The only other Far Cry I’ve played is Blood Dragon, which I think is a perfectly average game, elevated by its character, that look and feel thoroughly reminiscent of an 80s styled neon sci-fi action movie. Now imagine that game, zero advancements made to it mechanically (if anything it’s regressed a tad, with floatier shooting, and far stupider AI), trade that macho 80s vibe and character for something far more generic, now imagine it with these tacked on RPG elements, so enemies, and more frustratingly animals, are spongier and the whole thing is arbitrarily grindier. But also there’s a premium currency shop, so you have the option to pay real money to get all the best shit right away and skip the grind. You also have the option to pay nothing and skip the whole thing. I’m gonna recommend you go with that option.

If Far Cry 5 was the black sheep of the franchise, Far Cry New Dawn is the redheaded step-child. I've seen a lot of complaints about the changes New Dawn makes to the Far Cry formula, including the RPG elements sprinkled in. Here's an overview:

Some of the base gameplay systems have gotten an overhaul. Outposts can now be scavenged to allow enemies to take them back, which then allows you to attempt to retake them at a higher difficulty. Weapons now also have an explicit rank, indicating which corresponding enemy ranks they are effective against. For example, a level 3 AK-47 will shred through any level 3 or below enemies, but a level 2 AK will give you a harder time. I've seen some complaints about these RPG-ification elements, and while personally I dont mind, if you do care about them, it might be worth your time to think carefully about picking this game up.

Personally I think the changes are fine. Retaking the outposts can be annoying since you can't discern the alarm towers ahead of time, and Ethanol is probably too scarce, but I managed to get the most important upgrades before taking on the final bosses. There were only a couple times where I needed to go scavenge items to craft a weapon I felt I needed.

The story is a bit hit or miss. The antagonists aren't particularly charming, and I feel like the previous game presented the taunts from the antagonists better. It also feels like the 4 of Far Cry 5 are better fleshed out than personality and lore-wise than New Dawn's twins. I sincerely cannot tell the two apart.

Additionally, the game plays upon the assumptions you had from the previous game. You're sat there listening to the story and at some point are presented the following thesis: What if Joseph Seed was right all along? You already get a sense of that at the end of Far Cry 5, but here it really challenges your notion of wrong and right, and if the ends justify the means. What is God's plan, actually? Was it good to have mowed down Joseph's siblings in the previous game? Do the ends justify the means? There are interesting questions here, and no clear answers.

The environments are just as beautiful as before, with some pinks and purples sprinkled about to spice things up. Clearly the environment team worked hard on this version of Hope County, even if it feels like they stopped talking to the environment team for Far Cry 5 about halfway through development.

The Guns for Hire mechanic returns, although you can no longer have two at a time. The roster is well balanced, and I didn't feel like I wish I had a companion from Far Cry 5. I did however, have an issue with one of the missions to recruit a GFH.

One of the worst missions I've ever played has to be the mission to recruit Gina: "Mo' Mommies Mo' Problems". An absolute nightmare of RNG hoping that she and the AI enemies don't ram into random explosive barrels, failing the mission. Just awful, took me legitimately 20 tries to kill all the enemies before Gina's car randomly explodes. Including the time the mission bugged out after killing all the enemies and just soft locked itself. Very frustrating, but luckily this is optional, and the only mission I really had a problem with throughout the game.

Another thing to mention are the map changes. Not sure entirely, but the map feels smaller than in Far Cry 5. The outpost count is significantly reduced, and a good portion of the map (The North) goes unused except for in 2 missions. This is explained away in the story as the dam having burst during the collapse, flooding the surrounding lowlands. In addition to that, the area is covered in Bliss, making passage impossible except for a select few.

The music selection is... fine. Nothing too special, a couple oldie hits here and there, with some odd choices from the late 2010's added for good measure.

Overall the game is fine. It serves as a good followup to Far Cry 5, and thematically feels more like a less buggy Fallout game than it does a Far Cry game. Is it worth the face value of $40? Hard to say, I'm sure I've paid more for worse. Is it worth picking up on sale? If you're a fan of Far Cry, definitely. If you're disappointed with Fallout 76, this is a good post-apocalyptic alternative. For everyone else, I understand if you chose to skip this one, but I definitely think it's worth a playthrough. I powered through in only 17 hours and had fun, for the most part.