Recent reviews by The Billy Goat

After 5-6 long years of playing DBD on/off, I really do love this game. From custom games with friends to playing online as killer/survivor, I've had my fair share of good times. The gameplay loop is shockingly addictive and the roster of characters is well fleshed out, from cool original creations like the embodiment of darkness itself The Dredge, to licenses like Chucky and Pyramid Head, each fleshed out well enough so that every killer feels fun to play with their own playstyle. With all these positives, I would love to recommend this game, but I can't inherently do that in the game's current state.

Dead by Daylight has one of the worst new player experiences I've ever experienced. It's irritating that if you want to start lasting more than 2 minutes online as you climb the ranks, you need to brush up on Killer and Survivor Perks, Addons, Items, Maps, Looping Strategies, etc. On top of that, a lot of the perks you can earn for free are arbitrary or passable at best. The issue there is that most of the perks that would WILDLY assist newer users are locked behind paid DLC, that could cost between $5-$20. Even then, it takes at least a little "grinding" after that, because perks start at level 1 and need to be leveled up to level 3 through the Bloodweb progression system, which could take a couple of games or days of on and off playing. All this culminates in a skill floor that is disastrously high, and if we're being honest, a lot of people don't have the free time to invest anywhere from 60-200 hours to learn the ins and outs of a video game. Trying to teach friends this game has been frustrating at best, because I see them die early and quickly and it sucks knowing that the only advice I could give is to cough up more money or watch Otz videos and commit to playing DBD often.

Along with all those issues, the player base can't be ignored. While I don't agree with the notion that it's one of the worst communities (In fact, plenty of small-big content creators are an incredibly positive force for good and have welcomed hundreds of kind people into the fanbase) it certainly isn't welcoming. For one, both sides have a set of made-up honor rules, molded around the idea of allowing people to have enough fun but not throwing away "winning" in the process. The issues arises in the fact that they are **made up** so there is never a surefire way to avoid being yelled at, because a survivor will complain that you targeted them too much one game while a killer will complain that you rushed the objective too fast the next, leading to a frustrating dynamic where someone is always mad. Additionally, it's very common to have players disconnect or intentionally die, as there are very surefire methods to do so due to certain game mechanics. The devs have added AI to replace players who disconnect, and while a nice band-aid, still doesn't address the issue at large, with a high amount of intentionally dying on hook, removing the option of getting a bot in place of the player. Not to mention all these make the already bad Solo queue experience worse, since there is no ping or comms system in DBD aside from 2 emotes, preventing solo survivors from communicating with their teammates in times of need.

Lastly (speaking of the developers) I can't ignore the stumbles from BHVR. To be optimistic, the balance/QoL changes have been increasing in quality lately, with accessibility changes and gameplay adjustments, but that comes with the a LARGE asterisk. Updates take a while, usually 3 months, and historically the devs are slower to pressing balance changes, leading perks or characters to potentially be downright busted for 3 months. Characters like The Blight or The Nurse have been S+ tier pretty much since they came out, with seemingly little to no acknowledgement from BHVR. Additionally, map design recently has been dodgy. Maps can be huge, with lots of physical clutter sneezed across the level, or long with countless hallways and doorways and small pallets, guaranteeing going down in certain areas in you're unlucky. As pessimistic as it is, BHVR seem to address these issues by slapping duct tape over the hole, while releasing yet another skin pack despite having the tools to permanently improve overall game quality for everyone.

All of that said, I still do enjoy the game. If I could put a "mixed" instead of recommend/don't recommend I would, because DBD can be and still is fun, and I do think the game is worth giving a shot. If you don't mind investing in the learning curve I say go for it, as some of the stated issues become secondary to personal experience past the barrier to entry. Aside from that though, with pressing issues still needing solutions and a poor new player experience, DBD is a flawed game with a very fun game floating around somewhere inside it.

Incredible level design, great story and amazing co-op