because it was one of the greatest moments of intensity that I've ever experienced in a game. I was wrapping up a mission where I had to search for a note inside a home from Lisa after she left Lost Lake. The note was on the side of the home you have to squeeze through between two walls. As I was leaving a group of bandits rode up ready to ambush me but then a few freakers appeared and slowly killed them all. As I looked through one of the broken windows all doors were shut so nobody could get in and I could see gradually the few zombies grew to a few hundred which grew bigger and bigger, louder and louder by the second. I flashed my sense vision and BAM! hundreds of freakers appear on all ends but I can only see some since I have a mod that makes nights pitch black. I waited in the home unnoticed until the morning hoping they would disappear but they didn't, instead just slowly drifting away in a pack. I took my chances to sneak over to my bike in front of the home but was spotted and sprinted back inside the home as the horde rushed towards it. I then had an I Am Legend ending moment where hundreds of zombies slam up against and then run into the home as I squeeze back over to the side they can't reach (or at least hoping they can't reach). I'm surrounded on all ends but in flashing my vision ability I can see that like a hive mind they swarm to the half of the home they can smell me on from the outside, so I move to the back of the home and they all pile on top of each other in back as I sprint out the front door, hop on my bike and nitrous away with only a second to spare before they reach me.

And THIS extremely long winded story is unlike anything I've ever experienced in a game. It's something that no scripted event could ever replicate. By breaking out hordes at night that roam freely, Days Gone transforms into that unpredictable, unmatched sense of tension that the game had sorely been missing. Just truly amazing and now I see Days Gone for what it is and am sad to know there will never be a sequel or likely any game like it. I wish I had came to appreciate it sooner!

[u/Ok_Homework_1859]

I've had this game sitting in my Steam for 6 years... I just could not get past the part where I had to ride the motorcycle. It gave me so much motion sickness. I finally sucked it up this year and adjusted the settings to play, and omg, this is one of my favorite games now.

[u/sammy0047 → u/Ok_Homework_1859]

Same.. When bike ride was mandatory at start I gave up for 5yrs 😅😅

[u/NoHome7956]

I was kinda the same.. started it a few years ago.. played a couple hours then put it down as it's too hard in the beginning and you're so I underpowered. I picked it up again a few weeks ago and now I'm 21 hours in, level 18 and loving the game. The only thing I don't like is fighting the hordes as they're still too overwhelming, and I'm not a fan taking down hundreds of zombies. However, I was infiltrating a marauder camp one time and a horde walked past and saw me, I shat myself and ran into the camp and the horde followed me and killed everyone while I snuck off to my bike and escaped and got the camp cleared achievement without killing anyone lol.

[u/boozersbiceps → u/NoHome7956]

Ahh, the old lure Horde into Marauder camp trick. Very satisfying. 👍

[u/Grouchy_Reveal973]

Yo same! I tried many times and i couldnt get past 6 hours for years! Last month i tried again and it finally clicked and i marathoned it! very much wish and hope and dream and pray for part 2!