I have stated time and again that Dying Light is a game I will never stop playing. The city of Harran, the brilliant and incredibly-polished parkour physics, and a whole host of interesting characters will always keep me coming back. Now, with Dying Light: The Beast just a couple of weeks away from release, I decided to revisit Dying Light and witness the sunsets of Harran one more time as Kyle Crane, before turning into the beast for his return in Techland's latest game.

Dying Light is a decade-old game now, and yet, I have struggled to find a game that has been as engaging from the very first moment till the last. The combat, the visuals, and the core gameplay loop — none of them feel aged even ten years later. And yet, for someone on their eighth playthrough, I did need something different this time around. This time around, my eighth playthrough of Dying Light is as fresh as the first, thanks to some immensely powerful overhaul mods I've applied in the game to make the city of Harran a stranger once again.

The base of the overhaul is an immensely popular mod

A complete AI overhaul that makes the apocalypse more intense than ever

I chose the mod "I Am Legion" as the basis for the overhaul, and for good reason. This mod is one of the more popular mods for the game on YouTube and Reddit threads, and that praise isn't without merit. If after seven playthroughs, I was stacked with the best weapons and skills while knowing Harran like the back of my hand, I Am Legion flips the script and makes the city ten times more hostile.

The moment I leave a safezone, this Dying Light mod throws everything at me — zombies, human enemies, and more virals than I can count. For the first time, I found myself planning a run from safezone to safezone, even if I had to spend an hour longer just traversing, just so I could breathe easier. The hair on my neck stood up — either in fear or shock that this was the same game we'd first played back in 2015. Suddenly, it feels like one of the most difficult games I've ever played.

Harran is filled with plenty of zombies and virals as it is, but with this mod, it is teeming with them, and they're deadlier than ever. After I bumped up the difficulty to the maximum level this mod allows, I saw just how horribly tough the apocalypse can be. Human enemies flocked to me with horse blinkers on, while virals surrounded every inch of the road, climbing the buildings all around me. Stopping meant immediate death, and I truly felt this zombie apocalypse in my bones as I frantically sprinted to the nearest safehouse, reminding myself that I could make no mistakes.

Ten years later, Harran's climate is now a stranger for me

A simple but extremely effective climate mod makes all the difference

Since 2015, Dying Light has shown me some of the best sunsets in gaming. You can't help but stop and stare at the setting sun, despite knowing that every minute you stare at the sunset is a minute that night gets closer and so does certain demise.

Some of the best moments in the base game come when the game's RNG-controlled weather system decides to throw in torrential rains at night, and you get to witness trees bending against the winds, rains battering against the zombie hordes, and shining against the UV streetlights. Sadly, such rains almost never come in the daytime, and that's what the "All Climates" mod changes.

Before this, you knew that night would bring rain, and it would never rain in the day. This sort of broke immersion, because if you can predict the weather itself, you know you're playing a game. After All Climates, however, things have never felt more different. Harran gets clouded in mist and fog in the mornings, and sometimes, I start the day and wake up to rain, immediately getting more excited to get to the next mission. It's the unpredictability of the weather that really keeps me guessing, and the apocalypse really should be nothing if not unpredictable.

I turned Kyle Crane into 'the Beast'

This modification feels even heavier than the base

Yes, after ten years, Kyle Crane is returning in Dying Light: The Beast. His absence from the sequel had certainly turned off a lot of enthusiasts, which is why it's amazing to have him return in the third game. However, the "Advanced Moves" mod from NexusMods gives me an all-new Kyle Crane even in the base game.

The parkour-combat loop of the base game, to this day, stands as one of the most remarkable and polished, but with Advanced Moves, it goes up a few notches. Not only does it enhance a few existing combat skills for Crane, but it adds over a dozen new animations, which, to me, felt downright insane, because I was now in a new city with new weather, and, above all, I was playing as what felt like an all-new Crane.

If I want to throw my weapons, I can now just have a rope attached to them so I can get them back immediately. Heck, I can even restore stamina by simply slaying more zombies, entering a crazed 'Bloodlust' state. Like the second game, this mod also grants players the ability to run along walls, making for some rather interesting parkour and combat opportunities I can't wait to try out.

On the combat front, this mod pairs some old skills and repackages them into one, so I can slide, break zombies' legs, and immediately smash them on the head, or dodge and shield bash at the same time. What this mod really achieves, though, is adding a second wind to the character itself. This time around, everything feels new, and Crane's new abilities certainly make things more interesting.

The official 'Retouched' update only makes the deal sweeter

Techland just keeps supporting the game more

Techland has always been a stellar video game studio when it comes to supporting their games for years. Dying Light saw seven whole years of updates, even after the sequel came out, and it only ended once the Definitive Edition came out with everything the studio gave players with free content drops and amazing DLCs.

Dying Light once again received another visual update in June 2025, a full decade after release, dubbed the "Retouched Update". This update gives the game higher-resolution textures to keep the game's visual longevity stronger, updated skyboxes, and ultra-level shadows to boot.

Pair all of that with the 'All Climates' mod for weather, and you have a visual experience that, despite technically being 10 years old, still makes for one of the most impactful open-world maps in the business. Pair that with a minimal HUD mod that really tests my knowledge of this city by completely removing any and all markers, and my experience feels fresher than ever.

Truth be told, I've even been using ShaderGlass, a free tool on Steam for visual filters that truly makes this new playthrough feel entirely fresh with Technicolor and '80s VHS filters on my screen.

Why now is the best time to replay Dying Light

PSA by the Tourism Authority of Harran

The timing could not be better for one more dance across Harran's rooftops. Whether it's for revisiting old friends in emotional side-quests, or for swinging katanas at shambling zombies, Harran deserves one last go-around from everyone before jumping back into Kyle Crane's shoes in Dying Light: The Beast.

Truth be told, no other zombie game has quite managed to replicate this exact formula, even Techland's own Dead Island 2. The razor-sharp parkour, the sheer terror of the night, and the survivalist edge that punishes complacency — Dying Light is one of the most unique experiences out there, and replaying it now, with mods that breathe new life into its systems and mechanics, I couldn't be happier to be back in the middle of the apocalypse.

Plus, it primes for what comes next. Crane's return is monumental, and diving back into the first game feels like a personal prelude to The Beast. If ever there was a "right time" to return to Harran, this is it.

Dying Light: The Beast is almost here, but Harran will always be eternal

Eight playthroughs in, and I'm glad that Dying Light still finds ways to surprise me. With the right modifications, I've got this game feeling like an old friend, but someone I haven't met in years, and am eager to discover more about now. Harran feels alive in ways it simply never has before, and even as Crane, I feel closer to the 'Beast' we're about to meet.