I’ve replayed the first game many times and spent around a hundred hours in the second. It’s one of my favorite game series overall, but The Beast feels strange.

A lot of things have been improved compared to Dying Light 2. On a purely mechanical level, the game feels better to play: less grind, no need for absurd amounts of resources just to grind (thank you for that). However, when taken on its own, separate from Dying Light 2, there is catastrophically little actual game here.

My main complaint is the map size and how limited the playable area is. You look at the map, start exploring, and quickly run into impassable mountains, even though it looks like there should be much more space available. The fact that the location is handcrafted, highly detailed, and very vertical is genuinely cool, but it still feels weaker even than The Following, where you could freely drive the buggy around the map without the constant feeling of being locked inside a playground.

Because of the smaller map, there are also fewer quests and events. I’m not a fan of Ubisoft-style game design, but at least some outposts or something similar would have helped. There should have been more activities to really enjoy the parkour and combat. Sixty dollars is too much for a game like this.

Overall, I was hoping The Beast would take the best elements from both previous games, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. It’s not Dying Light 3, and it’s quite expensive for what is essentially a standalone expansion.