GRYITH
Far Cry 6 2021
Log Status
Played
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Time Played
--
Days in Journal
1 day
Last played
January 1, 2022
Platforms Played
I don't know if I'll finish this game...
Gameplay:
This is to Far Cry 5 what Just Cause 4 is to Just Cause 3, it's almost identical but tacks on a few small mechanics or gameplay quirks that either add nothing meaningful or just bog things down. The base gameplay is still decent, the main part of the actual play experience I take issue with is the world. FC5 struck this perfect balance of giving you plenty of options for what to do whilst also; 1. Making it a manageable ammount and 2. Making everything feel seperate from each other, with very clearly defined locations and characters. This game does none of that. From the moment you finish the tutorial you're given about ten missions, all of which consist of doing basically the same thing for 8/10 of them (go to place, clear it of enemies), and every time you beat a mission it seems to add three more. The characters are not only numerous but each one is so bland and lacking in personality that for all intents and purposes there aren't any, and the entire map feels like the same place over and over and over with no variety for its entire square-footage. The experience of playing this game feels like beating a level in a linear game and then just hitting restart on the same mission over and over for 60 hours.
Story:
I was legitimately fascinated by the dynamic between the evil dictator and his son, but I haven't seen them for the last 15 hours of my current 20 hour play time. The most boring part of this story is the resistance but that's all you get to see, and as I mentioned in the gameplay section, there's about 100 main characters to follow, and they're all so flat and lacking in any memorable traits that they move past being forgettable and into just being one amalgamated mass of 'who cares'.
It's such a shame too, because not only was FC5s cult legitimately interesting, but the charcaters you interacted with along the way we're really endearing too, and the story of 5 worked as a fantastic metaphor for ignorance and the spread of disinformation in media and isolated communities, and how that can affect anyone (even you). So how does Far Cry 6 follow up 5s great themes? It doesn't.
On the lead-up to release, Ubisoft made it very clear that this game about fighting back against an evil dictatorship would have no political messaging at all, and I foolishly told myself that it was just the same case as the director of Luca saying it's not an LGBT allegory to hide it from Disney execs.
Sadly, I was wrong. This game has absolutely nothing to say, to an almost insulting level. No where is that better exemplified than in the perfect 50/50 split of male and female enemies, because you definitely want to have equal opportunities for who's working for a backwards dictator, and who I'm going to blow the brains out of. It's honestly mind-boggling how you could go so far out of your way to have such a politically charged setup and very intentionally work backwards from the inside to make sure those charges are never allowed to go off.
To be clear about the story, I think Giancarlo Espesito absolutely does a great job, and so does the kid acting his son, I just wish they were actually part of the game in any meaningful capacity.
Art:
Outside of lighting, raw texture quality, some postprocessing and the ammount and quality of lots of effects (particles etc), this is barely a step up from 5, which graphically was barely a step up from 4. I played this on PS5 expecting to be blown away only to be met by mediocrity.
But hey maybe, like 5, they make up for it with the art design?
In Far Cry 5, they perfectly capture the American south, contrasting the beauty of the countryside with the dark violence of the cult, it knew when to be loud and bombastic and when to be minimal and serene. Far Cry 5 had stark, recognisable imagery and a great variety of environments to visit.
Far cry 6, however, decided that it was going to take Mexico (complete with orange filter) and say it was in the Carribbean so they could make absolutely sure you couldn't draw upon any real world conflict that it could be alluding to. You get to fight people in red and white jackets and your choice of environment is rocky mountain or small town next to rocky mountain. Outside of a few statues there is nothing interesting to see, nowhere interesting to go, and nothing to draw you in or feel any sentiment towards whatsoever.
Far Cry 6 is a game that goes out of its way to be nothing. It makes sure not to have any themes or messages, so gives itself no story or setting, it makes sure to have the widest appeal possible and keep you playing for the most possible time, so gives you the most tried-and-true gameplay experience possible and a thousand missions that all consist of the same thing. It's the sequel to the game that should have reinvigorated the franchise, and it is cold and dark and empty.
