Beating the main storyline of Days Gone is a great feeling, but can leave players wanting more. Fortunately the character is left in the world with all of his stuff to do more, but it’s unclear what he should be doing once the credits have finished rolling.
There are a number of things to do still such as finding the secret ending, tapping into DLC content, shooting for that Platinum trophy and more. So if players looking for some ideas on what to do this list should keep everyone busy until Studio Bend delivers on a sequel.
Updated June 9th, 2021 by Ben Baker: As with any game, there is always an end to the amount of unique things a player can do and experience. Fortunately there are a number of ways to extend this inevitable conclusion as long as possible in Days Gone. This article has been updated to include a few more out of the box methods of wrangling a few more hours of enjoyment from this great title. For those wanting to dive back into the zombie hunting fray, here are some additional ways to keep playing.
12 Secret Ending
Don’t worry this entry wont spoil it. The secret ending is more of an epilogue mission and there are others that round out characters arcs and tie off things, but O’Brian’s final NERO mission, ‘There’s Nothing You Can Do’ is a doozy. Throughout the game Deacon's been eavesdropping on NERO employees in stealth missions and learning more and more about the zombie virus, while still being left in the dark about what’s going on.
After beating the game, without any special requirements or anything, he'll get the phone call to meet O’Brian where Deacon and players will get one heck of a twist and exciting possibilities for the sequel.
11 Hunt Hordes
After O’Brian and the epilogue missions players might as well make the world a little safer for the camps. There are a total of 40 hordes roaming around the forest and Deacon will have probably killed at least a few during the main story.
These hordes don’t respawn and once they’re gone, they’re gone. Do the camps a favor and take them out. Grab the best weapons out there, load up on ammo, grab some napalm and go to town. Besides, if players want to do some of the other things on this list they're going to have to take them down anyway.
10 Survival Mode
Thanks to the new DLC fans who’ve completed the game can now switch over to Survival Mode. It’s a tougher take on the story as it makes the enemies stronger, removes fast travel and removes the HUD (though this can be added back in the options).
It’s a fun challenge after players have mastered the standard game. It also comes with rewards like exclusive skins for the motorcycle and trophies. Good luck, you’re probably going to need it.
9 Patches
Also with the DLC are weekly challenges players can complete to earn vest patches. These patches provide Deacon with permanent bonuses like additional health, better stamina regeneration and more.
There are still a few challenges left to complete and many introduce fun quirks to the gameplay. One of the first was Surrounded. Deacon is forced to survive against endless waves of freakers in Sherman’s Camp and received rewards based on how long hee survived. Hopefully the developers keep delivering these weekly challenges in the future.
8 Collectibles
There are 252 collectibles to find in this game and while some are found through organic gameplay, there are a lot of them still hidden after the game’s over. This is a bit easier to do after the hordes are dead, but the threat of a horde attack keeps things interesting so it’s up to the player when you starting hunting for these.
Technically the player only needs 75% of the collectibles for trophy purposes, but completionists be prepared for quite the scavenger hunt. For those on the fence about collectible hunting keep in mind that seven of the game’s trophies are related to collectibles so get searching.
7 Gain Trust
Even after all Deacon's done for the Camps there’s still going to be some trust issues. One thing players can do in the post-game is max out trust levels with all the Camps.
Deacon is likely going to settle down here for the foreseeable future and with all the hordes cleared out it’s going to be a lot safer. In order to get along with and rely upon neighbors it only makes sense to earn their trust, plus it’s tied to the game’s trophies.
6 Finish The Bike
The motorcycle has been Deacon's best friend throughout the storyline. He's kept it in good condition, tracked down gasoline for it, and spent some of those hard-earned credits to improve its abilities.
If players are going to hunt down the remaining hordes, run missions for the camps, and track down collectibles they should seriously consider maxing out the motorcycle to save some time and make Deacon a little more dangerous. Players need something to spend all those credits on after all.
5 Platinum Trophy
By now players have probably noticed that there are quite a few trophies to earn. If players have completed the main storyline and are looking for something meaningful to do then getting the Platinum trophy can be a worthy goal and comes with a cool reward.
Fans have said it takes about 80 hours to obtain, ‘You’ve got Red On You’ requires looting 541 items from humans and ‘The Broken Roadshow’ which has Deacon track down 75% of the collectibles both take the longest to complete. Fans consider ‘Burnout Apocalypse’ to be the hardest, it requires using nitro and drift at the same time for five seconds on the motorcycle, so get it upgraded and good luck.
4 New Game+/Survival+
After obtaining all the trophies and getting a hang of Survival Mode then the next thing to do is up the difficulty by going into New Game+. It increases the difficulty by raising the strength of all foes and lowering item/ammo finds.
After getting the hang of New Game+ players can then take things to the final challenge by tackling Survival Mode+. It’s brutal, but if players upgrade everything, obtain a few vest patches, and find all the syringes for permanent bonuses then it’ll be a little more manageable.
3 Play As Other Characters
The latest DLC released for Days Gone unveiled an often overlooked feature. The player can actually play as other characters in the game. To do so the player simply needs to earn credits via challenges and use them to purchase their favorite faces.
Granted this doesn’t change the gameplay as its simply a reskin and its reserved exclusively for the Challenges mode and not the main game. Still it’s a lot of fun running around as someone else for a simple change of pace. Here are all of the characters players can become:
- Boozer
- Rikki
- Iron Mike
- NERO Soldier
- Sarah
- Addy
- Carlos
- Taylor
- Flashback Deacon
- Colonel Garret
- Akai
- Shirtless Deacon
2 Retire
After obtaining the platinum trophy, finding all the collectibles, and beating the game on Survival Mode+ at the highest difficulty, there honestly isn’t a whole lot more to do. Some players like to impose restrictions like a handgun only challenge to keep it interesting, which isn't always everyone's cup of tea.
But if players are looking to tie things off in a neat little bow than they can ‘retire’ their character. Complete everything 100%; find all collectibles, get all the upgrades, skill improvements, camp trust levels, and anything else. Get each camp’s credit level to 10,000, pick a camp to settle down in, park the bike, and close the game. Congratulations, you’ve done everything you possibly can in the vanilla version of the game.
1 Introduce Mods To The Game
After exhausting everything the main game has to offer and assuming the player doesn’t want to ‘retire’ their character, there is the world of mods. Fans of the game have introduced a number of changes and addons that can make Days Gone feel like an entirely different game.
Most mods are simple quality of life changes or improved graphics, but a few actually alter the game in significant ways. For instance the Romero Swarmers mod makes all zombies behave like traditional Romero zombies for a more casual experience. Alternatively there's a mod to make the hordes even larger for a greater challenge.