This could be good to watch a postcast to, but if you want that and a game that's substantive and superior in every way, just play the fantastic and grossly underrated Far Cry 5.
Gameplay:
This is to Far Cry 5 what Just Cause 4 is to Just Cause 3, it's almost identical but tacks on a few small mechanics or gameplay quirks that either add nothing meaningful or just bog things down. The base gameplay is still decent, the main part of the actual play experience I take issue with is the world. FC5 struck this perfect balance of giving you plenty of options for what to do whilst also; 1. Making it a manageable ammount and 2. Making everything feel seperate from each other, with very clearly defined locations and characters. This game does none of that. From the moment you finish the tutorial you're given about ten missions, all of which consist of doing basically the same thing for 8/10 of them (go to place, clear it of enemies), and every time you beat a mission it seems to add three more. The characters are not only numerous but each one is so bland and lacking in personality that for all intents and purposes there aren't any, and the entire map feels like the same place over and over and over with no variety for its entire square-footage. The experience of playing this game feels like beating a level in a linear game and then just hitting restart on the same mission over and over for 60 hours.
Story:
I was legitimately fascinated by the dynamic between the evil dictator and his son, but I haven't seen them for the last 15 hours of my current 20 hour play time. The most boring part of this story is the resistance but that's all you get to see, and as I mentioned in the gameplay section, there's about 100 main characters to follow, and they're all so flat and lacking in any memorable traits that they move past being forgettable and into just being one amalgamated mass of 'who cares'.
It's such a shame too, because not only was FC5s cult legitimately interesting, but the charcaters you interacted with along the way we're really endearing too, and the story of 5 worked as a fantastic metaphor for ignorance and the spread of disinformation in media and isolated communities, and how that can affect anyone (even you). So how does Far Cry 6 follow up 5s great themes? It doesn't.
On the lead-up to release, Ubisoft made it very clear that this game about fighting back against an evil dictatorship would have no political messaging at all, and I foolishly told myself that it was just the same case as the director of Luca saying it's not an LGBT allegory to hide it from Disney execs.
Sadly, I was wrong. This game has absolutely nothing to say, to an almost insulting level. No where is that better exemplified than in the perfect 50/50 split of male and female enemies, because you definitely want to have equal opportunities for who's working for a backwards dictator, and who I'm going to blow the brains out of. It's honestly mind-boggling how you could go so far out of your way to have such a politically charged setup and very intentionally work backwards from the inside to make sure those charges are never allowed to go off.
To be clear about the story, I think Giancarlo Espesito absolutely does a great job, and so does the kid acting his son, I just wish they were actually part of the game in any meaningful capacity.
Art:
Outside of lighting, raw texture quality, some postprocessing and the ammount and quality of lots of effects (particles etc), this is barely a step up from 5, which graphically was barely a step up from 4. I played this on PS5 expecting to be blown away only to be met by mediocrity.
But hey maybe, like 5, they make up for it with the art design?
In Far Cry 5, they perfectly capture the American south, contrasting the beauty of the countryside with the dark violence of the cult, it knew when to be loud and bombastic and when to be minimal and serene. Far Cry 5 had stark, recognisable imagery and a great variety of environments to visit.
Far cry 6, however, decided that it was going to take Mexico (complete with orange filter) and say it was in the Carribbean so they could make absolutely sure you couldn't draw upon any real world conflict that it could be alluding to. You get to fight people in red and white jackets and your choice of environment is rocky mountain or small town next to rocky mountain. Outside of a few statues there is nothing interesting to see, nowhere interesting to go, and nothing to draw you in or feel any sentiment towards whatsoever.
Far Cry 6 is a game that goes out of its way to be nothing. It makes sure not to have any themes or messages, so gives itself no story or setting, it makes sure to have the widest appeal possible and keep you playing for the most possible time, so gives you the most tried-and-true gameplay experience possible and a thousand missions that all consist of the same thing. It's the sequel to the game that should have reinvigorated the franchise, and it is cold and dark and empty.
This could be good to watch a postcast to, but if you want that and a game that's substantive and superior in every way, just play the fantastic and grossly underrated Far Cry 5.